I have a Blu-ray disc from Region B2. I used Makemkv to create a file of the disc to play through Plex on Roku. I have done this successfully several times before. However, this disc plays too fast in the drive in my iMac. As a result, my mkv output file also plays fast. Is there a way I can slow down the mkv file or create a new normal speed mkv file from the faster one I have now?
Thanks
Have you verified that there really is a problem with the disc? Any time I’ve read about this issue it’s always been because of the display and various motion enhancements being enabled. MakeMKV doesn’t play the disc and convert it, it only reads and copies files - which has nothing to do with actual playback.
Yes, I agree it is highly unusual. I have verified that the disc itself plays fast in 2 different external drives connected to my iMac. I can not test it in my blu-ray player connected to my TV since the disc is region B.
My guess is it’s the iMac that has the playback issue. I’d take the mkv you made and have someone else play it on a different computer to see if the problem persists.
I will do that and get back to you. Thanks.
I tried the mkv file and the blu-ray disc on my other iMac. I used the same external drives on both iMacs. One is a late 2012 iMac. The other is a 2009 model. I am still getting playback faster than it should be in all cases. The audio is synced correctly. The movie just plays too fast in every instant.
The video on the disc should be encoded with frame rate information and the video player should use that info to control the playback speed. If the video is playing faster than you think, it is most likely the video itself was encoded badly. You can use a program like Handbrake to re-encode the video, but it would basically be trial and error to figure out the adjustment needed.
If I am not mistaken, Region 2 BluRay’s and DVD’s are usually encoded at 25 FPS to match the PAL television standard. In many cases, films and video initially made in North America, for example are at 23.976 FPS (the NTSC standard). Basically, the frame rate is sped up so that the frames remain progressive, and there are no duplicate frames that can be seen as a “stutter” or “skip” by the viewer.
The result is 60 minutes of video originally recorded using NTSC standards, will be approximately 57 minutes and 30 seconds in the PAL standard.
If this is the speed-up your are talking about, tsMuxer and eac3to can change the video framerate without converting or re-encoding. Both are Windows only I believe. Audio, subtitles, and chapters will be out of sync, so you will need to convert those too. Eac3to can convert the audio to match the new framerate. Probably other programs available for Mac users.
@leelynds said:
If I am not mistaken, Region 2 BluRay’s and DVD’s are usually encoded at 25 FPS to match the PAL television standard. In many cases, films and video initially made in North America, for example are at 23.976 FPS (the NTSC standard).
That’s true, but the video player should be able to read the framerate and play back at the appropriate speed either by automatically adjusting the playback speed or performing a pull-down to match the playback framerate. I have some PAL videos in 25 FPS and they play back fine for me on multiple Plex clients.
@MovieFan.Plex said:
That’s true, but the video player should be able to read the framerate and play back at the appropriate speed either by automatically adjusting the playback speed or performing a pull-down to match the playback framerate. I have some PAL videos in 25 FPS and they play back fine for me on multiple Plex clients.
Not disagreeing at all. I am suggesting that the video IS at the PAL framerate of 25 FPS and meant to be played at that frame rate.
The original framerate of 23.976 has been changed to 25 FPS - that is, instead of each frame showing on your TV screen for approx 1/24 of a second, each frame shows for 1/25 of a second. That shortened display time for each frame results in the movie speeding up slightly - an hour of NTSC becomes 57 minutes in PAL. It is not meant to be “pulled-down” because the intended frame rate is 25 FPS, knowing that the total length of the original video will be shortened.
NTSC television uses “pull-down” to change 29.97 FPS video to 23.976 video. Basically, one frame out of 5 is discarded (a duplicate frame.) I don’t think that “pull-down” for PAL, changing 25 FPS to 24 FPS is very common.
PAL Speed Up: http://www.michaeldvd.com/Articles/PALSpeedUp/PALSpeedUp.asp
Guys, I am stumped. I have tried reencoding several times at different frame rates. Every time, I get the same result. However Handbrake converts PAL (25fps) to NTSC (24 or 23.9fps), it doesn’t seem to do it by slowing down the playback. I am starting to think the master of this film was transferred to Pal incorrectly. The movie is Tender Mercies from 1983. I have the combo pack, and the DVD plays fast as well. This is one of my favorite films and I really wanted a 1080p version of it. At this point, I would be willing to send one of you guys the disc to see if you can solve the issue. Any takers?
If the actual DVD plays fast then it is encoded wrongly to begin with. You can fix this with Handbrake but as I said earlier, it will be a guessing game to get ti right. If it is a DVD, it won’t be 1080p. You can upscale it but it won’t look much better than the original.
@SkepticJFM
I am curious if the speed-up you are talking about is about 4 minutes shorter than the length listed on movie sites like IMDB. The run-time for Tender Mercies is supposed to be about 92 minutes. If the PAL speed up method I mentioned is used, the film will be about 88 minutes. (If my math is right 
) If not the case disregard this post.
I don’t use Handbrake, but I think it strives to keep the original length so changing the framerate won’t ever work, unless you dig real deep into the options, which may not be there.
I just tried FFMPEG (free to download) to convert a 25FPS film I had to NTSC and it appears to have worked very well. I ended up with a runtime that matched IMDB’s runtime.
ffmpeg -r 24000/1001 -i "Tender Mercies.mkv" -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -crf 18 -me_method umh -tune film -preset slower -refs 5 -vprofile high -vlevel 4.0 -metadata:s:a:o language=eng -ac 6 -c:a ac3 -b:a 448k -af "atempo=0.959040959040959" -r 24000/1001 -movflags faststart -metadata title="Tender Mercies" "NEW Tender Mercies.mp4"
FFMPEG is an open source (free) command line tool, but once you install you should be able to copy and paste the above code in a terminal window on your Mac. Just change the original input file name (“Tender Mercies.mkv”) and output file name (“NEW Tender Mercies.mp4”) to the names you want to use.
EDIT: just looked up the combo pack on Amazon, and it says Dolby Digital 2.0 If so this command line might work of first one didn’t
ffmpeg -r 24000/1001 -i "Tender Mercies.mkv" -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -crf 18 -me_method umh -tune film -preset slower -refs 5 -vprofile high -vlevel 4.0 -metadata:s:a:o language=eng -ac 2 -b:a 192k -af "atempo=0.959040959040959" -r 24000/1001 -movflags faststart -metadata title="Tender Mercies" "NEW Tender Mercies.mp4"
@leelynds
Sorry for the delay in getting back. Yes! the length you suggested is correct 88.09 to be exact. So, it is the Pal standard that is causing the issue. And yet, I am still puzzled as to why I have not had this issue with previous region 2 discs. I will try FFMPEG and get back to you.
@SkepticJFM Just re-read the code I gave you, and there is an typo (my bad). Specifically:
-metadata:s:a:o language=eng
should be
-metadata:s:a:0 language=eng
That is a Zero not an “o” just before language.
I think it is more than likely because it is an older movie/BluRay disc, and the decisions made by the manufacturer on how to deal with it. Newer TV’s are capable of many display rates, so not so much an issue now. I believe many new Region 2 and 3 discs are at exactly 24 FPS - which is the actual movie frame rate, not the 23.976 that North American BluRays are encoded at.
@leelynds
Okay, I really hate admitting my limitations, but we all have some. I have been a Mac user since 2013. I love it, but I have a long history of using programs with Windows gooie interfaces. I don’t have experience with coding or using the terminal to install programs or run them. With installing the developer tools and LAME, I have been trying to figure this out, but I am just not getting it. Would you allow me to send you the Blu-ray and you convert it for me? I know this is a lot to ask, but I would be willing to let you keep the Blu-ray for your help. I would gladly buy the U.S. DVD to keep as my backup copywriter source.
What do you say?
To be honest, I doubt that the BluRay player on my computer would play a region 2 disc. I haven’t used a Mac for several years, so I need to refresh my memory and maybe my old machine will still run if I boot it up. It can be confusing if you haven’t done it before but I will try to give you a step by step process. Pretty sure I used ffmpeg on the old Mac. Let me get back to you…
Here, this might help.
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/How%20to%20speed%20up%20/%20slow%20down%20a%20video
My old Mac is laptop is missing the power adapter, so obviously I can’t confirm this will work, since I’m going mostly by memory and guess work.
I think you should be able to download a pre-compiled version for Mac, so you won’t need to install and use the developer tools. You can find a zipped version of ffmpeg for Mac at http://www.ffmpegmac.net/
Extract the files from the zip into a folder (probably create one called “ffmpeg”)
Open a terminal window, and change directories to where you have the ffmpeg binaries. Use the command cd to do that. Example:
cd ffmpeg
and hit “Enter” I believe you can also just type “cd” and then drag and drop the folder onto your terminal window and it will automatically add the path of that folder to the command line.
You should be in the right directory now, so type ffmpeg (followed with the “Enter” key) Hopefully, this displays some info about the version of ffmpeg. If it does, we should be ready to go. If not, you will have to make the file executable by typing,
chmod +x ffmpeg
Now, copy or move your original video file to the same directory you have placed the ffmpeg files. I’m suggesting this so you won’t have to type long file paths to the original file.
Copy and paste into the terminal window (changing the original and new file names to what you want to use)
This line if the original audio is Dolby Stereo:
ffmpeg -r 24000/1001 -i "Tender Mercies.mkv" -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -crf 18 -me_method umh -tune film -preset slower -refs 5 -vprofile high -vlevel 4.0 -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng -ac 2 -b:a 192k -af "atempo=0.959040959040959" -r 24000/1001 -movflags faststart -metadata title="Tender Mercies" "NEW Tender Mercies.mp4"
This line if the original audio is Surround:
ffmpeg -r 24000/1001 -i "Tender Mercies.mkv" -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -crf 18 -me_method umh -tune film -preset slower -refs 5 -vprofile high -vlevel 4.0 -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng -ac 6 -c:a ac3 -b:a 448k -af "atempo=0.959040959040959" -r 24000/1001 -movflags faststart -metadata title="Tender Mercies" "NEW Tender Mercies.mp4"
Remember, this is not the best way to install ffmpeg, (I’m pretty sure this would have worked on my old computer) but this website:
http://ericholsinger.com/general/install-ffmpeg-on-a-mac/
has a step by step method to install it correctly. Make sure you read the comments at the bottom of the page, there have been some problems with newer versions of the Mac OS.
This will re-encode your video, so it will take a while. If I could get the method that @“MovieFan.Plex” suggested to work, it would do it a better way without re-encoding, but I have never been able to get the right options.
I use Windows and I was able to correctly slow down a video using the command from my link.
ffmpeg -i test.mp4 -filter_complex “[0:v]setpts=1.043*PTS[v];[0:a]atempo=0.959[a]” -map “[v]” -map “[a]” output.mp4
That took a 2m 19s video I had and stretched it to 2m 24s.
