Starting my digital movie library

[CatsTide]

Please forgive me...I have read several threads but with all the info I was getting a little confused,and didn't want to hijack a thread for my newby questions.

Goal: Rip all my DVD's and be able to access them through my home entertainment system.

I have Handbrake and have ripped a couple of movies that seemed to turn out well. My question is,Do I have my settings right to obtain the highest quality possible. Right now I have an ATV2 but plan on replacing it with an ATV3 for the HD.Should I just check Appletv3 in the settings and do nothing else? I read somewhere that the RF should be set to 16 or 17??? The automatic setting puts it at RF20. My tv is a 55" if that matters. I have also tagged the couple of movies I have already ripped with iDentify. Seemed to work pretty well for me. I will have some more questions but I just want to make sure I'm on the right track before I do a lot of unnecessary work.

Thanks for any help...I'm really impressed with the knowledge here and the libraries that I have seen on here that some of you have built.

 

[lunaoso]

Please forgive me...I have read several threads but with all the info I was getting a little confused,and didn't want to hijack a thread for my newby questions.

Goal: Rip all my DVD's and be able to access them through my home entertainment system.

I have Handbrake and have ripped a couple of movies that seemed to turn out well. My question is,Do I have my settings right to obtain the highest quality possible. Right now I have an ATV2 but plan on replacing it with an ATV3 for the HD.Should I just check Appletv3 in the settings and do nothing else? I read somewhere that the RF should be set to 16 or 17??? The automatic setting puts it at RF20. My tv is a 55" if that matters. I have also tagged the couple of movies I have already ripped with iDentify. Seemed to work pretty well for me. I will have some more questions but I just want to make sure I'm on the right track before I do a lot of unnecessary work.

Thanks for any help...I'm really impressed with the knowledge here and the libraries that I have seen on here that some of you have built.

I'm no master either, but from what I know because they are DVDs (at least I assume they are) the Apple TV 3 preset won't do much overall because they are in SD anyway. I keep mine at that preset anyway though. And I would expect the same with changing the RF too. But don't take my word on that one, I'm not exactly sure about that.

 

[CatsTide]

Cool...thanks for replying. Will Handbrake rip Bluray?

 

[mic j]

Cool...thanks for replying. Will Handbrake rip Bluray?

For simplicity and to future proof your rips, use the aTV3 setting at RF20. I would also recommend stetting Anamorphic to strict and check web optimize. After doing that, make all that a custom preset.

I would recommend ripping with MakeMKV (free) and using HB to transcode. Handbrake can rip many BR's but, IMO, MakeMKV is more current with decryption. Also, if you want, you can archive the mkv files so you always have an original quality file to go back to.

 

[CatsTide]

For simplicity and to future proof your rips, use the aTV3 setting at RF20. I would also recommend stetting Anamorphic to strict and check web optimize. After doing that, make all that a custom preset.

I would recommend ripping with MakeMKV (free) and using HB to transcode. Handbrake can rip many BR's but, IMO, MakeMKV is more current with decryption. Also, if you want, you can archive the mkv files so you always have an original quality file to go back to.

I see those settings but how do you make that a custom preset?

 

[MarkG21]

I usually keep mine at 20. 16/17 is probably overkill. 19 or 18.5 is the highest I go, and that is very rare for me.

You can always just encode 1 chapter at at different setting to see which one you like the best (this way you don't have to encode an entire movie 4 times with 4 different settings).

You should definitely check out doing blu rays. MakeMKV is awesome, although it is not free to rip blu rays (after 30 days) but free for DVDs.

You'll need a blu ray reader (not necessarily a blu ray writer).

 

[CatsTide]

I usually keep mine at 20. 16/17 is probably overkill. 19 or 18.5 is the highest I go, and that is very rare for me.

You can always just encode 1 chapter at at different setting to see which one you like the best (this way you don't have to encode an entire movie 4 times with 4 different settings).

You should definitely check out doing blu rays. MakeMKV is awesome, although it is not free to rip blu rays (after 30 days) but free for DVDs.

You'll need a blu ray reader (not necessarily a blu ray writer).

I'm doing this on my MacBook Air. Could I use a playstation3 with the HDMI>Thunderbolt converter?

 

[Diode]

I'm doing this on my MacBook Air. Could I use a playstation3 with the HDMI>Thunderbolt converter?

No - you need a external blu ray drive. The PS3 won't work like that.

 

[CatsTide]

No - you need a external blu ray drive. The PS3 won't work like that.

Yeah I kinda figured that right after I posted it.

On another subject with my project...As I stated I'm working on a MacBook Air so I need to put my iTunes library on an external HD. What are the exact settings I need to tick in iTunes?

 

[MarkG21]

Yeah I kinda figured that right after I posted it.

On another subject with my project...As I stated I'm working on a MacBook Air so I need to put my iTunes library on an external HD. What are the exact settings I need to tick in iTunes?

Not too sure if I understand your question but any external drive formatted for OS X will work in itunes.

If you have not done so already, you'll want to uncheck "Copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library". iTunes--> Preferences-->advance-->uncheck ""

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Please forgive me...I have read several threads but with all the info I was getting a little confused,and didn't want to hijack a thread for my newby questions.

Goal: Rip all my DVD's and be able to access them through my home entertainment system.

I have Handbrake and have ripped a couple of movies that seemed to turn out well. My question is,Do I have my settings right to obtain the highest quality possible. Right now I have an ATV2 but plan on replacing it with an ATV3 for the HD.Should I just check Appletv3 in the settings and do nothing else? I read somewhere that the RF should be set to 16 or 17??? The automatic setting puts it at RF20. My tv is a 55" if that matters. I have also tagged the couple of movies I have already ripped with iDentify. Seemed to work pretty well for me. I will have some more questions but I just want to make sure I'm on the right track before I do a lot of unnecessary work.

Thanks for any help...I'm really impressed with the knowledge here and the libraries that I have seen on here that some of you have built.

If your goal is indeed what you listed up there, you shouldn't upgrade to ATV3.

Instead, jailbreak ATV2, get a wireless router such as Linksys E-3000:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

An external HD, whatever it is, and start ripping DVDs using Handbrake and put them in the external HD.

And using XBMC, you will easily accomplish your goal.

 

[CatsTide]

Not too sure if I understand your question but any external drive formatted for OS X will work in itunes.

If you have not done so already, you'll want to uncheck "Copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library". iTunes--> Preferences-->advance-->uncheck ""

I was thinking there was something like that I needed to uncheck.So i just need to put my movies and or music on my external hard drive and add that path to my iTunes preferences? I have already started my library on my MacBook Air...so can i just move the entire iTunes folder over to my external HD?

If your goal is indeed what you listed up there, you shouldn't upgrade to ATV3.

Instead, jailbreak ATV2, get a wireless router such as Linksys E-3000:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

An external HD, whatever it is, and start ripping DVDs using Handbrake and put them in the external HD.

And using XBMC, you will easily accomplish your goal.

hmm...that sounds pretty cool. I read a little bit about XBMC. Are you saying use that program instead of iTunes? I already have plenty of external HD's and a wireless router.Is the only benefit of the ATV3 the ability to play Blueray rips in HD?

 

[mic j]

I usually keep mine at 20. 16/17 is probably overkill. 19 or 18.5 is the highest I go, and that is very rare for me.

You can always just encode 1 chapter at at different setting to see which one you like the best (this way you don't have to encode an entire movie 4 times with 4 different settings).

You should definitely check out doing blu rays. MakeMKV is awesome, although it is not free to rip blu rays (after 30 days) but free for DVDs.

You'll need a blu ray reader (not necessarily a blu ray writer).

I agree with your your settings, but you are not entirely correct about MakeMKV for BR. It remains free while in beta. A new access code is posted monthly on the MakeMKV forum. Just copy it, paste it in the registration field in the app and you are set for another 30 days. It has been in beta for a long time and who knows if/when it will ever not be beta. Beside all that, it is well worth the price if you want to purchase a registration code that does not expire.

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If your goal is indeed what you listed up there, you shouldn't upgrade to ATV3.

Agreed, if you are content with 720p resolution.

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I see those settings but how do you make that a custom preset?

On the presets window, at the bottom, is a +. Click on that to add a custom preset. To make that preset a default (recommended), click on the gear symbol in the same area.

 

[JoeShades]

jailbreak the apple tv 2 and buy firecore, their media player is very good

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Agreed, if you are content with 720p resolution.

Maybe OP should edit his goal, because I thought the main point was to convert his DVD collection.

hmm...that sounds pretty cool. I read a little bit about XBMC. Are you saying use that program instead of iTunes? I already have plenty of external HD's and a wireless router.Is the only benefit of the ATV3 the ability to play Blueray rips in HD?

I haven't really look at ATV3's spec since its launch date, but I am sure it is faster than ATV2 besides its support for 1080. However, until it is jailbreakable, it really doesn't matter much beyond that it's 1080.

And yes, with XBMC, you wouldn't need a computer running. ATV2 with XBMC will essentially play all of the popular video formats directly from an external HD.

XBMC will also pull meta information and images from IMDB, not to mention the ability to easily download and play subtitles and captions.

 

[JoeBlow74]

Select the AppleTV3 preset and and select "strict" in the picture settings and leave the RF at 20. This will be more than plenty for digitizing a DVD. You movies will be anywhere from 1.5 to 1.7 gigs each.

 

[CatsTide]

4 days of work...

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Here's mine using XBMC.

 

[CatsTide]

Is this a good Blue Ray drive?

 

[ajforbes20]

Better than ripping all your movies and spending time doing that.... just buy the digital codes for each movie for a couple of bucks.

 

[tthip]

Hi
Is there by any chance a step by step guide to Handbrake/MakeMKV/iTunes streaming.
I just got a new PC and I was going to attempt this with my movie collection but I am afraid I may miss a step or three along the way.
For example I had no clue I was supposed to uncheck 'keep iTunes folder organized'

Thanks

 

[Hermes Monster]

Hi
Is there by any chance a step by step guide to Handbrake/MakeMKV/iTunes streaming.
I just got a new PC and I was going to attempt this with my movie collection but I am afraid I may miss a step or three along the way.
For example I had no clue I was supposed to uncheck 'keep iTunes folder organized'

Thanks

Just download copies of your movies from a torrent site, you're breaking the law anyway, so may as well save yourself a lot (A LOT) of effort

 

[twobelowpar]

Order more than 10 at a time and Vudu Disc to Digital is only $1 a piece for Bluray to HD or $2.50 for DVD to HD. No storage issues, no need to do any work other than put the disc in.

 

[off_piste]

Order more than 10 at a time and Vudu Disc to Digital is only $1 a piece for Bluray to HD or $2.50 for DVD to HD. No storage issues, no need to do any work other than put the disc in.

I don't see anything about a price break for bulk orders. Is it just applied when you put them in the cart?

 

[satcomer]

Is this a good Blue Ray drive?

No. You want to get the old style pop out tray case. This way you could use Lens cleaner on it in the future.