Japan

Howdy all. So, I recently picked up a 2TB Iomega ScreenDirector HD, and now I'd like to store my Anime DVDs on it. It supports MKV and MP4, and I've done some experimenting with Handbrake, with varying degrees of success. The final goal is to store the DVDs in such a way that the audio of the output file is Japanese, and English subtitles are enabled.

I've had mixed results with Handbrake so far. MKV output files resulted in stuttered video, so maybe the Iomega's codec is funny. MP4 seemed to work ok, but with some of the DVDs, I can't get the subtitles to show up. I'm guessing that they're not being overlaid in the output file. Annoyingly, some of the DVDs end up splitting out into separate titles that each have to be encoded in their own file, but that's probably unavoidable.

Anyone have any suggestions on converting a stack of Anime DVDs from different studios to MP4s?

Thanks,
Chris

I'd been meaning to respond to this since I've converted all my media to online storage as well. Unfortunately, I'm not using a general purpose device so I don't have much advice to give in this specific instance (I use Handbrake encoded MKV files streaming from a file server to a dedicated media computer).

I do what neko does as well. Fwiw iomega maintains a customer forum which while sometimes can be useful, is in my experience, manned by fairly uninformative company reps. Too bad, since the products are generally pretty good.

I am using handbrake for ripping and then we have Apple TVs to all TVs, a iMac is serving them from a Solaris box.

HandBrake is definately THE way to go. The files it produces are impeccable. As other posters said, if there's an issue with playback it's likely the device and not the file produced by HandBrake.

oh, i thought you said flies!

There were a couple parts to the original question...

I can't figure out how to force HandBrake to encode the english subtitles in the MP4 files with some of the content, even though I selected "burn in". I don't even want to be presented with the option of enabling/disabling the subtitles, I want them unconditionally enabled.

A limitation that I'm finding with HandBrake is that with some of the content, I end up having to create separate MP4 files for each episode on a DVD, which is a bit of a nuisance.

Chris

The Keeper wrote: There were a couple parts to the original question...

Yep, I realize that. It's just that the best solution to unconditionally enabled subtitles (in my personal experience) is to use an MKV container.

Use MPEG streamclip. Great freeware that works for most video codec.

I use Handbrake and rip to .m4v format. It works really well. I have all 400+ of my DVD's stored like this now. Handbrake allows you to choose whether to rip the subtitles into a separate subtitles file, or whether to embed the subtitle text directly into the video. Ripping to a separate file allows your player to render the text, so you can choose the font, etc. But not all players support this. Embedding them into the video file ensures they work in every player.

My server is running CentOS with mdadm mirror of 2x 2TB drives. It is exporting via NFS to my player, a Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC / XBMC. This allows the server to live in the basement, so I don't hear noisy fans or hard drives in the living room.

The Keeper wrote: I can't figure out how to force HandBrake to encode the english subtitles in the MP4 files with some of the content, even though I selected "burn in". I don't even want to be presented with the option of enabling/disabling the subtitles, I want them unconditionally enabled.

A limitation that I'm finding with HandBrake is that with some of the content, I end up having to create separate MP4 files for each episode on a DVD, which is a bit of a nuisance.

I think the MKV files are supposed to have more robust subtitling features than M4V (MP4). You could give them a try and compare back to back.

I personally prefer having each episode as a separate file. 20 episodes = 20 files. Easier to manage that way, in my opinion, than trying to remember which episode is on which disc.

Lupin_the_3rd wrote: I use Handbrake and rip to .m4v format. It works really well. I have all 400+ of my DVD's stored like this now. Handbrake allows you to choose whether to rip the subtitles into a separate subtitles file, or whether to embed the subtitle text directly into the video. Ripping to a separate file allows your player to render the text, so you can choose the font, etc. But not all players support this. Embedding them into the video file ensures they work in every player.

My server is running CentOS with mdadm mirror of 2x 2TB drives. It is exporting via NFS to my player, a Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC / XBMC. This allows the server to live in the basement, so I don't hear noisy fans or hard drives in the living room.

The Keeper wrote: I can't figure out how to force HandBrake to encode the english subtitles in the MP4 files with some of the content, even though I selected "burn in". I don't even want to be presented with the option of enabling/disabling the subtitles, I want them unconditionally enabled.

A limitation that I'm finding with HandBrake is that with some of the content, I end up having to create separate MP4 files for each episode on a DVD, which is a bit of a nuisance.

I think the MKV files are supposed to have more robust subtitling features than M4V (MP4). You could give them a try and compare back to back.

I personally prefer having each episode as a separate file. 20 episodes = 20 files. Easier to manage that way, in my opinion, than trying to remember which episode is on which disc.

I do something similar, I use FreeNAS with 4 2TB drives in RAID 10. Handbrake at 1080p for Blurays and 480p for dvds with lossless audio. Uses a lot of space, but streaming to my Xbox 360 works out well.

My only experience with Handbrake was about 5 years ago because some university professor was recommending it, and it didn't even work properly on my computer.

If you've got this sorted then good for you, but I'll just drop my 2 cents in here and tell you how I did this.

I don't do this anymore because now I have a proper HTPC that can handle any media type.

AVI Synth is a text file which is like a script that gets executed for every frame of the video. You can turn on filters to de-interlace and de-noise the anime DVD video stream, as well as render dvd subtitles and styled softsubs as well. I think it is still how fancy text in the openings is handled, as most playback systems don't properly support the complex styling, or it would run too slow and lag the video if done live, so it gets backed in. Then you can play the avisynth file as a frame server and render the output using virtual dub.

[EDIT]This was back when I was using .avi as a container and xvid as the video codec. But I assume you can also do it using .mp4/h264, if nothing else then save as hufyuv/wave in avi from virtualdub and then transcode into mp4 using mencoder or super or handbrake or whatever you love? You could easily automate it on the commnandline using mencoder or other cmd line tools.