Ripping to Plex?

[Guphanti]

Hi folks,
I'm thinking about setting up a Plex server and beginning the massive undertaking of putting my very large Blu Ray collection on it, so I can stream my movies across my devices on the go. I'm fairly familiar with the software that's out there for this, but I'm wondering what the best method/program is for ripping the discs and getting them into a format that can be streamed via Plex, in a relatively lossless way. It's very important to me that it is as lossless as possible. I can buy what ever disk size is required, unless there's a more efficient way to do it without losing much noticeable quality.

I'm pretty sure something like AnyDVD would work, but then I'd have an ISO of the disk. I think I need an MKV, but I'm not sure how "streamable" that is, if at all.

How would you do it?

Thanks.

[johns0]

Makemkv.

[Guphanti]

Makemkv.

Thanks. I’ve used that in the past, but I have concerns about how “streamable” an MKV is. I know it’s only a container, but I’d think a .mp4 would work more smoothly streaming from something like an NVIDIA Shield to a phone or tablet. On the other hand, .mp4, from my understanding, will not have the same quality as an MKV rip. I’m doing a mountain of these, so I need to make sure I get it right.

Thanks.

[lingyi]

MakeMKV will do what you want (with no loss in quality) with the following limitations:

• You'll lose your menus, which requires an .iso (Someone correct me if there's a way to play the menu directly from a the Blu-Ray file folders.)
• The main movie will be one file (the largest) and extras will each be a separate file.
• It may be months before ripping discs with new release copy protection schemes is possible (see below)
• Since MakeMKV is free (while still in Beta, which it has been for years), the current version expires after a few months and you have to download and install the latest version.

[lingyi]

Makemkv.

Thanks. I’ve used that in the past, but I have concerns about how “streamable” an MKV is. I know it’s only a container, but I’d think a .mp4 would work more smoothly streaming from something like an NVIDIA Shield to a phone or tablet. On the other hand, .mp4, from my understanding, will not have the same quality as an MKV rip. I’m doing a mountain of these, so I need to make sure I get it right.

Thanks.

.mp4 is a container like .mkv and can contain a lossless rip of your discs. The Nvidia Shield (like all Android media boxes) fully supports .mkv

[Guphanti]

Makemkv.

Thanks. I’ve used that in the past, but I have concerns about how “streamable” an MKV is. I know it’s only a container, but I’d think a .mp4 would work more smoothly streaming from something like an NVIDIA Shield to a phone or tablet. On the other hand, .mp4, from my understanding, will not have the same quality as an MKV rip. I’m doing a mountain of these, so I need to make sure I get it right.

Thanks.

.mp4 is a container like .mkv and can contain a lossless rip of your discs. The Nvidia Shield (like all Android media boxes) fully supports .mkv

Thanks. Will Plex be able to handle MKV, specifically streaming it to a mobile device? If both can be lossless, am I better off with MP4 or MKV? Can MakeMKV convert to MP4 or do I need something else if I decided to do that?

Thanks.

[october262]

Makemkv.

Thanks. I’ve used that in the past, but I have concerns about how “streamable” an MKV is. I know it’s only a container, but I’d think a .mp4 would work more smoothly streaming from something like an NVIDIA Shield to a phone or tablet. On the other hand, .mp4, from my understanding, will not have the same quality as an MKV rip. I’m doing a mountain of these, so I need to make sure I get it right.

Thanks.

.mp4 is a container like .mkv and can contain a lossless rip of your discs. The Nvidia Shield (like all Android media boxes) fully supports .mkv

Thanks. Will Plex be able to handle MKV, specifically streaming it to a mobile device? If both can be lossless, am I better off with MP4 or MKV? Can MakeMKV convert to MP4 or do I need something else if I decided to do that?

Thanks.

see here - https://support.plex.tv/articles/203810286-what-media-formats-are-supported/

[lingyi]

That article is for the Smart TV app.

I haven't used Plex in years, but here's some info from Plex:

Setup is for Nvidia Shield here:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/221099988-setting-up-and-managing-plex-media-server-o...nvidia-shield/

And supported media is here:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200288286-what-is-plex/

"What Media and Devices Work?

Plex supports these media file types
Plex Media Server supports all common media files:

Movies, TV Shows, and Home Video: MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, DIVX, and more
Music: MP3, M4A, FLAC, WMA, and more
Photos: JPG, PNG, RAW, TBN, and more"

As for .mkv to .mp4, MakeMKV only outputs in .mkv. Others will be able to give suggestions on programs to remux an .mkv to .mp4

[lingyi]

Note that it's the receiving app/hardware that triggers Plex to transcode if necessary. The link october262 gave shows parameters that are likely to allow Plex to direct stream (no transcoding) to typical smart TV media players (typically the weakest media players). Note that this DOES require reencoding (and quality loss) if your Blu-Ray is MPEG-2 or VC-1.

Container: MP4
Resolution: 1920×1080 or smaller
Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower)
Video Framerate: 30fps
Video Bit Depth: 8
Audio Encoding: AAC

[johns0]

I tried plex but never liked it,too restrictive,ums was my choice.

[Guphanti]

I’ve done some research on it and it seems like while MKV can work, MP4 will be more reliable for streaming. Is there a tool that can convert the Blu Rays to MP4 or do I need to go to MKV with MakeMKV and then from MKV to MP4?

Thanks

[october262]

I’ve done some research on it and it seems like while MKV can work, MP4 will be more reliable for streaming. Is there a tool that can convert the Blu Rays to MP4 or do I need to go to MKV with MakeMKV and then from MKV to MP4?

Thanks

dvdfab will convert blu ray to MP4