DVD->mkv, file playback on Mac

[fhqwhgads]

Hi,

Just though I would post my findings here, in case anyone else is searching for the solution, or has more info to add.

I use MakeMKV to rip my DVDs for the WDTV media player. But I also like to check the files after the rip (and verify episode numbers for TV DVDs), and occasionally watch a few movies on my MBP while traveling. I have had a hard time finding a video player on OS X (10.5.x and up) that can handle these mkv files made from DVD source properly. So below I will list the media players I tested, and results.

QuickTime/Front Row + Perian: Works OK, but you have to wait a long time for the whole file to be scanned. While watching the progress bar fill up, the playback is jerky.

VLC: Works, to an extent. Seeking in the file with the seek bar crashes VLC about 1 out of 3 times.

Movist: Jerky playback, audio sync problems.

MPlayer OS X 1.0rc2: Works perfectly. Interface is dated, and codebase is deprecated.

MPlayer OS X Extended (revision 11): Bad playback, video is tearing. This can be fixed by activating FFMPEG deinterlacing in Preferences -> Video. Apparently this problem was introduced after version 8, from checking their ticket tracker.

Finally, I have settled with MPlayer OS X Extended with the listed workaround. If anyone has any bright ideas, or more info to add, post away.

[ematthys]

Plex is also very good for 1080p playback on Mac.

[Cave Man]

Yeah, Plex, or even XBMC, are tops for playback efficiency on Macs with scrapers.

[fhqwhgads]

Thanks for the replies. To me, it seems a bit crazy to contend with a huge media center package just to watch the occasional DVD rip on a notebook...

In the meantime, I found a better workaround for MPlayer OS X Extended. Instead of activating a new filter (deinterlacing, as explained above), you can simply deactivate an existing filter. Turning off screenshots is enough to fix the MPEG-2 decode path.

Go to Preferences -> Display -> Screenshots. Change from "Save on Desktop" to "Disabled" and hit Apply.

Also, this player works well with 720p WMV as well as my MKVs, Plex barfs when trying to play these WMV files.

[fhqwhgads]

In case anyone else finds this post later...

Current builds of Plex, Boxee and XBMC do not work with quite a lot of files made by MakeMKV. I found this out the hard way, there are bad a/v sync problems with a lot of my rips. Now I need to find a way to remux to TS on OS X....

[bg_nyc]

In case anyone else finds this post later...

Current builds of Plex, Boxee and XBMC do not work with quite a lot of files made by MakeMKV. I found this out the hard way, there are bad a/v sync problems with a lot of my rips. Now I need to find a way to remux to TS on OS X....

How many rips have experienced this problem? A large percentage? Are there certain BDs that just dont work with Make MKV? Other forums have mentioned using AnyDVDHD in the background. Do people here find that it is necessary?

[fhqwhgads]

As the title says, this is DVD not BluRay.