Originally posted by nut7:

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So a few weeks ago I decided I wanted to start a Blu-Ray. 2 days ago I got my hands on 5 genuine BR movies. I heard on google that anydvd will remove the latest BD+ protection. So I got it and began ripping BR to my HD with no problems. Piece of cake. First thing that grabbed my attention was the fact that it said estimated time was 90 minutes to completion. Next thing was the 44gb it took up, with all the menus and languages stripped. OUCH.

First I ripped to the HD, I didn't know what to do with it so I ripped an ISO. I busted out daemon tools and media player classic. That was a no good. So I tried VLCplayer, no good. I tried power dvd, then windvd, still no good. I find out only a certain build of powerdvd will play ISO, 3319a. So I hunt that down install it and I still can not play my movies. What a pain in the ass. So now I have ISO's that won't play and other files that I don't know what to do with. Couple questions.....

-- Is this the best time to be starting a BR collection? Is seems like it's still in it's infancy and alot of the programs are not up to the task. Should I let it mature a bit before I take this on?
BD/HDDVD processing couldn't be easier at the moment, as long as you have the tools, a little know how (which comes with experimenting), and patience.

-- What do I do with the files that anydvd rips to the HD?
These are the files that need converting, generally just the main movie. You could watch them directly as well (when not ripped to .iso.

-- What is the best way to edit out unwanted content?
Delete it. The main movie will be it's own file or several files. All of the extras and menus are their own files, they never mix.

-- What is the best way to compress these movies?
MeGUI/AviSynth is the method I prefer. There is another program call Ripbot264 that others would use, Sophocles (another AD member...er, Addict) could help the most with Ripbot.

-- I have been unable to find a way to play BR ISO, is this even possible?
Yes. You cannot just load the ISO into a media player and play it like an MP4 or MKV, you need to load it with a virtual drive and play it as if it were a disc. Go to the Slysoft (AnyDVD) site, they have a free one. Install it and load your ISO with the virtual drive. Then Choose your media software (Arcsoft Total Media is the best at the moment) and enjoy, play as a normal disc... just without the disc :)

-- Is is better to convert to MK4 or MP4? How do I do that? Which is better, MK or MP ?
It depends on your method of playback. I compress and burn to DVD (1080p) playback on my PS3 (can be done on a stand-alone as well). If you intend to play on your PC then use MKV, not MP4 which has too many restrictions.



Much Appreciated

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Originally posted by nut7:

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Thanks Odin. I'll start reading through that other post you provided. I got a few more quick questions.

-- what program do you use to convert those files to MKV ?
I don't usually convert to MKV but you can use mkvmerge or Haali Matroska Muxer, which is what eac3to uses.
-- how do you watch those files directly when not in ISO ?
I always watch on my PS3, either in m2ts form on the PS3's HDD, or on a Blu-ray disc... I have a burner and a BD-RE.
-- what program will give me more control of the editing process ?
I'm not sure what you want to edit on a BD rip, do you mean eliminate extras and stuff like that? Or do you mean eliminate unwanted audio and subtitle tracks? For the latter I'd use eac3to (with AnyDVD HD running in the background) and demux only the audio and subtitle tracks I need, then mux them together with tsMuxeR.
-- do you lose quality when you compress ?
Technically yes, larger bitrate to a smaller bitrate. Visually no, as long as you use a good encoder like x264 (with MeGUI and AviSynth) and a good profile (like Ryu77's). Use this combination, burn to a DVD9 and I guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between your encode and the actual BD. If you want to keep the HD audio you may want to burn to a blank BD instead... compressing the video and keeping the HD audio on one DVD9 you may start to see degradation.
-- which usually takes up the least space, files, ISO, or MKV ?
MKV, but you are limited to viewing on your PC only... and some streaming media players (like Popcorn Hour and TViX), but I'm not familiar with any of those. An MKV and M2TS with the same A/V streams will be different in size due to the extra information stored in the M2TS header. A 2 hour movie encoded down to DVD9 on an MKV might be 7.9GB, where the the exact same streams in an M2TS will be abou 8.4GB... slight larger than the capacity of a DVD9. Keep in mind, M2TS files are the ones in the BD structure.

Thanks again.

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Originally posted by AXT:

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Another thing: if your audio is TrueHD only [In Case of Iron Man] then you will need to convert it to AAC or AC3 because MKV merge cannot handle TrueHD yet. If converting from TrueHD make sure you use a high bitrate~640kbps. A lot of times movies will have TrueHD and AC3 640kbps track so just use the AC3.

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Originally posted by AXT:

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8) Enjoy your movie and remember to NEVER use VLC or CCCP or K-lite.

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Originally posted by AXT:

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BTW: Everytime you encode using x264 you will lose quality. It takes months of learning and experimenting to properly learn how to encode movies with minimal loss in quality. I am able to do it because I have been using x264 and avisynth for a number of years. If you are new to the whole process don't expect to get good quality encodes on your first try. Then once again quality is subjective.

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