BD movies streamed to the PS3. Got 50% chance with 3 hours avg to set up.

[Altair]

Frankly, BD is NOT ready for prime time movie watching via streaming to the PS3 yet, not by a long shot!
I am having really bad luck lately ripping BD movies to the hard drive and streaming them to the PS3.
IF everything goes all right, then a program called Twonky will show the BD’s .m2ts stream file that contains the movie in your Video folder on your hard drive and you can run it on your PS3. It will be in high definition, In ENGLISH, and in 5.1 surround sound.
The issues are many.
1. Have to rip the movie to your hard drive with AnyDVD HD (worked two out of 6 movies for me so far “error reading drive”). Or you can try copying the largest .m2ts file in the stream folder on the BD disk to your hard drive “error reading file”. That works a little better as I can retry the copy. Got one more movie onto the hard drive that way. So 3 out of 6 movies failed just to copy ONE file over to hard drive. (Yes, yes, I know. Submit a “LOG REPORT”. Some work, most don’t. That is MY log!)
2. THEN the .m2ts file has about a 30% chance of playing in English. You need to remux it with TSMuxerGui.exe to see what AC3 language files are there and delete the French, Spanish, and any other AAC files (commented film for instance). Trial and error on that.
3. Sometimes the Audio file is in the TrueHD format. THAT has to be translated into AC3 using a program called TsRemux.
So I have gotten exactly 3 out of 6 BD movies to stream properly to the PS3 from my hard drive. Each of them took from 1 to 4 hours of trial and error to do it. Unfortunately, my first movie went perfectly and I reported it that way. Rude surprise when the rest crapped out. “Live free and Die hard” was my “lucky” movie. “The Prestige”, forget it as I could not rip and could not copy the 0000.m2ts file AT ALL.

 

[Adbear]

Well I can tell you that The Prestige rips fine for me so it must either be something on your system or the disc itself, also if you're streaming to the PS3 bear in mind that VC-1 encoded movies never seem to work.
Do you get the 'error reading file' message straight away or after it's been copying for a while? Also the reason they ask for the log file is so they can see if you have any other stuff running on your system that might be causing a conflict.

It's quite easy to get working files as long as you check what codec the video and audio are in before you start. If it's VC-1 then it probably won't work, If it has HD audio then you'll need to remux it and convert the audio, and if the file fails to copy off the original disc then it's most likely a faulty disc which can be tested by disabling AnyDVD HD and trying to copy it over without it running

 

[Altair]

Dang!

Geez. The Prestige rips eh? I tried every damn tip I could find in the forums to see if it was my system's fault. The Prestige dies immediately when trying to rip while other movies die after a random amount of time (in the 8- 28% range usually). I removed any extra filters, removed Roxio, PowerDVD, and still it would not rip most movies.
Donno what to try next. Well, I will keep reading the forums to see if I can come up with something else to try.
Of course, AnyDVD is solid as a rock...
As for the format, the PS3 recognizes the .m2ts file with Twonky server running so do not have to worry about other codecs. Do have to change the audio usually though.
Dang...

 

[Adbear]

It doesn't matter that they're m2ts files, if it's vc-1 then the PS3 won't decode it so those ones won't work. The PS3 won't play VC-1 files, only if they're on a Blu-ray disc. If they're stopping ripping after a while then it's normally either a bad disc or a bad player

 

[3r1c]

You also have to make sure the audio in the m2ts is AC3.
DTS or LPCM etc... dont work unless its on a bluray disc, not streaming.

 

[Tyrod01]

Sometimes the Audio file is in the TrueHD format. THAT has to be translated into AC3 using a program called TsRemux

Actually, tsmuxer can downmix TRUEHD to ac3.

if it's vc-1 then the PS3 won't decode it so those ones won't work. The PS3 won't play VC-1 files

This is true, however there are 2 programs I know of that can transcode VC-1 to another PS3 compatible format. One is Nero 8 (perhaps earlier versions as well but not tested). Nero does a pretty good job, you can select MPEG 2 output or MP4 (AVC). Both with equal quality to the original and each other, however the result WILL be interlaced. I can only input interlaced to my TV so it doesn't matter to me, It might to others. Transcoding to MPEG-2 is faster but makes a larger file. ie Swordfish starts out as ~15Gb VC-1. Nero will transcode it to MPEG-2 with a file size of ~22Gb, interlaced but at a significantly higher bit rate than the original. It takes about 9 hours on my P4 3.8G XP SP3 system. Using Nero to transcode to MP4 (AVC) will take about 24 - 36 hours and will have a filesize and quality comparable (but interlaced)to the VC-1. I've only done this once......takes too dam long.

The other is RipBot264. RipBot will transcode to VC-1 to AVC. It will take 40+ hours and the bitrate will be a 1/3 the original. The output will be progressive, but you give so much up in bitrate that the quality is degraded to the point that the file is progressive won't matter. RipBot264 will do a nifty job of reducing filesize enough to burn to DVD, it that's your thing. I like ConvertXtoDVD for the rare times I have to do that.

audio in the m2ts is AC3. DTS or LPCM

DTS won't work. And LPCM has to originally encoded LPCM. Converted LPCM won't work with tsmuxer. It appears to work, but 1/3 into the movie the audio goes into screech mode.

I'm retired, this is what I do 24/7. I'll have a Core2Duo by the end of the week. However, I doubt that it'll help processing time because the programs I use aren't smart enough to take advantage of SMP. Even Nero8 won't work in 64 bit mode. It works in 32 bit compatiblity mode, so I doubt it's smart enough to take advantage of multiple processors. We'll see.

Assuming you get a good rip, I've only had a problem with I am Legend, any BluRay can be streamed to the PS3. As a matter of fact, any HD-DVD can be converted to a format that can stream to the PS3.

The rules are such: (this is not a tutorial)
Only one video/audio stream can be streamed to the PS3. No alt sound tracks or subtitles.

The video must be MPEG-2 or AVC (MP4) or MPG(1)

The audio can only be various forms of ac3 or LPCM

Use tsmuxer to analyze the appropriate m2ts file. If it's MPEG-2 or AVC (various forms of .264 files) and there is an acceptable ac3 track, you're good to go. Use tsmuxer (remux to m2ts file) to strip out the unnecessary tracks. Always strip out the stuff you can't use. Not doing so just makes the file bigger with stuff you can't take advantage of.

If the original m2ts file is not VC-1 and has a Dolby TruHD track, use tsmuxer to remux to another m2ts file. Don't forget to highlight the audio track and check the box denoting "downmix TrueHD track to AC3".

If the original m2ts file is not VC-1 and has some sort of DTS track you must demux the track (separate the audio from the video). If the audio track is DTS-HD MA, highlight it and select "downmix DTS-HD-MA to DTS core". Then the DTS track must be made into an ac3 track. Use eac3to.exe to do this. Search over at the doom9 forum on how to do this. This is a command line program, learn to use the command line if you don't already know how. Once you have a good ac3 track remux it with the video track using tsmuxer into a m2ts track.

If the original m2ts file IS VC-1 and any audio track. Remux and downconvert (if necessary) to m2ts file (strip out unnecessry stuff). Use Nero 8 - Nero Vision to "make a BluRay video". Select "more", "video options", "BluRay Video". Under "video format" select "MPEG-2",Under "transcoding quality" select "quality setting", chose "high quality". Don't change anything else on theis page. Select "ok" to close the page.
Now select "add video files". navigate to the appropriate m2ts file and selct it. You'll get 2 splash screens about "analyzing video". Abort the second one. If Nero complains about filesize being too big for a BD-25 disc then select BD-50 disc or just ignore it, we're going to write to a file anyway. Now select "next" or "ok" I forget which to go to the next page. This is the menu page. Find and select "no Menu". Go to next page. This is the preview page. Ignore it go to the next page. This is the burning page. Select "write to hard disc file". Navigate to where you want the files to go. Select "burn" or run or whatever, I forget. Nero will make a bluray structure on your hard drive just like a bluray disc. When Nero is done navigate to the m2ts file and save it to wherever you want and delete the rest. I believe Nero will transcode any audio to ac3 (640K 48K) and there are no accepatable alternatives.

As I said, any bluray can be converted. However, there may be some that have unacceptable results. ie. Apocolypto's main HD audio track is in the Mayan language. There is no alternative english track. The movie is meant to be watched listening to the mayan track while using english (or whatever) subtitles. But, PS3 can't display subtitles soooooooo, unless you understand Mayan, you're kinda hosed on this one.

Now I have a question for you! How many times can you end a sentence with a preposition?

 

[Tyrod01]

P.S. I forgot to mention that I use twonky as well. I built a teeny weenie miniITX computer with an external esata docking station as a file/media server. In this case, the Thermaltake BlacX is the esata docking station. As one hard drive fills up, I just swap in a new one. I theory, I could use multiple terabyte hard drives and just hot swap the drive with the movie I wanna watch. As yet, I haven't come close to filling one up yet.

The server itself is cute as hell with one of those 7watt fanless motherboards.
I use an internal 150G laptop HD as the fileserver part. I've set it up so the motherboard is always on and the HDDs go to sleep after 3min. I've used WinXP Pro SP3 and Windows Home Server as the operating system and both work very very well. Slight pro & cons with each operating system. I access the computer with remote desktop.

The economics of using a hard drive as the BD movie storage is such: The average size of movies on my hard drive is a lil over 21G. Assuming a terabyte size hard drive @ ~$200 a pop, that's about $4.25 a movie versus the media cost of burning to BD discs. At this point, I'm seeing ~$11.00 for single layer and ~$30.00+ for dual layer BD discs. I'm sure the cost of media will come down, but not much and not for a while (think dual layer DVD). But the cost of hard drives will come down too. Although, I have to admit, there are more playback options with burning to disc.

Want more specs on the computer? Just ask, I don't wanna get too far off topic..............yeah right:bang:

 

[Tyrod01]

Addendum:

I've retested Nero's ability to transcode VC-1 to MPEG-2 under a different platform. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0Ghz) overclocked to 3.6Ghz running under WinXP x64 with 4Gb memory. Transcode times have dropped from 8 -9 hours on Intel Pentium 4 3.8Ghz, WinXP Pro x86 and 2 Gb Memory to 2.5 hours on the Core 2 Duo. So my earlier assumption about Nero was incorrect. It does take advantage of multiple cores.

 

[IzzyDeadyet]

Actually, tsmuxer can downmix TRUEHD to ac3.

The other is RipBot264. RipBot will transcode to VC-1 to AVC. It will take 40+ hours and the bitrate will be a 1/3 the original. The output will be progressive, but you give so much up in bitrate that the quality is degraded to the point that the file is progressive won't matter. RipBot264 will do a nifty job of reducing filesize enough to burn to DVD, it that's your thing. I like ConvertXtoDVD for the rare times I have to do that.

You're making a general statement about Ripbot264 that certainly doesn't apply to everyone. My transcode time for a 2 hour mt2s flick with Ripbot264 averages around 8 hours with a Q6600. Your final bitrate also depends on the profile and settings you select so saying "the bitrate will be 1/3 the original" is also incorrect.

 

[Adbear]

You're making a general statement about Ripbot264 that certainly doesn't apply to everyone. My transcode time for a 2 hour mt2s flick with Ripbot264 averages around 8 hours with a Q6600. Your final bitrate also depends on the profile and settings you select so saying "the bitrate will be 1/3 the original" is also incorrect.

And if you look his posts are over 5 months old, a lot has happened with these programs in that time so it's not surprising that rendering times have decreased, and he also states his tests are on a P4 3.8 so he wasn't even using a multi core CPU when he was running the tests

 

[meimeiriver]

And if you look his posts are over 5 months old, a lot has happened with these programs in that time so it's not surprising that rendering times have decreased, and he also states his tests are on a P4 3.8 so he wasn't even using a multi core CPU when he was running the tests

I'm with IzzyDeadyet on this. The development of RipBot has actually got very little to do with it. It's x264 you need to be looking at. And the latter has progressed over the last 5 month or so, but nothing really noticeable in the realm of encoding speed; certainly not by a factor 2x or 3x, etc.

On my Q6700 at 3.2Ghz, a full VC-1 -> H264 transcoding can take up to 40 hours. That's because I use insane high x264 settings. And really, like IzzyDeadyet said, it's only the underlying x264 settings in your RipBot Profile that determine how long your transcode will take.