Ripping blu-ray

[freeman3030]

Hi, over the past year to 18 months I have been slowly ripping my DVD's to my iMac, first by using 'MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition' and then using 'Handbrake' to convert it to be played in my iMac. I then use my Apple TV to stream this to my TV. This has been working fairly well for the past year or so, but I feel that its not as good quality as it would be by playing the actual DVD in a DVD player. I understand that some quality will be lost, but I'm not sure if there is anything else out there that is a better solution whereby not so much quality is lost. Also are there any 1 step solutions? It seems to be a 2 part thing at the moment.

I'm also in a situation where I have a growing blu-ray collection and not able to do the same thing. What software can I use to get blu-ray off the disk and in a playable format to stream over to my Apple TV?
I'm assuming I'll need some sort of external blu-ray reader/writer as my Mac only has a DVD reader/writer?

One last thing, I'm also considering getting a 5.1 surround sound system for my lounge TV. Would all the surround sound effects still work like the would playing a DVD/Blue ray in a player?

Sorry for the amount of questions - there is so much to find out!

[jman98]

Unfortunately your question really needed to be asked in our Mac forum as it is Mac specific. Try to change your subject as quickly as you can to something like "Ripping blu-ray on Mac". You need to let the Mac people know that this is really a Mac specific issue. The vast majority of us use Windows rippers for Blu Ray. I have no idea if Mac even has a BD ripping tool or how good it is.

[dragonkeeper]

Hi, over the past year to 18 months I have been slowly ripping my DVD's to my iMac, first by using 'MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition' and then using 'Handbrake' to convert it to be played in my iMac. I then use my Apple TV to stream this to my TV. This has been working fairly well for the past year or so, but I feel that its not as good quality as it would be by playing the actual DVD in a DVD player. I understand that some quality will be lost, but I'm not sure if there is anything else out there that is a better solution whereby not so much quality is lost.

Your first problem is your using Mac, Mac users just don't have the same type of software/hardware available to them as windows users, but to answer you questions.

I understand that some quality will be lost, but I'm not sure if there is anything else out there that is a better solution whereby not so much quality is lost.

Most people can not tell the difference between a well done conversion and the original source, I would say as much as 85% of people can't tell the difference. There is most likely something wrong with the settings you are using. I would recommend using CQ of 22 for DVDs, 18 for BD titles. Or better yet switch to Ripbot264, imho it produces better audio and video (not an option for mac OS).

Also are there any 1 step solutions? It seems to be a 2 part thing at the moment.

You are doing two steps, ripping and converting. Do you mean 1 click solution?
Handbrake does have an option to convert from the disk on the fly as long as the disk is not encrypted or you have AnyDVD installed (not an option for mac.). For 1 step solutons on a Mac i think , DVD Fab Dycrypter or DVD Fab HD Dycrypter are you only options, they will handle both ripping and encoding. But imho these tools create a noticeably softer video.

What software can I use to get blu-ray off the disk and in a playable format to stream over to my Apple TV?
I'm assuming I'll need some sort of external blu-ray reader/writer as my Mac only has a DVD reader/writer?

You can try DVDFab HD Dycrypter to rip BD titles. In recent years the Mac has officially started to support BD drives you shouldn't have a problem finding a drive, check Macsales.

One last thing, I'm also considering getting a 5.1 surround sound system for my lounge TV. Would all the surround sound effects still work like the would playing a DVD/Blue ray in a player?

On my PC i have no problem doing this, I assume the same can be done with appleTV check you user guide for supported audio formats. You can also try setting up a virtual machine running windows, this will allow you to circumvent some issues.

[johns0]

Moved to the mac forum where you can get more help.

[freeman3030]

Wow! Thank you all for you're very helpful and detailed responses - your very informative! Perhaps I will check my settings as there is a noticeable difference between the actual DVD and the ripped version. Especially on a scene where the is a lamp on in a dark room, the graduation from white to black looks quite blocky - if that even makes sense!

[dragonkeeper]

on a scene where the is a lamp on in a dark room, the graduation from white to black looks quite blocky - if that even makes sense!

Yes that makes sense, sounds like the bit rate was to low. Use media info on the file and post the details here.

[techiejustin]

Wow! Thank you all for you're very helpful and detailed responses - your very informative! Perhaps I will check my settings as there is a noticeable difference between the actual DVD and the ripped version. Especially on a scene where the is a lamp on in a dark room, the graduation from white to black looks quite blocky - if that even makes sense!

Don't believe that crap about not having as much software or tools. The Firewire SDK lets you capture a TS stream right from most cable box's firewire port.
Something Windows needs special software to do.

and don't run Parallels. There's no point.

[Reelman472]

Try Pavtube.com. They have several Bluray ripping tools that work very well. Pavtube Bluray ripper, Pavtube Byte-copy, and Pavtube video converter all work as advertised and I use them everyday on my iMac.

[Hoser Rob]

Are you using the high profile in handbrake? You can't get really good encoding without it. The standard profile (which is default, at least in the windows version) doesn't do 8*8 DCT. Unless you're encoding to a mobile you really want that.

[jman98]

Don't believe that crap about not having as much software or tools. The Firewire SDK lets you capture a TS stream right from most cable box's firewire port.
Something Windows needs special software to do.

and don't run Parallels. There's no point.

Basically the situation is this - you need a cable box that allows video out over firewire and actually has a firewire port. Some do not. For example the current AT&T Uverse boxes do NOT have a firewire port at all. It is true that on a Mac that if your cable box has a firewire port it should just work with nothing special to do, although you will need to install a freeware program to control the actual capturing and do any scheduling you need. If you have 32 bit Windows, it's trivial to find and install the drivers to do this kind of firewire capturing but all cable boxes are not supported. It's a bit of a crapshoot there. And 64 bit Windows is not supported at all for this and probably never will be. The original author of the 32 bit Windows drivers has abandoned the project and nobody else has been able to produce working 64 bit drivers, including some who where actually hired to do the job.

My understanding is that in Canada the cable boxes do not support firewire at all so this won't work there no matter what computer you have.