Redundant files and clips on disks after finishing rip

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MacGuyverr
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 3:32 am

Redundant files and clips on disks after finishing rip

Post by MacGuyverr »

Sorry new person here, getting into the ripping hobby, uploading all my collection to my computer and i just started blu-ray. Hopefully i can get my 4k collection up too with some help with my drive's flashing (i already asked for help via email on that). But my question i have is i have uploaded Stargate Universe Season 1.5 which is bluray and now Dances With Wolves and both of them had/have redundant files. SGU had random clips from episodes as separate files and DWW has 3 equal sized files. I checked my first file as it finished and it looks like the whole movie. I am still ripping the other two currently as i write this.

I have used Handbreak before i tried my new bluray drive as i was purely on dvd's at 720p quality at that point. Handbreak was alot easier to see which files where what, as it allowed 10 frames to skip through equidistant throughout the video file aswell as its run time next to its file on disk name. Not complaining about makeMKV just saying im adjusting to MakeMKV's setup.

Does any one have any input that understands what im talking about, is it a MKV thing or did the author who wrote the disks do some wonky stuff to get it to work on their end and im just seeing behind the curtain?

TL;DR Im trying to figure out how to avoid ripping redundant files off my bluray, its hard to guess which is what in the file readout on Make MKV. Thanks for the read, new here.
dcoke22
Posts: 2560
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:25 pm

Re: Redundant files and clips on disks after finishing rip

Post by dcoke22 »

Do you have Expert Mode enabled in MakeMKV? It is a checkbox in the Preferences on the General tab. If you have this turned on, you'll be able to see all the titles MakeMKV finds on the disc.

It'll also be helpful to understand a bit about how a blu-ray (and 4K UHD) is laid out. Video is chopped up into segments on the disc. A title is a playlist of segments with a set of parameters. For example, if a blu-ray has a preview for another movie, that preview is its own segment. If it has 5 previews, those are most likely 5 separate segments. If there's a making of or some deleted scenes, those are probably their own segments too. As for the main movie, in the simplest case, it is a single segment, but it doesn't have to be. There's a thing called seamless branching where a single movie can be made up of multiple segments. This is a handy way to include both the theatrical release and the director's cut of a movie on a single disc. Most of the movie is the same, and there are just different segments for the parts that are different between the two versions. There are then two titles, each with a different playlist of segments, so you can watch either version.

When you put a disc into MakeMKV and open it, MakeMKV attempts to interpret the layout of the disc. All the titles that have unique sets of segments (called the segment map), get selected. Other interesting segments get selected as well. Any titles or segments that are shorter than the minimum length setting (120 seconds default) are skipped. Before you click the button to rip, you can change what is selected for ripping.

If I had to guess, I'd say the extra clips of Stargate Universe are deleted scenes that were included on the disc. (Check by navigating the menus on the disc in a blu-ray player.) Dances With Wolves is a little harder to guess. It might be that the different titles are the same movie with different sets of languages (which languages are visible is part of the 'parameters' I mentioned above).
dcoke22
Posts: 2560
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:25 pm

Re: Redundant files and clips on disks after finishing rip

Post by dcoke22 »

I should also point out that MakeMKV has a backup option. https://makemkv.com/faq/item/4

This will copy the complete contents of the blu-ray to your hard drive (and remove the encryption if you check the appropriate box). Once you create the backup, you can use MakeMKV to open the backup and select titles from it to turn into .mkv files. Since the backup is on your hard drive, the creation of a .mkv files goes as fast as your hard drive will go, which is a lot faster than your optical drive. This makes it easier to rip something just to see what it is.
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