Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

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nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by nightstrm »

I've tried a couple of things...

1. FIrst, I was hardwired through ethernet (100mbps) accessing my M4Vs on an Infrant NAS. -- Jerks too much.
2. Then, I configured my appletv through my Airport Extreme running N at 5GHz and it still Jerks..

I have yet to try running it off the local hard drive. I will try that next and report my findings.

I am curious though, the HD movies that you can rent off iTunes, what actual resolution and data rate are they? Does anyone know? Does seem to play beautifully and look great.
I have no problems streaming my 720p encodes from my ReadyNAS NV+ to my iMac via gigabit ethernet (with jumbo frames enabled), and then to my AppleTV via 802.11N. I did have problems when I tried to connect my AppleTV via Cat5e, likely due to the 10/100 port included on the device (why Apple why?!).
ragboy
Experienced
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:03 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by ragboy »

allanmuir wrote: Questions:

1. How long should it take to scan a normal movie file (M2TS)?
2. How long does it take roughly to completely encode to ATV at default settings?
3. Is there something I am forgetting to do?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks for your time!

Allan
Just isn't going to work with .9.3. I am using 2081 now, and it is working great. I scan a full movie in m2ts in about 20 secs or so, and it encodes almost exactly in realtime, 24fps. I am using CQ59, basically the normal Apple TV preset. I also have a 2008 Mac Pro with 8 cores at 3ghz and 16 GB of ram.
ragboy
Experienced
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:03 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by ragboy »

nightstrm wrote:
I've tried a couple of things...

1. FIrst, I was hardwired through ethernet (100mbps) accessing my M4Vs on an Infrant NAS. -- Jerks too much.
2. Then, I configured my appletv through my Airport Extreme running N at 5GHz and it still Jerks..

I have yet to try running it off the local hard drive. I will try that next and report my findings.

I am curious though, the HD movies that you can rent off iTunes, what actual resolution and data rate are they? Does anyone know? Does seem to play beautifully and look great.
I have no problems streaming my 720p encodes from my ReadyNAS NV+ to my iMac via gigabit ethernet (with jumbo frames enabled), and then to my AppleTV via 802.11N. I did have problems when I tried to connect my AppleTV via Cat5e, likely due to the 10/100 port included on the device (why Apple why?!).
I think one of the issues may be the NAS boxes you guys are using. I am using a handbuilt linux server, Xeon Quad Core 2.6ghz SuperMicro MB, 8gb of ram, Intel Server Class Gigabit NICs, and a 3ware HighSpeed SATA 8 port controller with 6 1 TB data disks (RAID 5). This holds my library, and my mac pro is running itunes. I am using datacenter class gigabit switches, except for 1 cheap netgear gigabit switch behind my entertainment center that the ATV is plugged into. None of my 720P vids have jumped, all with 640kbps AC3, except the one that sustained 7000kbps data rate. As long as my encodes have been under 5500kbps as reported by quicktime, I have had NO issue.
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by nightstrm »

ragboy wrote:
nightstrm wrote:
I've tried a couple of things...

1. FIrst, I was hardwired through ethernet (100mbps) accessing my M4Vs on an Infrant NAS. -- Jerks too much.
2. Then, I configured my appletv through my Airport Extreme running N at 5GHz and it still Jerks..

I have yet to try running it off the local hard drive. I will try that next and report my findings.

I am curious though, the HD movies that you can rent off iTunes, what actual resolution and data rate are they? Does anyone know? Does seem to play beautifully and look great.
I have no problems streaming my 720p encodes from my ReadyNAS NV+ to my iMac via gigabit ethernet (with jumbo frames enabled), and then to my AppleTV via 802.11N. I did have problems when I tried to connect my AppleTV via Cat5e, likely due to the 10/100 port included on the device (why Apple why?!).
I think one of the issues may be the NAS boxes you guys are using. I am using a handbuilt linux server, Xeon Quad Core 2.6ghz SuperMicro MB, 8gb of ram, Intel Server Class Gigabit NICs, and a 3ware HighSpeed SATA 8 port controller with 6 1 TB data disks (RAID 5). This holds my library, and my mac pro is running itunes. I am using datacenter class gigabit switches, except for 1 cheap netgear gigabit switch behind my entertainment center that the ATV is plugged into. None of my 720P vids have jumped, all with 640kbps AC3, except the one that sustained 7000kbps data rate. As long as my encodes have been under 5500kbps as reported by quicktime, I have had NO issue.
Yes, the ReadyNAS is no speed demon. But like I said, I'm able to stream off of it with no problems, and typically see sustained transfer rates between 20-25Mbps. I think joselemus' problem lies with using 100mbps from the ReadyNAS. Upgrading to gigabit between the NAS and his iTunes computer would definitely help.

What would be even better is direct from the NAS to the AppleTV, eliminating the iMac altogether. You can do this with Boxee and similar software, but I don't want to hack my AppleTV.
ragboy
Experienced
Posts: 82
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:03 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by ragboy »

nightstrm wrote:
ragboy wrote:
nightstrm wrote:
I've tried a couple of things...

1. FIrst, I was hardwired through ethernet (100mbps) accessing my M4Vs on an Infrant NAS. -- Jerks too much.
2. Then, I configured my appletv through my Airport Extreme running N at 5GHz and it still Jerks..

I have yet to try running it off the local hard drive. I will try that next and report my findings.

I am curious though, the HD movies that you can rent off iTunes, what actual resolution and data rate are they? Does anyone know? Does seem to play beautifully and look great.
I have no problems streaming my 720p encodes from my ReadyNAS NV+ to my iMac via gigabit ethernet (with jumbo frames enabled), and then to my AppleTV via 802.11N. I did have problems when I tried to connect my AppleTV via Cat5e, likely due to the 10/100 port included on the device (why Apple why?!).
I think one of the issues may be the NAS boxes you guys are using. I am using a handbuilt linux server, Xeon Quad Core 2.6ghz SuperMicro MB, 8gb of ram, Intel Server Class Gigabit NICs, and a 3ware HighSpeed SATA 8 port controller with 6 1 TB data disks (RAID 5). This holds my library, and my mac pro is running itunes. I am using datacenter class gigabit switches, except for 1 cheap netgear gigabit switch behind my entertainment center that the ATV is plugged into. None of my 720P vids have jumped, all with 640kbps AC3, except the one that sustained 7000kbps data rate. As long as my encodes have been under 5500kbps as reported by quicktime, I have had NO issue.
Yes, the ReadyNAS is no speed demon. But like I said, I'm able to stream off of it with no problems, and typically see sustained transfer rates between 20-25Mbps. I think joselemus' problem lies with using 100mbps from the ReadyNAS. Upgrading to gigabit between the NAS and your iTunes computer would definitely help.

What would be even better is direct from the NAS to the AppleTV, eliminating the iMac altogether. You can do this with Boxee and similar software, but I don't want to hack my AppleTV.
Yes, I have hacked my ATV before, and prefer not to also. I like the stability, and 720p with 640kbps AC3 is pretty darn good.
joselemus
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:13 am

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by joselemus »

guys, thanks for the tips..

I have set it up as follows:

Hacked AppleTv (using DVDPedia plug-in for movie collection browsing) using Wireless N (getting 130 rates consistently) accessing my Infrant ReadyNas directly (through mount points on the appleTV). I am able to play 720p content directly accessed from the NAS with AC3 sound and all. Anything above 720p -- it chokes as expected.

The experience is almost perfect -- with 1080p being the missing piece.
allanmuir
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:18 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by allanmuir »

ragboy wrote:
allanmuir wrote: Questions:

1. How long should it take to scan a normal movie file (M2TS)?
2. How long does it take roughly to completely encode to ATV at default settings?
3. Is there something I am forgetting to do?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks for your time!

Allan
Just isn't going to work with .9.3. I am using 2081 now, and it is working great. I scan a full movie in m2ts in about 20 secs or so, and it encodes almost exactly in realtime, 24fps. I am using CQ59, basically the normal Apple TV preset. I also have a 2008 Mac Pro with 8 cores at 3ghz and 16 GB of ram.
You say you are using 2081. Is this a version of handbrake? and if so wher is it available for download?

THanks

Allan
User avatar
s55
HandBrake Team
Posts: 10350
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:05 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by s55 »

You say you are using 2081. Is this a version of handbrake? and if so wher is it available for download?
SVN 2081 is development code in our source repository. There are no binaries available for download which means you'll have to wait until the next public release or developer snapshot (think alpha/beta)
sdm
Bright Spark User
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:53 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by sdm »

ragboy wrote:
2. I scanned through Tropic Thunder (QT says it has a 3775kbps bitrate) and it also seemed great, but I didn't watch the whole thing.
Your lucky :lol:
peterjcat
Novice
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:00 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by peterjcat »

I'm so looking forward to the next Snapshot! I just converted my Transformers HD DVD to AppleTV format using the preset @ 60% and it looks fantastic, it's the best thing I've seen on my ATV. Of course I had to remux it to a TS with 640k AC3 first, but if future builds can do stuff like extract the AC3 from a TrueHD/AC3 stream (or even transcode DTS to AC3?) then we're in for a treat.
refulgentis
Bright Spark User
Posts: 342
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:08 am

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by refulgentis »

peterjcat wrote:I'm so looking forward to the next Snapshot! I just converted my Transformers HD DVD to AppleTV format using the preset @ 60% and it looks fantastic, it's the best thing I've seen on my ATV. Of course I had to remux it to a TS with 640k AC3 first, but if future builds can do stuff like extract the AC3 from a TrueHD/AC3 stream (or even transcode DTS to AC3?) then we're in for a treat.
I would suggest experimenting with various values of CRF -- 60% is way high for HD sources, 55% is fairly accepted wisdom and 57% is the highest I've seen said.
LeopoldBloom
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:29 pm

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by LeopoldBloom »

Some time ago in this thread there was discussion about compiling HB source code. I just wanted to mention that doing this is possible without a huge amount of technical knowledge. I've been successfully compiling HB development builds for a few weeks now without any issues whatsoever. I have no programming knowledge or development experience, but I got through the process easily enough thanks to the excellent step-by-step instructions provided on the HB wiki. Check out the following links:

HandBrake wiki compiling guide: http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CompileGuide#macosx

A useful HB forum post about YASM and building with jam: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5773

The YASM project homepage: http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/wiki
(YASM must be built from the source code, but the developers kindly provide simple step-by-step instructions with the source download. YASM is needed for compiling on Intel Macs only.)

Doing this will certainly take some time. You'll have to poke around and obtain the necessary tools (all free, including the basic Apple Developer connection account), but I just wanted to emphasize that it is definitely doable if you don't mind a bit of work. With any luck, a newer build will help with your issue. Also, once you've built it successfully once, updating to the latest build is very simple and doesn't take long.
nightstrm
Veteran User
Posts: 1887
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:43 am

Re: Problems Converting Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by nightstrm »

LeopoldBloom wrote:Some time ago in this thread there was discussion about compiling HB source code. I just wanted to mention that doing this is possible without a huge amount of technical knowledge. I've been successfully compiling HB development builds for a few weeks now without any issues whatsoever. I have no programming knowledge or development experience, but I got through the process easily enough thanks to the excellent step-by-step instructions provided on the HB wiki. Check out the following links:

HandBrake wiki compiling guide: http://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CompileGuide#macosx

A useful HB forum post about YASM and building with jam: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5773

The YASM project homepage: http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/wiki
(YASM must be built from the source code, but the developers kindly provide simple step-by-step instructions with the source download. YASM is needed for compiling on Intel Macs only.)

Doing this will certainly take some time. You'll have to poke around and obtain the necessary tools (all free, including the basic Apple Developer connection account), but I just wanted to emphasize that it is definitely doable if you don't mind a bit of work. With any luck, a newer build will help with your issue. Also, once you've built it successfully once, updating to the latest build is very simple and doesn't take long.
You should not build using jam. Downloading svn and running 'make' is all you should need (after installing the proper tools of course).

That said, let's keep this thread on topic please.
mac.jedi
Enlightened
Posts: 108
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:17 pm

How to: Automating Blu-Ray to Apple TV

Post by mac.jedi »

For those intersted, I've posted a thread on How to Automate Blu-Ray muxing and encoding.
http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9083

cheers!
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