This is probably a naive question, but here goes...

I am about to begin ripping my DVD collection to a hard drive connected to my home wifi network for streaming via my Mac Mini to HDTV. Ripping via HandBrake produces a single file with good resolution and surround/stereo sound, but takes hours. But since Front Row and (I think) iTunes can recognize videoTS files that could be dragged to the hard drive from the DVD, why go through the time consuming process of ripping with HandBrake?

But since Front Row and (I think) iTunes can recognize videoTS files that could be dragged to the hard drive from the DVD, why go through the time consuming process of ripping with HandBrake?

well, it's a little more complicated than that--you can't just "drag" a VIDEO_TS to a hard drive from a commercial dvd, dvds are copy protected, so you have to rip it first with something--I prefer MactheRipper. Why Handbrake takes so long is that you're not only ripping but transcoding as well--it's the transcoding that takes a long time. MTR just rips, defeats the region control and copy protection, and results in perfect copy of the disc, in VIDEO_TS format.

Front Row can now play VIDEO_TS, but you can't import VIDEO_TS into iTunes and an unhacked aTV will not play back a VIDEO_TS. So you're faced with a decision--rip and keep VIDEO_TS that your Macs can play back with Front Row AND/OR transcode with Handbrake into an acceptable format for iTunes, iPods, aTV, etc.

OK? So you decide--you may want to rip your dvd collection once to VIDEO_TS with MactheRipper--that way you have a perfect backup copy--then later decide to convert with Handbrake to an aTV acceptable format. Depends how you grow/expand your home network. Me, since I don't own an aTV and already have Macs at every HDTV, I keep everything VIDEO_TS, which Front Row thankfully now supports.

I am about to begin ripping my DVD collection to a hard drive connected to my home wifi network for streaming via my Mac Mini to HDTV.

If I can share another bit of advice with you--test your streaming plan out first before you commit one way or the other. If you have a "g" wireless network, depending on your environment, hardware and setup, you might not be able to reliably stream VIDEO_TS wirelessly.

Thanks for clarifying. I get it now.

I rip everything with MacTheRipper saving the files to my hard drive. Then once I have a decent number of files ready, I fire up 3 instances of handbrake and load each one with a queue of 5-10 DVDs. Handbrake processes each file rather quickly when reading from the HD.

FWIW, I use a Mac Pro and the times are around 10-15 minutes per Handbrake conversion.

Wow! It is taking hours on an old Powerbook!

amik - what processor is your Mac Pro?

ken

amik - what processor is your Mac Pro?

ken

Ken,

My Mac Pro has the dual quad core 2.8ghz processors (so 8*2.8). I've also got 10 gbs of ram and four 750gb samsung F1 hard drives. I store DVD rips (Video_TS) on a different hard drive than I use for storing the resulting handbrake files in an attempt to maximize data throughput.

I bought the machine for photo work but video is slowly becoming one of its primary functions.

very nice machine - thanks..
I can see how that baby rips through Hanndbrake conversions...

ken

XBMC plays and streams extremely well on TS folders, and you can adjust the streaming cache within the app. When streaming DVD's to my macs on FR, and on my ps3's, as well as various other attempted setups, I had trouble, and the stream drops and stutters were so distracting, but I'm watching a streamed Video_TS file at this very moment on XBMC, and haven't had a single stutter.