Streaming video fro network

[fros]

I think I have scanned thru most threads and still am wondering what is the best format for streaming from a NAS to the BB. I am in the process of ripping my Video collection and want it to be BB streaming friendly. I just bought the BB so it is not setup yet, but will be on a wired network. I like to have the option of being able to have chapters included and was not sure the best route. I see some users stream ISO files.

Does BB actually open the ISO files or do you mount them prior to playing them?

And what file format have you had best success streaming from NAS with?

any help is appreciated.

[cayars]

The procedure I use. I use DVDFab to rip the disc to an ISO file removing the encryption if any on the disc. I use the DVD9 setting so DVD does not try and compress the disc.

Once I rip the disc I run it through theRenamer which will change the file name to something that is much easier/better to recognize. It also puts the year of release in the file name.

The BB will recognize the ISO file and build the library. The ISO file is basically a ripped "mirror" of the disc. You can pull out just the main movie and compress it to save space using a program such as HandBrake. If you do the following you will use approximately 1/4 of the space the ISO requires and you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the MKV and the ISO file picture or audio wise.

Try downloading the latest nightly build of Handbrake from here: https://build.handbrake.fr/

After installing Handbrake:
1 Open one of your ISO files (source/video files)
2 Change the profile on the right side to High Profile
3 Change the container type to MKV file
4 Click the video tab and change RF to 19
Try running it with 19. If it looks good and you want to save space increase the number (ie 20 or 21) and test again.

If on the other hand it's not good enough try a lower RF number like 17 or 18.

The RF number is the key to getting what you think looks great and saving on compression space.

The key to understanding the RF is 20 is the default in High Profile. A Lower number uses LESS compression and generally gives a better picture. A Higher number uses MORE compression and may be less visually appealing.

Once you find out what works for you then you are all set. You may even find you want to use 2 settings. For example 18 for fast moving high resolution movies with lots of action and say 20 for many typical DVDs (ie chick flicks, etc).

BTW, for testing to see what RF values work just do one chapter. Once you load up the video source file it will automatically select for example chapters 1 - 18. You can override this and make it chapters 1 - 1 or only one test chapter! This is the best way to "experiment" with RF values for normal/typical and high detail/fast scenes.

If you have any of the Transformer DVDs they make excellent test DVDs. If you get an RF value that works for this it will work for just about every other disc.

I settled on an RF factor of 19 using the high profile setting and use this for all DVDs and have been quite satisfied.

If you have any questions let us know.

Carlo

PS The above created files will play back perfectly on the BB, WD Live, Android phones, PCs, etc assuming you have the needed codec on the device (phone, pc).

[drunkwithpower]

Another option if you want the movie only is to use MakeMKV to rip the movie (leaving out all the fluff like menus and special features), and then use Handbrake as mentioned above. You can also use a GUI called VidCoder that uses Handbrake for encoding, and it will allow you to easily batch encode your movies.

[lvs]

FYI: For blu-ray rips, the BB only supports BD Lite so no Full menu support.

[mbryanr]

Another option if you want the movie only is to use MakeMKV to rip the movie (leaving out all the fluff like menus and special features), and then use Handbrake as mentioned above. You can also use a GUI called VidCoder that uses Handbrake for encoding, and it will allow you to easily batch encode your movies.

I use makemkv only without Handbrake.

On a side note, I used my blu-ray player to play the Disney WOW calibration disc...never understand why anyone would use a BD if given a choice. Long loading times, menu navigation, the annoying interpol message - seemed like 5 minutes later. I understand menus can provide special features etc, but just add them as parts of the movie if you want them.

[drunkwithpower]

I use makemkv only without Handbrake.

On a side note, I used my blu-ray player to play the Disney WOW calibration disc...never understand why anyone would use a BD if given a choice. Long loading times, menu navigation, the annoying interpol message - seemed like 5 minutes later. I understand menus can provide special features etc, but just add them as parts of the movie if you want them.

I didn't use Handbrake for a long time, but now I use it to compress my DVD collection. I keep all my bluray rips at 1:1, and since that takes up a ton of space I was forced to encode the DVD rips.

[cayars]

I use MakeMKV also at times. But I usually don't recommend it to someone just getting started. The simple reason is that with an ISO and MKV it's quite easy to tell what has and what hasn't been encoded.

If you "rip" with MakeMKV then it gets much harder to quickly tell what is an MKV wrapped video (MakeMKV) and what is a true encode (HandBrake).

But if you were to use say two different directories to track the different files then going with MakeMKV would probably be better then using an ISO as you get away from the menus and trailers that are on most discs. Plus it would save room also as the menus and previews are removed. Hmm, this actually probably is the better way to go as it saves room right from the start.

Carlo

[useltonm]

I use makemkv only without Handbrake.

On a side note, I used my blu-ray player to play the Disney WOW calibration disc...never understand why anyone would use a BD if given a choice. Long loading times, menu navigation, the annoying interpol message - seemed like 5 minutes later. I understand menus can provide special features etc, but just add them as parts of the movie if you want them.

Hope I'm not threadjacking here, but which audio do you typically rip using makemkv? I've started ripping my blu rays to be able to stream them across my network to boxee and have been having issues with buffering. I think I remember reading somewhere that the audio type of the file could be the problem. I'm not converting them, just leaving them at their 30gb or so file size.

P.S. If it's better for me to start a new thread, please let me know. Thanks!

[cayars]

The bitrates might be too high for the BB to keep up with. I noticed this on some 1920x1080 stuff via NFS.

I've not been able to stream it via network no matter what I do (even with a NAS box directly connected to the BB). The only way I've gotten a couple of these files to play was to copy them to a flash thumb card and play it off that. I don't have a USB hard drive at the moment to test with.

So in my mind I think the hardware isn't up to the task to play some 1080 high bitrate files via network interface.

What you can try if you have one is a USB HDD drive and see if that improves things.

Secondly you could try experimenting with HandBrake to compress the file (audio and video) to see what helps. Don't forget in HB you can let it select the whole movies but then manually adjust it down to just one chapter (ie 3 to 3) for testing purposes so you don't have to encode the whole movie.

Also don't be afraid to compress it down to a 720 video size. This will still look great on the BB as it will upsize the picture. Even doing this your results will be better then a DVD rip/encode because you started out with a much better picture that HB can work with.

If you find something that works well, please share back with us,
Carlo

[useltonm]

I thought perhaps the boxee couldn't handle my files so I hooked up a usb hard drive and was able to play all files. I did have the hd connected to my router (linksys e3000 with usb port) but I suppose I should try hanewin nfs on my desktop. I've read that it is more efficient than smb. I guess I'll just have to play around with it to find what works.

I didn't want to have to convert all my movies as I've got around 200 blu rays (and growing) and then 500+ dvds (although those can probably stream just fine). The entire reason I got the boxee was I wanted to stream all my 1:1 blu ray rips without any loss in video quality without having to go grab the disc. I realize wirelessly streaming is not an option, but was hoping the powerline adapters I picked up might be able to do it. Oh well....back to testing.