Beginners problem - Burned disks will not play.

[meditek]

I am having trouble with mkv to Blu-ray burning. The output from Imgburn will not play.

This is what I am doing :-

1. I check the mkv with Mediainfo. The audio is usually DTS so next

2. I convert the audio to AC3 Dolby with Popcorn Audioconvertor then

3. using TsMuxer I choose Blu-ray disk as output

4. then I burn the BDMV and Certicate folders with ImgBurn to a 25gb disk

5. checking the disk shows all folders and content present

The disk is not recognised as a Blu-ray by either PowerDVD 10 or my Samsung BD-C5500 player.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a simpler way. Please keep everything simple as I am completely new to Blu-ray and it's problems.

Thanks

[Baldrick]

Try AVCHDCoder or https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/all-in-one-mkv-to-mp4-avchd-ts

[meditek]

Thanks, I'll try AVCHDCoder.

How exactly is a Blu-Ray disk recognised? If I knew then maybe I could work out what went wrong.

[yoda313]

Is your bdmv folder the root directory?

Also imgburn should automatically set itself up for bluray burning.

At least it does for avchd burning when I burn the bdmv folder to a dvd (I don't have a bluray burner but I do avhcd for my ps3). Imgburn will recognize it as bd video so it should when you do the full bluray. I drag and drop my bdmv folder and burn that as the root directory and my ps3 sees the disc as avchd.

[meditek]

Good point Yoda. I pointed Imgburn to the BDMV folder, as it seemed to suggest I should, but there was a BDMV folder on the burned disk!

I assume that there should not have been?

Thanks

[yoda313]

Well you should be able to play the bdmv folder on a software player on a computer. That should at least confirm whether or not everything got where it should inside the folder.

I don't want to give any more advice specific to bluray burning in case you waste another disc - I know they are still pretty pricey individually. I just wanted to pass along my avchd experience.

Hopefully this will get you going in the right direction. As long as the stream folder in the bdmv folder has m2ts files that your software player can play than you succesfully created the disc structure. The issue is proper burning.

I would check the guides list for bluray burning 101.

[meditek]

The m2ts files in the stream folder would play but the disk was not recognised. Even the mounted ISO was not recognised. I'm just trying AVCHDCoder and will report. I am not wasting too many disks 'cos now I'm testing the ISO's.

Thanks

PS Actually, Convertxtodvd does a pretty good job on these big mkv files and the results are very watchable. Beginning to wonder whether Blu-ray is worth the effort.

PPS Anyone with a Samsung BD-C5500 player? Is there a Blu-ray format or something that this player will recognise over 'Share Manager'?

[yoda313]

Regarding share manager - if you mean streaming you can use tversity, playon or ps3mediaserver to stream files. Best to stream with a lan connection. Wireless can have buffering issues that could lead to pauses/breakups in the video.

[16mmJunkie]

I use multiAVCHD to create a compliant disc on my Samsung Blu-Ray player.....then burn with Imgburn. But I'm actually shying away from making disc these days. With HD storage so cheap I just place video/audio on a drive and watch/listen to everything in the household via one of the HTPC systems. My Samsung hasn't been used in months due to this.

And the advice given by others above is solid...I hope this has been helpful.

[dylz]

Use a BD-R/RE, select whole folder or BDMV+Certificate then imgurn should ask the following and select yes or change the filesystem manually to UDFv2.50:


Heres the specs of what your bd player can decode:http://www.samsung.com/au/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=601&p...hword=BD-C5500,
it's probably better to read the booklet that came with it to say what it can play and what there could be problems with.

Here's the linkt o the ebook manual and firmware update: http://www.samsung.com/au/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=601&p...hword=BD-C5500

[meditek]

yoda313

I stream my files using Samsung share manager. I have a lan connection and most work great except for large MKV files. I have tried other streaming software but the block seems to be the player. This is why I asked for a streaming format that will work with this player.

16mmJunkie

I am unfamiliar with HTPC. What exactly is your set up?

Thanks

AVCHDCoder gave up when I introduced the 25GB option. It was quite happy with the DL 8.5GB option though. Maybe it looks at a 1280 x 720 video and thinks that is 8.5gb so what are you playing at?

[meditek]

Use a BD-R/RE, select whole folder or BDMV+Certificate then imgurn should ask the following and select yes or change the filesystem manually to UDFv2.50:


Heres the specs of what your bd player can decode:http://www.samsung.com/au/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=601&p...hword=BD-C5500,
it's probably better to read the booklet that came with it to say what it can play and what there could be problems with.

Here's the linkt o the ebook manual and firmware update: http://www.samsung.com/au/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=601&p...hword=BD-C5500

I'm up to date with the firmware etc but it does not like large mkv files. I tried changing the audio to ac3 but no joy.

I also tried avchd but that didn't work.

I was wondering just exactly what I should do to a MKV file to make it playable with my streaming system?

Thanks

PS What you describe is exactly what I did.

[yoda313]

Try setting the bitrate of a new mkv so the output file size is under 10gb. Maybe that might help stream it better?

I guess getting a gigabit lan wouldn't do any good since most if not all settop players like a ps3 and whatever are 100 lan.

[16mmJunkie]

A Home Theater PC (HTPC) or Media Center appliance

[meditek]

Try setting the bitrate of a new mkv so the output file size is under 10gb. Maybe that might help stream it better?

I guess getting a gigabit lan wouldn't do any good since most if not all settop players like a ps3 and whatever are 100 lan.

It's not the size it is the format so it claims.

[dylz]

I don't understand why your streaming it, it would be better to play via the USB. If your player is truly compatible with MKV than bitrates will not matter as the only problems with low bitrate mkvs are the FF and RR functions and High bitrates play fine usually.

I will show you what I mean by reading the manual how it can tell you issues with certain formats.

My LG Player has notes as well as the files that can be played.

[yoda313]

It's not the size it is the format so it claims.

Then change the format to something else it will play. Probably h264 in mp4. Check the manual to be sure.

Also you wouldn't have to do it at all if you stream with tversity or playon or ps3mediaserver. They will transcode it so that your player WILL play it. No need to change the internal files.



And by the way this hassle with streaming and converting would be one reason to make a "real" bluray disc. Do it once and have a fully working disc you just pop in anytime you want to watch it.

Or if you want look into media players like the wdtv media player that has a wide wide range of codec supports off ntfs drives - then you just play the file directly with no disc.

[meditek]

First off, burning Blu-ray using AVCDH and ImgBurn. The result was exactly the same as my effort described in my first post. Yoda said the BDMV directory should be the root but it appears on the disk as a folder and the disk will not play. The m2ts files on the disk will play but only on my computer. I should really like to successfully burn one though.

Secondly, I shall now try other formats such as H264 and have a go with Tversity.

Thanks for all your help. I will report back.

Later :-

1. I installed Tversity and my Samsung reported ALL my videos (AVI and MKV) as 'not supported file format'
!

2. My Samsung will play most MKV's OK using the samsung pc share software. I have not yet identified why certain ones will not play. What is the best way of converting to H264?

3. I have an odd problem with this MKV. It plays OK but the picture appears on my TV as a small rectangle about a foot wide! Why does this happen what do I do to correct it? Details below.

Thanks

Complete name : Morning.Glory.2010.1080p.BluRay.X264.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 7.95 GiB
Duration : 1h 47mn
Overall bit rate : 10.6 Mbps
Writing application : x264.exe
Writing library : mkv2rls v1.3 (date: 2010 aug 28)
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 47mn
Bit rate : 9 075 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.246
Stream size : 6.66 GiB (84%)
Writing library : x264 core 114 r1913 5fd3dce
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=9075 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

[dylz]

I haven't used bluray or avchd enough to be certain but even if your video is 1920x1080 and mediainfo is detecting it's 1920x800 then maybe the bluray player is too and won't play because it isn't standard. There's probably a program out there to patch it to 1080....

Have you tried remuxing the mkv with mkvtoolnix and writing 1920x1080 under display width and height then creating the bluray or avchd disc, I ahve to beleive your player weill play a bd disc since that's what it's created for so there must be something that isn't standard.

If you want paste a short clip of the mkv I'll create a AVCHD disc and test on my LG player.

[meditek]

I haven't used bluray or avchd enough to be certain but even if your video is 1920x1080 and mediainfo is detecting it's 1920x800 then maybe the bluray player is too and won't play because it isn't standard. There's probably a program out there to patch it to 1080....

Have you tried remuxing the mkv with mkvtoolnix and writing 1920x1080 under display width and height then creating the bluray or avchd disc, I ahve to beleive your player weill play a bd disc since that's what it's created for so there must be something that isn't standard.

If you want paste a short clip of the mkv I'll create a AVCHD disc and test on my LG player.

Thanks dylz but as I said at the beginning I am a complete beginner and haven't a clue how to detach a clip. Also mkvtoolnix doesn't give me the option to increase size as all the options remain greyed out! The Samsung will play other MKV's full screen.

All I ask for are do 1, 2, 3 answers at the moment until I get a grip. Muxing, demuxing, remuxing etc must be second nature to you folks but I have yet to get any of it to work. I've given up on Blu-ray disks for now and all I want are clear concise instructions on how to turn rogue MKV's into something playable over my Lan. At present I am trying Handbrake and Badaboom.

Sorry if I seem a little overwhelmed at the moment but I prefer watching films! Never realised things could get so complicated.

[yoda313]

I've given up on Blu-ray disks for now and all I want are clear concise instructions on how to turn rogue MKV's into something playable over my Lan. At present I am trying Handbrake and Badaboom.

Have you tried any of the other servers at all? Do they work at all? tversity, playon and ps3mediaserver should be realtively fool proof and does the work on the fly under-the-hood without much tweaking by the user at all.

I do think you were the one saying it wouldn't work with large files - but have you tried all three major streaming programs or just one? Try all three before giving up on streaming.

Sorry if I seem a little overwhelmed at the moment but I prefer watching films! Never realised things could get so complicated.

This isn't for everyone. Unfortunately there is a learning curve here. I don't want to discourage you at all but there is nothing wrong with simply popping in a store bought dvd or bluray and just pressing play.

[meditek]

Yoda, about 90% of the films turn out to be awful rubbish and we never get past the first 15 minutes. It is, thus, more cost efficient to download them.

Forget the large files I mentioned. That was simply coincidence.

I am still puzzling over 'root' directories. AFAIK, the root directory of drive G: is G: not a folder. I have spent hours trying to concoct a BD iso that has something in the root and no BDMV folder - the contents of which you said should be in the root directory.

As I mentioned, I tried Tversity and none of my vids were recognised as the correct format. I thought it would be simpler to continue with the samsung software and modify the mkv's to suit.

If these badaboom and Handbrake efforts don't work then I'm back to the simplicity of Convertx2dvd which works with all these MKV's and produces Dolby sound all at the press of a button.

Thanks