MKV advantages?

[ikon]

I know we have some big MKV/MakeMKV supporters in these forums. I want to ask what you believe are the advantages of MKV over just plain blu-ray folder structure. I'm ripping BladeRunner blu-ray and wondering what the best format would be.

[GavinCampbell]

I was wondering the same. From what I was researching this past week the mkv container allows you to also store things such as multiple audio tracks, chapters and subtitles in 1 file.

 

What I really was trying to figure out was if there was a way to rip a blue ray with all of the menu's and everything and compress just the videos/audio in the file a bit. But from what I can tell this can only be done so far with bd rebuilder but it sounds like a hassle.

 

From what I read the mkv is just a container, and a lot of devices support it.

[tojoski]

The advantages for using .mkv's for me are:

 

1. I can rip all of my content to a common file, blu-rays and dvd.

 

2. Allows me to compress blu-rays into h.264 for a more manageable 6GB vs. the ridiculous 30GB or so of an uncompressed blu-ray.

 

3. Allows me to keep the DTS-HD and Dolby True HD audio tracks from blu-rays and bitstream them from my HTPC to my surround receiver. (Note this accounts for almost half of the 6GB file I mentioned above)

 

4. Allows me to play them back from within MyMovies, with resume and skip F/R, without additional software like Total Media Theatre

 

Disadvantages:

 

1. You have to install 3rd party Codecs to play them back, LAVSplitter is what I use, it is very clean..

 

2. Subtitle support is somewhat lacking.. you can enable them in your codec but theres no way to do it from within media center.. not an issue for me, I'm only concerned if there are forced subtitles. In that case I encode them directly into the video.

[ikon]

The advantages for using .mkv's for me are:

 

1. I can rip all of my content to a common file, blu-rays and dvd.

 

2. Allows me to compress blu-rays into h.264 for a more manageable 6GB vs. the ridiculous 30GB or so of an uncompressed blu-ray.

 

3. Allows me to keep the DTS-HD and Dolby True HD audio tracks from blu-rays and bitstream them from my HTPC to my surround receiver. (Note this accounts for almost half of the 6GB file I mentioned above)

 

4. Allows me to play them back from within MyMovies, with resume and skip F/R, without additional software like Total Media Theatre

 

Disadvantages:

 

1. You have to install 3rd party Codecs to play them back, LAVSplitter is what I use, it is very clean..

 

2. Subtitle support is somewhat lacking.. you can enable them in your codec but theres no way to do it from within media center.. not an issue for me, I'm only concerned if there are forced subtitles. In that case I encode them directly into the video.

 

can it be put into a single file?

[tojoski]

Yes, everything is in the mkv

[pcdoc]

In my opinion it depends what you want. If you want to compress a file why buy a BD. MKV does not compress by default as it is simply a container. You can have either a compressed or uncompressed BD it depends on what you use to rip. I have used both MKV and BD folder and found it easier and better to use folder structures. If you use folders, it will work perfectly with MyMovies and provided you with all the menu, and navigation of the original disk. In addition, you can use ISO, but I do not like ISO as it does not allow me to rip out the "junk". When I make my rips, all I want is the native movie and the HD soundtrack. That is my two cents.

[tojoski]

In my opinion it depends what you want. If you want to compress a file why buy a BD. MKV does not compress by default as it is simply a container. You can have either a compressed or uncompressed BD it depends on what you use to rip. I have used both MKV and BD folder and found it easier and better to use folder structures. If you use folders, it will work perfectly with MyMovies and provided you with all the menu, and navigation of the original disk. In addition, you can use ISO, but I do not like ISO as it does not allow me to rip out the "junk". When I make my rips, all I want is the native movie and the HD soundtrack. That is my two cents.

 

My Movies will play BD folders without any other software?

[pcdoc]

My Movies will play BD folders without any other software?

 

No, all native BD's require TMT (or similar) to play. The upside is you can play the native disk in your HTPC as well as your rips. The other positive thing is you do not need to install those dreaded codecs. Everything has a price but in my gyrations, this is what has given me the best user experience. Full definition/bit rate, full audio, movie only, and full navigation and subtitles. In the end it boils down to personal objectives. I pretty picky and refuse to compress down a BD as it lowers the bit rate of the movie and I can tell the difference. I only rip the things I want to keep so I want to make sure that it is the best it can be. For the quick watch and delete stuff, different story. I also use MyMovies for converting a copy for iPad

 

http://thedocsworld.net/mymovies-converting-files-for-your-mobile-device/

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

No, all native BD's require TMT (or similar) to play. The upside is you can play the native disk in your HTPC as well as your rips. The other positive thing is you do not need to install those dreaded codecs. Everything has a price but in my gyrations, this is what has given me the best user experience. Full definition/bit rate, full audio, movie only, and full navigation and subtitles. In the end it boils down to personal objectives. I pretty picky and refuse to compress down a BD as it lowers the bit rate of the movie and I can tell the difference. I only rip the things I want to keep so I want to make sure that it is the best it can be. For the quick watch and delete stuff, different story. I also use MyMovies for converting a copy for iPad

 

http://thedocsworld....-mobile-device/

 

I agree with pcdoc on this one. TMT5 is seamless with MC so it works great.

 

pcdoc, what program do you use to rip your blu-rays? I haven't found one I like to remove the adds and other trailers.

[pcdoc]

I agree with pcdoc on this one. TMT5 is seamless with MC so it works great.

 

pcdoc, what program do you use to rip your blu-rays? I haven't found one I like to remove the adds and other trailers.

 

I use TsMuxer (free) in conjuction with AnyDVDHD.