So I have a pretty big collection of DVD ISO files, almost 900 I think. My intention is to rip them all to something more standard, at maximum quality, maximum compatibility, no compromises. I figure by doing this I'll cut my hard drive needs in half, and open up playback of these files on more devices. My new BluRay player in particular won't play the ISOs... So H.264? Seems like a no-brainer so far from the reading I've done. Thus far my plan is to encode with VidCoder (http://vidcoder.codeplex.com/) as it will easily allow me to do batches, and it uses Handbrake at it's core.
I decided to switch from AVI to MP4 (all the cool kids are doing it these days). I'm using HandBrake with High Profile. To ensure compatibility with my PS3, I disable chapter markers, large file size, dump the second audio track, and re-encode the main one as 6-channel discrete. Most movies are 1.3-1.5GB.
See...I tried handbrake and the damn thing just wouldn't work. But most of my files are high-end MKVs (ripped blu-ray through DVDFab8 using CoreAVC) so the videos are all pretty high quality. I might give it yet another try. However, does MP4 support surround properly?
3 MP4 will do AC3 pass-through, which is simply a copy of the original, multi-channel soundtrack without re-encoding. Not all devices support this in an MP4 container. The other option is what I do, 6-channel discrete, but that takes the AC3 soundtrack and re-encodes it to AAC (same CODEC used by Apple for iTunes tracks). You can only hear all the channels if you have a device which outputs 6 channels over analog connections... which explains why I have to manually set my receiver to Dolby Prologic II with my new encodes. Basically, it seems the best option is to do Dolby Prologic II. https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/SurroundSoundGuide https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/DPL
OK, so I'm learning just how ignorant I was about all this stuff. MP4 isn't a codec at all, but rather just a file format that can contain a variety of formats. Unless I read different, I'm going to rip: H.264 with an MP4 file extension. Constant quality of 20 Discreet 6 channel Dolby Prologic II AC3 Passthru Large File Size Chapter Markers Any thoughts? I'm going to rip a few samples before I start doing them en mass, test them in a variety of scenarios. Turns out I've only got 620 ISO files to convert.
Yea, testing is the key. And don't delete those old isos for a little while... something may come up.
^^^ VERY good idea. In fact my backup copy of these movies will likely remain ISO. I have two banks of hard drives, a primary and a backup. AC3 passthru wouldn't work on my Panasonic. Ripping again with AAC (faac) to see how those work. My test movies are Planet Terror, Pulp Fiction, and Tales From Earthsea (Studio Ghibli).
Are people really that opposed to keeping a physical copy of media around? In sleeves those DVDs would take up what, two small moving boxes? Toss them in the garage as insurance and peace of mind and forget about them until your HDD fails.
True. MSP, I hope you're not encoding the whole movie every time. Just test the options on a single chapter.
Agreed. I own all of these discs and would never dream of copying them illegally. Yeah, I've been doing whole films. But that's because I wanted to test the chapter skipping as well. I'm taking things nice and slow, I don't want to get halfway through this project and realize I need to redo a ton a work.
OK, so I'm down to two formats: MP4 - H.264 - Constant Quality 20 - AAC (faac) - Dolby Pro Logic II - w/chapter markers MKV - H.264 - Constant Quality 20 - AAC (faac) - Dolby Pro Logic II - w/chapter markers Will likely go with MKV frankly. Both formats performed similarly on my Western Digital Live Plus, but on my Panasonic Blu Ray player the navigation was a lot smoother with MKV. Might increase the quality setting to 16 though, depending on the output file sizes.
Of course you wouldn't acquire a backup copy from a remote server. Though really, burning the ISOs of your favorites to a dvd might not be a bad idea. Ugh, hate MKV personally as it won't play on either my 360 or Apple TV and takes up quite a bit more space than the rewrapped MP4s.
I personally think that MKV is an excellent video container format. Haali + FFDShow Tryouts let's me play 720p videos with subtitles, chapter selections, the works, all on my rinkidink computer!
If you plan on keeping the backups and your device supports it, go with MKV. Otherwise, encoding for the lowest common denominator (in this case MP4, no chapter markers, Dolby Prologic II, etc.) is your best bet. If you don't mind me asking, MSP, what's the model of your Blu-ray player?
Some of my MKVs I did TrueHD with, but because of that, my WDTV box won't play them back. S-M-R-T am I. BUT...I guess my computer and hopefully my wife's laptop can play them back and dumb them down over HDMI so the kids can watch Revenge of the Fallen one of the nights we're taking it easy.
Panasonic DMP-BDT220. So I settled on MKV. The video quality was identical across the board (ISO, MP4, MKV), however navigation (fast forwarding, chapter skips, etc) was dramatically smoother with MKV on both devices. Plus as Goofus mentioned you can embed subtitles and a whole host of other things. Encoding from ISO is taking about 30 minutes, with file sizes averaging 1.7GB. Once done new movies coming in will be ripped into both formats, first ISO, then MK4, with the ISO being stored on offline hard disks. So if I ever need to encode into another format no big deal. I've heard "demuxing" from MK4 to MP4 is pretty painless and quick too.
I'm going to keep one copy as ISO, and the other as MKV. That'll give me playback flexibility, and cut down on my hard drive requirements by 40% or so. The reality for me is that I rarely watch any of the DVD special features, and the language and sound options never change.
I never watch the special features either. I just want good picture quality and good sound. Most of my DVD rips are 4GB and only contain the main movie.
I think you'd be surprised at the quality actually. And in fact, in a blind test probably couldn't tell the difference. I had the same concerns, hence the reason I just now got around to converting anything.
