Ripping Blu Rays . . . best approach/software?

General Discussions
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I have nearly 100 Blu Rays with foreign movies that I burned myself. The resulting Blu Rays have subtitles. As discs, they work great. But I am thinking about streaming them on PLEX.

My problem is the file size. These Blu Ray discs were created using MP4s, couple with separate files that had the subtitles. The MP4s do not have the subtitle info embedded, but the resulting Blu Ray discs that I burned have both video and subtitles.

The MP4s files are 4 gb to 6 gb in size, but the video files burned onto the Blu Rays are 4 times larger. What was 4 gb as the MP4 when I created them results in a 17 gb MPV file when I use the MakeMPV app to rip the Blu Ray. The MakeMPV app is great, but I end up with VERY large MPVs.

I also have Handbrake, but it takes far longer to create the MPV output file . . . and I have not yet figured out how to make Handbrake work. The instructions I found on line are difficult for this Handbrake neophyte to interpret.

Which app do you recommend? Should I use MakeMPV because it is really easy to use? Or should I use Handbrake, in which case I need assistance to learn how to do it?

Your thoughts are most welcome.

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2

you should just use the original mp4 for plex

plex can use embedded or external subtitles

if for whatever reason you don’t have the originals, then you will be converting through multiple generations (source > mp4 > burned bluray > ???) and every time gets less quality.

never used make mpv, but I assume there must be some way to adjust quality and/or size so you would just adjust so the files are of a size and quality you can accept.

otherwise there are literally megatons of instructions regarding handbrake, you should start simply with handbrakes home page and go from there to google as needed.

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I think you mean MakeMKV.

Rip the disc with MakeMKV. This will produce a file, movie_name.mkv, containing video, audio, and possibly subtitle & chapter tracks. There may be multiple audio & subtitle tracks. You can choose which you wish to keep.

MakeMKV essentially copies the media from the disc to your system. It may have to decrypt and combine information from multiple files, but the resulting MKV file contains unaltered video & audio tracks - same quality, size, bitrate, etc.

Name and organize the movie according to Plex standards and add it to your Plex library.

This is the easiest way to get started with Plex. Rip a few discs, load them into your system, play them, see how it works. Monitor playback by logging into your account with Plex Web, and looking at the status.

2 Likes
4

This nails it.

Also, you may have some movies with forced subtitles, like an English movie where subtitles are added only when someone speaks a foreign language. Plex does not handle that gracefully. But that’s partially because Blu-Rays don’t handle this consistently. Sometimes they hardcode the subtitles (meaning they’re actually “burned into” the video). Sometimes they get their own subtitle track. And sometimes they’re on the same title track but “forced”. It’s a challenge. Here’s a spreadsheet where a group of intrepid users try to track which movie uses what.

Forced Subtitles Google Doc

For movies that have forced subtitles (not hardcoded into the video), you can consider using subscene to download just the forced ones and include those subtitles into the folder with the movie. You need to name it properly. For example, using an SRT subtitle file:

Up (2009).mkv
Up (2009).en.forced.srt

That would tell Plex to use that subtitle automatically. Some devices handle it better than others. Some unfortunately fail. You’ll need to test. (Also, “Up” does not have forced subtitles, it was just a short easy title). Here are more subtitle naming details:

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200471133-adding-local-subtitles-to-your-media/

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Handbrake is a nice tool for transcoding video. One great thing is that it has a lot of options. One bad thing is that it has a lot of options. :grinning:

Here’s a very, very quick guide to using Handbrake. It should handle the majority of standard Blu-ray and DVD movies. Is this “the best” for your situation? Most assuredly not. “Perfect” Handbrake settings don’t exist. However, this will get you started and you’ll get a feel for things as you work with it. You’ll eventually settle on a group of settings that work best for you.

Transcode one or two movies, see how they work, then adjust as necessary. As transcoding an entire movie can take some time (hours), you may wish to transcode just one or two chapters as a test. If things are to your satisfaction, then convert the entire movie.

The end result of this will be another MKV file. Why? You mentioned subtitles. MKV is the most flexible container (file type). It supports all major subtitle types, including VOBSUB (DVD), PGS (Blu-ray), and SRT (text). The MP4 container only supports text subtitles. If your subtitles are all in text format or will be burned into the video, then feel free to use the MP4 container.

Also, this is for 1080p or lower video resolutions. It would probably work fine with 4K, non-HDR video. I’ve no experience with Handbrake & 4K, so cannot say for sure what the results might be.

Also note that discussing Handbrake settings is somewhat like discussion religion or politics. Some people are very passionate about what is right or wrong. Others are more agnostic. With respect to what is below, I’ll just say that this should work for most things and adjust as necessary. If you need to tweak something, then do so. If you try and it doesn’t work, then put it back. Experimentation is good and making mistakes is how people learn.

Tools: Make sure you have the current versions of each.
MakeMKV - rips movie from DVD/Blu-ray to your system.
MediaInfo - provides useful information about your media.
Handbrake - transcodes video & audio to other formats

Step 1. Rip the disc with MakeMKV, if you have not yet done so.
Step 2. Analyze the MKV file with MediaInfo. Keep the window open. Text view preferred.
Step 3. Launch Handbrake. Process movie.
Step 4. Add to Plex library. See how it works.

Note: Suggest you create a test library of type “Other Videos” to begin with. Use it to compare multiple versions as you experiment & tweak things. This will keep Plex from trying to load metadata, etc for the movies. It will also keep Plex from getting confused as to why there are so many different copies of the same movie. Once you find one you like, move it to a regular Movies library and delete the others.

Handbrake

A) Load the MKV file into Handbrake.

B) Choose either the HQ1080p30 or SuperHQ1080p30 preset. Don’t worry if your video is not 1080p, Handbrake will adjust accordingly. The HQ preset will run faster than the SuperHQ preset. However, the resulting output file will be larger. Try both. See which one you like best & go with it.

C) Adjust tab settings as follows:

  • Summary: Format = MKV

Note: If you do choose MP4, then check Web Optimized.

  • Dimensions: No changes.

  • Filters: Look at MediaInfo information, the Video section. If you see Scan type: Progressive, then change Interlace Detection and Deinterlace to Off. Otherwise leave them enabled.

  • Video:

Framerate: Set to same as shown by MediaInfo.
Quality: Constant Quality, 20 for Blu-ray discs, 18 for DVDs.
Encoder Preset: Slow (HQ default) or Very Slow (SuperHQ default).

  • Audio:

First audio track: AAC 2.0, match source bitrate (see MediaInfo), but 320kbps max.
Second audio track: If source audio is AC3, then choose AC3 Passthru. If another format, choose the AC3 codec and match source bitrate/channels, up to 5.1 channels, up to 640kbps.

The above are the audio formats compatible with the widest variety of Plex clients.

You may find other other formats, such as dts, dts-HD MA, EAC3, and TrueHD (+ Atmos), on your discs. Feel free to experiment with those as well. If your clients support those audio formats, choose the appropriate passthrough codec in Handbrake. It will copy the audio track unaltered to the output file.

  • Subtitles:

Select the desired subtitle track, if any, to be copied to the output file. Uncheck Forced Only and Burn In.

If you have an external SRT subtitle file, use the Import SRT button to add those subtitles to the output.

There are many possibilities for subtitles. The above will copy the desired tracks to the output file. Experiment & read to learn about other options.

Note: Forced subtitles are generally used for translation when actors are speaking another language. For example, in Avatar when the characters speak Na’vi and the translation appears on-screen. If you know the subtitles are forced, then you may wish to burn them into the video. This will make them part of the video track. They cannot be disabled as they no longer exist as a subtitle track.

  • Chapters: Rename to match disc if desired.
7 Likes
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Does this work on mts or m2ts files too?

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Put these through makemkv first.

1 Like
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Thx. so much! I’ll try it

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