What is best method of converting Blu-Ray to MKV?

[leejayd]

I've read the excellent guides on the site for the various tools such as RipBOT, MakeMV etc... but I'm unsure on what the best software is i.e. what is the most reliable, fastest, easy to use for beginner!

Also - a related question. I'm building a HTPC, this is the primary reason for me converting my Blu-Ray discs to MKV. However, I don't want to make the mistake I made 10 years ago when I ripped my CD's to MP3 128k only later to have to re-rip them to FLAC.

I suppose what I am getting at is this, is it possible for me to create the MKV without losing quality but getting the reduced size by only retaining the main film/audio. And later on if a better format comes out is MKV a good format that I can convert from, rather than going back to the discs. I'm trying to avoid the error I made 10 years ago with my CD's !

Thanks in advance.

[Baldrick]

MakeMKV doesn't reconvert and you can choose just the main movie and one audio track. But the movie will still be huge, around 15-30gb.

[fitch.j]

And later on if a better format comes out is MKV a good format that I can convert from, rather than going back to the discs. I'm trying to avoid the error I made 10 years ago with my CD's !

Converting it will never make it better, so if a 'better' you may be able to make it a smaller filesize at a similar quality, but no converting can magic up something that isnt in what its converting from, so you would always have to go back to the disks.

As for best to method, i simply do as Baldrick said above, i use MakeMKV, i select just the main film and audio track, sometimes a commentary track as well, and then make it an MKV. These are large files yes, but this is exactly what is on the disk, so i'm happy in my knowledge that when i watch them, its just as i good as if i walked upstairs to get the disk!

[leejayd]

Thanks guys, MakeMKV sounds like solution as at least in the future if I need to re-encode from the MKV I won't lose too much.

[Bwizzy]

only thing is you have to buy it. I use Handbrake for my BD rips. Free is the way for me.

[cal_tony]

@Bwizzy

I didn't know Handbrake was a BD ripper. I thought it was just a transcoder.

I also prefer to use MakeMKV. It is quick and does a good job and is still in the final stages of Beta. Currently, it is still free.

The other ripper that auto converts BRs to MKV is DVDFab HD Decrypter.
Using the BR to Mobile function it also works very well and has more options than MakeMKV.

Once a BR is ripped by any of the BR rippers (half dozen or so) there are quite a few free programs that will make the conversion to MKV. (see the tools section of this forum)

Tony

[dannyboy48888]

Makemkv is the way to go. Its cross platform, able to extract core audio streams, retains chapters, does decryption, and the output plays on my wd live. The output can later be made into a bd via tsmuxer. The only thing is subs are extracted, but no current software can play them (workaround: demux, feed sub file into bdsub2sup, remux output into new mkv file)

[cal_tony]

Makemkv is the way to go. Its cross platform, able to extract core audio streams, retains chapters, does decryption, and the output plays on my wd live. The output can later be made into a bd via tsmuxer. The only thing is subs are extracted, but no current software can play them (workaround: demux, feed sub file into bdsub2sup, remux output into new mkv file)

Other workaround would be to leave the PGS SUP in the MKV. and just mux that out. Takes a few minutes. Take the idx/sub from bdsup2sub and just use it as an external subtitle. Put them (idx and sub) in the same folder as MKV with the same name and no additional muxing needed.

Tony

[redwudz]

I've been using AnyDVD HD and Ripbot for some time for BD backups. I chose a 8GB size so I can make a secondary backup to DVD DL discs in case one of my server drives die. And one just did. A Ripbot>MKV backup takes about six hours on my system, so the DVD backup is well worth it.

I find the quality very acceptable, even with my projector and 12' screen. I do the main movie only, as I still have the BDs for viewing the extras if desired. The 8GB size also allows me to put more BD backups on my HDDs. Even at 8GB each, the drives can fill up fairly quickly.

[dannyboy48888]

Very true Tony, That works out well also. The only reason I remux the idx back in to the mkv is so I can select them on my WD live player (standalone).

[Bwizzy]

@Bwizzy

I didn't know Handbrake was a BD ripper. I thought it was just a transcoder.

I also prefer to use MakeMKV. It is quick and does a good job and is still in the final stages of Beta. Currently, it is still free.

The other ripper that auto converts BRs to MKV is DVDFab HD Decrypter.
Using the BR to Mobile function it also works very well and has more options than MakeMKV.

Once a BR is ripped by any of the BR rippers (half dozen or so) there are quite a few free programs that will make the conversion to MKV. (see the tools section of this forum)

Tony

Your right. My bad. Handbrake encodes, not rips.

[cal_tony]

Very true Tony, That works out well also. The only reason I remux the idx back in to the mkv is so I can select them on my WD live player (standalone).

And the main reason why I don't is that my WD will accept the 1080 idx/sub but my Seagate fat+ will not. It needs 720 or it freezes. So I have to downsize them. Hopefully, new firmware from both products will fix the BDSup problem so I can get rid of all my external subs.


Tony