First of all, I’m a software engineer. I’ve used handbrake before to rip DVDs to my NAS for Plex streaming. I’m tech-savvy and I’m familiar with the general process. However, I find this process very error prone, with a steep learning curve. And quite frankly, it’s a PITA. Honestly, I don’t have a practical day-to-day need for understanding encoding formats, behavior, settings, and other things. Call it lazy or just a cry for convenience, but I’d really rather have a 1-click solution to getting DVDs ripped onto my NAS with little to no configuration necessary, with decent quality & size. Basically, if I could rip DVDs and Bluray to exactly what you get when you pirate the same content, that would be perfect (e.g. 4-8GB for 1080p bluray).
I think in a perfect world, Plex Server would have handbrake built in and offer options to rip bluray to your library when it detects a CD is put in the drive. It would offer a slider between “Quality” and “Size”. That’s all I need. But seeing as how we’re not in a perfect world (hell, Trump is president), I think I’ll see if anyone has advice that can get me as close as possible to it.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations!!
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AnyDVD to rip the BD/DVD and then Handbrake to transcode to .m4v file. It’s not a one-click solution but this is a combination I have used for years and the results are nothing short of amazing. A lifetime license of AnyDVD is very reasonable and Handbrake is free.
While Handbrake has a large number of presets to choose from I’ve had the best [and most consistent] results with BD disks by starting with the Apple TV 3 preset and using the defaults for Picture, Filters and Video. In the Audio tab you can select which tracks to preserve or discard (foreign language, AC3 5.1, etc). My home theatre supports 6-channel audio so my go-to default is AC3 5.1 with AAC mixdowns for portable media.
Files are streamed directly from the PLEX server running on a SBC to a PLEX app in our Samsung TV
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There’s a Handbrake Guide in my signature.
From a raw MakeMKV rip just about any BluRay will end up in the 4 to 8Gb window if you use 23 on the CRF slider from your basic ‘High Profile’ in Handbrake. Avoid any number of those other (useless) built in profiles - as they are pretty much useless (I deleted all of mine after creating a couple I can actually use with some success). Set your Audio preferences to what works most often - AC3 5.1 or 2.0 I would assume or even the most basic AAC-LC 2.0 (NEVER use AAC 5.1 or ‘Main’) - and create a User Profile to use time and time again.
If that’s too ‘complicated’ - roll the dice with Plex’s Optimizer and have it annihilate your media with the push of a button.
It’s like a box of chocolates - you never know what you’re gonna get.
B)
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