MKVs - keep a good quality 1080p resolution but reduce the size?

[StumpedTechy]

Okay here is the scenario. I only have a Blu-ray player I do not have any Blu-ray in any of my computers. I went through and ripped all my DVDs to MKVs and those were all under 4GB in size. When I did it I used MakeMKV and I just copied the audio and the main video file.

These all play fine wirelessly off my NAS to my WD TV Live units.

My blu-ray movies I got to MKVs from a friend who offered to do it at me he asked how I wanted it and I said best quality and just capture it all and I will use MKVMerge to rip out the subtitles and commentaries and any other junk I didn't really need. When do this I am still ending up with files in the 16-24GB size from him. I know Blu-ray is much more information than but these blu-ray movies when I play them on it the wireless stutters big time unless I hardwire the device. It seems like around 12gb or higher is when it starts to stutter.

What I am trying to find out is how to get the best quality, try and keep the files under 12gb and keep it a true 1080p movie? I was at first ripping everything out except the video and the audio track an I was realizing that that's where all the size is so my ripping out things like subtitles and chapters isn't going to help.

Here is an example - The video alone is over 15gb so even if I take out that commentary audio track 2 I am still going to have problems. Now I have heard people mention something about bitrate and frame rates would this be the suggestion keep the 1080p resolution but reduce the bitrate and frame rate?

General
UniqueID/String : 214696618109916720839706599558191067195 (0xA185108829485E309D668A1B0729303B)
CompleteName : \\Movies\The Shawshank Redemption 1994 1080p.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format_Version : Version 4 / Version 2
FileSize/String : 15.3 GiB
Duration/String : 2h 22mn
OverallBitRate/String : 15.4 Mbps
Encoded_Date : UTC 2010-02-22 21:41:31
Encoded_Application : mkvmerge v5.9.0 ('On The Loose') built on Dec 9 2012 15:37:01
Encoded_Library/String : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0
Video
ID/String : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format_Profile : High@L4.1
Format_Settings_CABAC/String : Yes
Format_Settings_RefFrames/String : 4 frame2
MuxingMode : Header stripping
CodecID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration/String : 2h 22mn
BitRate/String : 13.8 Mbps
Width/String : 1920 pixel3
Height/String : 1080 pixel3
DisplayAspectRatio/String : 16:9
FrameRate_Mode/String : CFR
FrameRate/String : 23.976 fps2
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bit3
ScanType/String : Progressive
Bits-(Pixel*Frame) : 0.278
StreamSize/String : 13.5 GiB (88%)
Title : D-Z0N3 HD VIDEO @ The Shawshank Redemption 1994 1080p D-Z0N3
Encoded_Library/String : x264 core 112 r1834 a51816a
Encoded_Library_Settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=esa / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=64 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=10 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=13833 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=38000 / vbv_bufsize=30000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.90 / nal_hrd=none
Language/String : en
Default/String : No
Forced/String : No
Audio #1
ID/String : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format_Settings_Mode : 16
Format_Settings_Endianness : Big
MuxingMode : Header stripping
CodecID : A_DTS
Duration/String : 2h 22mn
BitRate_Mode/String : CBR
BitRate/String : 1509 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 6 channel3
ChannelPositions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
SamplingRate/String : 48.0 KHz
BitDepth/String : 24 bit2
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 1.50 GiB (10%)
Title : D-Z0N3 HD AUDIO @ DTS 1509 Kbps Core English DTSHD-MA
Language/String : en
Default/String : No
Forced/String : No
Audio #2
ID/String : 3
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format_Settings_ModeExtension : CM (complete main)
Format_Settings_Endianness : Big
MuxingMode : Header stripping
CodecID : A_AC3
Duration/String : 2h 22mn
BitRate_Mode/String : CBR
BitRate/String : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s)/String : 2 channel2
ChannelPositions : Front: L R
SamplingRate/String : 48.0 KHz
BitDepth/String : 16 bit3
Compression_Mode/String : Lossy
StreamSize/String : 65.3 MiB (0%)
Title : D-Z0N3 HD AUDIO @ AC3 2.0 Chnls English Director's Commentary
Language/String : en
Default/String : No
Forced/String : No
Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:On Trial
00:04:39.967 : en:Icy/remorseless
00:06:39.500 : en:This guy who can get it
00:10:06.800 : en:A stiff breeze and other arrivals
00:13:53.133 : en:Fresh fish
00:17:58.967 : en:Nameless
00:23:41.967 : en:First request
00:28:59.467 : en:Andy's routine
00:33:30.967 : en:Beer on the roof
00:38:48.634 : en:Just like everybody else
00:41:03.967 : en:Second request
00:42:38.133 : en:A pair of beatings
00:46:11.666 : en:Welcome back
00:48:11.633 : en:Cell toss
00:51:18.500 : en:A cottage industry
00:57:15.800 : en:Exactly what they take
01:00:23.966 : en:Brooks was here
01:05:41.966 : en:A shipment for Andy
01:07:12.666 : en:Time out for Mozart
01:10:59.466 : en:The danger of hope
01:13:48.833 : en:Parole rejection present
01:15:51.133 : en:Keeping the books
01:21:03.466 : en:A crook in prison
01:23:53.966 : en:Tommy Williams
01:29:20.966 : en:Elmo Blatch
01:32:04.999 : en:Solitary
01:35:31.466 : en:Sniper's target
01:38:22.966 : en:Catching Norton's drift
01:40:32.466 : en:A certain hay field
01:47:16.799 : en:The longest night
01:50:39.499 : en:Vanished
01:54:24.299 : en:Andy's way out
02:00:28.332 : en:His judgement cometh
02:04:01.965 : en:Not meant to be caged
02:05:43.465 : en:Rehabilitated?
02:08:18.165 : en:On the outside
02:10:05.798 : en:Honoring a promise
02:12:48.298 : en:"No good thing ever dies"
02:16:19.631 : en:A free man's dreams
02:17:59.331 : enedication and End Credits

1) Can I get these Blu-ray movies under 12GB and very watchable and keep them in 1080p screen size and just tweak other settings?
2) What program would I use to do this on a bunch of already created MKV files?
3) What future settings should I tell my friend to do the rest of them in since he has only done about 1/3rd of my Blu-ray collection? Should I just tell him to keep it the way he is doing it and for me to reconvert them? I don't even know what program he is using to get them off the disk. (I know it says mkvmerge but I was using that to remove the other files I don't think mkvmerge can rip blu-rays)

[Selur]

It seems like around 12gb or higher is when it starts to stutter.

+

BitRate/String : 13.8 Mbps

1. unless you playback equipment does support DTS-HD, only keep the DTS-core, the DTS-HD information can take up quite a bit of datarate,...
2. learn about VBV
   1. you (and your friend) might want to read up on the meaning and usage of VBV values/restrictions
   2. after you understand what vbv values are for (especially in the context of streaming) you should figure out what throughput you have so you can adjust you vbv values accordingly.

Can I get these Blu-ray movies under 12GB and very watchable and keep them in 1080p screen size and just tweak other settings?

Probably, e.g. doing some filtering (light denoise/smoothing might help a lot)

What program would I use to do this on a bunch of already created MKV files?

Normally, nearly all tools should be able to do mkv->mkv conversions, so choose the one you like the most.

3) What future settings should I tell my friend to do the rest of them in since he has only done about 1/3rd of my Blu-ray collection?

a. learn about VBV and use it
b. use some light filtering

Should I just tell him to keep it the way he is doing it and for me to reconvert them?

That's up to you, personally I would try to limit the number of reencoding, each reencoding will lower the quality.



Cu Selur

[steptoe]

Looking at your specs for the WD Live Media Player, could you not plug in an external USB hard drive and then just play your MKV rips from that

We have a media player that about 2 years old now and still plays our blu-rips perfectly from a simple USB only hard drive. We have a blu-ray player on the computer but no blu-ray standalone player

Saves hours converting your rips

[StumpedTechy]

Selur thanks for the information, I'll look at it vrs the equipment I have in the house.

Steptoe - I am not too worried about haying any machine in use too long and in all reality this isn't too worrisome because when I move I am going to be running dedicated network lines and running everything gigabit so its only temporary anyway. I am just looking at overall reduction of size to best quality vrs size as a way to curb my total disk use.

I am already up to 4gb on an 8gb NAS and I just need to keep control on it with how many movies I buy. I have enough family members that

[hech54]

I have enough family members that

want me to stop typing now and are standing behind me with an axe?

[steptoe]

Have a look at VidCoder. Its a free front-end for x264 and comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions

Select your source file, then click the 'settings' button in the encoding section and play with the filesize or average bitrate options. One will try to match a specific filesize and alter the bitrate to match and the other willl try to get the filesize to match the bitrate. Also click the 2-pass option to squeeze a bit extra out of the conversion

if you want each file to be about 7GB, then just set the output filesize at say 7500MB and VidCoder will try its best to get each file to about that size. Obviously the bigger the initial ripsize the longer the compression process will take

The defaults should get you going, and there are plenty of tips to squeeze as much as you can out of a conversion without it taking days to convert, unless you use the 'extreme' presets

[StumpedTechy]

LoL hetch54. I literally was typing and had to run out the door with the different family members so didn't get to finish the sentence! My first time back since I hit post.

I have the little kids that like the animation movies, I have the older kids that like the teeny movies, I have the wife that likes the romantics and the comedies, and then you have me who likes all fantasy and Sci-fi and horror. So when there are blu-ray releases we normally are picking out a few a week.

Thanks Steptoe I'll check it out. All that you explain sounds pretty easy and should help with me still keeping the true 1080p. I'll play around with it. Is 7GB an average good quality 1080p and that's the reason you used it or is it something you just pulled out of the air.

[steptoe]

7GB seems to be about the 'norm' for blu-rips from dubious websites scattered across the 'net


This website might make it easier as to what x264 settings do what and why, and also how to tweak your profiles to get the best you possible can, but some of the higher settings can add huge amounts of time to the process

http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/x264_options_page1.html

It uses StaxRip as the front-end, but the settings should be pretty much the same

[Selur]

a bit more up to date than the digital-digest article might be the MeGui Wiki,...