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Creating stripped down Blu-Ray movie from Slysoft

post #1 of 21
12/9/08 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 
I was looking into adding Blu-Ray to my soon to be finished HTPC in an attempt to have all of my movies accessable via media center. But after reading JiffOrange's post I realize I am out of my element. (The post is excellent, the failure is my own) While some of the post made sense to me, a lot of it did not. I pretty much resolved myself to backing up my current dvd collection and continuing to buy dvds instead of their blu-ray conterpart until an easier method surfaces.

I have seen some posts on Slysofts forum (Any DVD - HD Faq) that seem to be less steps but either I am missing something (very probable) or JiffOrange's method provides a beneifts over the methods listed below. IF anyone could take a minute and help shed some light on the differences I would appreciate it.

"How do I create a stripped-down Blu-ray movie?"

http://forum.slysoft.com/showpost.ph...81&postcount=1

"How Do I Shrink Blu-ray Rips on my Hard Drive?"

http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=11770

I should add the the ideal finished product would be the movie with 5.1 audio. In most cases I do not care about subtitles and I do not want previews, extra content etc... as I can always go to the original disk.

Thanks,
Bryan
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post #2 of 21
12/9/08 at 1:53pm
use the first link. the second one is outdated.
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post #3 of 21
12/9/08 at 3:55pm
read this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ghlight=bdinfo
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post #4 of 21
12/9/08 at 4:44pm
I just use RipBot to create a mkv out of my hd/blu's - comparing the output file size to the original and then looking at the quality between the 2 is amazing. I'll post 2 screenies that I personally took to validate this...

http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-raw.jpg
http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-mkv.jpg

Original file was well over 25GB... the outputted mkv is only 8.3GB and this is full 1080p resolution. Take the screenies into Photoshop and overlay them if you want to see the exact differences... but I can tell you it's so ridiculously small of a difference it's amazing.

Easy process too... either do it directly from the Blu or copy the Blu to your hard drive first... load up and install ripbot, eac3to, and haali and follow ripbots instructions for setting up with the other proggies. Load up your first blu you want to rip... locate the feature m2ts file. Let RipBot demux for 40min. come back and choose your quality options (I do either max bitrate I can choose or 8-9GB file size which is close to the same) and I always keep my audio raw if I have the option otherwise I choose the best available thing.

Come back 6-18hours later depending on your computer's speed and BOOM you have a nice small mkv that looks ridiculously close the original movie and doesn't waste your hard drive space.

It is extraordinarily easy to do with the RipBot GUI and will take you 15 min. before you'll be ripping/encoding your first movie. Full guide here with lots of questions and answers if you have any - http://forum.videohelp.com/topic358185.html . No need to learn command line or learn multiple programs etc... simple easy process for anyone that doesn't have a lot of time to futz around with this stuff.
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post #5 of 21
12/9/08 at 4:50pm
Go back and re-read Jiff Orange's guide. I thought the same as you, overwhelming. But you can ignore all the stuff related to recompressing to 720P and adding subtitles. All you need to do is read the first post. It refers to HD-DVD as an example but works perfectly for Blu-Ray.

Really all you need to do is execute eac3to to create an MKV video and FLAC audio file from the TrueHD track, then use MKVmerge to combine the two together. The only trick is you need some codecs like madFLAC to play the video in TotalMedia Theatre, and you need the Arcsoft hi-def audio decoders to get the audio to turn in to FLAC. I have Vista x64 and found I had to copy the Arcsoft codecs into the eac3to directory to get it to find them.

You end up with the original-quality BD movie without all the extras, typically 20 GB or so instead of 30 - 40 GB.
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post #6 of 21
12/9/08 at 4:52pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you both, I guess all there is to do is buy the drive, get the software and start trying. This is streamlined enough that I will give it a whirl.

Thanks again for the help

-Bryan
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post #7 of 21
12/9/08 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Granger View Post

Thank you both, I guess all there is to do is buy the drive, get the software and start trying. This is streamlined enough that I will give it a whirl.

Thanks again for the help

-Bryan

If you have trouble just post in Jiff's thread. Run 'eac3to - test' to see what it thinks is missing. Note: you don't need every last codec it lists. PM me when you're ready and I'll post the output from eac3to -test showing what is necessary.
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post #8 of 21
12/9/08 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed View Post

If you have trouble just post in Jiff's thread. Run 'eac3to - test' to see what it thinks is missing. Note: you don't need every last codec it lists. PM me when you're ready and I'll post the output from eac3to -test showing what is necessary.

Thank you! Some of this gear is my Christmas gift from my overly understanding wife, so it should be sometime after the 25th.
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post #9 of 21
12/9/08 at 6:11pm
Can .mkv be played on ps3 or do I have to convert to .mp4? Is the audio in .mk4 dolby digital 5.1 or uncompressed? Thanks for the info!
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post #10 of 21
12/9/08 at 7:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Granger View Post

Thank you! Some of this gear is my Christmas gift from my overly understanding wife, so it should be sometime after the 25th.

Also please note that the eac3to method has the important advantage of providing a file with a standard (FLAC) audio format that DOES NOT DOWNSAMPLE to a lower resolution when played.

This is the only way to get 24-bit audio to play from Blu-ray on a PC without buying the not-yet-working Xonar HDAV soundcard.

If you have a good sound system it is worth it!!
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post #11 of 21
12/10/08 at 6:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed View Post

Also please note that the eac3to method has the important advantage of providing a file with a standard (FLAC) audio format that DOES NOT DOWNSAMPLE to a lower resolution when played.

This is the only way to get 24-bit audio to play from Blu-ray on a PC without buying the not-yet-working Xonar HDAV soundcard.

If you have a good sound system it is worth it!!

I think the Xonar card is working now, at least for bitstreaming the audio to the receiver.

For converting the audio in this method to FLAC audio, you still need a audio/video card that can output multichannel LPCM over HDMI, correct? Basically, my ATI 3850 won't cut it?

EDIT: I'm waiting on the Xonar card for bitstreaming, but I'd like to watch TDK with the best audio I can manage with my current system.
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post #12 of 21
12/10/08 at 8:41am
Hi All, I'm new to HTPC, but know my way around a little ;-)

Like the OP, I find the steps involved in ripping and resizing HD material a little daunting, but I'm somewhat adventurous and enjoy learning.

Right now I'm still using my analog 5.1 sound system; it sounds good to me and I can't afford to upgrade right now.

What is the right sound "type" for me to use when I encode my ripped BDs?

What should I consider using that will be acceptable should I upgrade my sound system in the future?

Can one solution work for both?

TIA,

Dave
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post #13 of 21
12/10/08 at 8:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdubbs23 View Post

For converting the audio in this method to FLAC audio, you still need a audio/video card that can output multichannel LPCM over HDMI, correct? Basically, my ATI 3850 won't cut it?

LPCM would be the HDMI-based solution. Personally, I use my Xonar D2X analog outs, which have high-quality DACs and opamps driving them. It sounds great.

I lot of people on this board have the impression HDMI is the 'ultimate solution' because it is digital. The reality is both analog out and HDMI are digital AND analog. The difference is your DACs are in the receiver or in the soundcard. Unless your receiver is really high-end a good soundcard will often do a better digital-to-analog conversion. However, receivers may be a little friendlier on things like room correction.
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post #14 of 21
12/10/08 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed View Post

LPCM would be the HDMI-based solution. Personally, I use my Xonar D2X analog outs, which have high-quality DACs and opamps driving them. It sounds great.

I lot of people on this board have the impression HDMI is the 'ultimate solution' because it is digital. The reality is both analog out and HDMI are digital AND analog. The difference is your DACs are in the receiver or in the soundcard. Unless your receiver is really high-end a good soundcard will often do a better digital-to-analog conversion. However, receivers may be a little friendlier on things like room correction.

The biggest issue with using analog with my most receivers including my the Marantz I had was no bass management or processing of any type when using analog input. I now have Denon 2809 and all needed on the HTPC is <$90.00 ATI card which handling audio and video perfectly now. It's a much better solution compared to what I was doing before.
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post #15 of 21
12/10/08 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lstepnio View Post

The biggest issue with using analog with my most receivers including my the Marantz I had was no bass management or processing of any type when using analog input. I now have Denon 2809 and all needed on the HTPC is <$90.00 ATI card which handling audio and video perfectly now. It's a much better solution compared to what I was doing before.

I've heard that before. You must not have had a very good sound card. I have used Creative X-Fi EP and ASUS Xonar D2X. Both have bass management.

When using analog outputs the processing should be done digitally in the HTPC before the D/A conversion, not the amplifier/receiver, and should be kept to a minimum.

Now room correction and speaker distance stuff, from what I have heard, is not quite as user-friendly in the PC as in a receiver. But it does exist.

IMHO a good-quality sound system does not need a great deal of modification to the audio signal to sound good. Perhaps a crossover frequency adjustment for the subwoofer at the most.
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post #16 of 21
12/10/08 at 11:03am
My aproach has been to just wait. Eventually someone will come out with an easy to use (may be CloneDVD-HD) that will rip the main movie from BluRay. Unltill then I just rip the entire disc to hard drive. I can always rerip just the main movie from the hard drive copy if something easy comes along.

When you think about it you can buy a 1.5tb drive for $120.00. Average BluRay full rip is 36meg. So you can get 40 BluRay movies on a 1.5tb drive, thats $3.00 each. And you know eventually their will be an easy to use one button program to rip out just the movie like you can for DVD's, at that time make you files smaller.

Just my opinion, but at $120.00 each, I'll just keep adding drives.
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post #17 of 21
12/10/08 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mopar_Mudder View Post

My aproach has been to just wait. Eventually someone will come out with an easy to use (may be CloneDVD-HD) that will rip the main movie from BluRay. Unltill then I just rip the entire disc to hard drive. I can always rerip just the main movie from the hard drive copy if something easy comes along.

But that doesn't get you 24-bit audio.
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post #18 of 21
12/10/08 at 11:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lifespeed View Post

But that doesn't get you 24-bit audio.

Not at current time it doesn't no. But I think that also is not too far of in the future when we can bit stream HD audio. With a full rip it will be their when the hardware is ready to support it. For me it doesn't matter because I output to S/PDIF to my receiver for now. This coming year I think we will see alot of advance in HDMI audio, that is when I plan on getting a new prepro, we will have some options this summer I think.
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post #19 of 21
12/10/08 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mopar_Mudder View Post

My aproach has been to just wait. Eventually someone will come out with an easy to use (may be CloneDVD-HD) that will rip the main movie from BluRay

The only reason I can think of for waiting is not having the ability to output the FLAC audio. The current process takes about 2 entries in a command line and a few clicks of the mouse and 90 minutes to work; and voila! it does what you are after - rips the main movie and HD audio FLAC format.

It is not idiot proof, but it is so easy even I can do it.

Willie
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post #20 of 21
12/22/08 at 11:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by drealit View Post

I just use RipBot to create a mkv out of my hd/blu's - comparing the output file size to the original and then looking at the quality between the 2 is amazing. I'll post 2 screenies that I personally took to validate this...

http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-raw.jpg
http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-mkv.jpg

Original file was well over 25GB... the outputted mkv is only 8.3GB and this is full 1080p resolution. Take the screenies into Photoshop and overlay them if you want to see the exact differences... but I can tell you it's so ridiculously small of a difference it's amazing.

Easy process too... either do it directly from the Blu or copy the Blu to your hard drive first... load up and install ripbot, eac3to, and haali and follow ripbots instructions for setting up with the other proggies. Load up your first blu you want to rip... locate the feature m2ts file. Let RipBot demux for 40min. come back and choose your quality options (I do either max bitrate I can choose or 8-9GB file size which is close to the same) and I always keep my audio raw if I have the option otherwise I choose the best available thing.

Come back 6-18hours later depending on your computer's speed and BOOM you have a nice small mkv that looks ridiculously close the original movie and doesn't waste your hard drive space.

It is extraordinarily easy to do with the RipBot GUI and will take you 15 min. before you'll be ripping/encoding your first movie. Full guide here with lots of questions and answers if you have any - http://forum.videohelp.com/topic358185.html . No need to learn command line or learn multiple programs etc... simple easy process for anyone that doesn't have a lot of time to futz around with this stuff.


This worked very well and was VERY easy. End file was not as small as I would like, my ironman bd went from 30gb (movie and audio only) to 18GB MKV, but no realy quality difference and 11GB saved.

Thanks!
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post #21 of 21
12/22/08 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drealit View Post

I just use RipBot to create a mkv out of my hd/blu's - comparing the output file size to the original and then looking at the quality between the 2 is amazing. I'll post 2 screenies that I personally took to validate this...

http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-raw.jpg
http://www.charlesjorourke.com/hosting/new-mkv.jpg

Original file was well over 25GB... the outputted mkv is only 8.3GB and this is full 1080p resolution. Take the screenies into Photoshop and overlay them if you want to see the exact differences... but I can tell you it's so ridiculously small of a difference it's amazing.

Easy process too... either do it directly from the Blu or copy the Blu to your hard drive first... load up and install ripbot, eac3to, and haali and follow ripbots instructions for setting up with the other proggies. Load up your first blu you want to rip... locate the feature m2ts file. Let RipBot demux for 40min. come back and choose your quality options (I do either max bitrate I can choose or 8-9GB file size which is close to the same) and I always keep my audio raw if I have the option otherwise I choose the best available thing.

Come back 6-18hours later depending on your computer's speed and BOOM you have a nice small mkv that looks ridiculously close the original movie and doesn't waste your hard drive space.

It is extraordinarily easy to do with the RipBot GUI and will take you 15 min. before you'll be ripping/encoding your first movie. Full guide here with lots of questions and answers if you have any - http://forum.videohelp.com/topic358185.html . No need to learn command line or learn multiple programs etc... simple easy process for anyone that doesn't have a lot of time to futz around with this stuff.

Wow, the image comparison is impressive. Yeah, there is a bit less detail, but it's pretty damn subtle.

Out of curiosity, how does it hold up in motion? Are there more artifacts?
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