Blu-Ray Ripping and Encoding Questions

[DesiPower]

This article might have some bearing on your decision, esp regarding DVDFab. Just saw it today.

http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-court-orders-seizure-dvdfab-domain-names-funds-140310/

They are still up and running on other domains, even giving 25% "spring" discount

 

[rbk123]

I would assume they'll also go after AnyDVD sometime as well.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I would assume they'll also go after AnyDVD sometime as well.

Already happened:

http://www.antiguaobserver.com/30k-fine-for-first-conviction-under-copyright-act/

Luckily it looks like they just want a cut.

 

[Tegeril]

I've definitely considered buying AnyDVD HD in the past. The only thing that makes me a bit sheepish is the rather high cost. Even with their 20%-off promo that they're running right now, it's $130!

How do you figure? It's 63 euros ($87). [Edit]: Holy crap my grandfathered unlimited is amazing. I'd never noticed how steep it became for that.

I've ripped nearly 400 HDDVDs (ha, god, 2007) and Blu-rays with AnyDVD HD and there has not been a disc that has not already been handled by them either with a software update or an online database request that pulls down relevant info by the time I got to it.

It's, as far as I'm concerned, the only option.

 

[DesiPower]

Does anydvd clone entire Blu-ray disks to iso or similar single file?

 

[Rio Rebel]

Does anydvd clone entire Blu-ray disks to iso or similar single file?

I did for a long time. But I started wanting to stream movies using Plex to my raspberry pi and tablet and phone, and that required me to convert them to mkv.

Once I started converting them using Makemkv, I soon found that I could save quite a bit of space even at full bitrate, just by dropping off extras and such. Also, reading an mkv seems to be easier for some devices than reading an iso.

 

[Golgatha]

I use AnyDVD HD for Bluray rips. I also use IMG Burn to make ISO images out of any ripped discs. From there you can use the transcoding software of your choice.

 

[lupi]

On a related issue, how difficult is it to rip a BR disc and get a file size small enough sso you can burn it to a dvd for use in a dvd player?

 

[SlitheryDee]

On a related issue, how difficult is it to rip a BR disc and get a file size small enough sso you can burn it to a dvd for use in a dvd player?

That's something I'm not too sure about. Handbrake already is able to encode my blu ray rips to a size that would fit on a dvd, and it's very quick and easy to use. If imgburn or similar dvd burning software will accept the handbrake encoded files as the video track for a video dvd it could be as simple as makemkv/anydvd/dvdfab --> handbrake --> imgburn/nero/etc. --> done. I'm not sure if what you're getting out of handbrake would be recognized by a dvd player though. It may need additional conversion to work.

Something like DVD shrink might do it, but I think DVDshrink is mostly for taking dual layer dvds and shrinking them down to single layer dvd size. At least that's what I used it for years ago. I'm not sure that dvdshrink can even handle blu ray video and convert it to something that a dvd player would recognize. If it is capable of that, I know for a fact that dvdshrink is VERY streamlined.

I'm seeing mention of something called BDrebuilder that appears to have the capability to convert blu-ray to DVD with menus and everything intact. You need separate software to rip the blu ray and then something like imgburn to burn the final disk image with it though.

 

[poofyhairguy]

On a related issue, how difficult is it to rip a BR disc and get a file size small enough sso you can burn it to a dvd for use in a dvd player?

I have to ask: Why?

 

[Automaticman]

My personal issue with the cost of decryption and/or player software is that they are more expensive that just buying a bluray player. Since all I ever wanted to do was be able to watch blurays when I bought my drive years back, I ended up just buy a player a few month ago and being done with it.

I understand if your primary use case is ripping ( I rip all of my DVDs, but prefer to just watch BR at full bit rate with HD audio) and you need AnyDVD (which I was using to allow BR playback in MPC-HC), but why would I pay $90 for Arcsoft TMT just to watch a movie when I can get a decent player for less?

I tried DVDFab's free Passkey Lite, but it was just so limited as to what it could play.

 

[Aikouka]

Hmm still trying to figure out what's up with VC-1. I recently ripped all three Back to the Future movies, and I noticed that the first two are VC-1 and the last is MPEG4. I was able to encode the first and third without any problems, but for some reason, Handbrake kept failing after a little over an hour into the second movie.

Although, now I'm wondering if it could just be an issue with the nightly build that I'm using. I never remember to update it, and the nightly is required for QuickSync.

I have to ask: Why?

I'm not 100% sure of his intent, but either he wants to turn a Blu-ray into a DVD or turn a Blu-ray into a ~4.2GB MP4 that the DVD player is also capable of playing. Although, I don't know too many DVD players that can do the latter since DVDs are encoded using MPEG2, and hence, there's very little reason to include MPEG4-specific hardware on a DVD player.

But ultimately, it shouldn't be difficult. Once the Blu-ray is ripped, it's really just another media source that almost any media creation tool should be able to handle. Whether that media creation tool can encode to suit your purpose (i.e. one of the two mentioned above), that's a different story.

My personal issue with the cost of decryption and/or player software is that they are more expensive that just buying a bluray player. Since all I ever wanted to do was be able to watch blurays when I bought my drive years back, I ended up just buy a player a few month ago and being done with it.

Well, the thing is that you can get cheaper Blu-ray playback software, and a lot of the non-OEM drives do come with that software. The problem is that any knowledgeable person on this forum will tell you that the software really isn't that good. It only supports 2.0 audio (regardless of the disc's content) and lacks support for things like 3D (regardless of your setup). However, you can use the cheap version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD as a cheaper way to upgrade to the full-on Ultra version, which supports everything.

Also, I usually just recommend waiting for them to go on sale. I bought Arcsoft's Total Media Theater when it was on sale for $50, and I've seen PowerDVD at that price or cheaper.

I understand if your primary use case is ripping ( I rip all of my DVDs, but prefer to just watch BR at full bit rate with HD audio) and you need AnyDVD (which I was using to allow BR playback in MPC-HC), but why would I pay $90 for Arcsoft TMT just to watch a movie when I can get a decent player for less?

I'm somewhat just addicted to the awesome nature of a networked media system. It's great that I can access it on any TV in my home or modestly-powerful mobile device with very little effort. I'll admit... one time I wanted to watch Back to the Future, which I own, and instead of walking downstairs to get the disc, I just "acquired" it instead. Yeah, my digital copies aren't as good as the original, but in a lot of cases, I don't even notice the difference.

 

[Automaticman]

Well, the thing is that you can get cheaper Blu-ray playback software, and a lot of the non-OEM drives do come with that software. The problem is that any knowledgeable person on this forum will tell you that the software really isn't that good. It only supports 2.0 audio (regardless of the disc's content) and lacks support for things like 3D (regardless of your setup). However, you can use the cheap version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD as a cheaper way to upgrade to the full-on Ultra version, which supports everything.

Also, I usually just recommend waiting for them to go on sale. I bought Arcsoft's Total Media Theater when it was on sale for $50, and I've seen PowerDVD at that price or cheaper.

Yeah, my bluray drive came with a crappy copy of power dvd, and the HDAV Slim HDMI soundcard I was using came with a better version of TMT - but they stopped supporting it. Movies started getting all choppy when I tried to play them with the oem TMT.

I was happy once I switched to using HDMI audio straight from my GPU to my receiver via MPC-HC. Quality was great and I didn't have to sit through any menus or ads, but I had to fool with AnyDVD all of the time ( I was using a trial).

I still use my HTPC for everything else, including DVD rips. But it's nice being able to sit down to watch a bluray with my wife and know it's going to work.

 

[lupi]

I have to ask: Why?

to play in portable dvd player.

 

[Kerry56]

@lupi

Its not hard to convert Blu-ray to DVD-video using BD Rebuilder. It just takes time to re-encode it.

BD Rebuilder is free to use, but doesn't include a decrypter, so you'd have to rip to the hard drive first or use Passkey or AnyDVD HD in the background. Personally, I recommend ripping the entire thing to the hard drive first.

Here is a guide for BD Rebuilder: http://club.myce.com/f32/bd-rebuilder-guide-313227/

To specifically go to DVD-video, you'll need to select Alternate movie only output in Mode and select the size of the DVD you want to use, either DVD-5 for a single layer dvd or DVD-9 for a double layer. If you happen to live in a country that uses PAL standards for DVD's, you'd also need to select that in Settings-->Setup.