Star Trek TOS BR set

[efaneuf]

Interesting for me that all my other BR disks have worked very well with makemkv. But this 3 disk set which took hours, then post processed to remove PGS and put SRT files back in (which I do for all my BR media without a hitch), has yielded media that plays FINE accessing them on the nas via an SMB share on my laptop. But it is the only media which will not play with Synology Media Server to my Roku to my TV. All my other media plays fine.

I am reading that this set uses what I read is something called seamless Branching?

My suspicion was that it was either a video codec or something like the seamless Branching that was killing it. (maybe use Handbrake to remux the video codec?)

On the Media Server it opens and immediately closes the file. Have to be honest, very frustrated with the hours I spent extracting them with makemkv (love this tool), and the processing out the PGS subtitles which were causing major issues with the system (using SubTitle extractor on MAC, then MKVToolNix to recombine things - great tools).

Any thoughts on this? I am stumped. Rather technical here (software/hardware engineer) but not a video engineer. And I am retired so this is for my home fun network.

The BR set was a new set bought from Amazon by the husband. So not bootleg or downloaded.

[Woodstock]

Since you are introducing a LOT of post-rip processing and ST:TOS BDs generally play just fine directly out of the rip, I've moved your message to the appropriate forum.

I suggest trying to isolate the stage where it breaks. The Synology media server works just fine with MKV files. I would rip an episode, and try playing the raw MKV with the Roku. If that works, move on to the next step in your process, and test the output.

ST:TOS has "picture in picture" subtitles available, which you may have missed removing the PGS tracks.

[efaneuf]

Actually, I did remove all the PGS subtitle files and added in the SRT conversions of same (MKVNixTools). I guess my post was not clear.

The synology nas seems to not like PGS files in the mkv. Are you actually finding the opposite? Certainly would be nicer if I am mistaken on that since I would not need to do anything but rip them. Though honestly, if it was not for the fact that TOS already has acceptable file sizes without any handbrake reduction, I would have done a handbrake step on them also since my nas does not like 20-30GB files for the movies. Plus not sure I would really want to store that. I rather save 10-14gb files and if I need to go back to the original BR. I used to use SERVIIO but because I have a Synology DS413J it was just not working well with the port of Serviio. Of course I was considering trying to use PLEX but they no longer support this model. Makes me wonder if the Handbrake step I do with all the other BR movies from my collection, is the reason all of them work fine. I will test this also.

Make sure you did not miss my additional point. Using an SMB/AFP link to the movies folder on that nas, and playing them in MKPlayer or VNC or Blu Ray Player Pro, run fine on my mac. So it is NOT the encoding from MakeMKV. It has something to do with the content inside the MKV that the roku passes the media server stream to the Samsung TV. So ya I could be the encoding I guess, if it was passing something not compatible to the roku/tv.

Time to upgrade but need to save the pennies. Am planning to buy the DS920+ Should make me smile, considering the specs

I will test various options to see where the issue is coming from. Thank you for your feedback.

[Woodstock]

Yes, I have no issue with MKV+PGS on my Synology. Well over half of the 40TB of video is MKV files (I only use MP4 for tablet-compatible files). I watched a PGS-containing video about an hour ago with VLC, and just tested it with ViMu on a FireTV. Both MP4 and MKV files play via the DLNA server on my Android phone.

However, I don't use many SRT subtitles, because I'll typically burn those in using handbrake for the few I have. Too few of my playback devices work with SRT properly. SSA subtitle support is even worse on those devices, hence the tendency to use burn in.

For the media server software, are you using Plex with the Roku? My DLNA clients use the Synology "Media Server" DLNA server, but everything else accesses via SMB. Nothing I have uses either AFS or NFS.

Everything I rip goes through handbrake, unless it's 3D or something handbrake doesn't handle well (very rare). I'd recommend that over "just" including the SRT in the MKV file. No need to worry if the player supports turning on the subtitles.

(Honestly, I'd recommend saving a bit longer and getting one of the 18xx or 24xx models, even if you can't afford to fully populate them right away. Adding a 5th drive for a 4-drive unit gets to be a pain, since it either isn't part of the array, or it's a separate box that costs just as much as a new unit. And drives fill up fast when you THINK you have room to expand!)

[efaneuf]

We certainly have a very different use case here.

I prefer using the roku media player since it works very smoothly in the whole house. That being said, I actually almost never access the media on anything but my roku & TV setup. I mainly use my 7.1+living room theater. So part of your use case does not apply to my needs. Never do phone viewing. Only use the laptop with smb to test. Not to view the movies.

I will investigate the other synology models.

Thank you for you advice

[efaneuf]

Tested my hypothesis on, if it was size or PGS

I simply exported the PGS and converted to SRT. Re-combined the movie with the SRT files and the PGS files removed using MKVToolNix on my mac. No handbreak to reduce the size. So it has the same everything else as the original except for the PGS.

It is clear the issue for the roku media player (or the samsung 3D tv) is the PGS inside. Remember, I never did use handbrake on the TOS set since their episode size is around 9GB each. Well in the size range I have wanted anyway.

Now back the the star trek TOS BR set. The same thing I did here was done there but there is something different about the TOS BR set compared to my other BR movies I extracted. It will not play ANY of them. All have had the PGS removed and replaced by SRT equivalents as I mentioned earlier.
So there must be something within the TOS BR sets file structure that is breaking things and is different from this recent test of INDEPENDENCE DAY RESURGENCE (29.65 GB).

As you had suggested, it was not the size. Since this test file is still a smidgen smaller than the original PGS version. Plays very well. So there is something about the TOS BR set.

[dcoke22]

I don't have a Synology but I do have Star Trek TOS on my Plex and it plays fine for me.

I assume this is the server software you're using? https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/ ... ediaServer

Does Synology Media Server have any logs that indicate any errors on the files in question? It seems like there are some settings about allowing audio and video conversions… are those turned on?

What happens if you try to play a TOS episode without any subtitles of any kind?

You could inspect your rips with MediaInfo (https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo) to see if there is anything that looks different compared to other movies that work in your setup.

One thing I notice is TOS seems to be VC-1 format. Maybe that's throwing Synology Media Server for a loop?

Code: Select all

Video
ID                                       : 1
ID in the original source medium         : 4113 (0x1011)
Format                                   : VC-1
Format profile                           : Advanced@L3
Codec ID                                 : V_MS/VFW/FOURCC / WVC1
Codec ID/Hint                            : Microsoft
Duration                                 : 50 min 33 s
Bit rate                                 : 14.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.290
Stream size                              : 5.09 GiB (73%)

[efaneuf]

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

That was the hint I needed. Will be sure to be much more aware of this kind of thing in the future.

A quick look on the web says the roku does not support the VC1 codec.

They suggest remux it since I am using the built in media server on synology.

All easy to do now that I know what's going on

Thank you all for such fantastic help.

[Woodstock]

How old is the firmware in that Roku? VC1 has been around for a LONG time. I remember there being issues with VC1 Interlaced, but it has been years since I saw a message about a device not supporting VC1.

In any case, handbrake understands VC1 and can convert it to h.264 or h.265.

[efaneuf]

Thank you for all your feedback Woodstock.

To answer your question. This is a brand new upgrade to our older Roku Ultra. It is the latest model which is the one that does not have a memory chip port. It is all built in now. They call it their Flagship model.

Firmware version 10.5.0 = build 4191-C2
Roku Model 4800X - Roku Ultra

Now back to your comments. I suspect you are not a roku user, from your advice. I think you were giving the best advice you could from a person who does not happen to own this unit. Plus your use is quite different. You do not use nor care about subtitles, you mainly like MP4 files for broader compatibility with you other devices. You seem to have deep pockets so you have a very large NAS. (Adopt me please!!!). We have different uses totally.

All the internet info claims roku does not incorporate the VC1 Codec. Plus they say they have no plans at this time to do so.

As I mentioned in the post prior to this one. I have done the test I claimed I would do. I took a Star Trek TOS Episode that would not work. Verified that it has the VC1 codec (yes it does, as I am sure many know). Confirmed in the earlier post that the file would not run. Then used handbrake to do nothing but transcode it from VC1 to h.264. It completed with a size quite similar to the original going into Handbrake. The result plays like a charm.

So for anyone else who use a system similar to me. Who want subtitles in their library. Who want to process it through roku. Who do not want to turn on the overhead of telling the media server to transcode (in my case the server was not powerful enough to do that). Then my solution works like a charm.
1. extract the BluRay full with MakeMKV
2. Extract the PGS file to SRT (using osx Subtitle Extractor) and run the subtitles of interest through the website that does a very nice job to translate (if the language you want is not part of the set. https://translatesubtitles.co/)
3. repackage them MKV using MKVToolNix by removing the PGS subtitles, add the SRT subtitles. Make any adjustments you need
4. If the BluRay uses VC1 Codec, run it through Handbrake to transcode the VC1 to h.264 as another MKV. I used a constant quality of about RF10 for all the Star Trek files to get something close to the original size. I did not want to reduce them and certainly did not want to enlarge them. In the case of a huge 20-40GB movie I would try around RF24 if you want to reduce them to something in the 10-14gb range. The size is VERY variable because it totally depends on the kind of motion processing that is done. These are rough guesses from my experience. Of course if you want to not reduce them I would start with around RF10

This seems to resolve all of my issues.

I, again, want to thank the makemkv community. Especially Woodstock, for without his help and a few others, I would not have been led down this path. As you can see from my description, I am a more serious user. I am a professional Photographer/Videographer/Software Engineer so I like doing these post process kind of things with tools like this and Final Cut Pro. Being retired I have time now to dabble!!!

[Woodstock]

You do not use nor care about subtitles, you mainly like MP4 files for broader compatibility with you other devices.

Um, over 95% of my collection has subtitles, and about 30% of it doesn't have an English audio track... Just sayin'...

My preference is MKV for MY stuff, where I use players that understand PGS subtitles in MKV. The MP4 is only for "the family", with TVs that can't handle subtitles.

But no, I'm not a Roku user. Every time I've considered one, I ran up against a limitation that stopped me. I do own two TVs that have Roku built in, but it is disabled because it required a credit card to set up. I don't use external "streaming services", and Roku wouldn't initialize without them. So, the TVs are dumb monitors.

Glad you've got something working on it. Adoption is out of the question - I have enough "children" (of my siblings) sapping money from me already.