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[macdonjh]

I have a couple of questions about multiple sound tracks.  Many of the DVDs I rip have more than one sound track. 

1. Please remind me how to switch between the sound tracks available?  I skimmed through the wiki and also looked in Audio Path and Playback Options and didn't find what I was looking for.

2. If I decide I ripped a sound track I don't want, is there a way to delete it from my media files, or do I have to re-rip the DVD and exclude that sound track from the rip?

[blgentry]

Many of the DVDs I rip have more than one sound track. 

1. Please remind me how to switch between the sound tracks available?  I skimmed through the wiki and also looked in Audio Path and Playback Options and didn't find what I was looking for.

With the video playing in full screen (Display View), right click.  You'll get a menu that includes "Streams".  That submenu has all of your audio streams on it.

In Standard View, you can do the same thing from:  Player > Display Options > Streams .  That's a weird place to put that menu, but that's where it is...

You can also set up a hotkey if you'd like to cycle through Audio Streams.  I just tested that and it works pretty well.  My mapping:

Code: [Select]

    <!-- Cycle through Audio Streams -->
    <Entry Key="Ctrl;A" Command="28033" Param="-1" TranslateFlags="8" />

(Mine only works in full screen mode, thus the translate flag)

2. If I decide I ripped a sound track I don't want, is there a way to delete it from my media files, or do I have to re-rip the DVD and exclude that sound track from the rip?

If you have ripped as MKV (which I hope you have) you can use MKVToolNix or a similar tool to remove or rearrange audio tracks as you see fit.  MKVToolNix will save a new file and leave you existing one intact.  I have occasionally used it for this purpose.

Brian.

[eve]

With the video playing in full screen (Display View), right click.  You'll get a menu that includes "Streams".  That submenu has all of your audio streams on it.

In Standard View, you can do the same thing from:  Player > Display Options > Streams .  That's a weird place to put that menu, but that's where it is...

You can also set up a hotkey if you'd like to cycle through Audio Streams.  I just tested that and it works pretty well.  My mapping:

Code: [Select]

    <!-- Cycle through Audio Streams -->
    <Entry Key="Ctrl;A" Command="28033" Param="-1" TranslateFlags="8" />

(Mine only works in full screen mode, thus the translate flag)

If you have ripped as MKV (which I hope you have) you can use MKVToolNix or a similar tool to remove or rearrange audio tracks as you see fit.  MKVToolNix will save a new file and leave you existing one intact.  I have occasionally used it for this purpose.

Brian.

To extend this, you can pick streams by index with MCWS, but JRiver won't return information on all the streams contained in a file via an MCWS call, at least not one that I've figured out.

I try to name my streams in a meaningful way with MakeMKV during the ingest process. This is helpful both for playback as well as any further processing / stream muxing that needs to be done. For example, an audio commentary or a preferable mix may be on one release, whereas proper video will come from another. For the most part, I throw away dubs in the remuxing process but it's definitely on a case by case basis depending on the production / release history of the film.
Lets take HK action / martial arts films for example, some of the dubs are 'integral' to the experience of the film as seen by western audiences, and thus worthy of preservation. Same goes for Spaghetti westerns, and then the eventual explosion of Italian exploitation / genre cinema with both Italian and English audio being 'dubs', providing different experiences. It wouldn't make sense to not have those, same as it doesn't always make sense to try and 'pick' one when there's Cantonese and Mandarin tracks.

[macdonjh]

Thank you, blgentry and eve.

I do rip my DVDs using MakeMKV, but have found ToolNix impenetrable.  I tried using it once to "trim" a video file and just couldn't figure out how to make it work.  I guess I'll have to give it another try.

I'll have to try renaming various files during ripping with MakeMKV.  I never thought to do that.  As eve says, the filenames are generally unhelpful: English 5.1 DTS, or English Stereo, or something similar.  Recently I mostly want to get rid of the soundtracks with director/ cast commentary.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed one of those.  Conversely, with foreign-language films, I generally watch in the original language with subtitles.  Spaghetti westerns are an exception, of course.

I am not sophisticated enough to take video from one release and mix it with audio from another release.  Whoa...  :-)