Expensive?

[dom_b]

I like MakeMKV, I think it does a great job, but does anyone else thing $50 is too much? I would gladly pay $20-$25 even if it didn't include the decryption as I already have AnyDVD HD. Maybe that would be an option for people who don't want to pay for that side of it? Remove the decryption ability and sell it at a discounted rate. At the moment its like paying for something twice.

I can do the same thing as this with eac3to and mkvtoolnix for free.

Don't get me wrong, I think its very good at what it does and I approve of paying for software, I just think $50 is a bit too much. Sorry! Even an introductory rate would be nice for people who have been using it a long while!

[neo668]

I'm new to playing around with HD video and I only downloaded MakeMKV yesterday. I have a BD folder which I wanted to convert to a mkv file. I've no experience with this whatsoever. When I pointed MakeMKV to the BDMV folder it automatically located the index.bdmv file and produced a flawless mkv file. I was impressed. I didn't think it would be so easy.

I was hoping mkvtoolnix would be the same - as it was free - but it would ask for "supported media files" only. I tried pointing to all the directories in the folder but it didn't find anything it could use. So I tried to load the index.bdmv but it brought up an error message. In the end I could not make a mkv file from the Blu Ray folder with mkvtoolnix. I guess I still have a lot to learn.

My point is that MakeMKV has its merits. But then, what do I know.

I don't know if I'd be willing to pay $50 but I'll decide when the author actually start charging for this wonderful (to me that is) app.

My 2 cents.

[dom_b]

mkvtoolnix is not designed for working with BD-R discs. You have to demux the titles first using eac3to then mux them using mkvtoolnix. Its more complicated yes and thats what you're paying for with MakeMKV, but I don't personally think its worth $50, thats all I think!

[neo668]

I also think that $50 is a bit too expensive but I feel that the author has not yet decided what the final price will be. Hope he doesn't scare away his admirers and supporters of his work.

[Ratpack]

I would also be interested in a stripped down version of MakeMKV (at lower a lower price) with Blu Ray support but without decryption, this would please all the AnyDVD HD users and allow us to support this great software even more.

[Danger]

Got to vote for a decryption stripped out version as well since I already use AnyDVD HD to make
an ISO, ClownBD to demux the video, subs and convert the HD Audio to AC3, & BDSup2Sub to convert
the subs ClownBD demuxed to idx/sub and then MKVMerge GUI to muxe it all back together so
that I get a working MKV file with HD Video, AC3 Audio and WORKING subtitles on my WDTV HD
Media Player.

Now if MakeMKV had the convert audio option & convert Subtitles option... By the way
that ?50 EU you all are talking about converts to about $71.56 Canadian.

[Marc_G]

I'll add another vote preference for a decryption-removed version at a lower price. It's true that a large percentage of people using MakeMKV for BD discs already own, or eventually will buy, AnyDVDHD in order to preserve an archival iso or file-rip of the whole discs with menus/extra content, etc., even if they do use MakeMKV to rip out the movie for convenient watching.

It will be interesting where the price point (s) land. 50 Euros would be a lot it seems, $50 for the full decryption package doesn't seem too bad if there is a say $30 non-decryption version.

In any event, I don't mind paying for the software if that encourages the author to continue development. This is the easiest-to-use thing out there, IMHO. That's the selling point for me. Wish I could set a preference for "save all english subtitles and audio tracks" ; discard everything else ; with a toggle for keep/discard HD audio tracks.

Marc

[michelkenny]

I'm putting in another vote for a decryption-less version as well. I already own AnyDVD HD, so it is hard to justify spending $50 euroes ($72 CAD) for something I would only be using to package my blu-rays into an MKV.

[willisurf]

I agree, MakeMKV is a good program, I havent?t found the page with the price yet. But if it is 50$ it will be definetly to high. There are all tools for free if you leave aside decryption.

In fact there is a new GUI for converting bluray (unprotected) to MKV. It will not be fair to post the link here, just look around. It is a one click solution which also -optional- recodes and compresses the BD, with multiple selectable languages, selectable dynamic subtitles and it preserves the chapters. It is also beta but it works like a champ.

Nevertheless I think something like 15-20$ would be ok without decryption. We will see what happens.

[Marc_G]

One argument against a two-tier solution is support. Suppose the authors of MakeMKV offer a decryptionless variant, and someone uses AnyDVDHD to decrypt a BD disc. And suppose MakeMKV puts out a video file that is defective in some way. Who's responsible? If MakeMKV hasn't handled the whole process, it could be a fingerpointing match between MakeMKV and AnyDVDHD. These headaches are a pain for all involved (user and vendors).

Ultimately Mike will have to factor in the market dynamics and support issues as well as the technical challenges of maintaining two releases (or, unlocked/locked for BD) and decide what to do. Either way I wish him well because he has invested a lot of effort in a great product.

Marc

[mketech]

I use MakeMKV for OS X so I like it the way it is as AnyDVD HD isn't available for the Mac.

[kryzchek]

I don't think $50 is unreasonable, especially considering it will provide for a never-expiring registration code. Amortize $50 over the number of DVDs and Blurays that you'll convert with this software, and you'll see it's a very fair price.

[stinkweasels]

I think $39.99 to $49.99 is a fair price, especially since its the only OS X solution. If it had the option to shoot out smaller mkvs, I'd pay $59.99 to $79.99.

[ozmale]

I don't use makemkv that much but needed to use it tonight. I ran it to find I now need to buy it to perform the function I wanted. I said to myself, not a problem it will only be $20. Clicked the buy now button and got the shock of my life $50 ($70 Australian).

I said to myself "bugger that, what a ripoff !!". Then I thought to myself "here we go the death nell of another good program due to developer greed". Now starts the cycle of hackers and crackers breaking the program (if they haven't already). Then the developer working on ways round the crackers, with this cycle always leading to the developer spending more time trying to prevent his program being pirated rather than servicing his loyal customers. Ultimately putting in such complex protection measurers that it start to annoy legimate users.

How many times have we all seen this happen ? All because the developer was too proud to ask his loyal users what was a fair price for his product.

At $20 I would have bought it without a second thought. At $50 ($70) I will look for all alternatives.

A interesting quote from a marketing magazine. "software piracy is merely another market force, just like competition from other products. Your price balance has to be correct or you will lose your market overnight no matter how good your product is."

[kryzchek]

If you're going to use it for a handful of DVDs/Blurays, then yes, maybe $50 is too much. If, like me, you have several hundred discs to convert, then $50 isn't a bad price.

It's pretty cynical to accuse someone who has provided this software over the course of the past year+ FOR FREE of being greedy. Try working as a software developer; you spend hundreds of hours developing a product, hundreds more of hours supporting it, and then people want it for free. By all means, use one of the free alternatives. If the developer of MakeMKV has deemed $50 to be a fair price in exchange for his time and effort, I'm not going to fault him for it.