New plug-in idea: DVD Rip and Compress via remote from BM?

[ClamsTheCat]

I was thinking of using some of the many command line utilities to go after this issue.

The problem is sometimes novices want to be able to rip a DVD simply via the remote. When my wife buys a movie she usually hands it to me to rip via DVD Decrypter and then compress via Nero Recode. Nero removes everything except the main title & audio. You are left with a movie that easily fits onto a DVD-R in about 20-25 minutes including ripping and compressing. I just move it into one of the DVD Library folders and add the movie to my library.

Now the question is, how difficult would it be to use these outside programs to make a simple interface for ripping and compressing a movie? I know that not 100% of movies will always work without effort like this, but I thinka good 95% or more could.

Any thoughts? I have had several successful tests doing this via batch file and simple windows applications (browsing to the drive I want to rip, then clicking go). I am wondering how hard it would be to take it to the next level.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by ClamsTheCat

I was thinking of using some of the many command line utilities to go after this issue.

The problem is sometimes novices want to be able to rip a DVD simply via the remote. When my wife buys a movie she usually hands it to me to rip via DVD Decrypter and then compress via Nero Recode. Nero removes everything except the main title & audio. You are left with a movie that easily fits onto a DVD-R in about 20-25 minutes including ripping and compressing. I just move it into one of the DVD Library folders and add the movie to my library.

Now the question is, how difficult would it be to use these outside programs to make a simple interface for ripping and compressing a movie? I know that not 100% of movies will always work without effort like this, but I thinka good 95% or more could.

Any thoughts? I have had several successful tests doing this via batch file and simple windows applications (browsing to the drive I want to rip, then clicking go). I am wondering how hard it would be to take it to the next level.

The initial beta releases of the DVD Library had this functionality, but it was removed

[ClamsTheCat]

Originally Posted by nanook105

The initial beta releases of the DVD Library had this functionality, but it was removed

Was there a reason given???

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by ClamsTheCat

Was there a reason given???

I don't know for sure, but probably the same concerns/reasons why the author of DVD Decrypter no longer supports his product

[ClamsTheCat]

Originally Posted by nanook105

I don't know for sure, but probably the same concerns/reasons why the author of DVD Decrypter no longer supports his product

Geez...those "companies who shall not be named" seem to sue everyone these days. I suppose it would not bother me to go forward and just tell people to download and install the command line programs seperately. Should be partial insulation.

[bnflaherty]

I had this functionality -- a while ago...

based on the setup of another BeyondMedia user -- if I can dig it up...

[pwlong]

I ended up just writing a batch script to call DVD Decrypter in batch mode, then added the script as a BM menu item. No compression or trimming involved, though -- I do that later, if I even bother. I can rip a DVD directly to my DVD Library folder on my HTPC, then run a "Search for Updates" scan within DVD Library and add the new title, all in about 20 minutes, using just the remote. Full details available on my webpage for anyone interested.

[rugby]

Mediafork (used to be handbrake) has this functionality in 1 step. I rip all of my dvd's to DVDLibrary with mediafork and it's great. I can even rip the individual episodes on season DVD's and put the .avi files into BTV, rename them via the web interface, and I'm good to go.

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by pwlong

I ended up just writing a batch script to call DVD Decrypter in batch mode, then added the script as a BM menu item. No compression or trimming involved, though -- I do that later, if I even bother. I can rip a DVD directly to my DVD Library folder on my HTPC, then run a "Search for Updates" scan within DVD Library and add the new title, all in about 20 minutes, using just the remote. Full details available on my webpage for anyone interested.

I started using this method thanks to pwlong and it works great. Very nice addition to my Beyond Media Menu.

[cfaslave]

Getting back to this plugin Peter came up with. Does anyone know of a good way to compress a DVD via a command line interface. I use DVD2One or DVDShrink to do it manually and keep the folder & file structure intact, but I would like to add it to Peter's plugin so it would be as easy as clicking on "rip DVD" and it would both Rip the dvd as well as compress it.

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas please let me know. Thanks!
Brent

[pwlong]

Originally Posted by cfaslave

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas please let me know. Thanks!
Brent

Hi Brent,

I did a quick search and found some Linux-based tools that may be able to do this:

http://dvdshrink.sourceforge.net/ (Linux version of DVDshrink)
http://k9copy.sourceforge.net/

If you don't have access to a Linux machine, I've got a couple and would be happy to give these tools a look. Kicking off the whole operation via batchfile from a Windows PC might not be pretty, but I'd bet it's doable.

Peter

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by pwlong

Hi Brent,

I did a quick search and found some Linux-based tools that may be able to do this:

http://dvdshrink.sourceforge.net/ (Linux version of DVDshrink)
http://k9copy.sourceforge.net/

If you don't have access to a Linux machine, I've got a couple and would be happy to give these tools a look. Kicking off the whole operation via batchfile from a Windows PC might not be pretty, but I'd bet it's doable.

Peter

Peter,
I don't have access to a Linux machine. I wonder how ripit4me opens dvdshrink? It must be possible.

[pwlong]

Originally Posted by cfaslave

Does anyone know of a good way to compress a DVD via a command line interface. I use DVD2One or DVDShrink to do it manually and keep the folder & file structure intact, but I would like to add it to Peter's plugin so it would be as easy as clicking on "rip DVD" and it would both Rip the dvd as well as compress it.

Although I suspect you're asking how to do this locally on the Beyond Media PC, my search for Windows software that offered command-line (non-interactive batch mode) requantizing and resizing of DVD images didn't turn up a whole lot. However, since I found plenty of web pages that described the process of making DVD backups under Linux, and I actually store my ripped DVDs on a Linux fileserver running Samba, I decided to give it a try. I used the instructions on this page for my testing.

I tested the manual process (steps 2.3 through 2.7 on the referenced webpage, for those following along at home) using an existing DVD image ripped to my Samba server's DVD_LIBRARY fileshare. The original DVD image was 4.3gb on disk. I specified a 1.5 quantizing factor, the same as described in the procedure, which results in a 75% compression rate. The entire process took just about an hour, and resulted in a compressed DVD image of just 2.8gb. Playback of the movie confirmed that no visual artifacts or A/V sync problems were introduced in the process.

So this method looks promising for those with Linux-hosted DVD image libraries. I'm going to run a few more tests against other DVD images, and perhaps automate the process with a 'dvdresize.sh' script, and see if it is really this straightforward. If so, I'll work on an automated method for compressing the DVD image immediately after ripping, which shouldn't be too tough: either a cron job that watches for new DVD images landing on the fileserver, then kicks off the resizing job, or even just triggering the resizing job via a remote command to the fileserver (issued via SSH) at the end of the command file on the BM machine.

Other ideas/suggestions welcome. If folks are interested, I'll share any shell scripts or additional automation details that result from this experiment.

[cfaslave]

Well since I don't have a Linux box in the house, I'd be happy if anyone comes up with ideas on doing this in windows. Thanks!

[pwlong]

Looks like Handbrake might be the answer to the 'compress' part of the equation: after a co-worker mentioned he was using it with good success on his Mac, I took a look and discovered not only Windows command-line support, but builtin presets for various video formats and qualities, and the must-have "AC3 pass-through" mode.

The end-state I'm picturing here is an updated ripdvd.cmd batch script, which includes a call to handbrake immediately following the DVD_Decrypter call.

Sounds like its time for a bit of experimenting. If I get something working, I'll share the procedure and/or updated ripper script for you to try out.