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[Matt]

The Blu-ray landscape has changed a bit recently.  Two important things have happened:

1) nevcairiel added Blu-ray support to LAV so that it's possible to play a Blu-ray directly

2) AnyDVD HD or DVDFab Passkey can make an optical disk usable

With the combination of these two items, it's possible to rent Blu-ray movies from Netflix, Redbox, or anywhere else and watch them easily with Media Center.

It also makes it possible to simply copy the files from a Blu-ray disc you own to your hard disk where they'll still play.  Please see this post on importing Blu-rays.

This may be old news to a lot of you, but I'm just starting to use this approach myself.  So far, it seems to "just work" with MC16's Red October enabled.

I know there are some complications about getting the full quality out of DTS-HD.

Anything else JRiver needs to add for really nice Blu-ray support?

Edit -- See also Blu-ray Ripping

[fitbrit]

I just want to say, as I have somewhere in another thread, that this is great work by you guys. I'm so glad that you've worked well with Madshi, Nev and others to enter a new era in HTPC use for playback, especially once the kinks are completely ironed out.

Nathan, if you're listening, thanks for being instrumental in this era of cooperation. Can you tackle the Middle East situation next, please?

[SamuriHL]

There is one missing feature Nev has to add.  Title selection in the splitter.  So that you can select what title you're watching on the disc.  Think episode discs like Glee and True Blood.  You wanna be able to pick what episode you're watching.  I'd love to see that split out like you have for subtitles into a separate "title selection" menu or something.  Once the feature is implemented, of course.  Other than that, yes, it just works.  And to get around title selection for now you can just open the MPLS file directly off the disc if you know which one it is.

[rpalmer68]

I just want to say, as I have somewhere in another thread, that this is great work by you guys. I'm so glad that you've worked well with Madshi, Nev and others to enter a new era in HTPC use for playback, especially once the kinks are completely ironed out.

Nathan, if you're listening, thanks for being instrumental in this era of cooperation. Can you tackle the Middle East situation next, please?

Totally agree, great work guys, and thanks for all the collaborative work on this.

I've only just taken the plunge and updated my main HTPC to the latest versions and look forward to testing this side of things and then hopefully dropping the need for TMT5.

Richard

[mojave]

This may be old news to a lot of you

From December, 2007 - Playing ripped Blu-ray/HD-DVD content in MC12  

Thanks, Nathan, for your persistence over the years regarding Blu-ray. Thanks, MC, for implementing all that we have now for Blu-ray.

[Hendrik]

There is one missing feature Nev has to add.  Title selection in the splitter.  So that you can select what title you're watching on the disc.  Think episode discs like Glee and True Blood.  You wanna be able to pick what episode you're watching.

I plan to work on this for the version after 0.29, fwiw.
I'm running out of features to implement.  

[jmone]

I plan to work on this for the version after 0.29, fwiw.
I'm running out of features to implement.  

Video decoding ...plenty to do!

[jmone]

I have to say I'm very pleased that we have almost ended up with a real Blu-ray "lite" solution in MC (I must admit that at one point over the last few years I did not think it would happen).  A big thanks JR and Nevcairiel for providing the "bits" needed to get this done.  I think there are 3 things left to finish the "experience":
1) Stream Selection:  as posted by nevcairiel, he is on this one and I'm sure JR will expose this once it is available from the splitter
2) Refresh Rate Changing:  I see we have FPS as a field now......  I'm using madVR to do this now (else I have to use reclock and hence no reclock) - more at http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=64061.0 on the relative pros and cons of how and where to do it
3)  Theaterview Menu Support:  This is Blu-ray "Lite" eg I don't expect to get the full Java menu experience but a "Lite" menu that exposes the selection of titles, streams, chapters and subs in a single "DVD Style" OSD would complete the usability (the current single line OSD does not cut it IMO).  This menu should be activated for any "file" playback on using the "menu" button on the RC (just like the Menu Button brings up the DVD Menu now).

[jmone]

Ohhh and the OSD should "look good" and in no way be based on the mockup I did above!

[jmone]

Another things that "just works" is if you store a ripped stucture to the HDD you can import not only the BDMV but you can already import individual playlist (mpls) so I plan to rip say one disc with say 3 eps of say Doctor Who then I'll import the three individual MPLS and tag each one as the correct eps!  One option may be for when importing the Blu-ray into MC is to ask the user if they want to import either/or the single BDMV or the multiple MPLS.

[jmone]

From December, 2007 - Playing ripped Blu-ray/HD-DVD content in MC12  

Thanks, Nathan, for your persistence over the years regarding Blu-ray. Thanks, MC, for implementing all that we have now for Blu-ray.

Thanks + I think I'll need to update the latest version at some time "Everything about Blu-ray / HD-DVD playback in MC"  http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=55171.0

[SamuriHL]

I plan to work on this for the version after 0.29, fwiw.
I'm running out of features to implement.  

Awwww, darn!  :p. You DO realize that's a good thing, right??       Seriously though, that's really the only missing feature left unless you want me to REALLY challenge you.       cough cough menu support.  Lol!

[jmone]

Just a quick FYI re Importing, Tagging and Managing Blu-ray content.  If you rip the Blu-ray Structure to the HDD you can then import and tag one of the top level BDMV files.  Once imported you can the do Movie Look ups, apply coverart etc etc.

One of the great features however is the ability to also import and tag the Playlist files (MPLS), so you can do stuff like:

1. Movies with Alternative Endings:  You can see I've imported and tagged up both Playlist 00000.MPLS (Theatrical Release) and 00006.MPLS (Alternative Ending) from "I Am Legend" Blu-ray structure

2. TV Shows with more than one Eps per Disk: Likewise I've imported and tagged the playlists for Episode 1 and 2 of Torchwood (TV Show)

3. Even Music Videos where you can tag each Song just like with a CD.  This one takes allot more work as you may need to create your own MPLS file for each track.  In this example I imported and tagged as the whole album 00000.mpls which will play all the tracks.  I then created an individual MPLS for each track on the Album (you can see the first three).


....how good is this!

[jmone]

+ the streaming of the MPLS works as well, eg I just used Gizmo to watch Track 2 - New Kid in Town on my Galaxy Tab

[SamuriHL]

I may have to play with that for my wife's glee discs and my true blood discs.  Interesting idea.

[BartMan01]

Anything else JRiver needs to add for really nice Blu-ray support?

What about 'forced' subtitle support?  With DVD's 'forced' subtitles were usually encoded directly in to the video.  With Blu-Ray they are a separate subtitle track that standard players display based on default language.  This allows for a more 'universal' single release.

For those who don't know what I am talking about, 'forced' subtitles are used when the movie is in one language but parts are in a different language.  A couple of examples:
'Hereafter' is mostly in English, but one of the plot lines involves French speaking characters.  'Forced' subtitles are used to subtitle the French dialogue in English while not doing full subtitles for everything said.
'The Tourist' at the very beginning has the French police speaking in French.  Forced subtitles are used here to translate to English.

Don't have a movie handy with these to test this out, but so far I have only found that true Blu-Ray software (like TMT) handle these correctly without having to manually choose a subtitle track once you realize what is going on.

[SamuriHL]

Works just fine.  LAV Splitter, depending on configuration, will create a "forced auto" entry in the subtitle list.  Build 105 now checks for that and automagically selects it for you.  IOW, it works just like how TMT or PDVD work internally.  They don't expose the forced subs but simply display them.  It's not quite that simple in our world so LAV Splitter exposes it as a sub entry for forced.  It's pretty sweet, actually.

[BartMan01]

Good to hear.  After some thought my wish list would be (and some or all of this may already be there):
Physical disc and ISO support (even if tools like AnyDVD and Virtual CloneDrive are needed).
Title selection.  At a minimum just present the available playlists/titles with run-times (like MakeMKV does).  Even better would be to have an online database similar to what you do with CD track info.  Users could tag and upload the details/tags.
Auto 'forced subtitle' support (sounds like that is already in place).
Ability to choose sub-streams within the main streams (specific subtitle streams, commentary tracks, or alternate audio/video tracks).
HW acceleration support even when subtitles are on-screen.

Edit:  One issue with user tagging is that people need to pay attention to what they are doing.  Many muti title discs (like TV shows) don't have the tracks in episode order on the disc.  For example - first title = episode 3, second title = episode 1, third title = episode 2, fourth title - episode 4.

[SamuriHL]

ISO support is fine.  Just shows up under devices.
Title selection is coming
Auto forced subs are done
sub streams are a splitter issue.  I can't speak to that one
subs are a pain in the rear right now.  I use CUDA and HAM (nvidia and amd respectively) for GPU assisted decoding.

I agree with your edit.  Glee is notorious for that nonsense.

[glynor]

I have to ask... I suppose I can see the utility in ripping a movie to an image file and using it that way, but why would you ever want to do the same thing with a TV Show disc set?

It is so much more useful and flexible to have the shows as separate MKV files, tagged appropriately, and managed through a nice library interface.  Is it just because it is quicker to rip them that way?  Do people really love the hokey menus they build into those things?  I mean, they're cool sometimes... Once.  But then they're usually just in the way.

I still haven't had the opportunity to use the BluRay playback capabilities of MC.  I might one day for a rental or something... But, I'll probably just rip the discs out to files because that's how I roll.  If I rent something, it is almost always online because of the instant gratification factor. 

[jmone]

There is usually a MPLS for each eps, so you can rip the stucture of the Blu-ray to the hdd as is (eg just copy the decrypted strucutre as is), then import, tag, add coverart etc for each of the MPLS that related to the eps you want.  No need to covert to any format or container.

[glynor]

There is usually a MPLS for each eps, so you can rip the stucture of the Blu-ray to the hdd as is (eg just copy the decrypted strucutre as is), then import, tag, add coverart etc for each of the MPLS that related to the eps you want.  No need to covert to any format or container.

Right, but then managing that later is a pain.  What about if you want to move an episode or two over to a laptop to watch on the plane?  Or convert the files on the fly to stream out to a portable device?  Or, frankly, just move the files around years later?

Dealing with a fixed directory structure is so 1987...

So... I guess my question wasn't "is it possible".  I know it is possible.  My question was "why is it better"?  Is it primarily just the up-front effort needed to rip the files and put them in containers?  With the tools I'm using now at home, I really don't have much trouble with this (and if you don't recompress, the process is pretty darn fast), but I suppose that stuff all costs money.

I'm just curious about motivations.  It might make more sense to take this discussion out to a different thread though and not pollute this one.

[Vocalpoint]

It is so much more useful and flexible to have the shows as separate MKV files, tagged appropriately, and managed through a nice library interface.  Is it just because it is quicker to rip them that way?  Do people really love the hokey menus they build into those things?  I mean, they're cool sometimes... Once.  But then they're usually just in the way.

+1. For the TV shows and box sets I do have - every episode is ripped to a separate MKV and at the ready with a single click.

Menus are so 1987 - period. Menus, previews - anything that stalls me from getting to the feature is a complete PITA - so I rip it all away to start with. Life is way too short to have to plod thru 18 Disney previews - just roll the show, I say!

VP

[jmone]

Ripping to MKV is a solid options for lots of reasons.  I'm just pointing out another option with using MPLS to hit a playlist within the Blu-ray structure, the benefits can be that you copy the structure once but can then can use the MPLS for the "bits" you want without having to remux them into separate files.  This I think is a good approach for:
1) Multiple Endings without having to mux different versions
2) Multi Tracks (eg a Music Video) so you can pick out individual tracks

The best way of thinking about this option is it is a bit like a cue file in audio that grabs the bit you want from a bigger lump.  It does also bring up an intersting idea where MC "could" be used to then do the remuxing to another format, store and stack them as separate files.  The basics are already there, eg I a did test with streaming and it works where the MPLS just streams than playlist (eg the individual song, eps etc) without any issues (well it still take time for MC to transcode).

[kuanj]

The Blu-ray landscape has changed a bit recently.  Two important things have happened:

1) nevcairiel added Blu-ray support to LAV so that it's possible to play a Blu-ray directly

2) DVDFab Passkey or AnyDVD HD can make an optical disk usable

With the combination of these two items, it's possible to rent Blu-ray movies from Netflix, Redbox, or anywhere else and watch them easily with Media Center.

It also makes it possible to simply copy the files from a Blu-ray disc you own to your hard disk where they'll still play.

This may be old news to a lot of you, but I'm just starting to use this approach myself.  So far, it seems to "just work" with MC16's Red October enabled.

I know there are some complications about getting the full quality out of DTS-HD.

Are there any other gotchas?

Anything else JRiver needs to add for really nice Blu-ray support?

Media Centre 16 opened a .bdmv (also tried a .m2ts) both files provide an error message:-

Quote:
Media Centre encountered errors while trying to play last several files.Please make sure that the path in your
media library points to the right location.

ERROR DETAILS

DirectShow: Unspecified error
Code=0x80004005.
Unquote.

Any suggestion.

Thanks

[Domi]

Trying to read a Bluray disk I get the same error message.

Configuration: Gigabyte H67MA-UD2H-B3 Mother board with Sandy Bridge I5 2500 Processor with integrated video chipset running Windows 7 Pro 64 bits.

[Matt]

If you're having problems, please make sure:

1) That you have the latest Media Center installed

2) That you have a program to make the disc readable installed (#2 from the original post)

Thanks.

[kuanj]

If you're having problems, please make sure:

1) That you have the latest Media Center installed

2) That you have a program to make the disc readable installed (#2 from the original post)

Thanks.

1. I amusing Media Centre 16 version 16.0.105

2. I copied the Blue Ray files (.m2ts and the .bdmv files from Blue Ray to Hard disk). Opened with
Media Player and the mentioned error appears. If I open direct from the Blu Ray Player it was OK but not from the saved files in the harddisk.

thanks

[Matt]

2. I copied the Blue Ray files (.m2ts and the .bdmv files from Blue Ray to Hard disk). Opened with
Media Player and the mentioned error appears. If I open direct from the Blu Ray Player it was OK but not from the saved files in the harddisk.

Are you using DVDFab Passkey or AnyDVD HD?

[kuanj]

Are you using DVDFab Passkey or AnyDVD HD?

Yes I used DVDFab Passkey.

Thanks

[Domi]

If you're having problems, please make sure:

1) That you have the latest Media Center installed

2) That you have a program to make the disc readable installed (#2 from the original post)

Thanks.

OK many thanks for your answer Matt.

In fact the trial period of DVDFab Passkey have expired.
I suppose that DVDFab passkey lite is not sufficient for working with MC.

[Sandy B Ridge]

Is there a thread to post glitches in bluray playback? I think it may be a LAV splitter glitch. I haven't registered for doom9 to post it there?

Anyway, for now I'll post it here. Feel free to split this off onto a separate thread if necessary.

All of my bluray rips work fine in MC (16.110) except one. (!). It is the UK/Europe version of Defiance. Previously in MC16.107 (I think), it would show about 5 seconds of video and no audio (linear PCM was being read by the amp,) but not a smidge of sound. Now, with 110 the video plays about twice as fast as normal, again no sound, but this time the amp states it is getting some esoteric Dolby codec (Dolby stereo something plus). MC starts grabbing memory like there's no tomorrow and becomes unresponsive. Eventually had to kill it in the task manager. The bluray should be VC-1 1080p as with most of my others. The only difference I can see is that it has 3 DTS-MA tracks (English, Castillano and something else). Otherwise I can't see how it differs. I've tried all 4 RO options, and windows merit based. All same. Hence why I think the trouble is with splitter/decoder not renderer.  

BTW the one I thought would cause trouble (1080i track) plays fine. In fact it looks great with madVR.


Would a graph dump be helpful for debugging? Or the MC log? or both.

It's ripped in AnyDVDHD (latest) into iso. Oh and it plays perfectly in PowerDVD10, so I don't think the rip is corrupt.

SBR

[Hendrik]

I was meaning to watch Defiance anyway, i'll try to get a UK edition .. wonder if the german release has the same structure.

[JimH]

Be sure to use your Paypal account.

[audunth]

I have some ripped HD-DVDs on my hard drive, any chance they will also be supported in the same way as Blu-ray? Or is it too much work and too few users that still has HD-DVDs lying around?

I've imported them into MC, but can only play them using third party software (like TMT). I guess I can just import the video files directly, but it would be cool to have MC find the video files from the index file like with Blu-ray.

[Sandy B Ridge]

I was meaning to watch Defiance anyway, i'll try to get a UK edition .. wonder if the german release has the same structure.

Here's the graph:

Code: [Select]


Filter Graph Info:

    Filter 'DirectSound: AVR-1  (Intel(R) Display Audio)'
        CLSID: {79376820-07D0-11CF-A24D-0020AFD79767}
        Host: c:\windows\syswow64\quartz.dll
        Input Pin 'Audio Input pin (rendered)'
            Connected to pin 'Output' of filter 'LAV Audio Decoder'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx

    Filter 'Enhanced Video Renderer'
        CLSID: {FA10746C-9B63-4B6C-BC49-FC300EA5F256}
        Host: c:\windows\syswow64\evr.dll
        Input Pin 'EVR Input0'
            Connected to pin 'out0' of filter 'WMVideo Decoder DMO'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Video  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_NV12, Format type FORMAT_VideoInfo2
        Input Pin 'EVR Input1'
        Input Pin 'EVR Input2'

    Filter 'LAV Audio Decoder'
        CLSID: {E8E73B6B-4CB3-44A4-BE99-4F7BCB96E491}
        Host: C:\Users\Lounge\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins\lav\LAVAudio.ax
        Input Pin 'Input'
            Connected to pin 'Audio' of filter 'LAV Splitter Source'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_DOLBY_AC3, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
        Output Pin 'Output'
            Connected to pin 'Audio Input pin (rendered)' of filter 'DirectSound: AVR-1  (Intel(R) Display Audio)'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_PCM, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx

    Filter 'WMVideo Decoder DMO'
        CLSID: {94297043-BD82-4DFD-B0DE-8177739C6D20}
        Host: c:\windows\syswow64\qasf.dll
        Input Pin 'in0'
            Connected to pin 'Video' of filter 'LAV Splitter Source'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Video  Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {31435657-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}, Format type FORMAT_VideoInfo2
        Output Pin 'out0'
            Connected to pin 'EVR Input0' of filter 'Enhanced Video Renderer'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Video  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_NV12, Format type FORMAT_VideoInfo2

    Filter 'LAV Splitter Source'
        CLSID: {B98D13E7-55DB-4385-A33D-09FD1BA26338}
        Host: C:\Users\Lounge\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 16\Plugins\lav\LAVSplitter.ax
        Output Pin 'Video'
            Connected to pin 'in0' of filter 'WMVideo Decoder DMO'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Video  Sub type Unknown GUID Name: {31435657-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}, Format type FORMAT_VideoInfo2
        Output Pin 'Audio'
            Connected to pin 'Input' of filter 'LAV Audio Decoder'
            Major type MEDIATYPE_Audio  Sub type MEDIASUBTYPE_DOLBY_AC3, Format type FORMAT_WaveFormatEx
        Output Pin 'Subtitle'


Odd that its using Windows Media decoder?

SBR
Edit: further testing shows that selecting the stream to the 2.0 commentary gives normal playback, but selecting any of the dts-ma streams gives glitches. Must be something odd in the muxing of the hd streams.

[horse]

just wanted to say that I upgraded to MC 16, loaded a BD in the drive (have AnyDVDHD already installed) and it just worked!!!

Thanks to all that worked on this and made it as easy as watching a DVD, well worth the upgrade price just for that.

As a note, MC is one of the few programs that I continue to upgrade with each release (since MC11 I think), many other programs I have purchased have dropped by the wayside after a year or so to be replaced by something better.

Great Work!!!

[jmone]

just wanted to say that I upgraded to MC 16, loaded a BD in the drive (have AnyDVDHD already installed) and it just worked!!!

  Good isn't it!

[jmone]

Just had a look at some TV Episode BDs and in checking their structure it is even easier to deal with.  Each of these BD have a separate M2TS file for each Episode already, so just drag the files you want to your HDD, import, tag them up and away you go (not need to remux to MKV). 


PS: One advantage of M2TS files is they stream to more devices than MKV, One downside is that you lose "Chapters" as this info is part of the Blu-ray structure not the M2TS file itself (this is not a big loss IMO for TV Episodes anyway).

[JoeH]

Congrats for this new feature. I have most of my Blurays copied to the Hard Drive in BDMV/CERTIFICATE format. The only thing I would really like to see improved is if MC16 could detect this format and index the files in a more organized fashion when they are in folder format, similar to what it does for ISO files. That way we wouldn't have hundreds of individual M2TS files cluttering the views. I think you do something like this already for DVDs.

[Matt]

Congrats for this new feature. I have most of my Blurays copied to the Hard Drive in BDMV/CERTIFICATE format. The only thing I would really like to see improved is if MC16 could detect this format and index the files in a more organized fashion when they are in folder format, similar to what it does for ISO files. That way we wouldn't have hundreds of individual M2TS files cluttering the views. I think you do something like this already for DVDs.

Totally agreed.

This is on our short list, and should happen in the next couple weeks.

[JimH]

Congrats for this new feature. I have most of my Blurays copied to the Hard Drive in BDMV/CERTIFICATE format. The only thing I would really like to see improved is if MC16 could detect this format and index the files in a more organized fashion when they are in folder format, similar to what it does for ISO files. That way we wouldn't have hundreds of individual M2TS files cluttering the views. I think you do something like this already for DVDs.

Build 116 is now available and has improvements for importing Blu-ray files.

[JoeH]

Build 116 is now available and has improvements for importing Blu-ray files.

Wow! That was fast! 

[BartMan01]

If this latest change with 116 for BluRay handling is going to be the way it will be going forward (and I really do hope you will reconsider), then I need the ability to have individual titles show up as separate entries in the library (without having to touch the structure or files on the disc contents) so they can be tagged/streamed over DLNA as separate tracks.  Otherwise I am back to having both the full disc rip (for TMT5 playback) + separate MKV's for each title I want to watch/stream with MC.

[NineToTheSky]

Not for me, it doesn't.

Sorry, but I'm not very technical, so the reason I bought MC16 was that I read that you just put in a blu-ray, and it plays. It recognises the name of the blu-ray in the drive, but when I press play, I get the following message:

"Media Center encountered errors while trying to play the last several files. Please make sure the path in your media library points in the right direction."

Can some kind person help with this?

[Matt]

NineToTheSky, which Blu-ray reader do you have installed (point #2 in the first post in this thread)?

Thanks.

[NineToTheSky]

I have an Acer 8943G with a Blu-ray RE drive. Is that enough information?

[JimH]

You need AnyDVDHD or DVDFab Passkey.  See #2 in the first post.

[NineToTheSky]

I have run DVDFab Passkey.

[eapool]

I get the same error with DVDFab Passkey.  If I wait until DVDFab Passkey finishes analyzing the disk and then I start playing, it works perfectly.  I am currently on the trial of DVDFab Passkey (I am trying to decide if I want AnyDVDHD or DVDFab), so I don't know if this occurs with the licenced version,  Anyway, you may need to wait until the scan is complete. 

Alex