I’m a newbie, so please be kind. I just received my WD TV Live Streaming Player (with a new WD My Book 3 TB external hard drive) and I’m loving it. I’m in the process of decrypting (via DVD Decrypter) and shrinking (via DVD Shrink 3.2), then converting into .avi files my purchased DVDs. I’ve searched and searched this forum (as well as the internet) to find out which files conversions are the best, and through experimentation, .avi works for me (to conserve disc space, and eliminate unwanted extra menus, subtitles, etc.). I’ve tested a couple of .avi files on the device, and they work well.
My only issue is that all of my TV discs are episodes, and there are 3-4 on one disc. Each disc yields approx. 9 -10 seperate .avi files (which seem to be 3-4 chapters for each episode). I’ve placed each “disc” of avi. files into it’s own seperate folder (TV show name, disc number) onto the external hard drive, and they show up well on the device. I want each folder to play continuously (like when I press auto play on my dvd player). Before I get into completely converting all my .vob files to .avi, do I need to create the Video_TS folder for each “disc” on my external hard drive, in order for the Streaming player to auto play the folder containing all the avi files for that disc? Sorry to be so wordy. Thanks.
First of all you can eliminate subtitles etc by using DVD decrypter / Shrink and you are not going to get a really smaller files by converting to avi. You should try using the programs you have got to rip to an .iso image file. This is one file with all the DVD within it which you can then play via your WD player and it will appear like your original DVD. The VIDEO_TS folder is only needed with a DVD rip and has no bearing on how avi files work.
You could try pressing play on the folder and I believe that should play all the files within the folder one after the other.
Thanks for your response. In using DVD Shrink and re-authoring, I have eliminated the subtitles, etc. So, I’ll re-rip my .avi files to ISOs and go from there. I was using DVD Shrink to compress the .vob files. Is that necessary? Thanks again.
Well, first you are taking to many steps to do what you want.
First, I wouldn’t use .avi, which is an older container. Instead I suggest using Handbrake (HB) and encode to .mkv, this will give you the compression that you want without having to use DVD Shrink. Just rip the DVD, then encode to .mkv with Handbrake. On average an 8GB DVD will give you a 1GB or less .mkv, depending on your HB settings.
Second, there’s no reason to convert to ISO for continuous playback. All you have to do is put the files in one folder, then on the SMP select Play Mode for continuous play back, select the file you want to play and press the PLAY button (not the OK) button. Then all the files in that folder will play one after the other.
Example:
Fringe (folder)
Season 1 (folder)
Fringe.S01E01.mkv
Fringe.S01E02.mkv
etc.
If you have continuous playback selected, then select “Fringe.S01E01.mkv” and press the PLAY button, when the file finishes playing the next file will play.
Third, if you want to keep your movies separated (as I have) by Genre folder, but want to play multiple files from different folder, then you can just create a playlist, ( Playlist Creator) then change the Filter (press the green button on the remote), to Playlist and play all the files you have added to the playlist.
How long does it take Handbrake to convert the ISOs to MKVs? I tried to convert 1 disc (converted to .avi) to .mvk earlier this week, and it took almost 24 hours, just for the one disc1. That was crazy.
Yes, as TonyPH12345 said, it depends on your processor, your HB settings and it also depends on the video.
With my Intel i5 quad-core 3570K PC I can encode a BD movie in a couple of hours using the HIgh Profile preset, with the constant quality (RF) set to 19, and a standard DVD in less than an hour.
On my old Intel E5200 dual-core with the same settings a BD would take about 8 -16 hours and a standard DVD somewhere around 2 hours, depending on the movie.
There are some changes in the settings that you can make to lessen the time that it takes to encode, but you’ll need to post what preset your using, and if you’v e made any changes in the settings, also what audio settings your using.
I’ll keep them as ISOs, as they’re working fine, with Thumbgen (finally figured it out), and the Darklight theme (finally figured out how to install it). Thanks for all your help.
FYI, you could have used DVD Shrink (and even DVD Decrypter in IFO mode in case the DVD has no newer protections) to author each ep into a separate ISO with only the streams you wanna keep.
