jasonmcroy 315 Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Hi guys, I hope some of you that have experience with this can help me make a decision. I am debating whether or not I want to convert some recorded TV Shows that I keep back episodes of and some Bluray rips that are huge in size. My TV Shows are in .ts format and the Blurays are in mkv. I am wondering if I should move them into an MP4 container or some other container or does it even matter what container? Is there anyone doing this? What do you convert to and why? NOTE: Please don't add any comments about Hard Drives being so cheap why convert the files to make them smaller - I am already aware of that and I have enough Hard Drive space and isn't the only thing I am trying to solve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legallink 187 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I have converted some and not others. My main reasoning for conversion was to reduce transcode requirements and increase speed of playback. On the whole, I'm mixed on whether it is/was worth it and whether I would continue. My blu rays/dvds are in mkv as well, and on the whole, I think I prefer it, just from a forward looking perspective, as there is some reduction in quality with the MP4's, but it is only noticeable on large screens or very close viewing. For the most part, it is indiscernible. It does make some things a lot more portable, and if you are planning on using the sync feature, it could very well be worth it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathsquirrel 741 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) I generally convert my rips to mp4 with the best built-in audio track plus an aac copy of the same. I use mkv when the hd audio is pcm or truehd as I can't embed those in an mp4 with the tool I'm using. On dvd the conversion to h264 with my settings generally cuts the file size in half. With bluray the final product is 5-15gb, depending on the quality of the source. I think it's worth the time, especially as the resulting files are widely compatible and eliminate the need for most transcoding. I save space on my server and experience no tradeoffs as I'm using settings where I can't tell the difference between the original rip and my final copy under my viewing conditions. If the viewing conditions change I can always rerip. Edited January 16, 2016 by Deathsquirrel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonmcroy 315 Posted January 16, 2016 Author Share Posted January 16, 2016 Thanks for the responses so far. It does give me some things to think with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I always tell people to go with: mkv to mp4 with supported video codec (libx264,h264,h.264,AVC, avc,mpeg4,msmpeg4,MPEG-4) and first audio track being aac stereo, set as default; second track ac3 6 channels. Should direct play in any device that I can think of. That way you don't have to spend big bucks in buying a biffy server to transcode on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestrat13 33 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I tend to keep my movies in lossless mkv files, since I notice a lot more detail in the cinematography of movies due to high production budgets, and losses audio is something to behold My tv shows i care less and tend to compress to .mp4 to save space. But some stuff is still lossless. Currently I'm considering using folder sync to pre transcode my whole library to something that is VERY playable on all devices. That way, clients who can play the native mkv files (like ET) will, but my phone and Roku can direct stream the mp4. Then, when better compression is available, I can re-transcode the mkv's to the latest and greatest format (h265 for example). Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I tend to keep my movies in lossless mkv files, since I notice a lot more detail in the cinematography of movies due to high production budgets, and losses audio is something to behold My tv shows i care less and tend to compress to .mp4 to save space. But some stuff is still lossless. Currently I'm considering using folder sync to pre transcode my whole library to something that is VERY playable on all devices. That way, clients who can play the native mkv files (like ET) will, but my phone and Roku can direct stream the mp4. Then, when better compression is available, I can re-transcode the mkv's to the latest and greatest format (h265 for example). Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Make sense. Sounds like you'll need storage to keep both copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestrat13 33 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 (edited) Make sense. Sounds like you'll need storage to keep both copies.If I cleaned up some stuff on the server, I could probably fit the compressed files on my second storage drive. I know the "hard drives are cheap" argument is off limits here, but for about $160 I can add 4 TB of storage and not worry about anything. It's more that it's a ton of cpu time on a pc with a lowly dual core i5 650 From what I've seen, keeping the transcoded file only requires about 33% more disk space. So with a library under 3TB of lossless files, I only need to find an old 1TB drive. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Edited January 16, 2016 by whitestrat13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 If I cleaned up some stuff on the server, I could probably fit the compressed files on my second storage drive. I know the "hard drives are cheap" argument is off limits here, but for about $160 I can add 4 TB of storage and not worry about anything. It's more that it's a ton of cpu time on a pc with a lowly dual core i5 650 From what I've seen, keeping the transcoded file only requires about 33% more disk space. So with a library under 3TB of lossless files, I only need to find an old 1TB drive. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk I understand. I am very happy with my setup. i save a ton of space when transcoding the files because I remove a lot of junk like extra tracks and subtitles. I save on storage there. currently I am running out of storage. I have 500gb left out of 8TB. I need to get another WD 3TB red drive which is runs for about $109 on amazon. Storage is so much cheaper these days. When I brought the first three to start my raid, on drive was 200 bucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestrat13 33 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 I understand. I am very happy with my setup. i save a ton of space when transcoding the files because I remove a lot of junk like extra tracks and subtitles. I save on storage there. currently I am running out of storage. I have 500gb left out of 8TB. I need to get another WD 3TB red drive which is runs for about $109 on amazon. Storage is so much cheaper these days. When I brought the first three to start my raid, on drive was 200 bucksI hear you there. I only keep the high bit rate audio, the English subtitle track, and the main video track. This removes about 15-20 GB per Blu-Ray. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonmcroy 315 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 I have spent some time today learning about the various settings in Handbrake to see what may work best for me. What program do you guys use to convert your files? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I use mediainfo to see what is in the container. XMedia Record to transcode. If it's a downloaded file, I have nzbtomedia to transcode on the fly after the download is complete and right before post-processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianW 1052 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I use MeGUI - it's a great tool, has a bit of a learning curve but I can get great quality encodes out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlDag 25 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Hello guys, I'm new to Emby (used to Plex) and just discovered this sync option... contrary to Plex's Cloud Sync, where you have to educate your users to always use the Cloud sync server itself (will not happen), I love that Emby will automatically choose the most appropriate file/source. That said, I have a few files that are multilanguage (my first language is french). In the Cloud Sync/Folder sync options, do you get options to keep more than 1 language? Also, do you get to choose the format of the audio track you want or is it all presets (probably 2 channel AAC and 5.1 AC3)? TL;DR, do you get audio options for your sync jobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilky13 21 Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) I converted everything (movies and tv) to MP4 for more usability with Apple devices. All my MP4 have 3 streams: 1) h.264 video, 2) 2-ch AAC audio, 3) 6-ch ac3 audio. (Oh, and some have a 4th 6-Ch DTS track) All files play great on my HTPC, MacBook Pro, hackintosh, iPods and iPads, and Xbox 360 extenders! However, I bought a Ceton Echo this weekend to see if I can use it (lower power, smaller, etc) instead of the 360 as an extender and my mp4's (and mkv's) play audio but no video (doing some research, but I see other people have had the same issues with echos). 2 steps forward, 1 step back! Edited January 23, 2016 by Wilky13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I converted everything (movies and tv) to MP4 for more usability with Apple devices. All my MP4 have 3 streams: 1) h.264 video, 2) 2-ch AAC audio, 3) 6-ch ac3 audio. (Oh, and some have a 4th 6-Ch DTS track) All files play great on my HTPC, MacBook Pro, hackintosh, iPods and iPads, and Xbox 360 extenders! However, I bought a Ceton Echo this weekend to see if I can use it (lower power, smaller, etc) instead of the 360 as an extender and my mp4's (and mkv's) play audio but no video (doing some research, but I see other people have had the same issues with echos). 2 steps forward, 1 step back! Yeah these things are crap. Excuse my language. I spent awfully a lot of times trying to get them to work with emby and just like everyone else before me, eventually I gave up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilky13 21 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I got mp4's to play by re-enabling windows media foundation for mp4's on my HTPC, but mkv's still have the same problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I got mp4's to play by re-enabling windows media foundation for mp4's on my HTPC, but mkv's still have the same problem. What did you set it to? This could be the solution to the problem. I think the way microsoft did xbox media center extender is not the same as the way the other third party vendors did it. From what I understand, Xbox splits the audio and video whereas ceton echo ro x281n device does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilky13 21 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 What did you set it to? This could be the solution to the problem. I think the way microsoft did xbox media center extender is not the same as the way the other third party vendors did it. From what I understand, Xbox splits the audio and video whereas ceton echo ro x281n device does not. I only run LAV on my HTPC, no other codecs to screw up registry and file association. In order to force the HTPC to use LAV Splitter on MP4, I had to use Win7DSFilterTweaker to un-associate MP4's with Windows default splitter. This allowed LAV Spliter to bitstream the multichannel AC3 instead of outputting stereo. Unfortunately, this made MP4's on the Echo play audio but no video, assuming because LAV video doesn't work on the Echo. So, I unchecked MP4 in Win7DSFilterTweaker in order to associate them back to Windows default splitter instead of LAV Splitter. Bam, they play fine on the Echo now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) I only run LAV on my HTPC, no other codecs to screw up registry and file association. In order to force the HTPC to use LAV Splitter on MP4, I had to use Win7DSFilterTweaker to un-associate MP4's with Windows default splitter. This allowed LAV Spliter to bitstream the multichannel AC3 instead of outputting stereo. Unfortunately, this made MP4's on the Echo play audio but no video, assuming because LAV video doesn't work on the Echo. So, I unchecked MP4 in Win7DSFilterTweaker in order to associate them back to Windows default splitter instead of LAV Splitter. Bam, they play fine on the Echo now. Wait, what? lol I am lost. I know and used to use both Lav splitter and Win7DSFilterTweaker. I stopped using my HTPC as a whole since I got tired of not being able to get a device as an extender that can do both live tv, emby, and netflix. I upgraded that bastard to windows 10. Now if you are saying it's doable I would like to give it a try. Edited February 6, 2016 by breezytm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilky13 21 Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Wait, what? lol I am lost. I know and used to use both Lav splitter and Win7DSFilterTweaker. I stopped using my HTPC as a whole since I got tired of not being able to get a device as an extender that can do both live tv, emby, and netflix. I upgraded that bastard to windows 10. Now if you are saying it's doable I would like to give it a try. I can watch live TV and watch MP4s through both Emby and RecordedTVHD on the Ceton Echo. MKVs still don't play video on the Echo, though. No Netflix, will have to stick to an Xbox 360 as an extender for that (plus MKVs play fine on my Xbox extender as well). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breezytm 124 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I can watch live TV and watch MP4s through both Emby and RecordedTVHD on the Ceton Echo. MKVs still don't play video on the Echo, though. No Netflix, will have to stick to an Xbox 360 as an extender for that (plus MKVs play fine on my Xbox extender as well). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I get that. What I was asking for is the details on you managed to accomplish it. I read what you wrote before but didn't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian78 3 Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I’m new to emby I have convert on my media but emby is showing duplicate movie files (the original movie and 5e new mp4) I thought only one version would show and the emby client would play the most compatible version? Am I wrong or doing something wrong? I don’t see any guides about converting just sync Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37022 Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 I’m new to emby I have convert on my media but emby is showing duplicate movie files (the original movie and 5e new mp4) I thought only one version would show and the emby client would play the most compatible version? Am I wrong or doing something wrong? I don’t see any guides about converting just sync hi @@ian78, I will answer this here: https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/64921-convert-media/&do=findComment&comment=673142 Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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