A few weeks ago, I started a thread about how I should go about ripping BR. See Ripping Blu Rays .
Anyways, I've setup my NAS and Dune Media Player so now I can share my own experience.
The consensus from the first thread was that I should rip my BR's to an ISO file. So that's what I decided to do.
1.) AnyDVD HD - You absolutely need something to strip the protection so you can rip the BR. As usual, such protections mean little to thieves but prevent those of us who paid for our product from using it in the manner we desire. You just have to pony up for this program. UPDATE: I ran ANYDVD Ripper to rip an ISO and it came out the same as IMGBRN (did not remove the previews, even though that box was checked). It was 42GB in size. And it took longer than IMGBRN.
2.) IMGBRN - Great program. Free. Works with ease. You simply tell the program where to burn your file and then hit one button. Very easy interface and it works quickly. Did I mention it is free? Unfortunately, budget and space prevented me from simply using this program. It burns a 1 to 1 image from your BD, meaning you get all the previews, the ability to choose scene, extra features, etc. This takes up about 40-50 GBs per average BD. That's a measly 25 movies per TB. How many of us can afford 8TB solutions? Yeah, thought the number was low.
3.) Clown_BD - This program requires you to download the other programs with it, including the aforementioned IMGBRN. The program takes forever and a day and sometimes stalls. I've found it best to rip the movies with this program directly to my PC and then to transfer to my NAS. Good news, is this is also free. It also strips out the previews, FBI warning, extra features, etc. This means your movie plays much faster from your content streamer (from start) and cuts down the size by as much as 70%. For example, I ran Disney's Bambi through IMGBRN. It generated an ISO of approximately 43GB. I ran it through Clown_BD and it generated an ISO of only 13GB. That's pretty big savings. You can find out how to use it thanks to dbone1026 dbone's clown_bd user guide .
4.) I haven't yet ripped my box sets. But I think I have it figured out. BD box sets can be ripped into individual episodes using Clown_BD above. Otherwise, you need to use some other software. I'm using handbrake (which nows supports BD). Again, thanks to dbone1026 who wrote a guide. Dbone's guide to ripping box sets
5.) Handbrake - free software. It will rip movies into MKV. It's also useful for converting your ISO files to something compatible with your Iphone/Ipad. It's pretty easy to use as well.
6.) MakeMKV - It is similar to handbrake. It's free. However, I find Handbrake has more options and runs a little faster. That's my opinion, others really like it. I suggest you check both out for yourself and see which you like better.
7.) If you rip to ISO, just know now that your PC software such as Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11 will not read them unless you "mount" them first. I use SlySoft's VirtualCloneDrive for this. It's free and work's great. You simply right click on the file and "mount" it. BTW, if you don't know what it means to "mount" your file it basically means to trick your PC into thinking that it has another media drive. Then your software will read it like it reads an actual BD. You'll see what I mean when you rip your ISO and try to play it.
8.) After ripping the ISOs and getting them onto my NAS, I'm using Zappiti as my video jukebox on my Dune. It's pretty awesome, but you need to have a Dune player.
Anyways, I hope these threads will be useful to others.
Anyways, I've setup my NAS and Dune Media Player so now I can share my own experience.
The consensus from the first thread was that I should rip my BR's to an ISO file. So that's what I decided to do.
1.) AnyDVD HD - You absolutely need something to strip the protection so you can rip the BR. As usual, such protections mean little to thieves but prevent those of us who paid for our product from using it in the manner we desire. You just have to pony up for this program. UPDATE: I ran ANYDVD Ripper to rip an ISO and it came out the same as IMGBRN (did not remove the previews, even though that box was checked). It was 42GB in size. And it took longer than IMGBRN.
2.) IMGBRN - Great program. Free. Works with ease. You simply tell the program where to burn your file and then hit one button. Very easy interface and it works quickly. Did I mention it is free? Unfortunately, budget and space prevented me from simply using this program. It burns a 1 to 1 image from your BD, meaning you get all the previews, the ability to choose scene, extra features, etc. This takes up about 40-50 GBs per average BD. That's a measly 25 movies per TB. How many of us can afford 8TB solutions? Yeah, thought the number was low.
3.) Clown_BD - This program requires you to download the other programs with it, including the aforementioned IMGBRN. The program takes forever and a day and sometimes stalls. I've found it best to rip the movies with this program directly to my PC and then to transfer to my NAS. Good news, is this is also free. It also strips out the previews, FBI warning, extra features, etc. This means your movie plays much faster from your content streamer (from start) and cuts down the size by as much as 70%. For example, I ran Disney's Bambi through IMGBRN. It generated an ISO of approximately 43GB. I ran it through Clown_BD and it generated an ISO of only 13GB. That's pretty big savings. You can find out how to use it thanks to dbone1026 dbone's clown_bd user guide .
4.) I haven't yet ripped my box sets. But I think I have it figured out. BD box sets can be ripped into individual episodes using Clown_BD above. Otherwise, you need to use some other software. I'm using handbrake (which nows supports BD). Again, thanks to dbone1026 who wrote a guide. Dbone's guide to ripping box sets
5.) Handbrake - free software. It will rip movies into MKV. It's also useful for converting your ISO files to something compatible with your Iphone/Ipad. It's pretty easy to use as well.
6.) MakeMKV - It is similar to handbrake. It's free. However, I find Handbrake has more options and runs a little faster. That's my opinion, others really like it. I suggest you check both out for yourself and see which you like better.
7.) If you rip to ISO, just know now that your PC software such as Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11 will not read them unless you "mount" them first. I use SlySoft's VirtualCloneDrive for this. It's free and work's great. You simply right click on the file and "mount" it. BTW, if you don't know what it means to "mount" your file it basically means to trick your PC into thinking that it has another media drive. Then your software will read it like it reads an actual BD. You'll see what I mean when you rip your ISO and try to play it.
8.) After ripping the ISOs and getting them onto my NAS, I'm using Zappiti as my video jukebox on my Dune. It's pretty awesome, but you need to have a Dune player.
Anyways, I hope these threads will be useful to others.