DVD ISO

[mac]

I just got the tax return check back so what better way to spend the cash than on a new HTPC. I see Sage has a high WAF and with V2 coming out I'm looking forward to customizing the interface.

Before I take the plunge I have a couple of questions.

I believe Sage does playback VOB files, correct? But can Sage play DVD ISO files? And if so, does Sage have support for virtual daemon?

Thanks,
mac

[stanger89]

The best way to playback/store ripped DVDs with Sage is to store them in ifo/vob format for example:
d:\DVDs\Cool DVD\VIDEO_TS\video_ts.ifo
etc.

You would then add D:\DVDs as a library import directory and there would be an entry for "Cool DVD\video_ts" which you can select an fire off the DVD. The nice thing about this way is you can use DVD Shrink to strip out all the extras and place the remaining movie in the structure listed above ready to go. AFAIK there is no software that plays ISOs directly, they all involve mounting ISOs to virdual drives which to me seems more complicated for no benefit (IMO).

We've seen hints that with Studio it will be possible to display cover art for DVDs and other video files. Also DVD support has been much improved over 1.4.

[mac]

Thanks for replying Stanger

The thing I like about the ISO method is the rip retains the root menu and option features. In preparation of buying/building my HTPC I tested Simplevideo a plugin for myhtpc which auto mounts the image then plays using powerdvd codec.

Wondering if something like this will be available in V2. I like options

[SHS]

what say you copy each DVD in top there only folder by name of DVD Like let say
d:\DVDs\Stargate\
d:\DVDs\Babylon 5\
Copy eveything from root of DVD disc to folder

[rheostat]

This is an important feature for me - I use daemon tools to mount .isos of my DVD library. Does version 2 support something like this?

[stanger89]

AFAIK (haven't had a chance to test the 2.0 release yet) Sage doesn't support mounting of ISOs.

But I still don't see what's better about ISOs over a file-based library organized by folders. You can keep as much or as little as you want of the DVD (including root menues/extras).

[eruji]

I still don't see what's better about ISOs over a file-based library organized by folders.

not much difference, but having the iso would be good if you wanted to do a quick burn using most dvd burning software. Also mounting the drive is nice too because then any dvd player can play it like a regular drive.

Ive always put my DVDs in the folder_ts structure to deal with less complication. but would prefer to use iso's if it was seamless.

[rheostat]

Thanks for the quick reply - I like .isos because of the flexibility, plus I have already invested time in converting my collection to that format. I've been playing with xlobby with zoomplayer and dvdprofiler to manage my library. However, I want to start experimenting with upconverting the stream and I am more comfortable doing that through zoomplayer with FFDshow. But I can still use Sage for PVR even if I don't use it for my DVD library so all should be fine.

[rheostat]

I like the SAGE interface enough that I am thinking of converting my DVD library to vob/ifo format. It should be pretty easy because I can mount the .iso image and rip it from there. But is there any way to import my DVDprofiler info into SAGE so I can have cover art / descriptions?

Thanks,
rheostat

[justme]

Not in the official STV, and even then it's not all there.

The closest thing to that, is MLBDude's custom STV. But it uses a Folder.img file for movie images. Right now there are no STV's that support a metadata file of any type. Hopefully this will change in the future as there are already many good formats in existance. This is one feature that is most likely going to take some time.

[rheostat]

I've been playing with MLBDude's great skin - I was just wondering if more was possible. Eventually. :-) I really like the direction the HTPC industry is going!

[PremeirAV]

I tried ripping the DVD to VOB / IFO with DVD shrink and putting them into an imported video directory under SAGE 2.0 but hey did not show up in the list. Any suggestions?

[mlbdude]

What skin are you using? The Default?

[PremeirAV]

Yea, I have not made any changes. I am new to sage and have not messed with it too much but would really like to back up all my dvds to my computer and play them with sage.

[PremeirAV]

Ok, I just added MLbDudes Skin but am not able to see the VOB/IFO Files. If sage can not use these files what is the best way to convert them to another fomat that i can use with sage.

[stanger89]

Sage can use these files, I do it all the time. Couple of questions for you:

1) What is the exact directory structure you have them ripped to (maybe an example of one movie)?

2) Have you tried refreshing the Media Library?

3) Where in Sage are you looking for them?

[PremeirAV]

Thanks Stanger for the help. I have been reading through the posts and trying to figutre it out. I am now able to see the folders and open them so it lists all the files it is (the vob and such). From what I have read I am under the impression that i need a software DVD player to open up to play these files. It that correct? If so what one is best and how easy is it to use with the remote that came with the 250 and phillips pronto

[lovingHDTV]

PremierAV,
When you ripped them did you tell DVD Shrink to remove DeCSS? If so you can play these with any MPEG2 decoder. I tried it using th Elecard decoders at they work fine. If you did not remove DeCSS, then you will need a DVD decoder pack. There are many, but I prefer the Sonic pack. Then you can use the built in DVD player in Sage to watch the DVDs, there is no need for an external DVD player.

[stanger89]

Sage should import the DVDs just fine, and play them as DVDs, you shouldn't see any IFO/VOBs in Sage. Sounds like somethings not quite right in you setup, if you could answer the questions above maybe I could figure out where.

[PremeirAV]

Thanks everybody for the help. Let me see if I can explain what I am doing and what is happening. I am running sage v2 with MlbDudes Skin installed (which is great). I changed the settings file line to tell sage to display VOB, ifo and bup files in the video directory. First I rip the DVD (Sometimes parts sometimes the whole thing with a little compression) using DVD Shrink 2.3. I looked through the options in DVD Shrink but could not find anything about removing DeCSS so I did it without it making a regions free copy to my hard drive. Then tried two different folder structures, neither worked very well. The fist one was c://dvdmovies/KillBill/video_ts/then all the files from dvd shrink(bup,ifo,vob). With this configuration I see the folder in sage when i go to Video library and when i click on it ask if i want to play it and does not show me all the ifo and vob files (GREAT!!!) But when i click yes to play it i get the error message "there was a direct show error in playback. Details: could not get videowindow interface from dvd graph ErrCode=0x80004002. So thats a no go. The next folder structure that i tried was to c://dvdmovies/killbill/then all the shrink files. This too shows up in sage. When i click on the folder it lists all the files. If i click on a vob files it plays that file....with no sound. then i have to click on another to play more of the movie...with no sound. I guess i will try and download some decoders and see if that helps and try to find more forums on this stuff. Thanks for all the help.

PremierAV