Quick question (I won't waste your time)
#1
I have started to back up my current Blu-Ray collection using various tools. The idea is in the near future I will have a home media server and I can use a spare PC running Windows Media Center and have what everyone else does.

Currently I am converting the movies to .MKV format. I am not leaving anything out, I am not compresing or anything of the sort. My question is; is .MKV format the proper choice? I am trying to avoid running into compatibilty issues, in the future software not supporting .MKV or things of that sort.

The only other way I can think of doing things is to use the format which creates the AUDIO_TX & VIEDO_TS folders.

Do I have the general idea or am I way off?

Thank you in adance for any suggestions/corrections you can lend,
Joe D
Reply
#2
MKV should be okay. For me, I preferred ISO over anything else. It's closer to the original BD than anything else. It allow me to mount ISO to a drive and playback the same way as the original BD in BD-ROM too....
>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
Reply
#3
mkv, is not a format its a container (codecs and containers are not same thing), you can put video streams and audio streams (in various codecs like mpeg m2ts or ac3 dts-ma) and subtitles and chapters inside the container (this case mkv). Hence its called mkv (matroska like the Russian dolls), there are many container types, avi for e.g is another container type.

That said I dont think you can put video_ts audio_ts like that inside the mkv container, for that you only need a .iso, there are limitations with iso support like stream details (like flags resolution etc) extraction in xbmc, and maybe other media cneter software which which make use of databases to form a library, but none of these limitation affect playback of .iso files, as they are fully supported in xbmc. .iso are a image container format but diffente from containers like .mkv etc.

You dont have to compress anything just extract the desired streams for video/audio subtitles and whatever and place them inside a mkv. I doubt any modern software will ever not support mkv in forseeable future.
Look into tools like MakeMKV and do some more reading.
Reply
#4
And the truth is that, even if mkv falls out of favour, all you need is one program to read it (ffmpeg, for example) and you can simply re-wrap your streams into a different container.

But mkv will be around for a long time yet... by design, it's not going to hit some of the same limitations that other containers have.
Reply
#5
Keeping only the main film, audio and subtitles

Your best option, in my opinion, for converting a BluRay (dropping all extra features and keeping just the main film) is to use the following mixture:

Codec: x264
CRF: 18-20 depending on film and HDD space
Level: High/4.1 or higher if you really want to go there, but 4.1 is what I use
Audio: Keep and mux
Container: mkv is more than fine.

Example:

1) Once you've encoded the film you'll get two files (more if you attempt to retain subtitles or other audio streams).

2) The video will be xyz.h264 and the audio will be xyz.ac3/dts or whatever format it's in.

3) You can then use a programme like mkvmerge to drop the .h264 and .audioextension into there and wrap the files in the .mkv container.

I can provide much more detailed settings for video encoding and offer further help if required. The best way to test it out is to encode a 10 minute segment of a film, one which includes scenes with high action and various content. Try the settings above (or your own preferences) and see how the result looks. If you're happy with it then stick with those settings for your collection.

Keeping the entire film and all features

Scrap matroska and put the files inside an ISO as suggested by the user 'bluray'.
Please read the online manual (wiki) & FAQ (wiki) before posting.

Skins: Estuary | Xperience1080
Opinion: Never purchase HTC products
Reply
#6
(2014-02-19, 21:55)uNiversal Wrote: mkv, is not a format its a container

At the risk of being pedantic, the OP used the terminology correctly. MKV is a format. It is a container or wrapper format. E.g.,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_format_(digital)
ffmpeg also uses the term format to distinguish container types. If you give the command
Code:
ffmpeg -formats
, you get a list of all the container types it can work with.
LibreELEC 10.0.4 * ViMediaManager or TinyMediaManager | Raspberry pi 4b
Sharing media from NAS via NFS (optical out to receiver, HDMI to TV) | TV remote with CEC / Bluetooth keyboard
Reply
#7
I just dont want to confuse containers and codecs, you can be as pedantic as you like, Wink the point is bluray video is in m2ts, audio can vary for dts to dts-hd ac3 codec which can fit unconverted into a mkv and much more flexible and less restricted than a iso container. (since the op said he doesnt want to compress anything which doesnt have to at all to use a mkv container)

However feel free to explain whatever you like
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Quick question (I won't waste your time)0