Will we ever have a perfect DVD->AppleTV solution?
I've handbraked quite a few DVDs and I'm generally impressed at the quality I get for a fraction of the space, but I miss my DVD capabilities (Subtitles, alternate audio tracks, even menus sometimes).
I know there some cumbersome ways of getting all the alternate tracks and subtitles in (while not hardcoded into the video), but I just don't see a slick all-preserved, one click solution on the horizon.
Furthermore, I just don't see apple bending over backwards to make dvd conversion more appealing than downloading from itunes.
Whaddaya think?
I know there some cumbersome ways of getting all the alternate tracks and subtitles in (while not hardcoded into the video), but I just don't see a slick all-preserved, one click solution on the horizon.
Furthermore, I just don't see apple bending over backwards to make dvd conversion more appealing than downloading from itunes.
Whaddaya think?
Comments
Also, i would like to ask, is it necessary to use the hightest quality settings? i thought the H264 compression was excellent. what would be the best setting while still considering file size.
right now handbrake gets about a 1.8GB file from its default setting which sets the H264 compression (they call it quality) to 50%. if i change it to 100% quality (im assuming that means 0% compression) the file size was 4GB at 1/5th of the way through ripping so i stopped it. that would of been a 20GB file...possibly.
Personally, I would like to see a 100 DVD changer that goes on my ethernet network. iTunes could then control it and capture the menu selection, etc. and make it pretty much seemless as you selected a movie to watch. There would be a slight delay in pulling it up, but that's OK.
I would like this kind of solution for a few reasons - one it would be "Apple TV seamless" and 2) it would keep all of the DVD's in one place and out of reach of the kiddos. DRM people would (should) be able to accept this also in that there's no copying going on.
On the other hand, if I could mail off my DVDs/VHS tapes to an Apple-sponsored service, I would pay a few bucks each to be able to download legal iTunes copies. I am just not going to pay $10 when I already own the DVD/tape. My wife has collected probably 75 or so Disney etc tapes that I intend to import some day. I would gladly pay several hundred $$ to have someone shred them and allow me to download. Maybe charge some more and ship it back on a USB hard drive.
Phil
I agree - there needs to be a way for us to use our existing DVD libraries. Handbrake/VisualHub/Crunch kind of work - but you have to piddle with the more copy protected DVDs.
Personally, I would like to see a 100 DVD changer that goes on my ethernet network. iTunes could then control it and capture the menu selection, etc. and make it pretty much seemless as you selected a movie to watch. There would be a slight delay in pulling it up, but that's OK.
I would like this kind of solution for a few reasons - one it would be "Apple TV seamless" and 2) it would keep all of the DVD's in one place and out of reach of the kiddos. DRM people would (should) be able to accept this also in that there's no copying going on.
On the other hand, if I could mail off my DVDs/VHS tapes to an Apple-sponsored service, I would pay a few bucks each to be able to download legal iTunes copies. I am just not going to pay $10 when I already own the DVD/tape. My wife has collected probably 75 or so Disney etc tapes that I intend to import some day. I would gladly pay several hundred $$ to have someone shred them and allow me to download. Maybe charge some more and ship it back on a USB hard drive.
Phil
Those multi-disk carousels are a pretty unreliable bunch. Used to use one in an office environment and it was always getting confused and shutting down.
Dave
this isnt really worth it. can you imagine an HD quality dvd ripped to a computer with a compression amount set for a result of no artifacting? the file would be over 5GB. i think it would be best to either forget about computers streaming/downloading/ripping HD movies for awhile. it would be smarter to just buy an HD disc system.
it would cost me ten dollars just to responsibly store one HD movie on a computer plus the price of the movie and the time it would take to rip it to a computer.
for now HD isnt easily workable for home storage and viewing on a computer, or streaming from a computer to a media hub like AppleTv for instance.
I just want to see the ability for my Mac to stream a DVD from it to an Apple TV. This way I can remove my DVD player from my entertainment center.
Dave
Yes, please!
I'd think the movie companies would let iTunes rip a DVD and put copy protection on it like exist on current movies downloaded from the iTunes Store.
is that possible? I can agree.But for me, i purchased a dvd to iPod converter (Imtoo) to solve this, i know that there is a law question, but i don't care.
I use DVD Assist to launch them from Front Row and it works like magic. I even set it up so the preview box in Front Row displays 1080p QT videos of the movie posters.
It's a really nice set-up, and with HDDs getting so cheap I don't think it's impractical anymore. 200 full quality DVD movies with chapters, subtitles and as many languages as you want can all fit within 1TB.
Unfortunately for you TV people, I don't think there's a way to play VIDEO_TS folders yet, but that's why I'm sticking with Front Row for the moment.
There are already hacks for playing video TS folders. The only problem I could see is streaming likely won't work over the limited bandwidth of wifi.
Over 802.11n it works perfectly. I have a bunch of videoTS folders on a hard drive like the poster above mentioned but it's networked, and I use VLC to play them over wifi, never drops a frame. Mac file server LAN'd to 802.11n AirPort extreme and MacBook w/802.11n.
I'm hesitant to hack my appletv to perform the same function...the unit has been out long enough to see a software update from apple soon...if I'm not satisfied with what they bring to the table, then I'll hack!
I dabbled in Handbrake for a small time until I just decided that for the effort (encoding time), file size and quality, it just wasn't worth it. Since then I just started ripping the DVD titles only onto my HDDs. I have about 200 DVD titles ripped so far and they average out to be 4.5GB per movie - and these are 100% full DVD rips, as in VIDEO_TS folders... no menus or special features as I find them cumbersome and generally uninteresting, but the chapters remain in tact as well as the subtitles, and when I rip I can choose what languages I want and don't want.
I use DVD Assist to launch them from Front Row and it works like magic. I even set it up so the preview box in Front Row displays 1080p QT videos of the movie posters.
It's a really nice set-up, and with HDDs getting so cheap I don't think it's impractical anymore. 200 full quality DVD movies with chapters, subtitles and as many languages as you want can all fit within 1TB.
Unfortunately for you ?TV people, I don't think there's a way to play VIDEO_TS folders yet, but that's why I'm sticking with Front Row for the moment.
So 200 SD DVDs, I wonder how many HD xvid rips? I am in the process of getting 1) storage and 2)mini or atv. I can go 500gb reliable FW drive, or a TB less reliable FW drive. Is RAID 0 better than a single HDD? Trying to figure out the best gear and route to go with your similar setup (storing movies locally and stream them to your HDTV via mini or atv)
But also keep in mind that not everyone will has reception good enough for this. Some neighborhoods are extremely RF noisy, with multiple wifi nodes on every channel. For people in these neighborhoods reception is spotty even with the n standard.
It's a really nice set-up, and with HDDs getting so cheap I don't think it's impractical anymore.
That's not my complaint about it, it's the transcode time. I don't like my computer running at max for half an hour to try to save a few seconds on putting the disc in the tray of a DVD player. When it gets to HD, that's even worse, converting a one hour HD show to AppleTV's HD format took three hours. That's a waste of processor power and electricity.
I just want to see the ability for my Mac to stream a DVD from it to an Apple TV. This way I can remove my DVD player from my entertainment center.
Dave
It's for that reason that I'm keeping a mac mini under my TV instead of an Apple TV. I guess it just means I'll have to have the other computer on (which will contain the iTunes content) whenever I want iTunes tracks on them both. Unless there is an easy way of syncing my mac mini they way you can sync an Apple TV?!
That's not my complaint about it, it's the transcode time. I don't like my computer running at max for half an hour to try to save a few seconds on putting the disc in the tray of a DVD player. When it gets to HD, that's even worse, converting a one hour HD show to AppleTV's HD format took three hours. That's a waste of processor power and electricity.
That's why I'm suggesting that you not encode anything. Just rip it - takes like 15 minutes per DVD.
As for HD stuff, it'd be nice if someone could get QT (and TV) to play .mkv files, but I haven't found a codec yet... so I'm still playing LOST via VLC.
There are already hacks for playing video TS folders. The only problem I could see is streaming likely won't work over the limited bandwidth of wifi.
Where could we find those hacks?