The problem
If you rip these discs and name the files by MakeMKV's title number (t00, t01, ...), seasons 1 to 3 come out right but seasons 4, 5 and 6 come out wrong. On the season 4 discs the titles run in reverse of broadcast order, and on seasons 5 and 6 the order is scrambled differently on every disc. Episode lengths mostly don't rescue you: there are runs of episodes within a minute or two of each other, so a runtime alone can't name them. The table below lists each title on each disc, with the episode it turned out to be and how I confirmed it. For reference, my minimum makemkv title length is set to 120secs, that should get you the same title numbering as I did (I hope it does). I wish I had recorded the mpls reference numbers, but I did not really understand at the time that would've been the better choice over title numbers. I had already finished my ripping project when I figured that out, so it was too late and way to much effort to re-backup the entire set again.
What to do for each season
- Seasons 1-3: titles run in broadcast order on every disc, skipping the extras. Seasons 1-3 match TheTVDB's episode order and runtimes title by title, and the season 1 episodes I checked by watching were all in order. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 have no end-title production codes on these discs (on season 1 I looked at episodes 2 and 8 and the finale pair), so for those seasons title order and runtime are the only evidence.
- Seasons 4-6: do not trust the title order. Watch the video and within the last 20 seconds of the video you will see the episode number. It is printed on the last static card of the end credits, the legal notice with the guild logos (DGC, Writers Guild of Canada, IATSE, ACTRA, SAG-AFTRA and so on): a small centred line reading "The Expanse Episode #EXPA401" sits in the middle of the screen, above the "events, characters and firms depicted ... are fictitious" paragraph. That card is on screen for only a couple of seconds, roughly 16 to 18 seconds before the end of the title on season 4, and roughly 10 to 13 seconds before the end on seasons 5 and 6, just before the studio logos (Just So, Hivemind, Alcon and Amazon Studios, with Penguin in a Parka on some episodes), so scrub to the end and step back. Here is a text drawing of that card, from episode 1 of season 4. On screen it is white text on a black background; the boxed line with the arrows is the one to read:
A few episodes (season 4 episode 10, season 6 episode 3) have a slightly different layout, with the code line sitting just below a producer's name or just above "Tax Incentive Consulting Services", but it is the same line of text. The code is "EXPA" + season digit + two-digit episode number, so EXPA401 means season 4, episode 01 (EXPA509 is season 5 episode 09, EXPA602 is season 6 episode 02). I read it on all 26 episodes of seasons 4 to 6, and each code matched the episode it is filed under in the table below. It is an exact answer and takes seconds.Code: Select all
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | [DGC] [Writers Guild] [IATSE] [ICG] [MPTC] | | [of Canada] | | | | [ACTRA] [SAG-AFTRA] [Sim] [Dolby Digital] | | | | | | ################################ | | >>>>> # The Expanse Episode #EXPA401 # <<<<< | | ################################ | | | | The events, characters and firms depicted in this motion | | picture are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, | | living or dead, or to actual firms is purely coincidental. | | This motion picture is protected under the laws of the | | United States, Canada and other countries, and its | | unauthorized duplication, or exhibition may result in | | civil liability and criminal prosecution. | | | | (c) 2019 Expanding Universe Productions, LLC. All rights reserved. | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
- Season 1, episodes 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8: all 43:04 to 43:05. Episodes 4 and 7: 42:34 and 42:35. Runtime tells you nothing within that block.
- Season 2 and season 3: almost every episode is within a minute or two of several others.
- Season 4, episodes 1, 2, 6 and 10: 47:44 to 48:32. Episodes 4 and 7: 43:57 and 44:23.
- Season 5, episodes 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9: 51:07 to 52:23.
- C = production code read in the end credits, on all 26 episodes of seasons 4, 5 and 6 (each code matches the episode it is filed under).
- W = confirmed by content, by watching: season 1, episodes 1 to 8 (E01 has no recap and E02 opens with a recap of E01's scenes; E07 by the Montana farmhouse scene; E08 by the stealth ship found on an asteroid).
- R = matched by runtime and position against TheTVDB, not independently verified. This covers all of seasons 2 and 3 and season 1 episodes 9 and 10. Seasons 2 and 3 have no end-title codes to check against.
Disc layout
Episodes per disc: Season 1: 5 + 5. Season 2: 4 + 5 + 4. Season 3: 4 + 5 + 4. Season 4: 4 + 4 + 2. Season 5: 5 + 5. Season 6: 3 + 3. Season 4 is the only set with disc letters in the volume label. The "Title" column is the number MakeMKV put in the default output filename (it starts at t00). I did not record the playlist (mpls) numbers for this set.
Volume labels as MakeMKV read them: seasons 1-3 "The Expanse- Season One (Disc 1)" and so on; season 4 "UPHE_UPB75_112369A", "...B", "...C"; seasons 5 and 6 "THE EXPANSE S5 D1", "S5 D2", "S6 D1", "S6 D2". [EDIT: add what is printed on the disc faces and the case, plus publisher and region.]
Titles that are not episodes (not in the table)
- Season 1, discs 1 and 2: t01 on both discs was not ripped. I did not look at what it is.
- Season 3, disc 3: t05, t08 and t10 (about 37, 55 and 37 minutes) are bonus featurettes. I deleted them.
- Season 4, disc C: t00 and t01 are two clips of about 4 minutes each (extras). I did not keep them.
Code: Select all
Disc Title Episode Name Length Basis
------ ---------------- -------- ---------------------------- ------- -----
S1 D1 t00 S01E01 Dulcinea 44:46 W
S1 D1 t02 S01E02 The Big Empty 43:05 W
S1 D1 t03 S01E03 Remember the Cant 43:05 W
S1 D1 t04 S01E04 CQB 42:34 W
S1 D1 t05 S01E05 Back to the Butcher 43:05 W
S1 D2 t00 S01E06 Rock Bottom 43:04 W
S1 D2 t02 S01E07 Windmills 42:35 W
S1 D2 t03 S01E08 Salvage 43:05 W
S1 D2 t04 (first half) S01E09 Critical Mass 40:21 R
S1 D2 t04 (second half) S01E10 Leviathan Wakes 40:07 R
S2 D1 t00 S02E01 Safe 46:32 R
S2 D1 t01 S02E02 Doors & Corners 43:21 R
S2 D1 t02 S02E03 Static 42:01 R
S2 D1 t03 S02E04 Godspeed 43:45 R
S2 D2 t00 S02E05 Home 44:33 R
S2 D2 t01 S02E06 Paradigm Shift 43:19 R
S2 D2 t02 S02E07 The Seventh Man 44:32 R
S2 D2 t03 S02E08 Pyre 44:20 R
S2 D2 t04 S02E09 The Weeping Somnambulist 42:21 R
S2 D3 t00 S02E10 Cascade 42:18 R
S2 D3 t01 S02E11 Here There Be Dragons 43:48 R
S2 D3 t02 S02E12 The Monster and the Rocket 44:31 R
S2 D3 t03 S02E13 Caliban's War 42:56 R
S3 D1 t00 S03E01 Fight or Flight 43:36 R
S3 D1 t01 S03E02 IFF 42:37 R
S3 D1 t02 S03E03 Assured Destruction 44:24 R
S3 D1 t03 S03E04 Reload 44:27 R
S3 D2 t00 S03E05 Triple Point 43:08 R
S3 D2 t01 S03E06 Immolation 43:51 R
S3 D2 t02 S03E07 Delta-V 44:33 R
S3 D2 t03 S03E08 It Reaches Out 43:10 R
S3 D2 t04 S03E09 Intransigence 43:19 R
S3 D3 t00 S03E10 Dandelion Sky 42:12 R
S3 D3 t01 S03E11 Fallen World 44:27 R
S3 D3 t02 S03E12 Congregation 42:09 R
S3 D3 t03 S03E13 Abaddon's Gate 41:35 R
S4 A t00 S04E04 Retrograde 43:57 C
S4 A t01 S04E03 Subduction 46:02 C
S4 A t02 S04E02 Jetsam 48:21 C
S4 A t03 S04E01 New Terra 47:44 C
S4 B t00 S04E08 The One-Eyed Man 52:32 C
S4 B t01 S04E07 A Shot In The Dark 44:23 C
S4 B t02 S04E06 Displacement 48:30 C
S4 B t03 S04E05 Oppressor 45:25 C
S4 C t02 S04E10 Cibola Burn 48:32 C
S4 C t03 S04E09 Saeculum 43:12 C
S5 D1 t00 S05E04 Gaugamela 45:35 C
S5 D1 t01 S05E05 Down and Out 49:03 C
S5 D1 t02 S05E03 Mother 51:55 C
S5 D1 t03 S05E02 Churn 52:23 C
S5 D1 t04 S05E01 Exodus 51:39 C
S5 D2 t00 S05E09 Winnipesaukee 51:49 C
S5 D2 t01 S05E10 Nemesis Games 56:11 C
S5 D2 t02 S05E08 Hard Vacuum 53:33 C
S5 D2 t03 S05E07 Oyedeng 47:38 C
S5 D2 t04 S05E06 Tribes 51:07 C
S6 D1 t00 S06E02 Azure Dragon 43:47 C
S6 D1 t01 S06E01 Strange Dogs 45:45 C
S6 D1 t02 S06E03 Force Projection 43:20 C
S6 D2 t00 S06E06 Babylon's Ashes 63:35 C
S6 D2 t01 S06E05 Why We Fight 48:06 C
S6 D2 t02 S06E04 Redoubt 47:09 C
I habitually rip without subtitles. On season 2 disc 1, the only disc I examined, each episode has a single English subtitle track (full, with hearing-impaired cues) and no forced-only English track and no forced-flagged entries, so there is no separate track for the occasional Belter dialogue. The episodes I ripped carry only the English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track.
Encoding (HandBrake, NVEnc H.264)
- Video: NVEnc H.264, average bitrate 8500 kbps. I compared 5500, 6500, 7500, 8500 and 9000 on busy CGI and on dark scenes and found 8500 to be the point where more bitrate stopped being worth the space.
- Audio: AC3 5.1 at 640 kbps, from the DTS-HD MA track.
- Crop: automatic, which gives 1920x960 on these discs. Frame rate constant, same as source; decomb default.
- Output: .m4v, named SxxEyy Title, with no subtitles.
If you have a different release of this show, the title and disc order may differ, so match by the end-credit code or the runtime before trusting the table. If you can fill in the seasons marked R (especially seasons 2 and 3) or have the playlist numbers for these discs, please comment.