I use Plex media server and I am trying to convert all my DVDs to individual files (mp4) that Plex can natively play back without encoding on the fly.
I have 6 box sets of Battlestar Galactica which contain several discs which in turn each contain numerous episodes. To date I have been using Handbrake to rip the discs to MP4 but this is rather laborious as the software dies not pick up the chapter title to use as the file name and I have to read this off the sleeve and type it in every time.
Are there any pieces software, (preferably free but happy to purchase if it does the job) that use an online database to scrape the info about the chapter title etc and automatically name the episode file. This was quite common with CD’s which used to query Gracenote which downloaded the track name. There was also a function in MyMovies that did this by querying IMDB or other online databases but I have moved away from this to Plex.
Please note I bought and own this DVD collection and they are for my own private consumption.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Fozzie
In a word:
No
more words:
Not that I am aware of
It’s tedious, at times, but nothing good ever happens without some hard/moderately difficult work.
Is there an issue using mkv, if not Makemkv is a good option for retaining chapters
Thank you for your quick and “Dirty” 
answer. However if MyMovies can do it I cant believe that there is not a similar piece of software out there that can do the same thing. MyMovies is a large install with MySQL database and I don’t want to have to install the whole programme just to rip DVDs
Unless I misunderstand he isn’t talking about chapters as much as episodes.
Unless I am wrong Plex transcodes .mkv files hence I wanted to rip to mp4 for direct play?
Try this perhaps:
rip with makemkv
This will retain all chapter markers from the disc.
Then go and identify which episode is which chapter.
Encode each chapter individually with Handbrake.
Or take the big MKV file coming from makemkv and split it up at the chapter markers with MKVtoolnixGUI.
guide here: [HowTo]: splitting multi-episode files with MKVtoolnix GUI
You can then later send the parts through Handbrake individually.
Correct. I badly framed my original question
Plex does not trans code mkv unless the watching client is not compatiable, what clients are you using?
Correct otto
All Roku devices with the exception of two Plex apps on Samsung TVs
That is a (wrong) generalization. It all depends on what is inside the MKV. And many clients have learned to handle mkv files since the introduction of the format.
Often, the Plex server only needs to remux a mkv to a different container format, which doesn’t take much computing power.
Thank you for the explanation. Always ready to be educated
Its just that in the past I had noticed laggy/less smooth playback with .mkv files compared to mp4.
Is Apple still an MP4/M4V dominant society?
If they are - sucks to be them.
My Rokus play MKVs without issue.
Create good Video and Audio Streams and all will be fine.
Subtitles? That’s a whole nother ‘Chapter’ in this saga…
Thank you. I will try your method and compare how long it takes compared to using Handbrake and typing in Titles.
Just thought, perhaps I can download a lit of titles from IMDB/Wiki and copy and paste???
Here’s what I do:
I go to subscene and get a full set of UTF-8 subs for whatever I’m ripping. This does two things:
- I have a full set of UTF-8 subs
- I have the first few lines of dialog I can match to the mystery episode
“Moderately Difficult”, but over time you develop a nack for it.
‘Most of the time’, the episodes on disc match the TVDB order.
However, once you start assuming this will work ALL the time, is the moment it stops working. Always check.
The Sopranos come immediately to mind.
Always use TheTVDB as a reference. They often also have the ‘DVD order’ of episodes listed.
If you decide to use the ‘DVD order’, you must tell Plex that by editing the tv show and set ‘Episode ordering’ accordingly. (on the ‘Advanced’ tab)
Thanks to all for the advice. I will definitely try your methods
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