Step by step guide wanted - how to not add commentary track

[kyrre]

Hi guys

I'm trying to make MKV files from BD disks. I can't seem to get the audio tracks right. Most of the time there is no audio, and when I do get audio I get the commentator track on top of the movie audio. And when it takes 30-40 minutes to make the file... well - I'm sort of frustrated.

Is there a really good step by step guide wich explains the different audio and subtitle tracks?

Thank you

/Kyrre

[Woodstock]

Rip every track, eliminate the ones you don't want with mkvmerge or handbrake after you find out which ones are correct. I use VLC to check each track after ripping.

That is the only viable method for arbitrary disks.

The problem is that some commentary tracks have "better" audio specs than the movie, so simply picking the "best" tracks doesn't work.

[kyrre]

Rip every track, eliminate the ones you don't want with mkvmerge or handbrake after you find out which ones are correct. I use VLC to check each track after ripping.

That is the only viable method for arbitrary disks.

The problem is that some commentary tracks have "better" audio specs than the movie, so simply picking the "best" tracks doesn't work.

I was hoping to avoid using Handbrake and other converting software. It takes a couple of hours to convert a movie on my computer

I will play a little with Handbrake and see what I find out.

Thank you!

/Kyrre

[Grauhaar]

Use VLC zu find out which tracks are needed and in which sequence. After this use the "MkvToolNIX Gui" to deselect the unneeded tracks and bring the remaining tracks in the right sequence. Easy job and fast, because to reencoding is done.

[preserve]

I'm curious about what titles you're working on that you're running into this problem!

Over thousands of discs between movies and TV shows, I've always found that the "top" track in the list is always the main English audio (whether 7.1 or 5.1 or whatever the case is), and then after that might follow a secondary "main" track such as a dedicated 5.1 or a lossy 5.1 or an original 2.0 track, and then after that will usually be an Audio Description track if the disc has it, then other language tracks again if the disc has any, and lastly any commentary tracks, often in 2.0 but sometimes in 5.1.

Sometimes things are switched around a bit, especially the commentaries, but I don't think I've done a single disc where the "main" audio wasn't listed first in MakeMKV's list of the audio tracks.

Maybe I just watch too much mainstream stuff where the authoring companies follow a logical sequence

But yes, mkvmerge or a GUI for it will be your friend.

[kyrre]

I'm curious about what titles you're working on that you're running into this problem!

Over thousands of discs between movies and TV shows, I've always found that the "top" track in the list is always the main English audio (whether 7.1 or 5.1 or whatever the case is), and then after that might follow a secondary "main" track such as a dedicated 5.1 or a lossy 5.1 or an original 2.0 track, and then after that will usually be an Audio Description track if the disc has it, then other language tracks again if the disc has any, and lastly any commentary tracks, often in 2.0 but sometimes in 5.1.

Sometimes things are switched around a bit, especially the commentaries, but I don't think I've done a single disc where the "main" audio wasn't listed first in MakeMKV's list of the audio tracks.

Maybe I just watch too much mainstream stuff where the authoring companies follow a logical sequence

But yes, mkvmerge or a GUI for it will be your friend.

Is's actually just one BD disk giving me problems. It was the first one I tried after installing makemkv (bad luck I guess), and I should have tested more movies before I called for help

The movie is a 4 disk Titanic BD box set zone 2 Norwegian. I have still not been able to make the MKV without the commentary - but I have successfully made MKV files from many other movies.

The four disks are called:

Feature film (the one I tried)
Feature film part 1
Feature film part 2 and spescial features
Spescial features

There is no explanation of the content on each disk other that the misleading titles printed on the disks...

[preserve]

Okay, I'll try to help...

For future reference, try to be as specific and detailed about the problem as possible - this will make sure you get the best help in the quickest way:

1) Title the thread as simply as possible according to the movie "Titanic - Norway box set" - that way, anyone who has the movie Titanic and possibly anyone who has that version in particular will be more likely to read your thread.

2) Yes this could be a generic problem (how to skip commentary tracks) but it's muich better to treat it as a specific problem because a specific problem is a lot easier to solve than a general problem. So describe the issue specifically and if at all possible, give a screenshot.

Onto the problem...

Make sure you are in "Expert mode" (Preferences -> General). It's been so long I forget what you get and don't get if you're not using Expert mode. It's not as scary as it sounds.

I don't know if your set is anything like the North America set, but the North America set has Blu-ray #1 with Movie + Special Features, Blu-ray #2 is Special Features, DVD #1 is Movie Part 1, and DVD #2 is Movie Part 2.

The back of the case lists the Blu-ray feature film audio as:
- English 5.1 DTS-HD audio
- English 2.0 Dolby Digital
- English Audio Description (unspecified format)
- Some other languages
- THREE commentary tracks that will be English (unspecified format)

Now armed with this information, I compare that to what MakeMKV shows me, and the answer is clear:



- The DTS-HD track is first and that's the main high quality audio I want
- The second track is 2.0 (DD Stereo), this is also a main audio track but I don't want it
- The next English track is a 5.1 track, that's going to be the Audio Description (Audio Description is often 5.1) and I definitely don't need that
- Lastly the three commentaries follow, they're all DD Stereo

Now maybe your disc isn't as easy to "solve" as this one is, but I hope this might help you figure it out!

[ianbhenderson73]

Hi

I have a similar issue to the one described. I'm in the process of trying to rip my WarGames BluRay (UK). The BluRay contains 6 Titles, of which I believe the 4th & 5th are the main feature - I'm basing that belief purely on the fact that the size of each of the is 30Gb which is by far the two largest titles on the disc.

I've attached a screenshot from MakeMKV (BETA edition, running in Expert Mode. As you can see, I've selected the DTS-HD and DTS Surround audio but have deselected DD Stereo English because I believe this contains the audio commentary which I don't want. I've also deselected the PGS Japanese and PGS English subtitles. However, when I ripped the BluRay and play back the resulting MKV file, I'm getting a flawless video but absolutely NO audio.

Is there something silly that I'm doing wrong?

TIA

[Chetwood]

- The next English track is a 5.1 track, that's going to be the Audio Description (Audio Description is often 5.1) and I definitely don't need that
- Lastly the three commentaries follow, they're all DD Stereo

Now maybe your disc isn't as easy to "solve" as this one is, but I hope this might help you figure it out!

Which already shows you can't automate this properly since in some cases regular tracks are 5.1 too so you have to pre-listen to differenatiate between audio description tracks and regular tracks. That happens more often than you think on German BDs of older movies. The English track has better quality.

Is there something silly that I'm doing wrong?

You've checked the proper tracks but maybe you have a Default Selection String active that disables them? You could poste the text output of Mediainfo of the resulting MKV so we can verify if VLC should play back audio.