My Blu-ray Remux Journey: 5,500 Titles, 210TB, and What I Learned

[dischound]

A few months ago, I embarked on a project to digitize my entire Blu-ray collection—an extensive mix of around 5,500 movies and TV series. This involved sourcing the right tools and securing enough hard drive space, as all files were dumped as remuxes.

Tools and Workflow:
I already had a license for AnyDVD HD, which I initially used for disc decryption. However, since it's no longer actively updated, I began exploring alternatives. That led me to MakeMKV, which quickly became a favorite for its simplicity and ability to decrypt and generate MKV files on the fly—a major time-saver, especially for TV series.

Despite its convenience, MakeMKV had some quirks that ultimately made it unsuitable as my primary dumping tool. Specifically, some files included unwanted data at the beginning or end, which affected playback.

To address this, I searched for a replacement for AnyDVD HD and settled on Xreveal for decryption. For the actual dumping process, I chose MKVToolNix. Its GUI is well-suited for extracting single files like movies, though it requires a bit more effort to queue multiple playlists for TV episodes.

Final Setup:
Movies: Xreveal + MKVToolNix
TV Series: MakeMKV (due to its speed and automation)

Issues with MakeMKV:
While MakeMKV worked well in many cases, I encountered recurring issues with certain titles (this is just a few examples):
Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery — included non-playable garbage data at the end of the file
Z Nation Season 2 — began with a 90-second test pattern and beeping sound, followed by an extra silent video segment at the end

These problems weren’t limited to TV series; several movies—particularly MGM titles—had similar issues. Switching to Xreveal and MKVToolNix resolved these problems, as they excluded the extraneous data entirely.

It seems MakeMKV and MKVToolNix interpret disc playlists differently. Based on my experience, the issue likely lies with MakeMKV’s handling of certain playlist structures.

Project Summary:
This project was completed using one external and one internal disc drive, allowing me to dump two discs simultaneously. In total, it required approximately 210TB of storage.

I purchased valid licenses for both Xreveal and MakeMKV, and ensured that AnyDVD HD and Xreveal were disabled when using MakeMKV to avoid conflicts.

Final Thoughts:
These are just my personal experiences, not a critique of MakeMKV. I genuinely hope these quirks get resolved in future updates to make the tool even better. If the developers of MakeMKV need help investigating this issue, I’m happy to assist.

I hope this write-up is helpful to others tackling similar projects. Feel free to reach out with any questions, I’ll do my best to respond promptly.

[dcoke22]

I'm curious how you managed the 210TB of storage. A big NAS? Up to 8 discs in a NAS or even as direct attached storage seems relatively easy. Going beyond 8 discs seems cost and order of magnitude more money.

[drxenos]

I have about the same number of discs. My NAS is "only" 70 TB (2 drives are parity, so 50 usable). I do have offline backups of all rips which is about 300 TB (plus secondary backups for really expensive or rare stuff).

I use a lot of different tools because I've found that some discs are very finicky and only one tool will be able to process them.

For ripping, I use MakeMKV, XReveal, and AnyDVD (AnyDVD still works great for DVD and 4K. It's just newer Blu-rays it can't handle).

For Transcoding, I use HandBrake and FFmpeg. I mostly use HB, but sometimes I find discs it can't handle. Plus, there are things HB can't do like re-time a title from the so-called PAL speed-up back to NTSC. Some super troublesome DVDs have required DVD Shrink (it's also the only tool I know of that can extract titles embedded in menu--special features, trailers, etc.).

For muxing/demuxing, I use MKVToolNix. FFMpeg also works if MKVToolNix has trouble (be not as well).

If I need to extract a title from a rip before feeding it to HB because its having issues, I use MakeMKV, MKVToolNix, or FFmpeg, in that order (FFmpeg can extract titles from Blu-ray but will completely drop all language metadata).

If I need to extract an audio-only title, I use FFmpeg, DVD Audio Extractor, or VLC.

For disc that none of the above can handle because of structural issue, bad mastering, etc., I also use CloneDVD, DVD Shrink, and CloneBD.

Transcoding discs into MKVs for my NAS is so laborious, I've automated it with a scripting language of my own design. Mostly, I just need to tell it what titles from what discs I want to transcode onto the NAS and it does the rest (it's defaulted to my preferences).

Using these scripts, I can call any of the above tools (and others) to handle various problems and do some pretty complex things like combine a movie with its commentary track when they are in separate titles, concatenate titles of a movie split across discs, re-time titles (e.g., adjust the PAL 4% speed up back to NTSC), split a subtitle track containing both forced and non-forced subtitles into two tracks.

Plus, the scripting engine will automatically convert between how various tools assign numbers to tracks. For example, HandBrake will number a Blu-ray's titles in the order it finds them. MakeMKV has its own numbers. I can just use the MPLS (or even M2TS) number in the script and the engine will automatically convert to whatever number the relevant tool uses.

The nice thing about this setup is I have a script for every disc or boxed set. All the steps necessary to process a rip are recorded in the script (plus, any notes). If I ever need to re-transcode one, I simply mount the backup and run the script. When I finally decide to jump to H.265, I just need to change profiles and rerun all the scripts. No need to re-figure out what title numbers are what, what I did for a particular issues, etc.

[CMDLineKing]

I had a similar journey this year, but still have TV to complete. I did all 7000 movies in my collection and found those to be fairly easy with a few caveats. I learned pretty quickly what each studio tended to do for discs of a certain era. Some read quickly and others would drone on for 30 or 40 minutes sometimes before I could start a rip. I just dealt with it. Then I tried doing some TV and WOW I got really frustrated really quickly. Nothing was consistent. Naming files was difficult, some disks just had 1 giant stream for all the episodes. I searched around and found the "Advanced mode" options for opening the manually. That is a game changer. You get WAY more control over those discs. I was able to get the right settings in there to split up the files and create separate episodes, remove the intro sequences, etc.

If you haven't toyed with that feature its powerful. I wound up using it for movies as well, certain studios made it a pain, so doing the manual open and selecting the single stream I wanted anyway cut out tons of wait time!

[purses62]

Transcoding discs into MKVs for my NAS is so laborious, I've automated it with a scripting language of my own design. Mostly, I just need to tell it what titles from what discs I want to transcode onto the NAS and it does the rest (it's defaulted to my preferences).

I would be very interested in hearing any additional details you are willing to share about your scripts. Based on your comments and username, I assume a portion of your library is anime, and anyone who has ripped anime discs can attest to the complexity of the task—especially if the goal is to get all the special features as well. Advanced mode works great for DVDs, but with BDs I've found it's often necessary to manually go through the m2ts files.

[dischound]

I'm curious how you managed the 210TB of storage. A big NAS? Up to 8 discs in a NAS or even as direct attached storage seems relatively easy. Going beyond 8 discs seems cost and order of magnitude more money.

For now, my setup is fairly simple: a collection of hard drives mounted to folders and shared over a server with smart monitoring in place. I usually have spare drives on hand, so if one starts showing errors, I can replace it quickly. It’s definitely not as robust as a RAID 5 or 6 configuration, but it’s worked reliably for me so far.

That said, I’ve explored software RAID options like TrueNAS, but ultimately decided against them. I’ve run into issues with software RAID in the past, and I’m hesitant to rely on it again. At one point, I was offered a 4 unit 19" rack-mounted storage unit from work, but it was far too large and noisy for home use—better suited for a server room than a living space.

I’m still searching for a reliable hardware RAID solution that can support 10 to 15 drives while staying affordable and practical for home use. If anyone has recommendations for budget-friendly setups that fit the bill, I’d love to hear them!

[dischound]

I have about the same number of discs. My NAS is "only" 70 TB (2 drives are parity, so 50 usable). I do have offline backups of all rips which is about 300 TB (plus secondary backups for really expensive or rare stuff).

I use a lot of different tools because I've found that some discs are very finicky and only one tool will be able to process them.

For ripping, I use MakeMKV, XReveal, and AnyDVD (AnyDVD still works great for DVD and 4K. It's just newer Blu-rays it can't handle).

For Transcoding, I use HandBrake and FFmpeg. I mostly use HB, but sometimes I find discs it can't handle. Plus, there are things HB can't do like re-time a title from the so-called PAL speed-up back to NTSC. Some super troublesome DVDs have required DVD Shrink (it's also the only tool I know of that can extract titles embedded in menu--special features, trailers, etc.).

For muxing/demuxing, I use MKVToolNix. FFMpeg also works if MKVToolNix has trouble (be not as well).

If I need to extract a title from a rip before feeding it to HB because its having issues, I use MakeMKV, MKVToolNix, or FFmpeg, in that order (FFmpeg can extract titles from Blu-ray but will completely drop all language metadata).

If I need to extract an audio-only title, I use FFmpeg, DVD Audio Extractor, or VLC.

For disc that none of the above can handle because of structural issue, bad mastering, etc., I also use CloneDVD, DVD Shrink, and CloneBD.

Transcoding discs into MKVs for my NAS is so laborious, I've automated it with a scripting language of my own design. Mostly, I just need to tell it what titles from what discs I want to transcode onto the NAS and it does the rest (it's defaulted to my preferences).

Using these scripts, I can call any of the above tools (and others) to handle various problems and do some pretty complex things like combine a movie with its commentary track when they are in separate titles, concatenate titles of a movie split across discs, re-time titles (e.g., adjust the PAL 4% speed up back to NTSC), split a subtitle track containing both forced and non-forced subtitles into two tracks.

Plus, the scripting engine will automatically convert between how various tools assign numbers to tracks. For example, HandBrake will number a Blu-ray's titles in the order it finds them. MakeMKV has its own numbers. I can just use the MPLS (or even M2TS) number in the script and the engine will automatically convert to whatever number the relevant tool uses.

The nice thing about this setup is I have a script for every disc or boxed set. All the steps necessary to process a rip are recorded in the script (plus, any notes). If I ever need to re-transcode one, I simply mount the backup and run the script. When I finally decide to jump to H.265, I just need to change profiles and rerun all the scripts. No need to re-figure out what title numbers are what, what I did for a particular issues, etc.

It was really interesting to learn about your setup and how you handle disc backups. I haven’t explored the scripting side yet, but I might dive into that if I end up with another batch of discs down the line. I’m also considering setting up a system that replicates the data to a secondary location for added redundancy.

[dischound]

I had a similar journey this year, but still have TV to complete. I did all 7000 movies in my collection and found those to be fairly easy with a few caveats. I learned pretty quickly what each studio tended to do for discs of a certain era. Some read quickly and others would drone on for 30 or 40 minutes sometimes before I could start a rip. I just dealt with it. Then I tried doing some TV and WOW I got really frustrated really quickly. Nothing was consistent. Naming files was difficult, some disks just had 1 giant stream for all the episodes. I searched around and found the "Advanced mode" options for opening the manually. That is a game changer. You get WAY more control over those discs. I was able to get the right settings in there to split up the files and create separate episodes, remove the intro sequences, etc.

If you haven't toyed with that feature its powerful. I wound up using it for movies as well, certain studios made it a pain, so doing the manual open and selecting the single stream I wanted anyway cut out tons of wait time!

Thanks for the tip, I wasn’t aware of the advanced mode and will definitely give it a look. I handled most of the episode naming manually, using timecodes from DVDCompare.net (which provides data for many shows, though not all). For episodes without listed timecodes, I opened them in VLC and visually verified each one.

Now that I think about it, wouldn’t it be great if MakeMKV had an online disc lookup and could automatically name the movies and tv episodes for us? I