On an iMac, when I rip a DVD using RipIt I get 1 “file” which has the name of the DVD, and a “dvdmedia” extension. This plays on the Mac, including menus, scene selection, and so forth,… just like using the original DVD. Great.
For use with the WD TV Live, I have put all my videos (some .dvdmedia, others mostly .avi) in one folder on a drive attached to the iMac. I can connect to this folder with the WD TV Live just fine, and see all the files listed.
The .avi files always play fine through the WD TV Live, but not the .dvdmedia files:
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some play,
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some won’t, (even though the vob file name, the “subtitles available” splash appears, and the film’s length shows correctly!)
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some play sometimes, then won’t play unless I unplug and reboot the WD TV Live.
When selecting a file which I know is a .dvdmedia file, I already knew about the need to press ENTER to get to the VIDEO_TS folder and then to press PLAY. (The files within the .dvdmedia file are not usually visible on the iMac, but can be seen on WD TV Live.)
This inconsistent behaviour is frustrating. Any suggestions, please, to get VOB files to play consistently? Thanks.
[Previously posted – by me! – in a SOLVED topic in error.]
I’d say it’s a problem of Apple’s way of doing it or the way some of those discs are authored. I always rip the main movie only and have consistend playback with all of them.
Thanks Techflaws.
You suggest: “I always rip the main movie only.” Unfortunately, RipIt FAQs indicates:
[quote]
Can RipIt extract just the main title or individual scenes from a DVD?
No! RipIt focuses on being simple. So, we only allow you to rip the entire disc. Menus, special features, previews, everything.
[unquote]
However, the same FAQs do indicate how to look at the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder that results from a rip to a file with the .dvdmedia extension. [see original post]
Is there a way to achieve your suggestion of ripping “the main movie only” by removing some of the files in the VIDEO_TS folder? Which ones typically?
For example, in the VIDEO_TS folder for Casino Royale there are sets of .VOB, .BUP and .IFO files such as VIDEO_TS.VOB, VIDEO_TS.BUP, VIDEO_TS.IFO and then VTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_0.BUP and VTS_01_0.IFO followed by VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB etc.
I’ll try getting rid of all the non .VOB file on a copy, since it is clear that they account for most of the size of the .dvdmedia package.
I’m not familiar with Mac software but I’m sure DVD2One will allow to strip only the main movie.
I’ll check out DVD2One. Thanks Tech Flaws.
In the meanwhile,
Hi Don’t know if your still reading this, but the .dvdmedia is simply an extension ripit adds to the folder name to make the mac think it is a dvd and the default application is mac dvd player. if you get info on the folder and delete the extension it will revert to a folder. If you open this you will see the video_ts folder as you would on a dvd.
You can also now change the setting in the up to date version of ripit preferences. BTW ripit is the best mac ripping software, i have over 400 dvds ripped and have done a shed load of it. ripit shines above all of them.
Thanks for your suggestion. Your suggestion to delete the extension was a good one to see the contents of the .dvdmedia package. The real issue, however, is that the WD TV Live cannot play the movie.
I tried your suggestion to see if the WD TV Live would play a file from which the extension had been removed. Unfortunately, it made no difference.
By the way, here are two examples of ripped DVDs which don’t play (for me) on the WD TV Live. I ripped (using RipIt) The Shawshank Redemption and Casino Royale.
Further “by the way”, these DVDs not only don’t play they “freeze” the WD TV Live which will no longer play other stuff (.avi for example) or show YouTube unless I reboot it (i.e. unplug it!). Elegant!
I guess I’ll have to wait for a new WD TV Live release.
I don’t think (but don’t really know) that RipIt is the problem. RipIt —I agree— is great.
