Mr Bojangles, thanks for all the info!
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Originally Posted by Bojangles139 /forum/post/16987531
DVD Shrink is a good program. make sure your not actually shrinking the dvd though. most dvd's will come on dvd9 (dual layer dvd that holds 8.5g) and i believe the default setting for shrink is to resize the dvd so it can be burned to a dvd5 (single layer that holds 4g). if you shrink the dvd, you lose picture quality. it can also do blu-ray dics.
I did use compression on the disc I ripped last night just trying it out, but I will turn it off for future rips. Good to know it works for BD too!
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i actually prefer DVDfab. it is trailware w/out a time limit (i've been using it for a year now). you get limited function out of the free download but all you lose is resizing options (can't rip to ipod format/size, etc). it will let you rip to dvd9 or dvd5. but the kicker is it will let you remove fbi warnings and will load the main menu first instead of going thru preview crap.
Getting rid of the FBI warning would be great! I'll check out DVDfab too. Thanks for the recommendation!
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for your network problem, if you can see the file, i doubt its a firewall issue. if it was, you won't be able to see anything but the comptuer (when you double click on the computer in the network window, it won't let you see the folders/files). i'm not 100% on that though.
i would say maybe it was a bad rip and try again?
The rip played fine on the server (In Vista Media Center), just not on the client using VLC. Maybe I'll try to see if VLC can play it on the server.
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for you htpc setup:
do you have codec's installed? if not, you can get k-lite codec pack, shark007, CCC codec pack or a few others. i've always liked k-lite and many people swear by shark007. if you haven't, install those on the htpc.
I have not installed any codecs (didn't know I needed them
). I'll look into the ones you mentioned.
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next, do you use media center? or do you just open them from the folder? i'd suggest using media center, its fairly intuitive on how to use and setup. it will scan folders you point it to for video/dvd's. it will read folder type dvd's (Video_TS) and ISO (images of a dvd) as well as .avi/mpg/etc file extensions. it can also be used over networks.
I use media center on the server (actually just used it for the first time last night). It was pretty nice, fairly easy to use as well. I had to do the registry edit to get it to play folder type DVDs, but it played the rip just fine last night.
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mediabrowser goes on the htpc. it is a plugin that makes media center look nicer. it will display movie posters, backdrops, movie actor/directors and a description of the movie. its a little involved to setup to how you like it, but well worth it.
I have seen some nice stuff about mediabrowser, but thought it was for the local machine only. If I keep the files on my server and use the HTPC to play those files, will mediabrowser work for that?
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meta is a program that will automatically download all the information and poster/backdrops needed for mediabrowser. this can be installed on either htpc or server (can work across a network). it will write xml files that contain all the information into the dvd's folder which mediabrowser will then read and display. it will also save the posters in the same place. it can also do all the same stuff for tv shows that you have saved.
If I go with mediabrowser I will definitely get metabrowser.
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anydvd hd is really only needed if you want to watch blu-ray discs when you do not have HDCP compliant hardware. it can remove the AACC (encryption) on the fly. you can put a bd in, it will remove the encryption and you can watch it on any tv with any hardware. if you have hdcp compliant hardware, its not that useful. you can rib bd with DVDfab as well w/out paying 80 bux for it. there are other uses for anydvd hd, but i don't think you will need them yet.
Right now I think my graphics would not be HDCP compliant, but not sure, need to double check. But if I get this going I will need to upgrade the GPU anyway so not that big of a deal. I'll iron out the DVD stuff first, then move into Blu-ray. At that point it doesn't look like I'll need AnyDVD after all! Sweet!
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the athlon single core you mentioned should be plenty for watching dvd's. i don't think it will handle hd/bd stuff though. i use an athlon 2x 4200 (2.2ghz) in my htpc and its at 100% usage when watching bd material and can struggle at times. the i7 will be great if you ever need to transcode something, but for its purpose of a server, it will do little to no actual work. all the video processing will happen on the htpc. IF you used and extender, then the processing would happen on the i7.
Thanks for the comparison. I knew it might be a stretch for the single core machine to do bd stuff. What is an extender? If it would save me from having to get a new PC for now, I might go that route and use the i7 to do the processing.
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10/100 network will be fine for dvd stuff. wireless is also good enough. if you want to watch bd over network, then you will need a giga network.
I can pick up a gigabit switch and integrate that easily. Both machines have gigabit cards so the switch is all I am lacking.
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i'd say play around with media center, get a feel for it. its function is more or less the same in xp and win7 and mediabrowser works for both (but remember, it needs net framework 3.5 to work on either OS. for win7, i had to download a SDK 2.2g iso to install).
Well that is the one problem I have. My version of XP has no media center (XP Pro SP2). So I would need to upgrade that machine to Win7 (or Vista) in order to have media center correct?
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EDIT: as for MyMovies, i prefer mediabrowser cause you don't need the whole server/client setup. granted, you still need meta to gather all the data for movies and take full use of MB. i just found MM to have a steeper learning curve then MB + metabrowser.
Again, does mediabrowser/metabrowser work over a network?
