Combining a 2 disc file

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Travisandrew
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:50 pm

Combining a 2 disc file

Post by Travisandrew »

The DVDs of Titanic and Pearl Harbor were divided into separate discs, requiring me have separate files. Is there a way to edit and combine these files? Thanks!
Woodstock
Veteran User
Posts: 4614
Joined: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:39 am

Re: Combining a 2 disc file

Post by Woodstock »

Handbrake won't do it. There are ways, but they vary in difficulty with how "correct" you want it.

Rip to MKV files, use mkvtoolnix to join the resulting files, then use handbrake to encode the combination. Problem with this simple way is that the chapters will probably be screwed up.

A lot of people have done this with Lord of the Rings, and there are quite a number of colorful fixes out there for the chapter issue.
DrXenos
Bright Spark User
Posts: 278
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:19 pm

Re: Combining a 2 disc file

Post by DrXenos »

Is there a big difference between merging then trancoding is. transcoding then merging?

I always do that latter because I found doing the former will sometimes glitch at the merge point. For example, I remember when I transcoded the first Lord of the Rings movie, I was playing around with the frame rate (just experimenting). If I transcoded variable (which I always do) or at exactly 23.976, it was fine. If I just selected same-as-source, Merry's eyes would jump right at the end of the first half.

I don't think there is a chapter issue anymore. Way back when, mkvmerge didn't automatically fix the chapters when merging (although, it had a feature that let you do it manually), but it does now.

Thanks,
DrX
Woodstock
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Re: Combining a 2 disc file

Post by Woodstock »

I lack the practical experience to say whether Merge->Encode is better than Encode->Merge. It would certainly be an issue if the two parts are not encoded the same.

My merging experience is primarily dash camera video, where the encoding is consistent and the frame transitions are clean. However, those I've done with ffmpeg doing the joining (no conversions), since they were MP4 to start with.
DrXenos
Bright Spark User
Posts: 278
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:19 pm

Re: Combining a 2 disc file

Post by DrXenos »

OK, thanks. Just curious.
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