New (frustrated) User - Please Help

[nothingworks]

I know that some or all of what I’m going to ask is probably elsewhere. I tried searching, but every answer I found led to a question or a problem or stuff I had to install or it turns out I may have just opened my computer to Java attacks or Knives Out was *exactly* the wrong disc to start with... and now my brain hurts and I would just really like some help.

I’m technical up to certain point and then I just want stuff to work (see username). I’ve been ripping and converting DVD’s for years using MDRP (may it rest in peace) and Handbrake, but Blu-rays are driving me up a wall. What I’m trying do doesn’t seem like it should be this hard or complicated.

My goals: 1) Make full disc backups of Blu-ray discs that I can play on my Mac; 2) Convert movies/shows (and some special features!) to a digital format that I can play on various Apple devices; 3) Understand enough to be able to adjust things when needed, but not so much that I drive myself nuts. I’ve listed my tech stack below.

Thanks in advance.

• Laptop: M1 Macbook Pro running 14.6 (soon to be 14.7... don’t ask)

• Drive: Pioneer BD-RW BDR-X13, Firmware date: 2022-12-12

• LibreDrive Information: Status: Possible, not yet enabled; Drive platform: Pioneer RS9400; Firmware version: ID56

• MakeMKV v1.17.8 [darwin(arm64-release)]

• Correct version of Java installed a few hours ago and pointed correctly in MakeMKV settings

p.s. I know this isn’t a Handbrake forum, but if someone wanted to offer, I wouldn’t say no. (If it helps, I’m not as much of a novice with that.)

[Coopervid]

I know that some or all of what I’m going to ask is probably elsewhere. I tried searching, but every answer I found led to a question or a problem or stuff I had to install or it turns out I may have just opened my computer to Java attacks or Knives Out was *exactly* the wrong disc to start with... and now my brain hurts and I would just really like some help.

I’m technical up to certain point and then I just want stuff to work (see username). I’ve been ripping and converting DVD’s for years using MDRP (may it rest in peace) and Handbrake, but Blu-rays are driving me up a wall. What I’m trying do doesn’t seem like it should be this hard or complicated.

My goals: 1) Make full disc backups of Blu-ray discs that I can play on my Mac; 2) Convert movies/shows (and some special features!) to a digital format that I can play on various Apple devices; 3) Understand enough to be able to adjust things when needed, but not so much that I drive myself nuts. I’ve listed my tech stack below.

Thanks in advance.

• Laptop: M1 Macbook Pro running 14.6 (soon to be 14.7... don’t ask)

• Drive: Pioneer BD-RW BDR-X13, Firmware date: 2022-12-12

• LibreDrive Information: Status: Possible, not yet enabled; Drive platform: Pioneer RS9400; Firmware version: ID56

• MakeMKV v1.17.8 [darwin(arm64-release)]

• Correct version of Java installed a few hours ago and pointed correctly in MakeMKV settings

p.s. I know this isn’t a Handbrake forum, but if someone wanted to offer, I wouldn’t say no. (If it helps, I’m not as much of a novice with that.)

You are out of luck with your X13 drive. It's too new to be flashed and for libredrive to be enabled. You should get a drive from a seller or get a Verbatim 43888 that works out of the box. It depends on your country of residence if you can buy it.

[dcoke22]

It is true, as Coopervid suggests, that with that drive you won't be able to rip 4K UHDs. But you should be able to rip regular blu-rays & DVDs.

With a DVD or regular blu-ray, a moment or two after you put the disc in the drive, the MakeMKV will register that there's a disc in the drive. At that point, you can either click the giant icon of disc and get access to the individual titles on the disc or you can click the icon of the yellow folder with the green arrow to make a full disc backup. Later you can open the backup in MakeMKV and create individual .mkv files.

It is true that Knives Out (2019) is not the best first disc to try. The playlist obfuscation on that disc is annoying.

Other than playlist obfuscation, where are you getting stuck?

[nothingworks]

I don’t think I have any 4K UHD at this point, so I’m okay with that limitation.

Later you can open the backup in MakeMKV and create individual .mkv files.

Other than playlist obfuscation, where are you getting stuck?

For some reason, I feel like I’m missing a step in the middle that makes this different from DVDs. I’m going to translate this to DVD ripping terminology, which I’m more familiar with. Tell me if I’m offtrack.

1) Blu-Ray full backup = DVD VIDEO_TS

ER VIDEO_TS Small.jpeg (22.47 KiB) Viewed 6095 times

2) Individual mkv files = mp4 or m4v files (which I usually make in Handbrake)

ER episodes directory Small.jpeg (16.4 KiB) Viewed 6095 times

3) Result = separate mkv files for each episode or each “special features” track or whatever

[dcoke22]

The file structure of DVDs and blu-rays is different. If you use MakeMKV to make a 'full disc backup' of a DVD, it produces a .iso file. For a blu-ray, MakeMKV produces a folder structure that mimics what's on the disc, although various players understand this folder structure and can play it.

Here's how I process a blu-ray. It is not the only way to do it.

1. Make a decrypted full disc backup of the disc
2. Eject the disc and set it aside
3. Open the backup in MakeMKV
4. Properly name the various titles on the disc, uncheck everything else
5. Make .mkv files
6. Delete the backup once I'm happy with my .mkv files

I make the decrypted backups first because it is a relatively slow process. I don't have to hang out at my computer and wait for it; the optical drive can read the disc and I can come back to it at my leisure. Eventually creating .mkv files from the backup will happen much faster. Furthermore, when you buy a new disc, successfully making a backup verifies that the disc is good. If making the backup fails, you can find out right away and return the disc, even if you don't have time to process it right away.

Once there's a successful decrypted backup, the disc is unnecessary.

Opening the backup in MakeMKV on a Mac involves going to File -> Open Files and then selecting BDMV in the file picker. Finder treats that directory as a special folder, an AVCHD Collection, but it is really just a directory. If you're on Windows, you can navigate into that folder and pick the index.bdmv file, IIRC.
MakeMKV will process the contents of the backup and show you what it thinks are all the titles on the disc. Some titles it will skip if they're too short (this is configurable) or if it thinks two titles are duplicates of each other. Assuming you 'Expert mode' and 'Log debug messages' turned on in preferences (on the General tab), you should get lots of messages in the bottom of the screen showing you how it processed the disc.

Name everything perfectly and whatever you do, don't make a mistake! I'm joking, obviously. A major benefit of working from a decrypted backup is the ability to see what a title is. There are two strategies people use here. One is to just create .mkv files for everything, see what is what, and either fix-up the existing files or come back into MakeMKV and name things as appropriate. The other strategy, the one I use, is to highlight a title in the list on the left and look at the 'segment map' line in the info box on the right. There will be a list of numbers there. Those numbers correspond to the name of a .m2ts file in the <backup>/BDMV/STREAM folder in the backup. You can play the corresponding file with VLC or the player of your choice (I like MPV) and see what it is. If it is something you want, name it, uncheck whatever languages and subtitle tracks you don't want, and do the next. If you don't want it, uncheck it. You can even change the name of an individual audio track in a title if you want to name it 'Commentary' for instance. Just highlight the audio track on the left and change the name in the Properties area on the right. MKVToolNix can be used to fix up .mkv file metadata after the fact if you find a mistake later. Sites like dvdcompare.net or thediscdb.com contain detailed info to help you sort through everything that's on a blu-ray.

Click the Make MKV button in the upper right. Which ever titles are still check marked will be remuxed into a .mkv at wherever the output folder is set.

Now you'll have a set of .mkv files that are 1:1 copies of the stuff on the blu-ray. You can feed those into Handbrake and transcode them down to whatever you like.

There's one thing worth mentioning. The implication of the steps above is that you'll end up with a .mkv file that is named appropriately and various bits of metadata will be correct. The handy utility MediaInfo can show you all kinds of details about your .mkv files. There is a general philosophy that the more details you can get correct in your source .mkv files the better off you are. Most transcoding tools can maintain that metadata throughout the process. So, if you name the commentary audio track in a movie 'Commentary', it makes it easy to have that track named correctly in your transcoded file. It is all personal preference though.

[nothingworks]

I failed to reply to thank you for all your help. Thank you!!