Burning My DVDs for Plex

[CHF_2012]

Hi!

Sorry, this is probably very basic and well known but I cannot find a thread that gives me this precise information and I do not trust my skills to interpolate the information I do have.

I have two related questions. I have many DVDs. I want to burn them to Plex lossless or as close to lossless as possible. I want to encode the English subtitles so that I have the option of turning them on or off.

1. What is the best way to burn DVDs I own so that I can view them in Plex as close to the original picture and sound of the DVD as possible? The more specific (eg “Use X software on Y setting”) as possible, please.

2. How do I burn my DVDs such that they include the original English subtitles but in a manner that I can toggle off or on? Again, I would prefer exact software and settings for that software.

Thank you very much in advance!

Craig

[OttoKerner]

The term is ‘rip’, not ‘burn’.

Google ‘MakeMKV’

[CHF_2012]

Hi Otto!

Thank you! That is hugely helpful and seems to be exactly what I wanted!

I do have one issue, no doubt from my lack of knowledge. My widescreen movies ripped in MakeMKV seem to be fine but my 1.33 movies are squeezed. I don’t see any settings in either Plex or MakeMKV to adjust for the different aspect ratios.

Please help (again)?

Thank you so much!

Craig

[OttoKerner]

Which clients are you using to play the movies?
If they are ripped correctly, they should also appear correctly on screen.

Please post the Plex XML info of one such movie.

[CHF_2012]

Hi Otto!

For whatever reason I am not getting an XML file (on any video) when I click the button.

I can tell you that I have used MakeMKV (v 1.12.2) to rip an old 4:3 movie. I see no settings to change how a movie is ripped, so I get what I get.

Then I put it into my OS X Plex server (3.53.7). I see no setting there to tell it how to display the file.

It comes out squeezed, as if it is taking a 16:9 file w/ black bars around a 4:3 movie and compressing that 16:9 image into 4:3.

Does that make sense?

I see this in LOTS of threads but I see no particular solution. It seems like I should be able to change a setting in MakeMKV to change how it’s ripped or one in Plex to change how it’s displayed. But I see no option to do either.

I really like the MKV format but this is a big problem for me.

Thanks!

Craig

[OttoKerner]

@CHF_2012

I am not getting an XML file (on any video) when I click the button.

Maybe you missed that you’ll have to click on View XML in the lower, left corner of the popup?

[Holob1]

MakeMKV will copy DVD files and put them into MKV container, which means your video will be transcoded on playback.

If you want to avoid too much transcoding, I advise you to rip DVD using Handbrake software.
Modify the preset to:
MP4 (web optimized)
Dimensions & Filters tabs: leave it
Video tab: H.264, Peak Framerate:30, AVG Bitrate: 4000 kbps, Encoder Main 4.0
Audio tab: leave it or change audio to STEREO AAC 320 kbps (or smaller kbps if original audio is worse)
Subtitles tab: just insert English subtitles nothing more. Do not check any settings like default, burn it, force.
Chapters remove or add if prefered.

DVDs are good for small screens, and look bad on 4K TVs, so it is better to optimize above settings for your mobile devices (Android or iOS):

• MP4 web optimized, Video h.264 4000kbps, one audio track AAC Stereo, no subtitles, no chapters.

[OttoKerner]

@Holob1

and put them into MKV container, which means your video will be transcoded on playback.

Not true.
It all depends on the Plex client which is used for playback. There are some which can pefectly play back MKV files. (Direct Play)
There are some which can play the contents of a MKV file (Direct Stream).
And there are some which indeed require transcoding.

But to say that MKV files will always trigger transcoding is simply not correct.

[CHF_2012]

In Safari that button generates a blank page. In Chrome it generates this (with the lead “<” removed otherwise it is invisible in this forum:

MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionUUID="c67cbaf2-9d5d-419d-8298-a411080bef94" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1530479573">
Video ratingKey="142766" key="/library/metadata/142766" guid="com.plexapp.agents.imdb://tt0075066?lang=en" librarySectionTitle="Movies" librarySectionID="6" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/6" studio="Amjo Productions" type="movie" title="The Pink Panther Strikes Again" titleSort="Pink Panther Strikes Again"contentRating="PG" summary="Charles Dreyfus, who has finally cracked over inspector Clouseau's antics, escapes from a mental institution and launches an elaborate plan to get rid of Clouseau once and for all." rating="7.0" viewOffset="181000" lastViewedAt="1531189933" year="1976" tagline="Why are the world's chief assassins after Inspector Clouseau? Why not? Everybody else is." thumb="/library/metadata/142766/thumb/1531189133" art="/library/metadata/142766/art/1531189133" duration="6203997" originallyAvailableAt="1976-12-15" addedAt="1531070695" updatedAt="1531189133" chapterSource="media"primaryExtraKey="/library/metadata/142768">
Media videoResolution="480" id="133627" duration="6203997" bitrate="5295" width="720" height="480" aspectRatio="1.33" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="ac3" videoCodec="mpeg2video" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="NTSC" videoProfile="main">
Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="138043" key="/library/parts/138043/1531069691/file.mkv" duration="6203997" file="/Volumes/Drobo 5D Two/Movies/Pink Panther/The Pink Panther Strikes Again.mkv" size="4105970058" container="mkv" deepAnalysisVersion="2" indexes="sd"requiredBandwidths="6813,6398,5919,5919,5919,5919,5919,5919" videoProfile="main">
Stream id="197646" streamType="1" codec="mpeg2video" index="0" bitrate="3400" language="English" languageCode="eng" anamorphic="1" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" colorRange="tv" frameRate="29.970" height="480" level="8" pixelAspectRatio="8:9" profile="main" refFrames="1"requiredBandwidths="5777,5362,4896,4896,4896,4896,4896,4896" scanType="interlaced" width="720" displayTitle="English (MPEG2VIDEO)"/>
Stream id="197647" streamType="2" default="1" codec="ac3" index="1" channels="6" bitrate="448" language="English" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="5.1(side)" requiredBandwidths="448,448,448,448,448,448,448,448" samplingRate="48000" title="Surround 5.1" displayTitle="Surround 5.1 (English AC3)"/>
Stream id="197648" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="ac3" index="2" channels="2" bitrate="192" language="English" languageCode="eng" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" samplingRate="48000" title="Stereo" displayTitle="Stereo (English AC3)"/>
Stream id="197649" streamType="2" codec="ac3" index="3" channels="2" bitrate="192" language="Français" languageCode="fre" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" samplingRate="48000" title="Stereo" displayTitle="Stereo (Français AC3)"/>
Stream id="197650" streamType="2" codec="ac3" index="4" channels="2" bitrate="192" language="Español" languageCode="spa" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="192,192,192,192,192,192,192,192" samplingRate="48000" title="Stereo" displayTitle="Stereo (Español AC3)"/>
Stream id="197651" streamType="3" default="1" codec="vobsub" index="5" bitrate="871" language="English" languageCode="eng" requiredBandwidths="9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9" displayTitle="English (VOBSUB)"/>
Stream id="197652" streamType="3" codec="vobsub" index="6" bitrate="871" language="Español" languageCode="spa" requiredBandwidths="8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8" displayTitle="Español (VOBSUB)"/>
Stream id="197653" streamType="3" codec="vobsub" index="7" bitrate="871" language="Français" languageCode="fre" requiredBandwidths="9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9" displayTitle="Français (VOBSUB)"/>
/Part>
/Media>
Genre id="88" filter="genre=88" tag="Comedy"/>

Field locked="1" name="thumb"/>
Field locked="1" name="art"/>

/Part>
/Media>
/Video>
/Extras>
/Video>
/MediaContainer>

[CHF_2012]

I don’t have any settings for Direct Play in my Plex server. I just loaded the OS X Server and used what was there. I see in https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289408-plex-web-app-settings/ how I might have some control of Direct Play and playing but my equivalent page has no such options.

[OttoKerner]

Thanks, this is the XML I need.
Although it has 2 different aspect ratios in there. One says 4:3, the other one says 16:9

Did you already ‘optimize’ this video?

[CHF_2012]

I had not previously. I just tried tho and the optimized versions are also squeezed as if, for example, it is an image intended for 16:9 that is displayed at 4:3.

Am I using MakeMKV wrong somehow?

Or

I don’t have any access to Direct Play in my Plex server setting. Could that be the issue?

[Afullmark]

@CHF_2012 Could this be: Not Answered: All files with the 'Original display aspect ratio' tag play at wrong resolution

1. You need the elementary MPEG2 so: ffmpeg -i 'Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (2000).mkv' -c:v copy victoria.m2v
2. YOU HAVE TO USE WINDOWS. Open ReStream, found here http://www.videohelp.com/software/Restream (ReStream can only handle elementary MPEG2, VOBs are not implemented).
3. Reflag Sequence Display Extension -> change Horizontal Size: 720. Or you can choose to remove the flag. I REMOVED it.
4. Now MediaInfo reads the .m2v as 16:9 here.
5. Remux the .m2v and the audio and subtitles etc from original back into MKV with MKVToolnix

If you need ffmpeg on the mac then I suggest home-brew: http://brew.sh
Just put /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" into the command to install. Then ‘brew install ffmpeg’

And now it’ll direct play at the correct resolution

[OttoKerner]

I assume that will work. But it is a convoluted workaround which is not an option for all users. So I rather say we should identify the issue in Plex and push for a fix, right?

May I get a sample of this ripped MKV? (max 50MB please)
see here how to make a snippet:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201035968-generating-sample-files-from-media/

[Afullmark]

It was fixed by Nvidia (for the shield), which was the only client with this issue; it was a client-side issue, not exactly a plex issue.

[FordGuy61]

It is an anamorphic DVD. If you play the DVD rip back in Plex you see black bars on all four sides. Imagine watching a 4:3 movie on a 16:9 screen. Now, inside that 4:3 frame, play a widescreen movie.

The only way I know to have the movie use the full screen is to transcode it with Handbrake.

If you look at the rip with MediaInfo you see the following:

Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Original display aspect ratio            : 16:9

A “normal” DVD (for lack of a better term), has just the “Display aspect ratio” entry:
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
or
Display aspect ratio : 16:9

Full MediaInfo output for the DVD rip is attached.

Two pictures below: one playing the DVD rip, another playing a transcoded version (pardon the reflections on the TV screen).

Client does not matter. Plex client on Shield (7.2.0.5882), Fire TV Cube (7.1.1.5878), and PMP Win10 (3.57.1) play the movie in the same manner. FWIW, so does VLC on my PC.

I happen to have the same movie. I’ll DM you a link to a sample in my DropBox.

DVD Rip:

Transcoded with Handbrake:

MediaInfo for DVD rip:
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976).txt (5.3 KB)

[CHF_2012]

Ok, sample is 40mb but I can’t u/l it for some reason. It’s here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6yxg9glljsf4se/The%20Pink%20Panther%20Strikes%20Again%20(1)-001.mkv.zip?dl=0

Also, not sure if this means anything but I see on the web my settings maybe should look like this:

But mine looks like this:

[CHF_2012]

Hi FordGuy61,

Bingo! This is clearly the issue. Exactly how my video looks. So something between how MakeMKV rips and how Plex reads and plays leaves the aspect ratio messed up.

I am not wedded to MakeMKV. I’d never heard of it before this thread. However, in theory it’s great, giving me “lossless” DVD and BluRay source files while preserving the various subtitle and audio tracks. This is PERFECT for me.

So, is there a different solution that gets me to the same place?

Alternatively, I can’t be the only person with this problem (anamorphic DVDs + MakeMKV = messed up aspect ratios). Am I missing something?

Thanks!

Craig

[OttoKerner]

Thanks for the samples, they suffer both from the same issue.
Even when I play them with MPC-HC, I see an identical issue to watching them in Plex.
Even VLC shows the picture too narrow.

There are actually 2 issues:

1. the file is missing a proper aspect ratio information
2. the picture is ‘letterboxed’, with big black borders on top and bottom. Thus wasting even more of the scarce pixels of a DVD.

The still I extracted illustrates this perfectly:

I’m afraid there is nothing you can do within Plex to rectify this. As @FordGuy61 explained above, the only way is to feed this video into Handbrake.
There, you can make it into a progressive video (it is ‘interlaced’ which will require prettty much always transcoding),
without black borders
and with proper aspect ratio.

[FordGuy61]

Actually, the aspect ratio is correct (if I understand things correctly). The width and height are in correct proportion. It is just that the video does not use all available space on the screen.

The root cause is how the video is stored on the disc.

The anamorphic process puts extra space on the left & right side of the video (the 4:3 frame). This requires that the video height also be reduced to keep the aspect ratio correct.

No clue how Handbrake detects anamorphic video. Hopefully Plex developers can make similar adjustments in the Plex clients (Not saying it is easy. The underpinnings of Handbrake & Plex are very different).

Here’s some info I’ve run across. You can search for “anamorphic video,” “anamorphic dvd,” etc to find more details.

From Wikipedia:
A DVD labeled as “Widescreen Anamorphic” contains video that has the same frame size in pixels as traditional fullscreen video, but uses wider pixels. The shape of the pixels is called pixel aspect ratio and is encoded in the video stream for a DVD player to correctly identify the proportions of the video. If an anamorphic DVD video is played on standard 4:3 television without adjustment, the image will look horizontally squeezed.

Handbrake documentation has some info, but unfortunately, their pictures are not loading.

Only about 1% of my DVDs are like this, but it is annoying when I run across it.

I still rip my discs with MakeMKV. When I run across one of these type movies, then I process the rip via Handbrake.

It would be great if Plex can figure out how to adjust playback for anamorphic video. In the meantime, I’ll continue to use Handbrake.

FYI, if you try Handbrake, start with the “HQ 480p30 Surround” or “Super HQ…” presets. They’re a good starting point for DVDs. You can adjust things as needed (audio tracks, subtitles, etc).