Re-encoding entire library.... Good idea?

[chef 3749]

Hi guys! I know emby had a really great transcoding engine!

 

I was thinking about re-encoding my entire library anyway, since most of my devices must deal with trancoded media. Nothing I own wants to play DTS audio natively (drives me nuts!).

 

Between using mkvmerge.exe and ffmpeg.exe and some command lines, I think it is possible to set up an automated app which will extract the DTS from my mkv's and then encode the DTS to AAC audio (which seems to be globally accepted by all my devices).

 

It is going to take a long while to do...

 

Any thoughts from the community, or anyone in the community who have experimented with re-encoding, who thinks this is either a good idea, or a compete waist of time?

[Deihmos 147]

I wouldn't convert DTS to AAC. Even the roku can bitstream dts and it does not take much to transcode the audio.

 

Which devices are you using? 

Edited July 19, 2015 by Deihmos

[chef 3749]

Xbox one and also chromecast.

 

When I researched aac and ac3, the conclusion was that aac had better bit streaming capabilities then ac3. Since I don't use any surround sound in my home, I thought this was a good choice...

[AdrianW 1053]

But, you may use surround in the future.

 

If you do go down this path, make sure to keep the original audio track as well - just in case.

Edited July 19, 2015 by AdrianW

[chef 3749]

Will the emby server try and locate the audio track that fits with the device?

 

If it does, then  I am thrilled!

 

Perhaps this is a question for @@Luke, or @@ebr.

Edited July 19, 2015 by chef

[chef 3749]

So I extracted a DTS audio from an MKV using ffmpeg.exe, that worked!

 

Then I put the AC3 audio back into the MKV, that worked!

 

I flagged the ac3 audio as the default audio track.

 

But, the server still trans-coded it to my xbox...

 

SO i think it has to do with the subtitle files inside the mkv.  Has to be.

[Xzener 729]

Recently converted my entire Bluray and DVD folder rip collection to MKV. Kept DTS, DTS-HD and TrueHD entact. Only the Windows 8.1 client chokes while attempting to transcode TrueHD.

[chef 3749]

@@Xzener what was your encoder of choice? Was it mkvmerge?

[Deihmos 147]

I am sure i read the chrome cast will playback ac3 and dts just fine. I just got an android tv and there is no transcoding with dts and ac3 tracks. It can even bit stream to my receiver.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Deihmos

[chef 3749]

I am sure i read the chrome cast will playback ac3 and dts just fine. I just got an android tv and there is no transcoding with dts and ac3 tracks. It can even bit stream to my receiver.

 

I'm thinking that my xbox one is slowly becoming the wrong choice for a front room client device. The lack of DTS codecs, is starting to really effect the out-come of my media watching.

[Deathsquirrel 741]

I'm thinking that my xbox one is slowly becoming the wrong choice for a front room client device. The lack of DTS codecs, is starting to really effect the out-come of my media watching.

 

Yeah, I really want it to be my playback device but I don't know if it is going to work acceptably.  I'm holding off on buying something else for video playback until we know what the windows 10 & universal apps updates will functionally mean.

 

I WANT my HD audio tracks.  I didn't stick them into my blu-ray rips on accident

[hamstercat 63]

The Xbox One can bitstream, so if your A/V receiver supports DTS it should be fine. Probably just need to adjust the DLNA profile to make sure it doesn't transcode it. If your A/V receiver doesn't support those, then changing client device is an alternative if you want to avoid transcoding.

[Deihmos 147]

Yeah, I really want it to be my playback device but I don't know if it is going to work acceptably.  I'm holding off on buying something else for video playback until we know what the windows 10 & universal apps updates will functionally mean.

 

I WANT my HD audio tracks.  I didn't stick them into my blu-ray rips on accident

 

You will need a PC connected directly to a receiver for HD audio tracks. 

[Xzener 729]

@@Xzener what was your encoder of choice? Was it mkvmerge?

I used MakeMKV.

[Deathsquirrel 741]

You will need a PC connected directly to a receiver for HD audio tracks. 

 

No, there are bitstreaming options like kodi on android.  I don't want to use that specific product, but the pc is not the only choice.  Windows 10 is adding new codec support and the bitstreaming options for the android tv client appear to potentially be expanding.  The xbox one may pick up new options with its windows 10 update as well.  We'll see.  The PC is leaving the family room.  Only remaining question is what takes its place.

[Deihmos 147]

No, there are bitstreaming options like kodi on android.  I don't want to use that specific product, but the pc is not the only choice.  Windows 10 is adding new codec support and the bitstreaming options for the android tv client appear to potentially be expanding.  The xbox one may pick up new options with its windows 10 update as well.  We'll see.  The PC is leaving the family room.  Only remaining question is what takes its place.

 

Kodi on Android does not bitstream HD audio or at least the Nexus Player cannot. There is no available setting like in the PC version of Kodi.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Deihmos

[Deathsquirrel 741]

Kodi on Android does not bitstream HD audio or at least the Nexus Player cannot. There is no available setting like in the PC version of Kodi.

 

I haven't tried it but I've read that it's possible.  If you've tried and it won't work I'll happily take your word since I really don't like the app in question.  Still, Nvidia says they may be offering a codec pack for the shield and I've seen EBR say that their could be support for other playback engines on the platform.  We'll see.  A PC as playback device has not worked out.  I'm actually upgrading the hardware and software as I type this and will move it out of here tonight.

[Deihmos 147]

I tried Emby on the nexus and everything was transcoding. On the Kodi wiki they said DTS-HD and True-HD isn't supported. Maybe that will change in the future who knows. Not sure what's not to like about Kodi especially with the emby plugin but everyone is different. 

 

It does not look like the Android built in player can do pass through audio. I can't get 5.1 audio in netflix. 

Edited July 20, 2015 by Deihmos

[Nologic 30]

If you are really looking at redoing stuff...maybe checkout VideoGain, not only will it convert to AAC, but it'll also set the default audio volume to be nearly the same on all the video's it does. This is generally more helpful with TV rather than Movies.

 

I'd suggest using Beta 13 rather than Beta 15, since 15 randomly locks up from time to time...which has me puzzled.

 

Note even Beta 13 the GUI will stop responding from time to time during encodes...ignore this, as it's still going...just the GUI is hung.

[chef 3749]

I spent the entire day yesterday attempting to encode one movie, with subtitles.

 

I ended up using ffmpeg with a command line to extract Dts to ac3 and then I used mkvmerge to fit it all back together.

 

In the end, although the file was encoded well, I still experienced transcoding to my Xbox one.

 

This means choppy playback.

 

I think it is time to look at another media box, perhaps some kind of android box.

 

I am frustrated with my Xbox one.

[ebr 14948]

I tried Emby on the nexus and everything was transcoding. On the Kodi wiki they said DTS-HD and True-HD isn't supported. Maybe that will change in the future who knows. Not sure what's not to like about Kodi especially with the emby plugin but everyone is different. 

 

It does not look like the Android built in player can do pass through audio. I can't get 5.1 audio in netflix. 

 

The version of the Emby ATV app in testing right now will eliminate transcoding for a lot of content (720p and below) and provide DD bitstreaming and DTS decoding of that same content on the true Android platform (Nexus, Shield, etc.).

 

The Fire TV, unfortunately, appears to be crippled by stereo only audio but the same no-transcoding playback will be possible in it as well.

[CBers 6780]

@@chef - I use Popcorn MKV AudioConvertor to convert DTS audio to AC3, but also retain the DTS track in the file.

My Sonos PlayBar doesn't accept DTS, but it does DD, so I keep the DTS as an additional track in case Sonos add DTS support, or I change my audio equipment.

 

Also, you can point this program at a folder and it will scan all videos within in.

 

.

Edited July 20, 2015 by CBers

[Karbowiak 27]

I use https://github.com/mdhiggins/sickbeard_mp4_automator

With proper setup and a find /path -name "*.mkv" -exec /pathto/manual.py -a -i {} \;
It will convert any mkv (or avi) file to mp4 with the original audio track + stereo AAC + subtitles etc. which can direct play in almost all browsers, and works just perfectly on every device i've tested it on.

It's still a h264 video stream, just it has the original audio track (dts, ac3, aac, mp3, whatever) plus a stereo aac audio track in an mp4 container

flexget script:
 

tasks:
  convert_tv_mkv:
    find:
      regexp: '.*\.(mkv)$'
      recursive: yes
      path:
        - /storage/TV Shows/
    accept_all: yes
    exec: /opt/sickbeard_mp4_automator/manual.py -a -i "{{location}}"

  convert_movies_mkv:
    find:
      regexp: '.*\.(mkv)$'
      recursive: yes
      path:
        - /pool/Movies/
    accept_all: yes
    exec: /opt/sickbeard_mp4_automator/manual.py -a -i "{{location}}"

  convert_tv_avi:
    find:
      regexp: '.*\.(avi)$'
      recursive: yes
      path:
        - /storage/TV Shows/
    accept_all: yes
    exec: /opt/sickbeard_mp4_automator/manual.py -a -i "{{location}}"

  convert_movies_avi:
    find:
      regexp: '.*\.(avi)$'
      recursive: yes
      path:
        - /pool/Movies/
    accept_all: yes
    exec: /opt/sickbeard_mp4_automator/manual.py -a -i "{{location}}"

Edited July 20, 2015 by Karbowiak

[chef 3749]

Instead of re-coding audio like I had origonally throught, I used ffmpeg and changed the bitrate of my ripped movies.

 

The lower bitrate seemed to help emby transcode faster, and stream across my network fater too.

 

The only issue is there are quite a few of my movies with high bitrates. I have written an automated app, which uses ffmpeg commandlines to encode movies at night when we are all sleeping, but it is going to be weeks before the 224 movies which have been found in my app with "high" bitrates to be encoded.