Sage a ghost in the machine?

[KryptoNyte]

The purpose of this post is to indicate that a method exists to backup your media.

VIDEO LINK

... and a few notes:

1) This example was done with a Handbrake nightly build (svn5312). If you have an official release installed, it may look and perform a little different, and it can't be guaranteed that the features used in the example will work in your Handbrake install (HD audio capability for example). There are some Handbrake options that are already preconfigured in the example video, for example, the default path to save encoded file (destination) was already set, you may need to check this on your encode. In the video, you can see that this version of Handbrake will not hold the "audio source" in the audio tab when a new media source is selected, you will likely find other anomalies in the Handbrake Graphic User Interface, things the developers are constantly working to improve.

2) You'll need to use the software of your choice to get the entire source media copied over to your hard drive. In this example, that source media is actually on another network computer already in a shared directory. Most of this software was already discussed earlier in this thread.

3) You should already have a program called "MediaInfo" installed so that you can view properties about the source media - you'll see a check performed in the example video, right in the beginning while we're waiting for Handbrake to scan the media directory - the example checks for interlacing in one of the larger source files (likely to be content to encode) to see whether or not the Decomb filter should be applied in Handbrake (the example was progressive, not interlaced, so decomb was disabled).

4) Many Handbrake settings are subjective, and are very dependent on the device you may use to play the file, so if you see something you find strange, or you would prefer to do it a different way, go for it. The example video are the settings that this particular person found to play successfully on all devices on hand. If you're using less capable Apple or Android hardware to play your video, you may need to adjust many settings to get your video compliant with your lowest denominator device (I've even heard of folks running two separate Queue encodes on the same media, one high rez and one low rez for handheld devices). After linking to a guide, you can count on numerous alternate 'opinions' on how you should encode - test and use whichever settings work best for you.

5) The example video is not a movie bluray, but rather a show, which has three separate episodes on the one source media, that is why you see the example adding three different jobs to the que without changing the source folder. If you are encoding multiple source folders (more than one movie for example), you'll need to perform the steps for one title and add to the Queue, then switch to another source if you wish to add another, and start again with your settings.

Tip - Preview - use the "preview" button in Handbrake to render 30 or 60 seconds of any video you have dialed up to encode, that way you can view a quick result to make sure your settings are correct before sending Handbrake on it's way for a couple hours of work - once you're comfortable with the preview results, click "Add to Queue" and move on to the next media, configuring the encoding parameters for the next source (if you have more than one). The other thing the preview can do for you is determine the file size for a 60 second encoded file (for example), and allow you a quick calculation in your head of how large the final file will be based on total media runtime. I would always recommend using the Queue, even when you only have one job - after adding to the queue, you can usually shut handbrake completely down and launch later (before bed for example) for the encoding work.

Tip - Encoding Profiles - you can save your own encoding "profiles" in Handbrake. This works very well in some circumstances, other times it doesn't work well at all - this isn't necessarily Handbrake's fault, it's the nature of the many variations in the properties of the source media, in addition to the countless features in Handbrake. As time passes, after you've seen the many source variations, you'll see in your own mind why the profile development (by Handbrake developers) is somewhat of a quandary.

[wayner]

This is a bit OT but have you used the versions of Handbrake that use Quick Sync, assuming that your CPU supports this? Apparently the process is WAY faster.

[drvnbysound]

I noticed that you changed the "Modulus" setting from the default value of 2, to 8. Can you explain what that does?

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by wayner

This is a bit OT but have you used the versions of Handbrake that use Quick Sync, assuming that your CPU supports this? Apparently the process is WAY faster.

Not yet, Wayne, but I'll definitely get a look at it.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

I noticed that you changed the "Modulus" setting from the default value of 2, to 8. Can you explain what that does?

The final video encode resolution (both horizontal and vertical) must be divisible by the modulus (handbrake will force it if necessary). Some devices require a modulus of 16, which has traditionally been ... a standard, for lack of a better description. With the advent of HD video, the 1080 plays better with the modulus of 8, and all devices seem to tolerate it. Lower values will probably work, but I recall someone telling me that the higher the modulus, the more compatible the final encoded file.

This might be a little much, but if you search this webpage for any Handbrake feature, you can often get a pretty good description of the various features:

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide

How I landed on "loose" is another story, one that I don't recall at the moment.

[wayner]

I have just been doing a bit of testing on Quick Sync and here are some rough results.

CPU - i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge)

SD MPEG-2 file
No Quick Sync with x264 setting at Very Fast about 330FPS
With Quick Sync Fast Speed Setting about 605 FPS

So about a 90% speed increase. Mileage may vary with different file types and newer CPUs and will very much depend on the quality/speed setting.

[KryptoNyte]

<insert whistling sound here>

Yeah, same processor here. What version of Handbrake is that?

[wayner]

I downloaded the latest 64 bit GUI version from the Nightly builds download site yesterday. The only thing I changed was the Video Codec on the Video tab. The results are supposed to be better with Ivy Bridge and Haswell.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

E.g. 30-50GB?

Really? That seems pretty large. If I discount my ripped TV shows, I average 20-30GB per movie. Obviously, it depends on a number of factors, but the largest movie I have is LotR: RotK (extended) at 70GB (263 minutes), followed by the 2 earlier LotR movies at ~60GB. After that, I drop down to the 30s for a handful and then quickly into the 20GB range. These are created with embedded subtitles (both full and forced), HD audio with embedded core, plus an embedded piece of cover art.

Obviously, stick with what works for you, but I'm curious what kind of errors you were getting from MakeMKV. The fact that it couldn't even see your BD drive almost makes it sound like a hardware issue. MakeMKV is probably the easiest program I've ever used for ripping discs. If you're looking to reduce the quality of the rip to shrink the filesize, though, Handbrake is the best option.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

<insert whistling sound here>

Yeah, same processor here. What version of Handbrake is that?

By the way babgvant did some testing on Quick Sync that were posted on Missing Remote here http://missingremote.com/review/inte...ll-performance

He primarily used QSTranscode for his tests but some were down with Handbrake. The long and short is that it appears that QS gives way faster times, which should especially be meaningful for HD files like BR rips.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by wayner

By the way babgvant did some testing on Quick Sync that were posted on Missing Remote here http://missingremote.com/review/inte...ll-performance

He primarily used QSTranscode for his tests but some were down with Handbrake. The long and short is that it appears that QS gives way faster times, which should especially be meaningful for HD files like BR rips.

Thanks, Wayne. I'll give it a shot at some point, but I feature a guess that to achieve the same quality that I get right now without Quick Sync, it will cost the processor about the same amount of time with Quick Sync (it appears there is a quality loss with Quick Sync, especially on 2500k).

[wayner]

That seems to be the case with Sandy Bridge processors but it is something to keep in mind if you move up to a Haswell (or better) in the future.

[reggie14]

I didn't find the Quick Sync encoder in Handbrake to be very reliable when I tried it a couple months ago. It crashed a lot and I had various problems with the resulting files (e.g., a/v sync, corruption).

For me, Quick Sync didn't look like a great option anyway because for long-term archival I wanted the best quality per bit I could reasonably get. I'm willing to spend 3-4 times the processing time for better encodes.

Though, I really wish Plex would add Quick Sync support to their transcoder. That seems like a perfect use case.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

....plus an embedded piece of cover art.

1) Does Handbrake allow embedding of cover art?
2) Does Sage recognize and exclusively use it?

I've never noticed the option to do that before and it would certainly be easier than having all the spare jpgs floating around in the folder with the MKVs (and having to make sure the titles matched exactly, and having to deal with BMT trying to force downloaded cover art onto it, etc.)

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

1) Does Handbrake allow embedding of cover art?
2) Does Sage recognize and exclusively use it?

I've never noticed the option to do that before and it would certainly be easier than having all the spare jpgs floating around in the folder with the MKVs (and having to make sure the titles matched exactly, and having to deal with BMT trying to force downloaded cover art onto it, etc.)

I don't know about Handbrake's handling of cover art. However, I'm quite certain Sage does not recognize the embedded art. I do it simply to be thorough (hoping it might someday be of use... somewhere).

That said, I don't have jpgs in my MKV folders. I let Sage plugins manage my fanart in the centralized folder.

[reggie14]

I don't think Handbrake handles any kind of metadata. It comes up fairly frequently as a feature request on their forums, but they don't have an interest in adding support for it. Generally people want to add show/movie title, episode information and cover art and import it into iTunes for transferring to iOS devices.

In any event, as Skirge01 said, Sage wouldn't handle the cover art anyway. It does seem to recognize titles in MKV metadata, although I think BMT overrides that.

[drvnbysound]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Really? That seems pretty large. If I discount my ripped TV shows, I average 20-30GB per movie. Obviously, it depends on a number of factors, but the largest movie I have is LotR: RotK (extended) at 70GB (263 minutes), followed by the 2 earlier LotR movies at ~60GB. After that, I drop down to the 30s for a handful and then quickly into the 20GB range. These are created with embedded subtitles (both full and forced), HD audio with embedded core, plus an embedded piece of cover art.

Obviously, stick with what works for you, but I'm curious what kind of errors you were getting from MakeMKV. The fact that it couldn't even see your BD drive almost makes it sound like a hardware issue. MakeMKV is probably the easiest program I've ever used for ripping discs. If you're looking to reduce the quality of the rip to shrink the filesize, though, Handbrake is the best option.

I was just making a generalization about the file size (without any sort of compression).

I've been ripping DVDs for over a year with the machine, so I follow anything relating to a hardware issue. MakeMKV actually recognized the BD drive the first time I opened the program, but not subsequent times. Later I ripped the entire disc to the HDD via AnyDVD, and was able to get MakeMKV to recognize the file/folder. However, my concern/issue with MakeMKV is that I was prompted with the popup stating that it was a trial... and I've already paid for AnyDVD. I'd prefer not have to buy another piece of software (MakeMKV) when I can do everything else with AnyDVD and other software.

I've been out of town for a few days, but allowed a BD to run via Handbrake just before I left. I'll be transferring that file over to a STV import directory soon to see how that works. Personally, I really don't care about compressing the files at all... I've got plenty of storage for the number of BDs I presently have, and am planning to setup a dedicated NAS before I'd reach my current free space anyway.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by drvnbysound

However, my concern/issue with MakeMKV is that I was prompted with the popup stating that it was a trial... and I've already paid for AnyDVD. I'd prefer not have to buy another piece of software (MakeMKV) when I can do everything else with AnyDVD and other software.

I own AnyDVD as well, but I switched to MakeMKV due to the ease of use. It's free to use (so far), but you need to go to their sticky in the forum to get the latest trial key when the existing version expires. Then, you can continue until the next version is released, which is usually a couple of months.

[will]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Any time one purchases something with DTS audio and rips it, you could create (2) audio tracks - the first track is always the DTS audio converted to AC3 5.1 and the second track is the original DTS stream. This ensures compliance with many devices. Using this method you will always be able to play your files with an HD200, yet leaving the original DTS track (track 2) available for the future.

You are correct that encoding can take some time.

This is exactly what I do with all my Blu-ray rips. When you get the process down it works great and doesn't really require any extra work when you use mkvAudio Converter.

[will]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

These are created with embedded subtitles (both full and forced), HD audio with embedded core, plus an embedded piece of cover art.

How does HD audio with the embedded core work for you? I was under the impression that MKVs didn't support full HD audio so I have only used the Core DTS/TrueHD file. Also, do the extenders support HD audio when connected to a receiver?