Make MKV

zenpmd 2015-03-15 04:29:08 UTC #1

Hi All

I have just come across your fantastic forum, as I was reading about cloneBD. Ive always used ANyDVDHD and loved it, and like a lot of you went straight in for CloneBD, but its so slow and has issues widely documented.

What I cannot understand is why make mkv is not discussed much here? Is there something wrong with it? I was using it on trial and it worked fantastically for what I want, just taking out the main movie and ripping it.

Is there anything to watch out for? Why is it not discussed?

Thanks!

philamber 2015-03-15 18:35:21 UTC #2

Possibly not discussed much here because the program has its own dedicated forum.

So far as I’m concerned it has no meaningful drawbacks. Being free whilst in beta testing (as it has been for years), the programmer is a little slower than the commercial programs to be updated to deal with the latest variations of blu-ray copy protections. Also, it has a slower decryptimg speed than a number of the commercial programs; this, however, is intentional so as to produce a more accurate rip.

Kerry56 2015-03-15 19:01:21 UTC #3

The main drawback for some people is that MakeMKV does not compress anything.

Most people who make backups of Blu-ray fall into two camps. First are those who make uncompressed copies, either still in Blu-ray format, or in MKV format, and second, there are those who want much smaller files that take less room on their storage drives and will play in their portable devices.

So MakeMKV is not seen as an all purpose tool in the way that DVDFab is, and doesn’t fit the needs of the second group at all. At least, not by itself.

I keep MakeMKV in my toolbox as a second decryption tool. Like you I also have AnyDVD HD. I rarely make full sized MKV files, so I don’t need MakeMKV for that. To compress to fit 25gb discs, I use BD Rebuilder, which I find [B]vastly[/B] superior to CloneBD or DVDFab. To make smaller, compressed copies in MKV format, I use VidCoder.

But back to your original question…I heartily recommend MakeMKV to anyone who needs decryption of Blu-ray. It offers two different modes for ripping, so it is possible to use it to get full backups your movies, as well as MKV files. Philamber has pointed out the few downsides to using the program.

You can get new beta keys from the MakeMKV forum and continue using the program for free. You’ll need a new one about every month or so, and get them here: http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1053

By the way, welcome to the forums zenpmd.

philamber 2015-03-15 20:25:20 UTC #4

[QUOTE=Kerry56;2750070]I keep MakeMKV in my toolbox as a second decryption tool. Like you I also have AnyDVD HD. I rarely make full sized MKV files, so I don’t need MakeMKV for that. To compress to fit 25gb discs, I use BD Rebuilder, which I find [B]vastly[/B] superior to CloneBD or DVDFab. To make smaller, compressed copies in MKV format, I use VidCoder.

So it is still possible, even in 2015, to use free tools for everything. MakeMKV is free while in beta. BD Rebuilder and VidCoder are superior free tools for compression and conversion to Blu-ray, MKV, DVD-video and MP4 formats.[/QUOTE]
Another excellent free tool to compress MakeMKV decrypted files to fit 25gb discs or make mkv files is BDtoAVCHD (main movie only though).

[MultiAVCHD can also compress the decrypted files and author blu-ray and avchd discs but as that program is no longer developed, is extremely difficult and complicated to use and, at best, is highly temperamental, I would recommend that you use BD Rebuilder as the preferred option in all cases.]

zenpmd 2015-03-15 23:52:41 UTC #5

Thanks guys, so helpful. Its been quite challenging researching these tools.

One of the practical things with make mkv is finding out which main file you want to copy. I often see two 30gig says (for example) on the disc. Do you know why that is?

Thanks!

Kerry56 2015-03-16 08:01:49 UTC #6

Its probably due to seamless branching. This allows the studio to put two or more editions on one disc without taking up very much room. The movie is split into many scenes, with a playlist showing which numbered scenes go together to form the complete movie. A second version of the movie, say the director’s cut, or an extended version, will have a different playlist, with many of the same scenes included, but also with many different numbered scenes that form the different edition of the movie.

Also, the studios have started using a type of protection called playlist obfuscation, in which they place hundreds of playlists into the movie, of which only one is the correct one. The Java menu app looks for AACS encryption, and if the disc has been decrypted, the menu app will not pick out the correct playlist. When MakeMKV decrypts the movie, it tries to select the correct playlist and puts the one it selects at the top of the window in MakeMKV. For very new movies that have playlist obfuscation, it may not make the right choice.

philamber 2015-03-17 16:36:16 UTC #7

Also, sometimes the program will offer 2 options for the same track even where there is no branching or playlist obfuscation; one being from the playlist and the other directly from the .m2ts file.

In that case it probably doesn’t matter much which you choose but I would always pick the playlist as that one will be certain to get the chapter points right.