DVD/Bluray Rips for extenders

[godfa7h3r]

Hello all.. great to have the forum back up. Felt lost for the last couple months.

Before the original TGB changed around, I was hot on the quest for finding the best way to rip my movies; DVD, Bluray, and HDDVD titles. I've read a couple threads on here already discussing a couple ways to do it and I want to try and consolidate them and ultimately create some kind of guide. Here's what's been working for me...

DVD
Method 1
1. Copy to HDD using DVD Decrypter (or similar program)
2. Send to VideoReDo to create a dvrms file

This method seems to be the most bulletproof. Creates an uncomressed video file with full RW/FF capability on the extenders. Resulting files usually end up around 3-5gb. I understand some may be limited on storage so this may not be the ideal solution for all. This is pretty easy as you can create a batch file to automate the entire process.

Method 2
1. Auto rip 'n' compress

This method is probably the easiest as the name suggests. I've had mixed results using this tool, however. Couldn't seem to get the compress to WTV option to work correctly. This would probably be my tool of choice if I could get this working. I honestly haven't tried very hard to troubleshoot though. As mentioned by Tracer, you might have better luck using the uncompress WTV option. I'm testing this out with a few discs and will report back.

Method 3
1. Copy to HDD using DVD Decrypter (or similar program)
2. Use handbrake to compress video to MKV
3. Use dvrmstoolbox to do a container swap to WTV

This method is a little bit more work but offers greater customization of video. Using handbrake, you can set target quality or size if you're limited on space. If you skip step 3, you'll lose FF/RW on extenders. Like auto rip n compress, I've had mixed results using this method. I can't find the magic combination of profile settings to get the best outcome.

Problems:
I've been trying to solve this issue for years now and am getting closer by the day. Let me start by saying 100% of my DVDs are widescreen. Some DVDs (maybe 5% of mine) end up as 4x3 when they get copied to my HDD. The result, is a black picture frame around the entire video. Technically, the viewable video is in widescreen, but because of the black bars that are added on the left and right side, the video will need to be zoomed in on in order to fill a while TV screen. Sending the video through Handbrake fixes this as it can auto crop and remove all the black around the video. The resultant file is of course in widescreen. But again, I'm having trouble finding the right handbrake settings to get the video to come out correctly. Some end up not playing on extenders. I still haven't found a pattern to identify which DVDs will turn out this way until they get ripped to the PC.

BLURAY
Coming soon...

HDDVD
Coming soon...

RESOURCES
Great Handbrake user guide - http://www.maximumpc.com/article/featur ... e?page=0,0

I'd love to get some more input on what's been working for you folks. I'm really looking for methods that will be compatible with extenders, specifically xbox 360s but I'm willing to listen to all feedback. Also, if you've ran into the problem I mentioned, please let me know what you've done about it.

Thanks all!

[TheOsburnFamil]

That Bluray section still coming soon?

I've finally decided that with two Ceton's-- rather then share them out to individual PCs, I'm getting extenders.

I'm curious what people are doing for their bluray rips for use with extenders. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be just getting the main movie/episodes. But, I'm reading mixed information on if I can simply rip the M2TS or must remux to MKV or what. Also, will I lose TrueHD/DTSHD?

Thanks!

[Tracer]

For method 2 on AutoRip N Compress, did you try using MakeMKV with uncompressed WTV. This should give you the same results as method 1 but, with the automation of AutoRip N Compress. I've had great results using this profile setting in AutoRip N Compress for DVDs.

For Blu-rays I use a manual method of MakeMKV then use DVRMSToolbox with the profile "Convert MKV to DVR-MS - mencoder". I've had fairly good results using this method.

[godfa7h3r]

For method 2 on AutoRip N Compress, did you try using MakeMKV with uncompressed WTV.

I think I went straight to compressed WTV. I will have to give it a shot using uncompressed WTV.

That Bluray section still coming soon?

Oh it sure is! I just wanted to get the communication started so I can compile a few different methods. I can tell you the way I've been doing it for now is to use MakeMKV to get the rip onto the PC, then use Handbrake to convert to around 10100kbps bitrate. Seems to work pretty well without that big of quality loss.

I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be just getting the main movie/episodes.

I felt the exact same way when I started out. What I found out was that I actually enjoy my system much more with it just going straight to the movie and not getting the previews and menus. If I want the special features, I will go grab the disc and pop it in, but this is a rare occurance.

Also, will I lose TrueHD/DTSHD?

If you go with all extenders, yes you will lose lossless audio like the aforementioned codecs. The extenders actually won't even support DTS so everything will need to be converted to AC3 audio. I go with 640kbps audio bitrate which maintains a fairly high quality 5.1 channel audio track.

[chucknduck26]

I use DVDFab to rip the main movie to a single m2ts. It plays wirelessly on my linksys extender but it buffers something fierce. Once I'm finished wiring my house with Cat 6, I'll report back if that improves it.

[ben55124]

Another vote for DVDFab and Bluray rips.

Get / Open DvdFab BluRay ripper
Insert BluRay disc
Select XBox 360 profile
Select options including codec, resolution, bitrate, and cropping

I usually go with
- WMV
- 5.1 audio
- 720p
- Crop to 16:9 (for 2.35:1 movies)
- 8000 kbps
- 2 pass

The resulting WMV works well on XBox360. Also works on DMA2X00 extenders, but drop to stereo audio.

Purists can skip cropping, but DVDFab makes cropping easy for those who prefer no bars. 16:9 is wide enough for me. Most 2.35:1 movies are framed to be 16:9 friendly.

There is a detailed Xbox360 walkthrough on the dvdfab blu-ray ripper product site.

[stuppid]

Option 1 works great for dvd. Extenders handle it flawlessly. Tried DVDFAB for bluray rips but the file size was too big. Even with WHS v1 and 6tb storage array by the time you use folder duplication you can eat storage fast. I used to have netflix bluray plan but have abandonded bluray completely. Wife cant tell the difference anyway between dvd and bluray so as long as I am fine with it everything is OK.

[hipsterdoofus]

I'd like to get in on this discussion. I have ripped a DVD or two to my HTPC and played it from there. Terrible shame that it isn't possible to do that from the extender from the video-ts folder as well. I'm assuming from reading this that there is not a format that the xbox 360 will read that will encompass multiple files, menu system, etc as on a dvd?

Anyway, I just bought an additional hard drive, so I will be ripping my whole collection. Since I didn't have another option, I was thinking of just ripping them then leaving them in the dvd format and not being able to play them on the extenders, but then again, I guess you have a point by saying in a way you aren't missing a lot.

I'd love to once again hear what you guys recommend as the best balance of quality and compatibility. Currently I use DVD shrink to rip. I've used handbrake a few times but have never tweaked any settings. Would like to hear more. Thanks!

[Scallica]

I'd love to once again hear what you guys recommend as the best balance of quality and compatibility. Currently I use DVD shrink to rip.

See method 1 of the original post. Using VideoRedo to convert to DVR-MS is the best solution for extenders.

[hipsterdoofus]

What is the quality like compared to ...whatever it is (mp4 i think) that handbrake is doing by default. Also, looks like VideoReDo is not a free product, so I certainly have to take that into consideration. How is the dvrms format better than what is being spit out of handbrake? Not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

[Scallica]

What is the quality like compared to ...whatever it is (mp4 i think) that handbrake is doing by default. Also, looks like VideoReDo is not a free product, so I certainly have to take that into consideration. How is the dvrms format better than what is being spit out of handbrake? Not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

The quality of DVR-MS is great; its basically MPEG-2. The reason many people prefer DVR-MS is because of the quality and that it works perfectly on the extenders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVR-MS

VideoReDo is not free, but it is VERY easy to use and is very popular among HTPC enthusiasts.

[hipsterdoofus]

I'm assuming there are other methods to get to DVR-MS? Just probably not as simple? Sorry, I'm a tightwad so I always explore my free options first.

[Tracer]

If you want simple use Auto Rip N Compress, set the output to WTV basically the same as DVR-MS. DVR-MS contains an MPG stream where WTV can contain a MP4 or MPG stream. With Auto Rip N Compress it uses MakeMKV to rip the dvd to a MKV file then todvrms to place the MPG stream in a WTV container. ARnC supports other output formats as well and it is free for the tightwads

If you want to manually create WTV or DVR-MS files you can download DVRMStoolbox for free.

[hipsterdoofus]

I'm seeing that Auto Rip N Compress works within MCE...I actually have a desktop where I would probably do my ripping operation, so I may not want to use that.