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JustJack
11-29-2010, 09:34 AM
I've ripped a bunch of my DVDs to my Windows Home Server, running the latest (demo) version of Mezzmo. The file structure is like this:

Root --|
.......|
.......Movie Name --|
.......|............|
.......|............Audio_TS
.......|............Video_TS
.......|
.......Movie Name --|
.......|............|
.......|............Audio_TS
.......|............Video_TS
.......|
.......etc.
(ignore the dots, the forum software doesn't recognize multiple spaces)

The *_TS directories contain the .VOB files.

However, once Mezzmo has gone through and parsed the library, two things are awry:
1 - It never seems to get the hang of what movie is in what directory, it just lumps everything as VTS_01_1 or similar
2 - There's no cover art or anything at all to go with it - it seems to just grab the first frame of a vob file to use in the library.

See the attached .JPG for an example.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Paul
11-29-2010, 09:40 AM
Did you add these files using the "Add Folder" or "Scan drive" command? If the former, then you should have a folder somewhere with the root of your structure and then you could browse using that. If the latter, then folder structure is not preserved (unless you checked the appropriate checkbox in that dialog). Now that the files are already in the database you can easily use the "Add Folder" command and that'll quickly build up the folder structure from disk.

Do you have cover art in some form in those folders that you'd like to use? Mezzmo already has some enhancements in this area that will be available with the next minor update, so if you can tell me what form your albumart is in, I can check whether we support it now or not yet.

JustJack
11-29-2010, 10:00 AM
All directories have a number of informational files that were created by the free version of the "MyMovies (http://www.mymovies.dk)" movie collection application - folder.jpg (Contains a relatively small front cover only), mymovies-front.jpg and mymovies-back.jpg (larger front and back cover scans of the DVD box) and mymovies.xml, which has the actual information about the movies (year, actors, genre, etc.) in it. I can provide any or all to you upon request.

All files were added via the "Add Folder" command with the "Include subfolders" box checked. Maybe that's why it's saying I have 900+ video files, when I only have 150 DVDs or so ripped.

Paul
11-29-2010, 10:05 AM
The Mymovies.xml should've been read in and if it contains links to the album art then it should've been picked up. Can you please send in one of your mymovies.xml files so that we could check if we can parse it properly.

Each DVD contains several files, so that's why the count is such - Mezzmo sees a DVD as individual files, not as a whole disk.

JustJack
11-29-2010, 10:28 AM
(Hmmm. Last reply got lost somewhere)

Dennis - Files were sent to the support address.

My thought is that many people probably rip their DVDs to the same (or at last similar) structures, e.g. Subdir-as-title / VOBs-in-sub-subdir, so have y'all considered having the library take that into consideration? That way, it could just read the dirnames, and associate the contained video files to that name.

Is there a more compliant directory structure that Mezzmo prefers (like Title as dirname / everything just at that subdir level?)

Radio buttons would work for this - Select the basic directory structure used (Subdir-Files / Subdir-Subdir-Files / etc)

Paul
11-29-2010, 10:34 AM
Well, from Mezzmo's point of view, each file in the VOBs folder is an individual movie - they are not treated like a single movie at the moment. A future version of Mezzmo may support playing ripped DVDs as a whole, but currently it's just a collection of smaller movies (multiple VOBs).

If you browse through the library using the folder structure, then it should be easy to know where you are, but of course if you go to "All Movies" then you won't know which one is which.

JustJack
11-29-2010, 10:58 AM
OK, I somehow assumed that Mezzmo would present the DLNA client with a list/display of selectable movies to watch, ala XBMC or Media Center and just know how they were laid out, without the user having to dig through and find the individual .VOBs and select them. Not a dig at Mezzmo, just apparently a misunderstanding on my part about how it works. I'll continue to play with it during the demo and see if it's going to be suitable. At this stage, though, the wife and kids probably aren't going to use it, and that's the primary reason I was looking at it - it keeps the DVDs safely out of harm's way.

Paul
11-29-2010, 11:02 AM
Yes, that functionality is not in Mezzmo yet - at the moment it's all about streaming single files.

JustJack
11-29-2010, 01:49 PM
Ah. I wasn't drawing the distinction between "a file" and "a movie," then. So what would the recommendation, be, then, for someone like me that wants to keep the DVDs out of the hands of my kids, while still providing the 5.1 and DVD quality they expect? VOBs are apparently not the answer. What type of common video container would require the minimum amount of transcoding for video to support an XBox, Sony Bravia, iPhones and a Samsung Captivate? I'd prefer to keep the DVD menus and whatnot, and am willing to re-rip if necessary, since I haven't finished. A pain in the short term, but would have long term payoff.

Paul
11-29-2010, 01:56 PM
I am not aware of any video format that would let you keep the menus and make the movie a single file. As far as most common high-def video formats go, I'd say it'll be DivX or Matroska or AVCHD. However, different devices support different formats, so depending on your exact Bravia model, it may or may not play anything except MPEG2 for example (and none of the Bravias plays Matroska), while the XBox will want WMV or DivX and the iPhone/Captivate an MP4.

JustJack
11-29-2010, 06:10 PM
The Bravia is a KDL-60EX701

OK, then the next question would be if there's an easier format to transcode? MKV -> MP4 easier than .VOB -> MP4? That sort of thing?

Thanks again.

Paul
11-30-2010, 09:12 AM
That TV should play AVCHD natively (h264/AC3), so I'd recommend that as the format, because of the higher quality when compared to mpeg2. MKV is usually h264 (can be anything, but most of the time it's h264 video), so converting that to AVCHD is good. VOBs are mostly limited to MPEG2 (with rare exceptions), so you'll lose on quality if the original material is high-def. I don't think there's one "magic" format - it will depend on the device in the end.

JustJack
11-30-2010, 09:38 AM
Thanks, Dennis. I'll look that direction, then.

JustJack
12-03-2010, 05:52 PM
Dennis - I'm back after doing some testing. Finally found settings in Handbrake that generate h.264 MKV files that look great on the TV. Will test a few more random movies to ensure that that is a fix. Still having the transcoding issue with my son's XBox and my Samsung Captivate. Neither appear the start the transcoding process on the server, and just generate a "This file cannot be played" on the client end. There seems to be a spot of activity in the Temp directory I have Mezzmo pointed to, but no files are generated in there. CPU usage remains the same. All devices are being recognized by Mezzmo properly.

Paul
12-06-2010, 09:28 AM
Glad that you've found working settings, if you don't mind can you please share them so that others may benefit as well?

For the XBox - did you get a new device profile? If you didn't, please send us a message to support and we'll send you one out to try. Same goes for Captivate.

syndy
12-07-2010, 02:15 AM
Hi Just jack,

Ive been looking at getting the kids dvd's onto mezzmo, would be really great if you could post your Handbrake settings.

Cheers,

Syndy.

JustJack
12-07-2010, 01:23 PM
Dennis - Is there a way to embed inline images? I can throw a quick tutorial together or post it in PDF. Your choice.

Paul
12-07-2010, 01:29 PM
Dennis - Is there a way to embed inline images? I can throw a quick tutorial together or post it in PDF. Your choice.
Do you mean to embed images in actual media files? Or to change the thumbnail of a file? Sorry, I didn't understand what you wish to do exactly ;)

JustJack
12-07-2010, 02:26 PM
I mean type an entry into the forum post that has the images inline with it - e.g. as part of the post.

Paul
12-07-2010, 02:27 PM
Ah, ok :) Just hit Reply and then the "Go Advanced" button - that'll give you more options.

JustJack
12-07-2010, 02:49 PM
OK, it won't allow me to write them online, so I'll send Dennis a PDF.

JustJack
12-07-2010, 05:37 PM
PDFs sent, one for DVD--> VOB, one for VOB--> MKV. You'll need 'em both.