Playing ripped DVD from hard drive

[Golgatha]

Yep, it works. Looked like it wasn't but after the musical accompaniment that goes with the main menu played out, the > finally appeared next to an item in the menu, and I could use the mouse or up/down keys to choose an item and press Enter. Boy, VLC is loaded with menus, etc. etc.

VLC is the Swiss Army knife of AV playback for sure. I also didn't know about the direct playback of ISO files. Too bad there isn't any Blu-ray support. I'd pay good money to be able to directly playback those monster ISO files without having to mount the images, run AnyDVD HD, and reset the audio settings each time. PowerDVD is just slow, clunky, and I have to rename the registration (not product activation, I have a license for this software folks) files or else they constantly pop up (even if you actually try and register with them oddly enough) when I launch the software. I wouldn't even consider them if they had some real competition for Blu-ray playback, since they are continually removing features considered to be friendly to "pirates" like direct VOB file playback, playback from virtual drives, etc.

 

[Throckmorton]

Use SMPlayer. It's better than VLC

http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/

 

[lxskllr]

Use SMPlayer. It's better than VLC

http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/

Why is it better?

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

The only two problems I've had with VLC are syncing of audio and video on clips- usually flash formats, and playback navigation with a broken or incomplete index. Using splayer or kmplayer for these few instances works well.

VLC is also great for converting and transcoding of files too- though the gui for these tasks is a bit lacking.

 

[MStele]

I'd like to hijack this thread for a second. What is the ideal format to keep the files in if your planning on storing them on a WHS for streaming purposes? Until recently I've always just converted them to .mp4 for mobile use but now i'm in the process of populating my media server, but I don't want to waste time keeping a format that isn't ideal. Currently, I'm keeping them in their native vob file structure format, but I plan on buying a set-top media extender or putting together a media center PC that will stream them. In this environment, should I go with VOB or ISO?

Earlier in this thread I mentioned using VOB2MPG, and this works great (for the most part) and preserves the original compression, but then I lose menus as well as have potential time problems with some videos.

 

[abaez]

For me, DVD iso's are almost universally supported and oftentimes can be read right from the ISO without even being mounted (with certain programs/hardware like WDTV Live). I use DVDShrink to create an ISO of just the movie only. If I want to see the extras I'll pull out the disc. I've never even bothered with VOB.

For BR's and HDDVD, iso's don't work as well and lots of software and hardware doesn't play it even mounted. (Getting Win7 to autoplay HDDVD is a pain.) I've gone with MKV for this. I've turned to MakeMKV for movies with no subtitles (forced or otherwise), so I can have an uncompressed MKV of the movie only. Takes anywhere from 15-25g per movie. For movies with subtitles, it's a longer process, but in the end you get the same thing - an uncompressed MKV file with your subs.

 

[Modelworks]

There is a somewhat new standard that is making its way into the home media market called DLNA. The idea is to make media universally playable on any media device without bothering with codecs and file formats that are supported. It works with a media server that reads files off the hard disk and streams them to the device. Win7 has a built in media server and I think WMP12 for XP does as well. Look under streaming in help for the OS you are using.

ISO though is not a format that is supported, it will play on the pc but if you add something like a networked media player it may not play. MKV is supported though and that means if you go ahead and start using it now that in the future you will not have to change the format on what you want to play.

The correct setup for MKV and DLNA is it must be a Mpeg2, Mpeg 4 or H.264 file, subtitles allowed, and can contain no more than 2 audio tracks.

 

[MStele]

Thanks for the info. The reason I am going through this process is because i'm sure as time passes dvd support will wane and eventually (albeit a long time from now) my physical media will likely be incompatible with future technology (i.e. players). My thought is that if I preserve them digitally, then odds are much greater that I will be have access to them even after the last dvd player is produced. Also, storing them digitally makes them more portable since I'll have the ability to reencode them to whatever future codecs might become standard.

That being said, my goal is to to maximize compatibility with minimal loss of quality. I've read that ISO support is going away due to liabity concerns due to piracy, and that native VOB support is in much the same boat, at least when considering long term use. I have taken in interest in HP mediasmart servers, because they have integrated vob -> Mp4 h.264 converters. Does anyone have any experience with these? Also, I have seen MKV around recently. How is it in comparison to h.264 in terms of quality?

Thanks for any information that comes my way.

 

[Kirby]

mkv is a container

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska

 

[MStele]

mkv is a container

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska

Ah ok. So it works in the same fashion as AVI. The player still needs the proper codecs for the compression.

 

[Muse]

Definitely rip it to an iso, not the "hard drive folder" or whatever it's called. I use DVDshrink. And then get to know VLC, it'll play anything you can throw at it...including ISOs. Now if you don't want large ISO files taking up your hdd, convert using Handbrake.

Ah, I just came back to this thread. I just downloaded a couple of large .iso files, 700+MB and 1.1GB. I also just installed the latest version of VLC. I did a file open from VLC, opening one of the .iso files but nothing happens whatsoever. It's as if I didn't open the file in the first place. When I press "Play" nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?