Q About Blu-ray Backup Settings in MakeMKV

[the associate]

Newb here. So please go easy. Okay, so I just bought a blu-ray of a French film that I just learned doesn't contain English subs. I already know how to rip the film to mkv and add an srt/sub file for playback on a PC or Roku. But I'd also like to burn a replacement copy of my original blu-ray WITH subs added. I assume that to maintain the integrity of the original menus for playback on a blu-ray player, I would simply rip a backup of the BDMV folder with MakeMKV, which I would in turn burn back to a BD-R after I've muxed my sub file with the m2ts of the main film. My questions: 1) Do I check "decrypt video files" in this specific scenario, and 2) once I get the newly-ripped/copied BDMV folder on the desktop of my HDD, do I have to change anything in the file structure after I replace the main m2ts file of the film with a muxed copy that includes my sup file? My endgame is to have pretty much an exact duplicate of the original BD that I can burn back to a BD-R, only with English subs added. Guess I'm just wondering the best way to achieve this, and I want to get the first part of the process right with MakeMKV before I move on with the rest of the process using other tools. So I'm deferring to the experts. Would greatly appreciate any advice/insight you might be able to provide. Thanks much for letting me post on this forum.

[Woodstock]

You would definitely need BD authoring software to do this, along with a way to integrate the SRT subtitles (not a native format for BD) into the transport streams AND menus.

Not a very "newbie" thing to do.

[the associate]

Woodstock: Thanks for the response. Meant "newbie" to the forum, not necessarily to tech, A/V, and digital media. Poor choice of words, sorry.

You're absolutely right about BD Authoring software. Could make my whole issue go away by plopping down 30 to 50 bucks for an all-inclusive dedicated program. It's just that I happen to have a blu-ray burner, a cake of blank BD-Rs, an interest in video editing and transcoding, gobs of open-source software, and admittedly way too much time on my hands. Am interested in seeing what I can do with the stuff I have.

That said, as a follow-up to my initial post, I ended up re-encoding my ripped MakeMKV file with Handbrake and burning the subtitles in, rather than keep trying to mess with muxing srt/sup files. Then I muxed the newly created MKV file with TSmuxeR, replaced the original m2ts file with it in the BDMV's Stream folder, and used "Copy Files to Disk" in IMGBurn to put the BDMV folder structure back onto a BD-R. Now, at least, my stand-alone player recognizes the new disk and boots to the main menu, but when I click PLAY, nothing happens. It's as though the link's broken between the menu and the newly generated m2ts file I placed in STREAM folder of the BDMV structure. Thing is, though, I CAN access the separate m2ts file of the film on the disk via my pc's bluray burner using VLC, and the film plays beautifully. Now, I'm just trying to solve the riddle of how to get the blu-ray disk to chain-load the m2ts file from the main menu. I suspect the culprit is a broken path that I somehow caused in the BDMV folder structure when I replaced the old m2ts file with my new one in STREAM. That's the last piece to the puzzle for me, how to add a revised m2ts file back to a blu-ray's original BDMV folder structure without breaking any paths. Wondering, because I altered the original m2ts file, if I need to change a separate index or .mpls file too. Seems to me that there must be something amiss with the m2ts's corresponding .mpls file in the PLAYLIST folder. Will keep plugging way and trying to figure it out, although I tend to agree with you that in the end, this might be time ill-spent.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post such a question. No intent to offend anyone or broach a topic that's inappropriate for this forum. Be blessed today.

[MartyMcNuts]

Woodstock: Thanks for the response. Meant "newbie" to the forum, not necessarily to tech, A/V, and digital media. Poor choice of words, sorry.

You're absolutely right about BD Authoring software. Could make my whole issue go away by plopping down 30 to 50 bucks for an all-inclusive dedicated program. It's just that I happen to have a blu-ray burner, a cake of blank BD-Rs, an interest in video editing and transcoding, gobs of open-source software, and admittedly way too much time on my hands. Am interested in seeing what I can do with the stuff I have.

That said, as a follow-up to my initial post, I ended up re-encoding my ripped MakeMKV file with Handbrake and burning the subtitles in, rather than keep trying to mess with muxing srt/sup files. Then I muxed the newly created MKV file with TSmuxeR, replaced the original m2ts file with it in the BDMV's Stream folder, and used "Copy Files to Disk" in IMGBurn to put the BDMV folder structure back onto a BD-R. Now, at least, my stand-alone player recognizes the new disk and boots to the main menu, but when I click PLAY, nothing happens. It's as though the link's broken between the menu and the newly generated m2ts file I placed in STREAM folder of the BDMV structure. Thing is, though, I CAN access the separate m2ts file of the film on the disk via my pc's bluray burner using VLC, and the film plays beautifully. Now, I'm just trying to solve the riddle of how to get the blu-ray disk to chain-load the m2ts file from the main menu. I suspect the culprit is a broken path that I somehow caused in the BDMV folder structure when I replaced the old m2ts file with my new one in STREAM. That's the last piece to the puzzle for me, how to add a revised m2ts file back to a blu-ray's original BDMV folder structure without breaking any paths. Wondering, because I altered the original m2ts file, if I need to change a separate index or .mpls file too. Seems to me that there must be something amiss with the m2ts's corresponding .mpls file in the PLAYLIST folder. Will keep plugging way and trying to figure it out, although I tend to agree with you that in the end, this might be time ill-spent.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post such a question. No intent to offend anyone or broach a topic that's inappropriate for this forum. Be blessed today.

Did you decrypt the disc to a folder first (by checking "decrypt video files" box)? Do this first, then do what you did before but use this decrypted folder in TSmuxer along with your converted mkv file. This should result in a completely decrypted folder to use with IMGBurn.