Looking to convert my Blu-rays and DVDs to digital for the first time

[Deathsquirrel 741]

You'll find that people can get a bit religious about their encoding preferences.  My process looks nothing like Nologics.  Neither is right or wrong, just different.  I recommend you play around with settings and encoding packages and see what you like to use and what you find is the easiest way to get the results you want.  If my system were taking 10 hours to encode a 90 minute DVD rip I'd consider that absolutely unacceptable but if you're happy with it, why not?

[mjktg99 34]

Here is what got me started ripping blurays...

 

lifehacker.com/5559007/the-hassle-free-guide-to-ripping-your-blu-ray-collection

 

​

Edited October 20, 2015 by mjktg99

[curlyp 2]

@@Nologic, Does all this material play directly on say a roku?

 

Do not read this as this way is better then this way or I'm trying to say my way is better.

 

When I first set out I had only a computer connected to my 47" TV. Now I have a server and Roku's, Fire Stick, and iOS devices all needing the same file. When on the PC of course you want the better image and quality. From what I am seeing though is yes disk space is cheap but where the server resides and how many streams affect what you do to. You wouldn't want to put your media on a Raspberry PI that will being needing to transcode 3 streams for a iOS device and 2 Roku's or whatever.

 

What I use and do is as follow's. Again this isn't my way is better or what not. I really think ripping comes down to what your needs and processing power.

 

I use AnyDVD HD to rip the movie to a hard drive as a 1:1 to rip. The HD in AnyDVD HD handles blueray's. Reason behind ripping to hard drive is it is faster to process movies. Say you have 10 movies you want to convert to digital. You then have to load it up let AnyDVD decode the movie and then handbrake load it and pull the title. On some things this isn't bad, ex 1 movie, but when doing multiple episodes from a TV Show it is horrible or multiple movies. Doing it this way the ripping to hard drive takes 15 - 30 minutes depending on the disc. Then I can go to hand brake before bed and setup 10 conversion jobs versus however many disc drives you have.

 

Then I use hand brake to rip just the movie title or titles. If it is a TV Show with mutliple episodes or Extended cut disc that have both Theathrical and the Extended I select the appropriate titles. 

 

I used the following site which has detailed instruction on setting up different setting's in handbrake for the content type. Because I have gotten lazy I have created just the 1080 setting's and use those for everything. Now the resulting file sizes if you are not worried about disc space range from a couple hundred MB to 15 GB. This all depends on the movie/episode.

 

Just through my 2 cents in and helping someone out. The only thing I have found to be difficult about the way I do it is subtitles.

 

@@mediacowboy - thanks for your opinion as well.  I'll look into AnyDVD HD.

 

You'll find that people can get a bit religious about their encoding preferences.  My process looks nothing like Nologics.  Neither is right or wrong, just different.  I recommend you play around with settings and encoding packages and see what you like to use and what you find is the easiest way to get the results you want.  If my system were taking 10 hours to encode a 90 minute DVD rip I'd consider that absolutely unacceptable but if you're happy with it, why not?

 

@@Deathsquirrel - Yeah, I think I will have play around and see.  It's also good to get a baseline from others who have been doing this for a while.  I just don't want to eat up all my HD space on QNAP because I am not reducing the file size correctly.

 

My main PC is a beast of a system I use for gaming.  I'm sure it will have no problem process rips or encodes.

 

Thanks for all your info.

 

Here is what got me started ripping blurays...

 

lifehacker.com/5559007/the-hassle-free-guide-to-ripping-your-blu-ray-collection

 

​

 

 

@@mjktg99 - thanks for recommending the site.  I will check it out.

Edited October 20, 2015 by curlyp

[Nologic 30]

@ curlyp

 

Well I'm still trying to figure out the right way.

 

Some would prefer more sharping, others more gamma, or adding back in some of the noise. So this part is largely personal preference...however removing large amounts of noise, or blocking, or dot crawl and rainbowing, correcting aspect, cropping...these are things that should be done bar none.

 

Right now I'm debating improving the quality retention while doing encoding...but I'm not sure if some of the blocking I'm seeing now is a result of my encode process or limitations of my monitor's ability to reproduce colors.

 

For right now I'm using MakeMKV to rip DVD's, but in the future I'll likely just be copying the DVD folder structure to the hard dive, then tearing through it. I'm slowly writing an AutoIt script to provide a front end to a lot of tools, to automate my workflow.

 

I'll likely post my current AutoIt script, and an outline of how I go about things, in the tools section later today or tomorrow.

 

QTGMC is a AviSynth script that more or less a function that simplifies the use or dozens of AviSynth filters to get fairly predictable results, when deinterlacing.

 

So tools used are:

UltraEdit (any text editor will do)

AviSynth + a lot of filters

VirtualDub + a few filters (namely Neat Video)

AutoIt

 

All this can be done for free...the use of Neat Video can be supplemented with MCTDmod...difference mostly being speed vs price. NV 28fps ($99) vs MCTD 8fps ($0) in my case.

 

The "Processed" one is actually mine...that is final product. The "Scene" one is a pirated copy and is fairly typical for such stock. Most ripping groups are not trying to give you a quality product, they in their way actually want you to still buy the product...because well if no one buys...then no one will sale. So the product distributed is of tolerable quality.

 

As for full screen...give the above example...it will go top to bottom...but you'll see black bars on the left and right sides when played on a non 4:3 display...so your HD TV will have bars on the side.

 

Yeah I'll see about doing up some sort of tutorial...but it will be more of an outline...tools change over time...budgets also change.

 

@@ebr

 

AR...there are a couple of those.

Display Aspect Ratio (DAR)

Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR)

Sample Aspect Ratio (SAR)

 

I didn't change the DAR 4:3 but I did change the PAR 59:54 to 1:1

 

Ones DVD player would have done this in hardware before pushing it out to the TV...I'm just doing this in software.

 

@ mediacowboy

 

Yes 10bit is part of the original H.264 spec and plays fine on my Roku 3...don't know about older Roku 2's...but it should.

 

The problem with Handbrake (which I actually like for getting stuff done fast) is that you can't clean up decently.

 

You end up with the following, which doesn't compress well:

 

 

Vs something like this processed with MTCDmod (AviSynth):

 

So Handbrake would give you something around 12gb vs MTCDmod coming in around 3.5gb

 

Handbrake is awesome for what it does, but there are limits on what it can do at present. If one wants fast speed, not picky about file size or image quality...then Handbrake is an easy choice.

 

@ Deathquirrel

 

You are correct folks have different tastes, different budgets...and different amounts of time to spend on projects.

[Nologic 30]

@ Deathquirrel

 

Oh and yeah 10hr to do a video sucks...but I don't have the funds at present to throw money at the problem.

 

If I turned motion compensation off on deinterlacing my time allotted for that would likely go from 5hr to 45min.

 

If I could afford quad crossfire, my Neat Video fps would go from 28fps to near 100fps

 

Which then if I bought Main Concepts H.264 encoder with OpenCL support...my encode would go from like 12fps to 100fps

 

So this is a budget issue for me.

[mediacowboy 438]

@@Nologic, Thanks for more information. This is definitely something to look at as I am pushing 20tb. The question now that presents it self to me is do I want to redo my whole collection or switch now and fix later, or if at all. For my purpose now my way works 47", 32", and a 19" tv all lcd. So I don't know that I would notice anything.

[Nologic 30]

@ mediacowboy

 

I'd change over for new stuff...older stuff...well I'd do it in blocks as you find time.

 

I wouldn't recommend purging stuff...having something is better than having nothing.

 

As for whether or not you'll notice a difference...there is only one way to find out.

 

Check out these examples done by Neat Video

Edited October 21, 2015 by Nologic

[curlyp 2]

@ curlyp

 

Well I'm still trying to figure out the right way.

 

Some would prefer more sharping, others more gamma, or adding back in some of the noise. So this part is largely personal preference...however removing large amounts of noise, or blocking, or dot crawl and rainbowing, correcting aspect, cropping...these are things that should be done bar none.

 

Right now I'm debating improving the quality retention while doing encoding...but I'm not sure if some of the blocking I'm seeing now is a result of my encode process or limitations of my monitor's ability to reproduce colors.

 

For right now I'm using MakeMKV to rip DVD's, but in the future I'll likely just be copying the DVD folder structure to the hard dive, then tearing through it. I'm slowly writing an AutoIt script to provide a front end to a lot of tools, to automate my workflow.

 

I'll likely post my current AutoIt script, and an outline of how I go about things, in the tools section later today or tomorrow.

 

QTGMC is a AviSynth script that more or less a function that simplifies the use or dozens of AviSynth filters to get fairly predictable results, when deinterlacing.

 

So tools used are:

UltraEdit (any text editor will do)

AviSynth + a lot of filters

VirtualDub + a few filters (namely Neat Video)

AutoIt

 

All this can be done for free...the use of Neat Video can be supplemented with MCTDmod...difference mostly being speed vs price. NV 28fps ($99) vs MCTD 8fps ($0) in my case.

 

The "Processed" one is actually mine...that is final product. The "Scene" one is a pirated copy and is fairly typical for such stock. Most ripping groups are not trying to give you a quality product, they in their way actually want you to still buy the product...because well if no one buys...then no one will sale. So the product distributed is of tolerable quality.

 

As for full screen...give the above example...it will go top to bottom...but you'll see black bars on the left and right sides when played on a non 4:3 display...so your HD TV will have bars on the side.

 

Yeah I'll see about doing up some sort of tutorial...but it will be more of an outline...tools change over time...budgets also change.

 

@@ebr

 

AR...there are a couple of those.

Display Aspect Ratio (DAR)

Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR)

Sample Aspect Ratio (SAR)

 

I didn't change the DAR 4:3 but I did change the PAR 59:54 to 1:1

 

Ones DVD player would have done this in hardware before pushing it out to the TV...I'm just doing this in software.

 

@ mediacowboy

 

Yes 10bit is part of the original H.264 spec and plays fine on my Roku 3...don't know about older Roku 2's...but it should.

 

The problem with Handbrake (which I actually like for getting stuff done fast) is that you can't clean up decently.

 

You end up with the following, which doesn't compress well:

 

 

Vs something like this processed with MTCDmod (AviSynth):

 

So Handbrake would give you something around 12gb vs MTCDmod coming in around 3.5gb

 

Handbrake is awesome for what it does, but there are limits on what it can do at present. If one wants fast speed, not picky about file size or image quality...then Handbrake is an easy choice.

 

@ Deathquirrel

 

You are correct folks have different tastes, different budgets...and different amounts of time to spend on projects.

 

 

@@Nologic - Awesome, I am looking forward to your script and your outline tutorial!  When you create the thread would you mind posting a link on this forum?  This way myself and others who read it will know where to find it?

 

Interesting, I had no idea you could copy of the folder structure from the DVD/Blu-Ray.  Would this be more work than using MakeMKV, or will the AutoIt script be able to process the data quicker?

 

Question regarding the black bars.  Is there a reason why it fits top to bottom but not left to right?

 

FYI - your final product looks much better than the "Scene" from a pirated copy.

Edited October 21, 2015 by curlyp

[Nologic 30]

@ curlyp

 

I'll be sure to get you a link.

 

Far as copying file structure...mostly it's a matter of removing protection, so AnyDVD or the like would be required to be installed, to pull straight from disc.

 

It shouldn't be really be any faster or slower...the idea actually is that the script would work with the disc in a Optical Drive (Blu-ray\DVD) or on a Hard Drive...just have the ability that if it's on the hard drive in folder with a number of other disc's processed the same way, it would automatically batch through all of them.

 

Well you are kind of stuck with the black bars...one could ether through filters of the encoder or player cause things to be stretched or cropped to fill the screen...but that has a number of draw backs.

 

If you crop the video...you are for one tossing away a lot of visual data...so you may not understand certain scenes in movie\show because something that was going on in the scene is no longer visible...because it's been removed. It's further compounded by the fact that if left in it's original state pixels might only be stretched 3-4x their normal size...but now do to cropping...have to be stretched 5-6x that of the original...this will make for more blocking and jaggies...so lowering the quality of what's being seen.

 

Now if things are stretched...well while you'll still see everything that is going on...it's going to be distorted...in the case of Loise & Clark...Loise would no longer have a sexy figure...instead she would largely look like a beached whale.

 

Look at the original DVD image...notice how her head seems more large (block like) than in the Processed one...well for typical HD TV's the diff that is seen between those would seem extremely mild...as her head would be double its natural width...yuck.

 

One really shouldn't alter the format originally intended...bad things normally happen.

 

An example of a good conversion between formats, is the TV show FireFly...while released for TV in 4:3...it was actually originally filmed in 16:9 but with a focus for 4:3 release...so when it went from DVD to Blu-ray things went really well...but that was on the producer side of things.

 

An example of a bad conversion is the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer...while again filmed in 16:9...the sets and stages were strictly setup for 4:3...with no thought to anything but 4:3...so when it went from DVD to Blu-ray...they decided to make use of their 16:9 film...but forgot or didn't care about the actual condition of that film. So when you watch it...you'll see film staff, moving around on the sides, camera's and other gear...popping in and out...you'll be able to see out the studio window to see it's day time...even though the scene is suppose to be at night...on and on...basically shit. They should have frankly remastered it to 1080p but kept the original aspect.

 

An okay example would the conversion of the TV show The Wire...originally shot for 4:3...not sure if they used 16:9 film or not...but what they did was crop the 4:3 in a manner so that it became 16:9...so some loss of visual info...but with that show...since there was little going on in the background or foreground...the crop was acceptable...still think they should have stayed with 4:3...so we could see all that is going on...but what they did works...and is most certainly a better job than what was seen with Buffy.

 

Always get stuff in it's originally intended format...whether it be 4:3, 16:9,... and keep it in that format..don't change it. If you come across a Movie that was originally done in 16:9 but has been cropped to 4:3...skip it and find the 16:9 version...same goes for TV...if originally shot for 4:3 keep it that way...don't alter it your self...and if altered by the studio...check reviews to see if they are giving you more in a good way (Firefly) or more in a bad way (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)...or something okay (The Wire)...then decide...but I'd suggest strongly staying with the original format...rather than whatever is fashionable at the moment.

 

Also never add black bars...some software will allow you to append black area's to the sides or top and bottom...don't do this....let your hardware or software that is playing the media create them on the fly.

 

For one...this will save on file size...and second your devices may change...a good example is newer smart phones...these typically have a 16:9 display...so one might think adding bars to to a 4:3 video to bring it out to 16:9 is a good idea...no this is wrong...as most these phones allow the display to go from landscape to portrait...with 4:3 media it would be nearly the same display size regardless of the phones orientation...however if bars were added...the displayed "active" image would be much smaller.

 

Another example is hell my TV...its 16:9...but my PC monitor is 16:10...I'd be upset if all the sudden the "active" image area didn't scale all the way up to the top & bottom...just because of some silly bars on the sides.

 

I'm probably rambling now...and going off on tangents...so I'll leave things here for now. Let me know if I was unclear in some area...and keep in mind I'm no expert...I know a lot more than most...but I'm no where near the top.

[dcruff 13]

The fastest and cheapest way to rip large quantities of DVD's to your library is to find someone else with a large library of quality rips that will send you his rips. Ideally, you need a way to prove ownership of the DVD's that you want rips of.

 

I've spent over 10 years creating my library and I have a DVD for every one of my rips (I bought most of them used on ebay). My Library currently has over 4700 movies and over 120 series. I re-ripped all of them a few months ago in order to have a higher bit rate and sub-titles as well as make sure that they were all MKV. It seems that more and more people are wanting to see the sub-titles these days.

[tedfroop21 38]

If I was starting down this path again - I would do it the same way again.

I used Handbrake (free) and learned how to choose the options to rip files so my TV/AVR could play natively, IE without transcoding.  I got away with less than the recommended hardware for a long time because I didn't need to transcode anything - so the server just sent out the file to play.

I learned from there how I preferred my media to be ripped - and depending on the source material - how to rip for the quality I wanted and what would hold up to compression, and how to remove unwanted bulk from files by stripping out additional audio and subtitle tracks, and how to join multidisk movies into one file,  and the software tools to do that with. 

Trying to learn it all at once will make your head explode.....  Learn one bit at a time and you will learn what works for you.  That way you make your mistakes one at a time and learn why they happened.