Newb Completely Lost! Please HELP for Ripped DVD Playback

[CHEWKNOW]

I'm an avid fan of forums, and hate to be the newb to ask a question that i'm sure has been answered all over this forum but I did my best to search and search and couldn't find an answer, so I'm helping someone will be kind enough to point me in the right direction. Again I'm sorry if this has been covered a million times, I just could not find a straightforward answer by looking around. I thank you in advance for your help.

I have about 100 DVD's that I would like to RIP to my PC and be able to play through a SageTV application. I want to be able to access my "library" of ripped dvd's through the application.

The questions I have is as follows:
1. What application do you recommend I use to rip the DVD's?
2. What format do I need to rip the DVD's in?
3. What SageTV applications do I need to buy to facilitate ripped DVD playback?
4. How/where do I save the ripped DVD files so SageTV can recognize them in the library?

[medwynd]

Originally Posted by CHEWKNOW

I'm an avid fan of forums, and hate to be the newb to ask a question that i'm sure has been answered all over this forum but I did my best to search and search and couldn't find an answer, so I'm helping someone will be kind enough to point me in the right direction. Again I'm sorry if this has been covered a million times, I just could not find a straightforward answer by looking around. I thank you in advance for your help.

I have about 100 DVD's that I would like to RIP to my PC and be able to play through a SageTV application. I want to be able to access my "library" of ripped dvd's through the application.

The questions I have is as follows:
1. What application do you recommend I use to rip the DVD's?
2. What format do I need to rip the DVD's in?
3. What SageTV applications do I need to buy to facilitate ripped DVD playback?
4. How/where do I save the ripped DVD files so SageTV can recognize them in the library?

I don't have all the variations of answers to your questions but I will answer about my setup.

1) I recommend AnyDVD to get the protection off and I use CloneDVD to rip my discs. I've done about 1TB worth of discs so far and still have about another 150 discs to go and have had no problems.

Another recommendation is DVDFab. The DVDFab HD Decryptor is free, this is the equivalent of AnyDVD. Then you want their DVD to DVD software.

I always kick myself when my buddy says he has a license for all the dvdfab products back from when they were starting out and he only paid 30$ for a lifetime sub to all their products at the time.

2) Which SageTV application do you plan to use?
The differences between the client and placeshifter can be found in the FAQ here:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...290#post206290

Q: What is the difference between SageTV Client and Placeshifter?

A: Some of the differences are as follows:

SageTV Client:

* Can only be used on a local network.
* Can play DVDs, using DVD-capable video decoder.
* Can customize which decoders and renderers are used.
* License is registered on the PC where the Client is installed. Each license can be used on a single system.
* Runs on the PC where it is installed and being used. A plugin would run as part of the client's process on the client PC.


SageTV Placeshifter:

* Can be used on a local network or a remote location, connecting to the SageTV server via the internet.
* Can transcode media for playback at a remote location.
* Can not play DVDs.
* Uses its built-in settings for decoder and renderer.
* License is registered on the server. Placeshifter connections can be initiated from multiple locations. The number of Placeshifter/Extender licenses registered on the server determines the number of simultaneous Placeshifter and Media Extender connections allowed.
* The UI runs on the remote PC, but the actual SageTV process is part of the server application on the server PC. A plugin would run as part of the server's process on the server PC.

I use the SageTV HD200 so I rip my movies in their entirety, sans foreign language tracks and subtitles, to video_ts folder format. I wanted to preserve menus and have it be just like I put the dvd in a drive. The HD200 also supports a ton of formats:

File formats supported: AVI, ASF, MKV, MOV, MP4, Quicktime, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 PS, MPEG-2 TS, M2TS, BDMV Folder (BluRay), DVD ISO, DVD VIDEO_TS, VOB, M4A, MP3, FLAC, OGG, FLV, WAV, WMA

Video formats supported: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, H.264 up to 1080p, WMV9/VC-1 up to 1080p, MJPEG, FlashVideo

Audio formats suppported: MP2, MP3, AAC, AAC-HE, ALAC, WMA, WMAPro, PCM, Vorbis (stereo only), FLAC, AC3 (stereo down-mix/pass-through), TrueHD (stereo down-mix/pass-through as AC3 5.1), DTS (pass-through), DTS-HD/MA (pass-through as DTS 5.1)

3) You need either the SageTV Client or SageTV Placeshifter application for viewing and SageTV Media Center for Windows Version 6.6 for streaming the data to your viewer(s). There are also bundles for purchasing some of this stuff together.

4) I personally purchased a MediaSmart EX495 Windows Home Server for the purpose. It works great out of the box, its easy to install other drives and get configured. I got a good deal on it from NewEgg a few weeks back for like 90$ off its regular price and then put another Samsung 2GB Green drive in it for extra storage.

[matt91]

There are a lot of threads here on ripping to .ISO or folder (video_ts). Sage doesn't seem to play well the ISOs, at least when using the extender.

[CHEWKNOW]

Thanks so much for the response. Can I just use SageTV client to playback the ripped DVD's? Or do I NEED to get the SageTV HD200?

[medwynd]

Originally Posted by CHEWKNOW

Thanks so much for the response. Can I just use SageTV client to playback the ripped DVD's? Or do I NEED to get the SageTV HD200?

You can use the SageTV or the SageTV client to playback ripped dvd's on a pc.

The SageTV client is designed to playback streamed media to machines on a local network.

The SageTV PlaceShifter client is designed to playback streamed media to machines on a local or remote network via the internet.

The HD200 is a standalone unit you can hook up directly to your home theater to playback streamed media.

Edited for correctness

[CHEWKNOW]

Thanks so much, you have been extremely helpful! Time to purchase and set up.

[matt91]

Originally Posted by medwynd

SageTV Placeshifter:
[...]
* Can not play DVDs.

Originally Posted by medwynd

You can use the SageTV client or the SageTV PlaceShifter client to playback ripped dvd's on a pc.

Sage TV, Sage TV client, or an extender will play back DVDs, but not the placeshifter client.

[medwynd]

doh yeah sorry about that, I totally contradicted myself there since I was trying to bang out that message fast heh

[Savage1701]

This may have been said above, but I would spend a few bucks extra and get Slysoft's AnyDVD HD. It works on all formats, believe me.

Also, if you can find a copy of DVD Decrypter floating around, grab it. It fails on a lot of new DVD's, but I've had it plow through some older oddball ones that AnyDVD (HD) failed at.

Everything else seems like great advice.

For sure, I would look at an HD-200 if you can budget it. If you figure you are getting a matched remote worth about $20-$25 and a client license worth $30, then for about $120 you will get something so easy to install and work with that your dog could handle it, and picture quality that is as good as about any PC can throw out, and it won't blow though a couple hundred watts an hour in idle mode.

[cjalphonso]

You don't have to RIP the DVD's, once the decryption is gone, just drag and drop the video_ts directory to your pre-named directory and your done, no ripping needed. SageTV will read the video_ts directory and play exactly as if you put the movie in the player. I use DVD43 for my personal DVD's, its free and works about 90% of the time.

[medwynd]

Originally Posted by cjalphonso

You don't have to RIP the DVD's, once the decryption is gone, just drag and drop the video_ts directory to your pre-named directory and your done, no ripping needed. SageTV will read the video_ts directory and play exactly as if you put the movie in the player. I use DVD43 for my personal DVD's, its free and works about 90% of the time.

I rip my dvd's to get rid of some things I may not want, foreign language tracks, etc.