# Storing 1000+ DVDs online with Apple TV, making a poor man's Kaleidescape system



## bob99 (Aug 16, 2007)

Hello everyone!

I'm contemplating something that I would like some advice on. I'm thinking of ripping my 500+ DVD collection to a network-attached hard drive, so they can all be online and easily accessible through an Apple TV. Basically, I want to create a system similar to the Kaleidescape, without the $50,000+ pricetag!

Does anyone currently have a system that is set up in this manner? Any resources that you can point me to in regards to how to properly rip the movies? On the real Kaleidescape system, the DVDs are stored at 1:1, so there is no quality loss. It seems that with H.264 there are much more efficient ways to rip discs but still maintain 95% - 100% of the original quality with lower file sizes. Will a program like HandBrake allow me to rip the discs while preserving all the chapter information? Will I be able to copy extra features such as audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries without making the backup process a custom thing for each specific title?

If anyone is doing this currently, I'd love to hear more about your experience and setup.

Thanks,

Bob


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

I don't have as many DVDs as you, but we share the same goal. This is my library so far...










1. I use MacTheRipper to get the DVD content on my Mac
2. I use the Elgato Turbo.264 to encode said content
3. I import and tag content into iTunes



bob99 said:


> Will I be able to copy extra features such as audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries without making the backup process a custom thing for each specific title?


It's all in the ripping process. Both MTR and HandBrake will let you extract whichever content you want. Go ahead and experiment and have fun!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

> Storing 1000+ DVDs online with Apple TV, making* a poor man's* Kaleidescape system


It's hard to believe that someone who owns 1000+ DVDs is poor, before or after buying them.


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## Meleemark (Mar 3, 2007)

Time Capsule will do what you want (at least it does it for me.) I've ripped my library of 221 movies to it, and can access it anytime I'm connected to the internet with my mac. Just need a static ip address (or a dynamic DNS service).


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## Meleemark (Mar 3, 2007)

Bjornbro said:


> I don't have as many DVDs as you, but we share the same goal. This is my library so far...
> 
> 1. I use MacTheRipper to get the DVD content on my Mac
> 2. I use the Elgato Turbo.264 to encode said content
> ...



How fast does the Elgato encode? I use Handbrake to rip and convert (2 passes) and it takes about the actual length of the main feature.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

Meleemark said:


> How fast does the Elgato encode? I use Handbrake to rip and convert (2 passes) and it takes about the actual length of the main feature.


the other question would be what the quality is like b/n the 2? I only used HB so i have no idea.

i'm interested in this thread b/c i'd like to do the same with my collection - but i don't have many dvds....maybe under 100.

to the OP's question, with HB, you have to rip the special features etc... individually. The chapters for the main feature are definitely kept just fine.

Even if you went with just the main features at about 2 GBs each (give or take a few hundred MBs depending on the final quality output), you're going to need some massive HDs. You're almost better buying a home server with RAID set up. I don't think a 4 TB lacie or mybook type of external exists, but that would be the ultimate set up. Of course, if you own the DVDs, you may not care about having a raid as you can re-rip (but it would take a wee bit of time doing that 

best of luck. I need the appletv and a widescreen tv first 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Meleemark said:


> How fast does the Elgato encode?


You can read about my experience here or from Elgato.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I'm in the same boat as well as I'm about to start ripping my movies to iTunes and buying an AppleTV to serve them and the music to my HT system. I plan on buying a large external drive and dumping them all to that so I guess i'll have to move my whole iTunes collection to the new drive right?


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## spitfire (Feb 26, 2008)

Where are you storing all your movie data Bjornbro?


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

spitfire said:


> Where are you storing all your movie data Bjornbro?


One of the four bays in my Power Mac has a fresh 320GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive just for my iTunes media.


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## bob99 (Aug 16, 2007)

Thanks to all who have replied so far.

Another option is to rip the full Video_TS folders from the DVDs and store them. That's what the real Kaleidescape system does, but of course you're not taking advantage of the more efficient compression.

One slight workaround I was thinking of was to rip all the DVDs and re-burn any that are greater than 4.5GB onto single-layer discs. That will re-compress them, but preserve all the special features, etc. 

I'm a bit concerned about individually ripping all the special features, since the DVD menu system won't be active, and for something with 30 little 2 minute featurettes, it's going to be a ton of manual labor to rip a single disc.

It looks like NitroTV is a plugin that works with Take2 and will allow the playback of Video_TS folders. 
NitoTV - AwkwardTV

I haven't bought an AppleTV yet, since I'm debating between a Mac Mini and the AppleTV. Leopard can play VideoTS folders through Front Row, so I've been considering the mini along with a wireless mouse and keyboard. It might not be 100% as slick as the AppleTV, but it may be a bit more functional. 

For those of you who are ripping, would you mind posting the exact settings that you are using?

I'm definitely going to store these on some sort of a RAID system, since it would certainly stink to re-rip everything once I get it set up properly. 

I just read about two programs that will add movie poster artwork / metadata to mp4 files, but I'm not sure about how you do that for VIDEO_TS folders, or if it's even possible. It would be great to have a coverflow setup, with the original movie poster.

Lostify
MetaX

I need to get down to the store to check out the AppleTV in person, but how does it work when you have a large number of files? Can you make folders / directories? I'm wondering what the best way to sort a large movie collection is... I worry that the alphabetical list might take a long way to scroll to the Z's.

Bob

P.S. When I say "Poor", I mean as compared to people who buy legitimate Kaleidescape systems, which can run over $100k! Besides, 1000 DVDs isn't THAT big of a collection... What can I say, I love movies!


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## Ottawaman (Jan 16, 2005)

http://www.appletvhacks.net/2008/03/18/atv4mac-runs-apple-tv-take-2-on-your-mac/



> Got an itch to run Apple TV Take 2 on your Mac? The guys at MacGeek have just released ATV4Mac 1.3 that allows you to run Apple TV Take 2 on your Mac. It is basically a Front Row replacement with Apple TV frameworks.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

If you go the Mac Mini route, check out Drive-In to organize your library.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

How often do you watch the special features? Maybe consider just ripping the movies for AppleTV and keeping the discs for the special features for the odd time you watch them?


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

bob99 said:


> Thanks to all who have replied so far.
> 
> Another option is to rip the full Video_TS folders from the DVDs and store them. That's what the real Kaleidescape system does, but of course you're not taking advantage of the more efficient compression.
> 
> ...


Bob, that nitro link is interesting. It sounds like you are a die hard movie buff and if so, you probably make use of the special features? ie, you watch them all. I know some folks who do and some who don't. Myself - I love checking them out for many reasons.

It seems you need to make a decision between wanting the compressed movies vs. the ripped 'full' versions. Personally, you've got me thinking that I might just rip and keep/use the full rips. I didn't realize that front row would access the TS_folders. In my mind, there's no sense in needing both if I want those special features.

The biggest challenge in doing that is HD space b/c some full rips are 7 GBs. That's almost 3 handbrake'd movie compresses. 

Hmmmm.... decisions....decisions.. 

Me thinks this thread is going to serve a bunch of us with much needed info 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## Meleemark (Mar 3, 2007)

bob99 said:


> Thanks to all who have replied so far.
> 
> Another option is to rip the full Video_TS folders from the DVDs and store them. That's what the real Kaleidescape system does, but of course you're not taking advantage of the more efficient compression.
> 
> ...


I would recommend you go the mac mini route if the extra dollar amount isn't a big hurdle. You won't need a mouse or keyboard (after setup that is.) Add Front Row to your start up items, and you will be able to view, select and play any Video_TS file on your system. You will need to create an alias pointing at the movie directory unless you have it under your system movies folder.

You can also drop in an artwork file and have it displayed. Just drop the artwork in the parent directory (if Matrix resides in /movies/matrix/video_ts/matrix.iso then drop matrix_poster.jpeg into /movies/matrix/ and Front Row will pick it up.)

I was going to go that route, but it was extremely hard to justify 1.2 TB of space (DVD, 200 movies @ 6 gigs a piece) vs. 400 GB (h.264, 200 movies @ 2 gigs a piece)


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## bob99 (Aug 16, 2007)

I played around with Sapphire Browser last night, and it seems very promising. It integrates with Frontrow on Leopard, as well as with AppleTV. Unfortunately, it can't play VIDEO_TS folders on AppleTV (though it's still beta, so that functionality might be coming in a later release)

Sapphire Browser - Home Sapphire Browser

It's very interesting, since it automatically scans all your media and downloads movie posters, synopses, etc. from IMDB. I couldn't get it to recognize a VIDEO_TS folder for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, but it immediately recognized the Handbrake rip I had made (filename of magorium_16x9.m4v) and pulled all the info, gave me a choice of posters, etc. It also seems to support virtual directories, which is cool - it will pull the films from your library that are oscar winners, or in the IMDB top 250, etc.

I'm trying to settle the drive space vs. lost features argument right now... I don't always watch all the features, but it seems like a shame to rip the whole DVD collection and then not have access to audio commentaries or documentaries except on disc. I'm leaning towards VIDEO_TS folders for that reason. After all, disc space will only be getting cheaper in the future.

I still have more research to do, so feel free to keep the discussion going! 

Is there anything like handbrake for Blu-Ray discs? I'm just getting into the HD world, but it seems like those will require additional compression, since I can't imagine having 25+GB folders for each movie. Vidabox systems Media Server, Media Center, & HTPC / Home Theater Systems - VidaBox and MediaMax Axonix | MediaMax Overview can stream blu-ray and HDDVD, but they're up in the "nutty" price category. I've seen Blu-Ray rips online that are between 4-8gb, so I know people are doing that too... but no special features.


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## spitfire (Feb 26, 2008)

Bjornbro said:


> One of the four bays in my Power Mac has a fresh 320GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive just for my iTunes media.


I might do this.. seems like a kool thing to do when you are bored.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

bob99 said:


> I played around with Sapphire Browser last night, and it seems very promising. It integrates with Frontrow on Leopard, as well as with AppleTV. Unfortunately, it can't play VIDEO_TS folders on AppleTV (though it's still beta, so that functionality might be coming in a later release)
> 
> Sapphire Browser - Home Sapphire Browser
> 
> ...


Bob, I think what i'm going to do is start ripping the full DVDs and then compressing only selected movies.

To be honest, by the time you get half way done your collection, HD space costs will have come down  It's going to take you a long time.

It's almost like you need a massive corporate server. I wonder if you could find a discounted one.... hmm....the possibilities.. 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## RISCHead (Jul 20, 2004)

Sounds like a big project - if you're ripping to VIDEO_TS and not using Handbrake, because of all the extras and special features, for 500 DVDs you're looking at anywhere between 2.5 - 5 TB of disk.

There have been many suggestions on how to rip - I don't think I have anything new to contribute there.

However, I would like to give you something to think about in terms of your disk setup.

I would highly recommend RAID5 or RAID6 with one or more hot spares. You don't want to rebuild this collection from scratch because of a disk failure.
RAID6 will protect you against double failures in your RAID group - not uncommon with consumer quality SATA disk.
Don't go larger than 4+P on your RAID5 array size - this will lower the chances of double failures in a single RAID5 group.
If you use 750GB disk, 5 disks will give you roughly 3TB of unformatted space, maybe 2.5 TB of usable space. If you use a hot spare, that makes it 6 disks.

You need an enclosure and OS that will support 4+P+S with 750 GB SATA disks, ideally going through an eSATA interface or FW800.

I tried to look up some examples at a consumer price point:
e.g.
5-Bay eSATA Port Enclosure for 3.5" SATA Hard Drives with Tray.
Sonnet has good hardware, but don't know if they sell just the enclosures.

My personal favorite to do it at a reasonable cost would pretty much be a DIY system
e.g. using a chasis from SuperMicro:
Supermicro, Inc. - Products | Chassis | 2U | SC822T-400LPB

Use a good SATA RAID controller card
Safer 6 for RAID Controllers | Tom's Hardware

put a reasonable motherboard on it, run Linux (Ubuntu) 
and NFS export the filesystem over your network as a NAS device.

Anyway, probably too much gory detail for this forum.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

RISCHead said:


> Sounds like a big project - if you're ripping to VIDEO_TS and not using Handbrake, because of all the extras and special features, for 500 DVDs you're looking at anywhere between 2.5 - 5 TB of disk.
> 
> There have been many suggestions on how to rip - I don't think I have anything new to contribute there.
> 
> ...


solid post guy. I don't think this is too gory. I think this is the way it's going.

From my point of view, I have:
1. 8500 pics - 15'ish GBs - I'll probably add another 4 GBs of pics this year (scanning old pics + new shots)
2. 150'ish GBs of music - definitely will be more as I'm re-ripping my CDs into lossless
3. maybe 100 DVDs at this point to rip or compress somehow
4. approx. 80 home video tapes that I would like to back up in full DV as well as compress into h.264 or similar files for viewing on an appleTV

My wife's company is implementing a server much like you posted links for - a few HDs in raid format in a linux set up.

I can easily see home theatre set ups going this way in the very near future. With hardware costs coming down, it's really just a matter of time.

I would easily have this set up except I don't have a widescreen TV yet and I'm still figuring out exactly how to make it work (too busy transferring media for other folks as my business to think about doing my own 

Cheers,
Keebler


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## bob99 (Aug 16, 2007)

RISCHead,

Thanks for the info, that's actually great information! I agree with you that RAID is a good call, since re-ripping all these discs would be a nightmare.

I've never used Linux before, but it might be worth learning to set up a server like that. 

My roommate has been playing around with MythTV, which is a linux-based server / frontend that works as a PVR, as well as a media playback device.

MythTV


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

bob99 said:


> RISCHead,
> 
> Thanks for the info, that's actually great information! I agree with you that RAID is a good call, since re-ripping all these discs would be a nightmare.
> 
> ...


btw, maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but Costco had the 2 TB WDigital mybook type of home servers for $499. I almost bit on it, but I"m waiting to sort the stuff out first


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

some interesting possibilities here.

the first choice might be the most expensive(no prices there...just guessing), but probably the right way to go - expandable 16 HD slots. in Raid. 

perfect.

maybe over the top, but i honestly believe this is the way it's going...


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## Croptop (Apr 20, 2004)

I'm curious: for those of you who are ripping your DVD libraries onto your Macs, how are you populating the metadata (cover art, movie synopsis etc)? One of the key features of the Kaleidescape system is the media guide that automatically recognises newly imported titles and provides cover art etc.

BTW, I *have* a Kaleidescape system with 12 x 750 GB disks in it and I still don't bother importing the supplement discs. If I really want to check out the extras on the supplement discs, I just play the disc directly.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Croptop said:


> I'm curious: for those of you who are ripping your DVD libraries onto your Macs, how are you populating the metadata (cover art, movie synopsis etc)?


There are several programs that do this, but my favourite is Delicious Library. The information there can be exported to other programs. I also have (and use from time to time) the free (and updated seemingly hourly) MetaX.



> BTW, I *have* a Kaleidescape system with 12 x 750 GB disks in it and I still don't bother importing the supplement discs. If I really want to check out the extras on the supplement discs, I just play the disc directly.


Crap, you're rich! Will you adopt me?


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## Croptop (Apr 20, 2004)

chas_m said:


> Crap, you're rich! Will you adopt me?


Definitely not rich. The K system is a perk. A truly amazing perk but just a perk.


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## bob99 (Aug 16, 2007)

Hi Croptop,

The Sapphire Browser does a good job of populating the synopsis, posters, etc. from the IMDB. I haven't had time in the past few days, but it will recognize VIDEO_TS files, so I think I'll be able to make that work automatically.

It's interesting that you don't rip the special features discs, that's good to know. My original quest was more to have the features on the main movie, like commentaries etc, but I agree that supplemental discs could quickly fill your system with documentaries you would rarely watch more than once.

How does the Kaleidescape handle TV Shows on DVD? Does it pull individual data for each episode? Are you happy with it overall? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it and why you decided to buy one, if you have a chance! 

Where did you buy your system in Kitchener? I'm from there originally, and I'm not used to seeing such high-end gear!

Thanks,

Bob


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## Croptop (Apr 20, 2004)

bob99 said:


> It's interesting that you don't rip the special features discs, that's good to know. My original quest was more to have the features on the main movie, like commentaries etc, but I agree that supplemental discs could quickly fill your system with documentaries you would rarely watch more than once.


The good news is that most commentaries are on the same disc as the movie so I still have access to all of those (in fact, they're usually just an alternate audio and/or subtitle track). Since the Kaleidescape system imports a bit for bit copy of each disc, anything that is on the same disc as the movie, I have access to. It's just the stuff on the second disc that I don't have direct access to. Usually things like deleted scenes and featurettes, etc. If a title is really special to me, I *do* usually import the supplement discs. 



bob99 said:


> How does the Kaleidescape handle TV Shows on DVD? Does it pull individual data for each episode? Are you happy with it overall? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it and why you decided to buy one, if you have a chance!


The nice thing about the system is that it groups all of the discs for a TV boxset into one entry in the movie list. So I have instant access to every episode for that season from one detail screen -- even better, you can switch from one episode to another one during playback even if the new episode is on a different disc. Best of all, the K system sets a pause bookmark for every movie you start to watch but don't finish. You can then resume from where you left off no matter how long ago -- or how many other titles -- you've watched. In the case of TV boxsets, it remembers which was the last episode you watched and when you hit "Play" it just starts playing the next episode in the series. Very nice.



bob99 said:


> Where did you buy your system in Kitchener? I'm from there originally, and I'm not used to seeing such high-end gear!


I didn't buy it. As I mentioned in my reply to chas_m above, I got it as a perk from the company I work for. As far as I know, there are no Kaleidescape-authorised dealers in the K/W area. But a large portion of K's engineering group is headquartered in Waterloo.


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## El Razzle Dazzle (Mar 28, 2008)

Croptop said:


> The good news is that most commentaries are on the same disc as the movie so I still have access to all of those (in fact, they're usually just an alternate audio and/or subtitle track). Since the Kaleidescape system imports a bit for bit copy of each disc, anything that is on the same disc as the movie, I have access to. It's just the stuff on the second disc that I don't have direct access to. Usually things like deleted scenes and featurettes, etc. If a title is really special to me, I *do* usually import the supplement discs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Totally agree C-to-the-T... their software is l33t!


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

I'm lovin' this thread. What's the work flow for using EyeTV recordings and having it automatically placed into iTunes for AppleTV?


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

Actually, EyeTV will do that automatically if you tell it to. Very elegant solution.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

A brief update on my solution. I decided that I wanted to replace my DVD player as well as integrate the digital media so I opted to go the Mac Mini route...esp now that the sub $500 models are back in the refurb store.


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## 20DDan (May 2, 2005)

Kinda hard to believe a company would let you "use" their Kaleidescape system as a "perk" considering the entry level server they sell is $10,000 and the fully featured server is $30,000. But whatever... IF there is a company out there who's dumb enough to let you use the system for movies your one lucky guy! Enjoy it while they have their heads in the ground or up their a**'s!



Croptop said:


> The good news is that most commentaries are on the same disc as the movie so I still have access to all of those (in fact, they're usually just an alternate audio and/or subtitle track). Since the Kaleidescape system imports a bit for bit copy of each disc, anything that is on the same disc as the movie, I have access to. It's just the stuff on the second disc that I don't have direct access to. Usually things like deleted scenes and featurettes, etc. If a title is really special to me, I *do* usually import the supplement discs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Croptop (Apr 20, 2004)

7gabriel5elpher said:


> Kinda hard to believe a company would let you "use" their Kaleidescape system as a "perk" considering the entry level server they sell is $10,000 and the fully featured server is $30,000. But whatever... IF there is a company out there who's dumb enough to let you use the system for movies your one lucky guy! Enjoy it while they have their heads in the ground or up their a**'s!


I can think of *one* company in particular that gives a K system to every single employee they have. But I'll leave it up to you to figure out what company that might be.


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## bmovie (Jan 18, 2003)

Meleemark said:


> How fast does the Elgato encode? I use Handbrake to rip and convert (2 passes) and it takes about the actual length of the main feature.


How do you manage to RIP commercial DVDs using handbrake, aren't they encoded? 

How does this do the same as MTR?


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

I don't know how you guys rip large collections, I have close to 1800 dvds and close to 2600 cds. I did like 100 dvds before I gave up, it was like a full time job.


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## Delroy666 (Dec 12, 2006)

bmovie said:


> How do you manage to RIP commercial DVDs using handbrake, aren't they encoded?
> 
> How does this do the same as MTR?


Handbrake will decrypt the CSS on commercial DVDs.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

This thread is almost worthy of making it sticky.


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## Zoiks (Sep 5, 2005)

I'd like to hear user opinions on Plex, which is a Home Theater system for the Mac based on the Xbox Media Center. I'm using it right now, and after much research have finally figured out how to add media (TV Shows and Movies) to the library so I can see info offered on the media from the internet movie data base.

Could Plex be the almighty home theater solution we've been looking for?


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

I'm starting to populate my iTunes for my recently acquired Apple TV. I hope I have enough drive space in the end.


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## harpoon (Sep 7, 2006)

I went through all this last year. I used Mac The Ripper to rip my DVDs, and would then use Handbrake to convert to Apple TV (especially with the 5.1 sound options). I then use MetaX to add the tags, and MetaX imports to iTunes when done.

All this goes to a Drobo loaded with 1TB drives, it backs itself up and it's pretty cost effective if you go the USB route.

For downloads I use Visual Hub to convert, check 'send to iTunes when done'.

I have an Apple TV hooked up to a lovely 42" plasma, the upconverting the Apple TV does is quite good and the set has lovely upconverters as well so the quality is pretty boss.

I do wish video playlists would shake hands with iTunes (for movies to watch, movies for the kids etc) but c'est la vie, I make due with genre tags.

I'm pretty happy with the Apple TV but if you want the extra features (I personally don't bother, they bore me to tears usually) go the Mini route, or hack the Apple TV to play VIDEO_TS and you're set.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

Holy crap! How long is it taking for people to encode 1 hour of SD video from EyeTV to the AppleTV? My G5 PowerMac is seriously chugging to get this done.


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## BobF4321 (Mar 11, 2008)

If you don't mind hacking your Apple TV, take a look at atvusb-creator:
atvusb-creator - Google Code
It creates a USB flash drive that you plug into Apple TV to install software such as XBMC and Boxee... both of these allow you to create media libraries. They can access DVD images stored on another computer in the network, and will download cover art and program info from the Internet to their database on the Apple TV, which doesn't need extra disk storage because the DVD images are on the network. If you're hesitant about experimenting with your Apple TV, the process is entirely reversible.
Boxee does a LOT of other things also... it was just updated: boxee blog


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

I recently got a good demonstration of Plex, and I have to say it's not ready for primetime (sorry), but it's off to an impressive start.


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## Zoiks (Sep 5, 2005)

No doubt it's not ready for 'primetime', but I do use it often, and even though it does crash now and then, and yes the learning curve is steep... once it's set up, it's quite something. (Mind you, I only use it for Movies and T.V. shows, I can't comment on it's photos and music abilities....

Out of Curiosity, aside from FrontRow and Plex, what other programs will allow a mac mini to play 1080p mkv files without stutter? (I know they must be out there, but I don't know where...)

Also, I find that Plex can't play 1080p WMV files...well, the video plays, but there is no sound. 
VLC will play the files, and the sound will be there, but the video is choppy. MPlayer will open the files, but again no audio and the video is choppy.
Flip-For-Mac (Quicktime) will play the video with sound, but sound and video are very choppy.

Is there a program out there that will play 1080p WMV files with sound and no dropped frames in the video? Right now I have to stream them to my xbox 360 via connect 360, but I'd rather have a solution where all movies can be played from one place....

Apologies if this post makes little sense... Tired.. :yawn:


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

well, i hope Apple gets into the swing of things with this rumour:

Apple Home Media Server Will Share Music, Movies and Photos...

The last few client meetings I've had indicate there is a massive need and I know some those clients would embrace a media server solution. It would be a fantastic solution for them to protect their memories (photos, music and home videos). A few of these clients didn't even have an external for backing up and I would bet they are not in the minority either. doh!

Cheers,
keebler


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## JamesX (Sep 10, 2008)

harpoon said:


> I went through all this last year. I used Mac The Ripper to rip my DVDs, and would then use Handbrake to convert to Apple TV (especially with the 5.1 sound options). I then use MetaX to add the tags, and MetaX imports to iTunes when done.
> 
> All this goes to a Drobo loaded with 1TB drives, it backs itself up and it's pretty cost effective if you go the USB route.
> 
> ...


I have zero experience ripping dvd's, but I would like to rip a few of my dvd's so I can watch on apple tv. 

I have D/L mactheripper and handbrake for my mac and have ripped my first dvd into 3 folders audio_ts, jacket_p and video_ts. I am a little confused about the next step, do I need to use handbrake for all 3 of these folders ?


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## Irie Guy (Dec 2, 2003)

I use Handbrake exlusively without MactheRipper. Point Handbrake to your DVD Image and go straight from there.



JamesX said:


> I have zero experience ripping dvd's, but I would like to rip a few of my dvd's so I can watch on apple tv.
> 
> I have D/L mactheripper and handbrake for my mac and have ripped my first dvd into 3 folders audio_ts, jacket_p and video_ts. I am a little confused about the next step, do I need to use handbrake for all 3 of these folders ?


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

If you do use Mactheripper have it rip to an ISO not folders...not that it makes much difference but its easier to maintain a single ISO image. Once that's done simply point Handbrake at the ISO (or in yur case the parent folder for the Video_TS folder and select AppleTV as the medium on the right hand side.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

Irie Guy said:


> I use Handbrake exlusively without MactheRipper. Point Handbrake to your DVD Image and go straight from there.


this is good advice, but if someone wants to rip overnight, i usually use mtr and get a pile of dvds into the computer, then let HB give'er all night long (lionel ritchie


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