Blu-ray Question

[camens]

My Extender will be here in a few days and I'd like to stream my Blu-ray discs. I have a huge server so I don't mind the size of these discs after I rip them. Can I stream the m2ts or do I have to convert them? Any really simply, sure-fire way of doing this?

[Whitey]

Try this thread

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32369

Whitey

[camens]

I've actually spent a number of hours going over that thread. Unfortunately I still had some specific issues I didn't understand and thought I'd see if anybody had any new ideas or procedures they are using.

[bialio]

In general you should remux the m2ts into mkv with audio that the extender supports (AC3 is "safest"). Whether or not that works for you will depend on the bitrate of the BD source video, and the through put on your network.....

btl.

[camens]

The first one I ripped and remuxed came was VC1, which I was having trouble getting to mkv. Do you know if the HD-100 supports VC1?

[Whitey]

Originally Posted by camens

The first one I ripped and remuxed came was VC1, which I was having trouble getting to mkv. Do you know if the HD-100 supports VC1?

Yes it does but I still can't get strutter free playback. I have a HD-DVD movie untouched VC1/AC3 mkv which is 12GB and that plays back with a stutter every few minutes. I also have a Blu-ray rip that is also VC1/AC3 untouched mkv which is 21GB and that stutters every few seconds. Like Bialo said, it seems to depend on network traffic and the bitrate of the mkv.

Whitey

[Taddeusz]

I'm wondering if the fact that I had (note the past tense) my media shares on my Vista machine was an issue? I've created a NAS for myself using FreeNAS. I noticed right away that refreshing my media library takes about half as long as it did when the shares were on Vista. Both machines are connected via gigabit. The only difference is the OS being used. In this case FreeBSD vs Windows Vista.

I should probably try a raw BD rip and see how it plays now.

[bialio]

Vista file access is slow slow slow more often than not. I wouldn't be suprised if that was part of the problem.

btl.

[DFranch]

Originally Posted by bialio

Vista file access is slow slow slow more often than not. I wouldn't be suprised if that was part of the problem.

btl.

I thought that problem was fixed with SP1?

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by DFranch

I thought that problem was fixed with SP1?

It wasn't really fixed but more like worked around. Basically they made a special case for computers that aren't Vista. But it's still nowhere near the performance of XP to XP.

[camens]

Originally Posted by Whitey

Yes it does but I still can't get strutter free playback. I have a HD-DVD movie untouched VC1/AC3 mkv which is 12GB and that plays back with a stutter every few minutes. I also have a Blu-ray rip that is also VC1/AC3 untouched mkv which is 21GB and that stutters every few seconds. Like Bialo said, it seems to depend on network traffic and the bitrate of the mkv.

Whitey

How do I combine the VC1 and AC3 streams into an MKV without quality loss?

[Whitey]

Originally Posted by camens

How do I combine the VC1 and AC3 streams into an MKV without quality loss?

This is how I've converted my files. If there is a better/easier way, please let me know.

1) Rip the disc with AnyDVD
2) Demux video and audio with tsmuxer
3) Convert video if VC1 with gdmux (loacted in Haali Splitter install folder)
4) Convert audio to ac3 if necessary with Eac3to
5) Remux video and audio with mkvmerge

I have only done VC1 rips so far from both HD-DVD and Blu-ray but h264 video should go directly into mkvmerge AIUI.

Whitey

[camens]

Thanks, finally got my working mkv file. Now the problem is that my Extender doesn't even come close to being able to play it. Its a big file (21 gb) and the picture is very pixelated, impossible to watch.

I guess the next step is to upgrade my switches or encode it and lose some quality.

[tmiranda]

What version of the extender firmware are you running?

[camens]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

What version of the extender firmware are you running?

I downloaded the most recent beta when I setup my HD-100 a few days ago. Can't remember the version number right now, but it should be the most recent.

[rgroves]

Originally Posted by Whitey

This is how I've converted my files. If there is a better/easier way, please let me know.

1) Rip the disc with AnyDVD
2) Demux video and audio with tsmuxer
3) Convert video if VC1 with gdmux (loacted in Haali Splitter install folder)
4) Convert audio to ac3 if necessary with Eac3to
5) Remux video and audio with mkvmerge

I have only done VC1 rips so far from both HD-DVD and Blu-ray but h264 video should go directly into mkvmerge AIUI.

Whitey

Can you go into some more detail on what to select and how to use some of these programs. I've tried, but I can't get anything that seems to work.

I've ripped several BR and HD-DVD's....
I've used TSmuxer to "DEMUX" the files...
The one I've trying is VC1, so I'm guessing to SKIP this step...
The Audio file is .ac3, so do I skip this????
I can't figure out MKVMerge....

Also, on #3, I don't have a GDmux... I've got a GDSmux, is this the same app?

Thanks for the help.....

I'm hoping that if I can get this to work for all my BD and HD DVD's I'll get rid of my Client and replace it with an HD100 (making it my second HD100). I'm at a crucial point right now, as my client needs a new PSU....so it's either $150 for a PSU or $199 for an Hd100..... Decisions, decisions....BUT I'VE GOT TO GET THIS WORKING TO GET THE HD100....

[Deacon Crusher]

Make sure to check out this thread for info re blu-ray rips played back via the extender.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...399#post291399

Also, my working very well rip process is now pretty simple.

Get anydvd hd installed/licensed and working.

Install the Toshiba Hi-def file system reader (now you can rip and mux straight from the disk, you don't have to rip with anydvd and then work on the rip.)

Then get eac3to installed and working properly (see doom9.org for info.)

Then you run eac3to directly against your blu-ray disk and it will create an mkv file with the video muxed into it (no transcoding, no quality loss) and a separate audio file. I use the command line version, but there are gui front ends.

Then get mkvmerge installed and working and mux the audio file and the mkv from the last step into a new mkv and you are done.

Whole thing takes about an hour to an hour and a half per disk.

Has worked perfectly for 7 blu-ray disks mostly h264 but one VC1 and one mpeg. 5 play back on the extender if I'm using the right firmware and server version the other 2 (including the VC1 file -- Cloverfield, which is awesome) have small to huge issues.

Good luck.

[rgroves]

What is the "Toshiba Hi-def file system reader"?

Also, I can't find a "setup guide" eac3to on doom9. There's just so many thing in the GUI, I don't know where to begin in it.

[bialio]

I am coming up empty looking for references to the Toshiba HiDef file system - do you just use that to avoid having to rip the disc to HD before re-muxing it into an MKV?

[Deacon Crusher]

yes, just saves that one step.

It's actually Toshiba UDF 2.5 I think.

Thanks