BatchMakeMKV

[tyborg]

The reason I put together BatchMakeMKV (a very simple c# app) is so that I could have a more self sustaining HTPC. I mainly use ripped DVDs on my HTPC for movie content. I don't like extras on the disk because I never use them and they take up space. So to get around this I extract the original video, english audio, english subtitles and chapter information and put it into an mkv container. This retains full quality and functionality when I play it back. It works out perfect, but requires me to do it. I have setup scripts to tie together a few apps and automate it, but the process was not perfect and I would get mixed results with audio syncing on some titles.

I needed a better solution and MakeMKV was almost automatic and so easy to use. I though I just need to automate this and I'll be set. Now putting DVDs on my HTPC is automatic. My wife uses AnyDVD and the My Movies interface to rip the discs to my HDD and collect metadata. Then I run BatchMakeMKV as a scheduled task and it converts the video_ts folders into an mkv file. I added Todvrms so that I could run this on my in-laws HTPC and they would be able to stream to an extender without the mkv playback issues.

I'm not yet brave enough to delete the video_ts folder when it is done converting. I want to make absolutely sure that it works for awhile longer. I just delete the folder manually after a trial viewing of the mkv file. However I do rename the video_ts folder or iso extension after a title has successfully been converted so that the mkv file or dvr-ms file will playback instead of the original. Eventually I will activate the -del switch to delete the video_ts or iso automatically once I feel it is reliable enough.

Setup:
So this basically relies on MakeMKV, but you can grab other apps to get more out of it.

I added Todvrms later to get dvr-ms files that could play on extenders or in VMC natively. This software was written by Andy Van Til who maintains DVRMSToolbox. If you want to output dvr-ms files get Todvrms here and put the extracted folder in your program files as Todvrms. It also doesn’t require an install just move the extracted folder.

Last app is MKVToolnix maintained by Moritz Bunkus. This is the standard for dealing with mkv containers and is needed if you want to remux to mkv. Download it here and install to the default directory.

Download the BatchMakeMKV here and put it where ever you want. You will have to edit the batch file with your paths and change the option switches however you want. You can then run the batch file as a scheduled task.

Of course download this at your own risk and I am not responsible for your batch script wiping your HDD if you try to write something crazy in there. Wow, that was more than enough, let me know how it goes for you.

[domlof]

Hi Tyborg

Very useful app!

Have you any updates on it?

I wonder if I could add a switch to exclude subtitles? Or if its possible to remux the audio to flac (probably not worth it I guess)?

Thanks again

Dom

[Mickey2Eyes]

Hi Tyborg,
I tryed to download the BatchMakeMKV you made but the link seems to be inactive.
Is it possible to publish the batch file here or make a new download?
I tryed to do a batch by my self but it didn?t work.
Thanks in advance
Mickey