I want to burn my first Bluray, but now I need advice on software. I was used to things like ConvertXtoDVD for simple MKV to DVD with one click, is there anything somewhat similar for Bluray? I also got VLC nightly to playback Bluray, but is there anything better at the moment? I would assume it would be simpler to just ask for a list of what most people around here use for ripping, converting, and burning. Suggestions please and Thanks!
dja2k
[QUOTE=dja2k;2692502]I want to burn my first Bluray, but now I need advice on software. I was used to things like ConvertXtoDVD for simple MKV to DVD with one click, is there anything somewhat similar for Bluray? I also got VLC nightly to playback Bluray, but is there anything better at the moment? I would assume it would be simpler to just ask for a list of what most people around here use for ripping, converting, and burning. Suggestions please and Thanks!
dja2k[/QUOTE]
Yes its really easy if you are used to VSO products, try the new one they have called Bluray Converter, or many of the other companies we have here on our forum offer Bluray conversion with decryption. As a matter of fact their are so many Bluray converters it would be hard to list them all. I use the DVD Fab Bluray and DVD player to watch them if I choose to watch on my computer which I generally do not do, I use my HTPC to watch my movies on my TV.
Here is a list of the software that I use for blu ray conversion, compression, decryption and playback:
[B]AnyDVD HD[/B] for decryption of blu ray commercial movies. Use the built-in ripper to get the movie to the hard drive. This program is relatively expensive for the lifetime version.
[B]MakeMKV[/B] This program can decrypt blu ray movies and rip either as an mkv file or as the complete blu ray structure using the Backup mode. MakeMKV is free while in beta, and has remained in beta for many years now. The only downsides are that you have to put in a new beta key each month or so, and it isn’t updated quite as quickly as some of the other decryption programs. New beta keys can be found here: http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053
One other thing about MakeMKV…it doesn’t compress the movie, so your mkv files from it will be very large…almost as large as the original blu ray movie.
[B]BDRebuilder[/B] This is a free program, originally designed to compress blu ray movies to fit onto 25gb discs. Since then, more capabilities have been added, including conversion of blu ray to mkv, mp4 or even dvd-video. You must start with unencrypted video however.
[B]ClownBD[/B] This free program lets you select audio and video streams from a decrypted blu ray and lets you choose which ones you wish to keep. It can also accept .ts, m2ts or mkv files as input and build a new blu ray structure for you. ClownBD is a gui for eac3to, tsMuxeR and Aften.
[B]Handbrake[/B] This is a conversion program that can take blu ray input and give you mp4 or mkv files as output. The output files will be compressed to much smaller sizes, and can be made to match specific hardware, like iPads or other mobile devices. Handbrake is free to use.
The free programs I’ve mentioned are not “one-click” simple. For one click simplicity, and generally less quality output, you’ll need to look at the commercial programs.
For playback of blu ray movies on the computer, I would normally recommend Arcsoft Total Media Theater. They are up to version six now I believe. But most of the commercial software players with valid licenses for playing blu ray are now infected with Cinavia detection. If you want to avoid that, you’ll need to stick to the free players like VLC and Media Player Classic Home Cinema. DVDFab also has a player, with limited menu support. The free players do not let you access the menus.
To burn a blu ray movie to a disc, use [B]ImgBurn[/B]. Blu ray video uses UDF 2.5 file system, but ImgBurn will recognize blu ray video as input and ask to set it correctly for you if you have anything wrong.
Thanks guys for the replies! I will look into all of these suggestions and try them out.
dja2k
Yesterday I did my first burn using a program called Freemake Video Converter. I added 2 MKV 720p files to it, but it didn’t work on my Panasonic Standalone Bluray Player. I thought it would work like ConvertxtoDVD but it didn’t seem to on my player.
Basically all I do right now is convert and compress MKV 720p files to DVD and now I want to do the same but on Bluray. I read on MultiAVCHD, but haven’t tried it yet.
Does DVD Fab allow you to throw MKV video files and it will convert and compress them to fit into 1 Bluray disk?
dja2k
Some blu ray players will play mkv files straight from a blu ray or dvd disc when they are simply burned as data. Yours doesn’t have this ability apparently?
It is possible to put two mkv files into MultiAVCHD and have it output as blu ray video (or AVCHD if burning to a blank dvd), and you could include a menu to select each file. But the output from MultiAVCHD is not universally accepted in blu ray players. You would simply have to test yours to find out. Not all players can play AVCHD, and some will not accept blu ray video on a dvd.
And since mkv files come in all sorts of configurations, you cannot expect them to conform to blu ray specs just because they are 720p resolution. I’ve run into this lately and speak from experience.
My solution is not simple, and you might not want to go to the trouble of making extremely compliant .264 video files to import into a blu ray authoring program. But if you want me to outline it, I can.
Edit: And for your DVDFab question, I’m not a fan, and I don’t use the program at all. Someone else might chip in however.
Kerry, is there a decent low cost blu-ray authoring/ menu making program?
Since I figure multiavchd is about the only freeware solution at this time.
My knowledge of the Nero, VideoStudio, etc type progs. is non-existent.
There are a couple of low cost blu ray authoring programs. They are Power Producer Ultra by Cyberlink and TMPGEnc Authoring Works. Earlier versions of TMPGEnc A.W. used to re-encode everything to mpeg2, but I think that is not true anymore. They still don’t have support for VC-1.
Arcsoft has a program that is slightly more expensive, called Total Media Extreme, but I know virtually nothing about it.
I can’t say that I’ve tried the Cyberlink or Arcsoft programs, but I swore off Cyberlink after having to deal with their capture program that came with one of my video capture cards. My cat can write programs better than that.
TMPGenc is the only one of the three that has a good rep for editing or authoring video, but I don’t much like that company either. Their need for constant authentication checks piss me off.
There really isn’t a good choice in the low end of the spectrum. Easy BD Lite is free to use, and will produce blu ray video that is much, much closer to full blu ray video compliance than MultiAVCHD. But Easy BD Lite is intentionally crippled so that you cannot make menus in it. If you have only one title, then it works very nicely, but you have to have elementary streams as input, and they have to pass compliance within the program. Just importing a random mkv file video stream isn’t going to cut it.
Believe me, I’ve looked for free or low cost alternatives, but for blu ray authoring the choices are poor.
Ah, I found another one: Corel Movie Factory Pro7.
At $49, its the same cost as the Cyberlink program. And there is a free trial for you to download and test for us. 
I rip to HD or iso with AnyDVDHD and process/compress to BD 25 with BDRebuilder. I’ve done probably a hundred by now. Works like a charm, though it does take some time. I usually start processing before bed or before I leave for work so as not to tie up the computer. A good duo or quadcore processor is definitely a plus or it could take a very long time. Very simple though once you’ve figured your settings.
[QUOTE=Kerry56;2692599]Ah, I found another one: Corel Movie Factory Pro7.
At $49, its the same cost as the Cyberlink program. And there is a free trial for you to download and test for us. :p[/QUOTE]
It’s getting close to it doesn’t matter anymore, isn’t it?
I rarely burn blu-rays anymore instead using hard drives for storage of video.
I did figure that you had looked into this and wanted your take.
Still though it would be nice to at least have a one page menu without having to resort to the cumbersome churning multiavchd does when it authors a bd.
Really the only time I would want a menu on bd would be for a multi-title like with more than one dvd or perhaps author a compilation of titles from my fairly new acquired OTA hd tuner…but still I can so easy dump all that on a hard drive.
Egad! that download is close to 300 mgs, makes me wonder how it will muck up my OS…yet that won’t/wouldn’t prevent me since I tend to reinstall the OS at will.
So my sort of weak excuse not to do this right away will go like this…
I will be quite busy working this coming week with only lookins on a few forums to see what’s up.
If and when I do and find out anything, I’ll let you know…possibly first see if I can find out what to expect from that particular corel software.
If would be nice if there was an open source where one could simply place in the already compliant m2ts files and make a simple 1 page menu.
Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Evidently it is more involved than that and possibly those devs that could do that are content as some of us are to dump files onto
a hard drive.