Cutting out inappropriate scenes

[Folan]

Hello, I'm very new to Blurays and ripping in general, I got myself an LG WH14NS40 and flashed the firmware, it says LibreDrive Enabled so in theory it should be able to rip UHD Blu-rays, but still haven't ripped any since I don't have any yet, and I wanted to ask:

If I rip a movie, what is the best way to cut out inappropriate scenes so I can watch the movie with my family? I'm quite familiar with Davinci Resolve, but:
- What export settings should I use?
- Will it break the metadata of the movie and Plex and or Jellyfin won't be able to recognize it?
- Will it break the surround sound or Dolby Atmos?

This might be a trivial question since I'm new to this, so I hope you go easy on me.. but rest assured, I'm a fast learner

[Radiocomms237]

LOL, I'd say that is the polar-opposite of a "trivial question"!

MakeMKV cannot do what you're after, it basically just copies entire files from one medium to another.

The easiest way would be to rip the movie using MakeMKV, then watch it and note down the timecodes when the objectionable scenes begin & end, then split the movie into parts using MKVToolnix, then append all the parts you want to keep back together, again using MKVToolnix.

Although, the end result won't be pretty.

You could make a neater job of it using a video editing suite, just be aware that most of these will only allow you to load the movie with one single audio track and no subs, whereas MKVToolnix will cut and reassemble all audio and subtitle tracks simultaneously, and edit the chapter edition(s) for you as well.

[dcoke22]

- Will it break the metadata of the movie and Plex and or Jellyfin won't be able to recognize it?

I think you'll be okay. Plex uses the folder name and the file name to determine what the movie is. If you make a movie 10 minutes shorter, it won't matter for matching.

Plex Support: Naming and organizing your Movie files

[Folan]

You could make a neater job of it using a video editing suite, just be aware that most of these will only allow you to load the movie with one single audio track and no subs, whereas MKVToolnix will cut and reassemble all audio and subtitle tracks simultaneously, and edit the chapter edition(s) for you as well.

Thanks a lot, I'll give Toolnix a try.. and yeah as you said it won't be pretty, that's why I asked if it can be done using an editing software while preserving the audio and subtitle tracks and chapters, etc.. since Davinci Resolve is a standard editing software in the movie industry, so it supports MKV files and Dolby Atmos, but I don't know about the subtitle tracks, and to be honest I don't care much about subtitles since they can be added in plex of Jellyfin later.

[riffdex]

You could make a neater job of it using a video editing suite, just be aware that most of these will only allow you to load the movie with one single audio track and no subs, whereas MKVToolnix will cut and reassemble all audio and subtitle tracks simultaneously, and edit the chapter edition(s) for you as well.

Thanks a lot, I'll give Toolnix a try.. and yeah as you said it won't be pretty, that's why I asked if it can be done using an editing software while preserving the audio and subtitle tracks and chapters, etc.. since Davinci Resolve is a standard editing software in the movie industry, so it supports MKV files and Dolby Atmos, but I don't know about the subtitle tracks, and to be honest I don't care much about subtitles since they can be added in plex of Jellyfin later.

Tbh I know you mentioned you aren’t worried about the subtitle tracks because Plex/Jellyfin can generate those later, but I doubt either of those programs would correctly generate the entire movie’s subtitles if you cut a portion of the movie out. Make sure you include the subtitles with your initial MKV rip so MKVToolNix can adjust the subtitles to match the new cut.

[Folan]

Tbh I know you mentioned you aren’t worried about the subtitle tracks because Plex/Jellyfin can generate those later, but I doubt either of those programs would correctly generate the entire movie’s subtitles if you cut a portion of the movie out. Make sure you include the subtitles with your initial MKV rip so MKVToolNix can adjust the subtitles to match the new cut.

Just forget about the subtitles, they are not my main concern, my real question is, if I modify the movie using Davinci Resolve, what export settings should I use to preserve both the picture and sound quality + the Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision / HDR?

[Radiocomms237]

I've never used Davinci Resolve myself, but most video editing suites I have used will allow "Lossless" export under certain circumstances. If available, that will export the file with no (or at least minimal) re-encoding, which will be a LOT quicker and far more likely to preserve all the attributes from the original file.

If you do have to re-encode the entire file, then it comes down to what codecs your choice of editing software has. You may have to 'dumb-down' some of the more exotic tracks to plain old Dolby Digital for example, or whatever is available.

[Flesh]

mkxNIX is clutch & will guarantee you don't have to sacrifice quality or any of the subtitles, audio tracks, chapters, etc. etc. It is also great for joining movies split over multiple disks into a single file or multiple episodes glued into a single file into multiple files. If you're very paranoid about quality you can also go into MKVToolNIX GUI at the top left, preferences, default values, and check "Disable additional lossless compression for all track types".

It is clunky, but worth the 10-15 minutes it'll take you to figure out how to use it to take 1 movie into 3 files (original, part 1, part 2). Then remove scenes & recombine the many parts into a single file losslessly without losing on audio, subtitles, or quality.

The easiest way is to drag in the original file, go to 'output' tab, change 'split mode' to "after specific timestamps", set the timestamp to when the scene you don't want is about to start, then change 'maximum number of files' to '2'.

Afterwards take the output that continues with the scene you don't want, make that your 'input' file, go back to 'output' tab, change the timestamp for when the scene in question ends.

You now have many files, one of which is the movie just until the scene in question is about to start (we'll call A), and another file where the movie starts when the scene in question ends (we'll call B).

Change the 'input' file to A, append file B to it, go back to 'output' tab, & change 'split mode' to 'do not split'. BAM, you now have a bunch of files + the one you've made where the movie has the same quality in every possible way, but is simply missing the scene in question. This last file is the one you'll want to keep, rename, & upload to plex.

I really hope for your own sanity that you don't have multiple scenes you want to remove, or at least not too many movies you're trying to censor, otherwise you'll quickly go insane writing down timestamps & managing the 10,000 files you'll generate.

Obviously delete the unwanted files once you are done & have confirmed you appended the correct splits to each other into a single file.

These instructions are for removing a single scene, the more scenes the more parts you'll have to cut up & then glue back together based on timestamps. I strongly recommend re-naming files so you don't lose track on what it is you're trying to do if you're removing multiple scenes.

Realistically I question the logic behind censorship; but since you took the time to read my walkthrough on how to use this software to accomplish your exact needs, maybe you'll listen to my $0.02 on keeping the movies how to directors intended & simply restricting access to certain movies until viewers are mature enough to handle them. Or you'll ignore my self-righteous advice on how to run your family & treat your media. Either way, enjoy!