To HD, or not to HD

[Zarxrax]

Makemkv is another application that can rip blurays, and it rips straight to mkv. Give that one a try and see if it decrypts it ok for you.

Or, can you use dvdfab in conjunction with anydvd? I've never used anydvd so im not sure how it works.

[mirkosp]

If DVDFab isn't working as it should, I suggest MakeMKV (the beta key is here, since the program is free while it's in beta).
You can rip stuff directly or you can have it rip it in an mkv (no conversion will be going on, it will just be remuxing it in an mkv, so no quality loss).
If you do choose to get it out as an MKV, the most recent ffms2 will be the easiest solution.
Place the exe, the dll, and the avsi in your avisynth plugins folder, then drag and drog the mkv on the exe. It will index it, it will take a bit since it's a huge file. Then, make an avs with this command:

Code: Select all

FFVideoSource("C:\path\to\your\file.mkv")

And you'll be up and running.

Notice that with interlaced video, ffms2 can be bad, so if you have interlaced content, I suggest you just rip it normally to m2ts and then work with one of the neuron2 tools: DGDecNV (works on AVC, VC-1, MPEG-2, requires you to have an NVidia GPU with CUDA, you need to donate to neuron2), DGAVCDecDI (works only on AVC, requires you to have purchased DiAVC, you need to donate to neuron2), or DGMPGDec (works only on MPEG-2, it's free and has no specific requirement).
DGMPEGDec is the same exact one as you'd use with DVDs, DGDecNV can be used pretty much on anything you get your hands on (both DVDs and BDs as well as TV recordings that you might set yourself and anything else with one of the supported codecs), DGAVCDecDI works only on AVC BDs (the most common ones in my experience) and AVC TV caps (I'm not familiar with tv in the US, but they tend to be rare over here, with MPEG-2 being most common), as well as any other AVC encode you might find (I think, container limits might apply, in case you could remux).

[slackergirl]

Makemkv is another application that can rip blurays, and it rips straight to mkv. Give that one a try and see if it decrypts it ok for you.

Or, can you use dvdfab in conjunction with anydvd? I've never used anydvd so im not sure how it works.

Downloaded makemkv. I'll try it next rip, but I've got a nice 16GB converted-to-mkv file for this movie. Already opened it in virtualdub via avisynth with ffms2. Just have to now convert it again so I can use it in vegas...

Zarx, I've used anydvd and I'm still not sure how it works. I clicked on it and the bluray ripped.

And mirkosp, just to go over it in laymans terms, are you recommending not converting interlaced m2ts files to mkv files? I got a little confused with your discussion after that... I have DGMPGDec, but as I'm sure you know in greater detail than I, it won't open m2ts files. I don't know what CUDA is, but I do have an NVidia video card! Is that good? Does one of these other tools index m2ts files so I can use them in avisynth, then convert to avi's in virtualdub? I appreciate any guidance you can offer!

[mirkosp]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PureVideo# ... HD.29_GPUs

If your GPU is on this list and supports VP2 or greater, you are set (you might have to update your drivers for DGIndexNV to work).

With DGDecNV, you'll get a program very similar to DGIndex, called DGIndexNV, which will open any m2ts file you can rip from any BD, then you can index it very much like you do with VOBs from DVDs, and you'll have a .dgi file, which you can load in avisynth with the DGSource("C:\path\to\your\file.dgi") command (remember to place DGDecodeNV.dll in your avisynth plugins folder).

Now, a bit of clearance.
As I'm sure you know, container and video format are two different things. Much like mkv, m2ts is just a container, within which you can find video streams encoded in some video format. On DVDs you'll always find MPEG-2 (or, well, technically you could find MPEG-1 too, but I have never found it myself yet and I think it's been almost never done).
On BDs, you'll mostly find AVC, though VC-1 and MPEG-2 can be found too. You can check what video format is included in the m2ts you have at hand with a program like mediainfo (I suggest setting the output to text).
DGMPEGDec should be able to load m2ts files as long as the video format in the m2ts is MPEG-2, but that's a rare enough occurance. DGIndexNV will be able to deal with any format you can find on BDs.
As far as interlacing goes, it's the video stream that is interlaced, not the container itself. Changing the container to mkv shouldn't be an issue, as I think DGIndexNV should be able to load mkv as well (but I think it likes m2ts more); the issue is in ffms2, which does not always behave as intended with interlaced footage, which means that if your content isn't progressive, you will have to go the neuron2 route. Otherwise, if you don't feel like spending 15 bucks, the free solution with ffms2 is mighty fine. If you do go for the neuron2 route, though, I'd guess that it will be a lot more convenient because you'll be able to just load any m2ts without checking which format it is and if it's interlaced or not.

[slackergirl]

Wow, that really clears a lot up, mirkosp! It helps me to know the basic theory behind what I'm using. My card is on that list, and I do have $15 to spare, so I might just make my life easier and get DGIndexNV. Besides, if I get that, am I right in thinking I wouldn't have to convert m2ts to mkv like I did for this last BD rip? Once the plugin is in place I should be able to use the index file in avisynth like I did with d2v files, right? Would there be any disadvantage in just replacing DGMPGDec with it? (That's what I've been using...)
I'm off to work now, but I'll try getting it set up tonight. Thanks again for your help!

[mirkosp]

You're correct, you wouldn't have to convert your m2ts to mkv anymore. And yes, it'd be the exact same and you could use it for DVDs too, if you wish to. I still use the old DGIndex for MPEG-2 stuff because I'm used to it and it has its own convenient side for me (it saves me a small extra step when doing metric collection in ymc, which isn't something you care about, I think, at least not at this stage), but aside from that, yes, you could just replace it.

[slackergirl]

Downloaded DGDecNV. Now I just have to wait for a license key. The conversion of the movie worked out great, but it's the hugest file I've ever seen: 114GB. That's a lot of gigs!

[Mister Hatt]

Re VPx, don't use it if you have a VP3 or second generation VP4 card, they have serious wtf issues.

[mirkosp]

Re VPx, don't use it if you have a VP3 or second generation VP4 card, they have serious wtf issues.

If you are talking about this, it only is a problem with resolutions which do not affect BDs and DVDs, thus it's not a problem which she should care about.

Re: filesize: a smart thing to do is scaling back to 1280x720 since it's very much likely the actual detail of the source doesn't go beyond that (very few anime are actual 1080p in the drawings, mostly ghibli stuff). That's going to cut filesize to about 10GB per 24 minutes at 23.976fps with utvideo YUV420 with predict median. You'll still want to just do lossless clips for the scenes you'll actually use, though, if space is an issue.

[slackergirl]

Plus my video card isn't on that list! And I'll keep that resolution in mind, though again, this is a CG Dreamworks source, not really anime, so it may have a higher resolution. I did use the utvideo codec. How do you find out what the actual source resolution is, btw?