Question on making a DCP from Blu-Ray

[Justin Hamaker]

Later this month we are playing Yellow Submarine at our drive-in. DCP content is not available, so we will need to play from Blu-Ray. I would like to create a DCP from the Blu-Ray, but I'm looking for some feedback.

I already know I can rip the content from the Blu-Ray using MakeMKV, then write to a DCP using DCP-O-Matic. The problem I'm having is trying to identify the correct playlist in MakeMKV. I have run about 5 tests so far and I keep winding up with audio tracks which are either commentary or descriptive narration. I have figured out that the 5.1 Dolby Digital track is often going to be the narration track, but beyond that I'm lost.

Any other tips or feedback would be appreciated.

[Gordon McLeod]

Use a blueray ripper to make a MP4 or AVI file then import into DCPomatic

[Marcel Birgelen]

Later this month we are playing Yellow Submarine at our drive-in. DCP content is not available, so we will need to play from Blu-Ray. I would like to create a DCP from the Blu-Ray, but I'm looking for some feedback.

I already know I can rip the content from the Blu-Ray using MakeMKV, then write to a DCP using DCP-O-Matic. The problem I'm having is trying to identify the correct playlist in MakeMKV. I have run about 5 tests so far and I keep winding up with audio tracks which are either commentary or descriptive narration. I have figured out that the 5.1 Dolby Digital track is often going to be the narration track, but beyond that I'm lost.

Any other tips or feedback would be appreciated.

If the automatic guessing of the correct playlist file of MakeMKV doesn't work, then have a look here. As part of a false sense of "anti-piracy", many Blu-Rays are stuffed with so-called garbage playlists. It obviously doesn't stop the real pirates as all those copies end up on file-sharing sites anyway, but as you can see, it once again, primarily frustrates legitimate usage.

[John Thomas]

Typically you want to look at file size. If there is a Title with a file size that is vastly larger in than all the rest, that's your best bet. According to a tutorial on YouTube, sometimes you'll find multiple Titles that are all the same, very large size. These are alternate language versions and you should just rip them all and then delete the ones you don't need.


Without my Bluray reader in front of me to test this out, I would try the following:

Play the Bluray in VLC. Once you're playing the movie itself, try looking in the Playback->Title menu to determine which title you're playing, and then cross-reference that to MakeMKV.

Edit: According to the thread Marcel linked, the VLC method does seem to work, but it would be worth looking in the Tools->Media Information window as well.

[Leo Enticknap]

I use DVDFab for this stage of the process (not free, but worth it). It's usually pretty easy to spot the feature by looking at the running times. If there are multiple audio tracks, it lets you preview them in a little window, so you can find the one you want without trouble.

The problem can be if you want one of the trailers or extras, or if the disc consists exclusively of multiple shorts. I remember once in my previous job, trying to find a Looney Tunes short that was wanted for a show (no DCP or 35mm print was available from Warners). It had to be DCP-ized, to avoid the stress of wading through lots of menus and other crap in the middle of an event that involved live presentations on stage: the cartoon had to start within a few seconds of a speaker calling for it. The BD had about 30 cartoons on it. Playing it on a regular player established that the one I wanted ran 7'02". So did 11 others, and of course I had to preview 10 of them in DVDFab before finding the right one.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Typically you want to look at file size. If there is a Title with a file size that is vastly larger in than all the rest, that's your best bet. According to a tutorial on YouTube, sometimes you'll find multiple Titles that are all the same, very large size. These are alternate language versions and you should just rip them all and then delete the ones you don't need.


Without my Bluray reader in front of me to test this out, I would try the following:

Play the Bluray in VLC. Once you're playing the movie itself, try looking in the Playback->Title menu to determine which title you're playing, and then cross-reference that to MakeMKV.

Edit: According to the thread Marcel linked, the VLC method does seem to work, but it would be worth looking in the Tools->Media Information window as well.

There is a common trick where you use PowerDVD to start the playback of the movie and check with the Process Monitor tools what files are being accessed on playback. VLC can't really play the BluRay menu, so this trick doesn't really work with VLC.

The problem is that a real BluRay player would start the Java based main menu and it will load the right playlist once you hit the "Play feature" button in that main menu. Since the Main Menu is just a Java program, there is no known-to-be-good way to determine what constitutes the main feature.

Some studios have started to load their BluRays with so-called garbage or fake playlists, to confuse people who want to RIP the content. In that case, you often see hundreds or even thousands of playlists, many of them having the same length as the feature, but the chapters in the wrong order...

[Carsten Kurz]

Justin - you can have multiple audio tracks selected in MakeMKV, and then in DCP-o-matic listen/select which one you want to use for the DCP. Having multiple audio tracks in an MKV will increase the time DCP-o-matic needs to analyse the content, but that shouldn't be a problem. In general, though I advise to have only one track in an MKV intended for conversion in DCP-o-matic.

Usually, the first tracks shown in MakeMKV for a specific title are the main soundtracks. On most modern titles, the DTS Master, Dolby True HD, AC3 or dts tracks are usually the main soundtracks. However, on a classic title like Yellow Submarine, it is possible that a stereo track is the actual movie soundtrack. You may actually need some trial and error to find the proper one. Are there really so many audio streams part of the main title on that disc? Make MKV has a configurable filter to select specific audio tracks and subtitles (e.g. you could default for english language and spanish subtitle tracks), but it takes a bit to understand how to set it up. I have my filter set to select german, and override that for other needs.

Also, for typical conversions (long features), I usually have set MakeMKV to ignore titles shorter than 10mins. That will usually autoselect the longest title when you open the disc. This doesn't work for shortfilm collections, of course, but it automatically deselects typical extras on DVDs and Blurays, so they do not even show up in the title selector.

This, together with the language filter, ususally speeds up the process of selecting the proper titles for me.


- Carsten

[Brad Miller]

If it's too confusing, you can also simply search google. For example "The Matrix makemkv" and you will usually find a forum thread where someone is inquiring and another member has verified which file to select.

Once you are done converting the bluray to DCP and it's been QC'd and so forth your customers will be able to enjoy that spectacular "near field remix" of the soundtrack that has been all shitted up due to being remixed for people watching the movie on a tv with tiny little speakers!

I love how the studios are perfectly fine with people playing a "near field remixed" movie from bluray in an actual theater, but they feel they have to spend the extra money on UNNECESSARY audio remixing for the home, and of course can't bother to include the "original theatrical sound mix" on their bluray releases for the masses that want it. With this sort of idiotic mentality, if Covid-19 ends up taking out theaters, this would mean we will never hear a good sound mix again.

[Gordon McLeod]

I have been using thundersoft blueray ripper with sucess

[Stefan Scholz]

I have been using DVDfab for years, including 4k BD, as converting those to DCP is the only way to watch them for me. Works really good, and the program is well supported by the Chinese creators. But be warned, it is not an application the officials love, or which is supported by the movie industry. Be warned paying it with your credit card might lead to make that card unusable in the future, as it did happen to one of my friends, using it for the same purpose in a movie theatre.
From the ripped file to DCP-o-matic workes nice.

[Scott Norwood]

There is absolutely an official DCP of Yellow Submarine. I've shown it. It has the new remixed soundtrack, and the picture is (correclty) 1.66:1.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Studios are often just lazy. No problem in taking in the licensing money, but imagine having to do some actual work for it...

[Mike Blakesley]

of course can't bother to include the "original theatrical sound mix" on their bluray releases for the masses that want it.

I doubt there are enough of those masses to warrant the expense of the extra mastering. It'd be better if there was some way to stop the stupid near-field remixing to start with.

[Carsten Kurz]

I don't understand why you guys have such trouble to understand that near-field mixes are necessary. Cinemas get their dedicated mastering. Why shouldn't another presentation environment get theirs? Home cinema systems do have clear limitations. The way to deal with this is rec.709 instead of P3, and a nearfield sound mix. Admitted, with todays dual layer blurays, UHD discs, etc., it shouldn't be a problem to add another track containing the theatrical mix.

[Steve Guttag]

Since no two home cinemas are alike...just what "near field" mix are you doing? I'd have no problem with the 2-channel versions being a near-field. I'd put the burden on the A/V receiver (or similar processor) to take the theatrical mix and adjust it to fit the home system it is connected to. This is much the same way we take a REC709 content and have to work with that when projecting out of a DCinema projector. We don't demand that the SDI or HDMI feed be in a P3 space already.

The mix that got all of the attention was the theatrical one (from the content creator)...let that be the one that moves about rather than presume what the home system may be. Home systems can be quite largish and not fit the near-field concept and can sound like crap when one of those near-field mixes hits it. You can't fix the mix once it is polluted.