Backup DVD to NAS for playback with XBMC on a Raspberry Pi

[Anncarrie]

Backup DVD to NAS for playback with XBMC on a Raspberry Pi on TV

Description In this guide, we will introduce how to rip your DVD movies to playable H.264 format for Raspberry Pi plugged in your TV with XBMC.

What's is Raspberry Pi?

The Raspberry Pi is a tiny computer that plugs into your TV with a HDMI cable. It decodes 1080p H.264 HD video smoothly, and the XBMC user interface is quite responsive as long as you use a light weight skin.

You can also unlock MPEG-2 and VC-1 decoding by purchasing a license from the foundation's online store.

Raspberry Pi so tiny that many people choose to build a multimedia center at home with it and XBMC. Follow this guide to learn how to achieve it.



Part 1. Build a Multimedia Center with Raspberry Pi and XBMC

1. Firstly let's get a SD card and 3.0 USB stick to start the work.

For SD card, I should think of not all the cards are supported but my second try works – it's a Transcend 32GB SDHC Class 10 (TS32GSDHC10). And Even when the Pi has only USB 2.0, using a USB 3.0 stick with 2.0 sockets will give much better read times.

2. Next step, download and launch the Raspbmc installer, run XBMC.

The Raspbmc distribution is created and maintained by Sam Nazarko and you can download the latest version. I will use the Windows installer in this tutorial.

Before launching the application, plug-in the SD card reader and unplug any other USB storage devices to make sure you will not format an incorrect drive by accident.

Now, launch the Raspbmc installer application and select the SD card reader from the devices list. As mentioned earlier, it is recommended to use a USB stick as a storage partition on the Raspberry Pi, so tick the box on "Install Raspbmc to a USB drive". After clicking the "Install" button, it will take less than a minute while the installer downloads and restores the image to the SD card.

3. The last step, insert the SD card and USB stick to Raspberry Pi.

After plugging in the memory card, USB stick, USB keyboard or remote control, Ethernet cable and power adapter, the computer will boot up and the installer program will run for about 15-20 minutes. The Raspbmc will boot up the computer once the installer script is ready.

Congratulations, now you have Raspberry Pi XBMC ready to use!

Part 2. How to stream/play DVDs with XBMC on a Raspberry Pi on TV?

As is mentioned before, RasPi only support H.264 HD videos natively. So how can we watch DVDs on RasPi plugged in to TV at home?

Here I choose to convert my DVD collections (they have been made into ISO files) to H.264, stream it to NAS for playback. To accomplish this, I did a lot of researches online and finally choose this Pavtube DVD Ripper for its easy-to-use interface, various output presets and reliable video quality. Mac version is also available.

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How to convert DVD movies to H.264 for playback via Raspi?

Step 1. Click the disc button to browse and import DVD disc from ROM, or load the ISO/IFO files that you want to convert for viewing on Raspberry Pi.



Step 2. Click the dropdown menu between "Format" and "Settings" to choose target video format. There are various presets sorted of device model and programs. For RasPi, we need to choose "HD Video>H.264 HD Video (*.mp4)" as below:



Step 3. adjust target file specs (optional)

If you are not satisfied with the default video specs, click "Settings" to change target video size, bitrate, frame rate and audio settings.

Step 4. Now hit the big red "Convert" to start converting rental DVD movies to H.264 with best settings for playback via Raspberry Pi on TV. After the conversion, you can get the converted DVD rips in *.mp4 format by clicking the "Open" or "Open output folder" icon.

Ok done, the H.264 MP4 files for RasPi are ready now!

Copy the H.264 MP4 files to NAS and follow this guide to learn how to set your TV, so that you can playback DVD movies on TV via Raspberry Pi.

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From: http://open-media-community.com/2014/01/08/backup-dvd-to-nas-for-playback-with-xbmc-on-a-raspberry-pi-on-tv/

[Anncarrie]

Watch Blu-ray movie on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch with chapter markers

Description: A guide to show how to keep chapter markers when ripping Blu-ray to MP4 format on Mac, so that you can playback them on iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch with chapter marks for quick viewing.

Now Blu-ray may be the best option to you if you want to enjoy full high definition 1080p movies. However, Blu-ray drive on your computer or Blu-ray player for TV is necessary for watching Blu-ray movies. Since more people choose to watch movies on portable devices, it's not possible for us to take a Blu-ray player everywhere. Moreover, although these devices are quipped with high resolution displays, there's still something different from playback Blu-ray movies on computer – that is to say, we cannot skip viewing movies without chapter markers.

In my experience, there should be lots of Blu-ray ripping tools on the marketplace so you have various choices, but what I'd like to suggest that if you want to rip Blu-ray to MP4 for IOS device on Mac and keep chapter markers intact at the same time, you are in the right place.

Come and meet this Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac, a magic tool to help you rip protected Blu-ray/DVD to IOS devices acceptable MP4 format with chapter markers, as well as multiple audio tracks (or we say languages when it comes to disc).

You can download a trial version (no time limit) firstly, or share it to FB to get 20% OFF any Pavtube programs.

How to convert Blu-ray to MP4 with chapter markers for IOS devices

1. Import Blu-ray to Pavtube ByteCopy

Click "Load file" icon on the top left to import the Blu-ray disc.



2. Choose Multi-track MP4 with chapter markers

Under "Format" menu, there are lots of video formats. Go to find "Multi-track Video" option and choose "Multi-track MP4 (*.mp4)" and it will retain chapter markers by default.

Tips: If you want to convert Blu-ray to other video formats or portable devices, just choose the video format you need in the dropdown list.

3. Adjust V/A settings (Optional)

Click “Settings” to change video/audio specs if you are not satisfied with the default settings. Usually the high bitrate you set, the larger file size will be; so is the video quality.

Switch to Audio tab, you can choose wanted audio tracks by checking them. All the audio tracks will be checked if you don't change them.



4. Start conversion

Click big "Convert" button to start conversion. It won't take much time for conversion and then you will get MP4 file once completed. Hit "Open" button you can open the location of generated files.



Now you can transfer the MP4 files to your IOS devices.

How to check the movie chapter markers on iPhone?

Open the movie in your iPhone, click the marked icon as below:



Then you will find all the markers; touch it to skip to corresponding chapter:



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Related articles:

Encode DVD to MP4 retaining chapter marker for iPad/iPhone/iPod
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Backup DVD to iPhone/iPad/iPod with chapter markers on Windows&Mac

Source: http://device-camcorder-tips.blogspot.com/2014/01/rip-blu-ray-with-keep-chapter-marker-for-ios-devices.html