trying to extract the 7.1 channels (8 channels) from Blu-ray disc

[billsantos]

I've been trying to use the GUI version of eac3to to do two steps: get the desired DTS file (with the built in tsMuxeR) , which it has, and then convert that to wav using eac3to. I am ending up with a wave file, but it lacks all of the 8 channels. I'm thinking it's because I'm using the built-in decoder (libav), but I could also not be setting the program variables correctly (and there are a LOT of variables!). I've been trying to track down one of the better decoders, but even after visiting the forum post on the Nero and Sonic decoders, I am left a bit confused as to which brand and version to try (the goal is to extract all 8 channels of audio from the DTS-HD into wave files). Much of the info there was from '08 early on, so I don't know if it still applies now. Incidentally, I came across a program called Tranzcode which accepted the DTS input file, but only output 6 audio wave files. More help would be appreciated. Thanks. Bill

[TinTime]

To decode DTS-HD tracks you need ArcSoft's DTS decoder + eac3to. eac3to should use it by default if it's installed.

libav only decodes the core which is why you're getting 5.1 channel wavs.

[billsantos]

Thanks. Do you have a link to which of Arcsoft's decoders work and do they have a demo that would work? I tried to look in the archives here, but got confused as to which of the Arcsoft to use. Also, the only version of eac3to I have installed is the GUI version. Will the Arcsoft work with that or do I need the non-GUI eac3to?

[yetanotherid]

Try foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/).

If it won't decode dts files natively (I can't remember) there's a plugin for doing so. Are you wanting a multichannel wave file rather than individual wave files? If so foobar2000 should decode it to a multichannel wave file.

There's also a plugin which lets foobar2000 accept AVISynth scripts as input and another for directshow decoding. Using the former you might be able to convert the audio without having to bother demuxing it first.

[TinTime]

Thanks. Do you have a link to which of Arcsoft's decoders work and do they have a demo that would work? I tried to look in the archives here, but got confused as to which of the Arcsoft to use. Also, the only version of eac3to I have installed is the GUI version. Will the Arcsoft work with that or do I need the non-GUI eac3to?

Have a look here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=158690&highlight=arcsoft).

There isn't a GUI version of eac3to as such. There are just different GUIs that call eac3to.


Try foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/).

If it won't decode dts files natively (I can't remember) there's a plugin for doing so.

There's a DTS plugin for foobar but not for DTS-HD.

[billsantos]

Ok, I downloaded the original eac3to version from this site. I know almost nothing about using non-GUI based programs. Can someone supply a sample command line for what I'm looking to do? My dts file is named "test.dts". I believe the dts is 768 kpbs. I want to convert the audio to the best quality (preferably 32 bit float or at least 24 bit) into 8 separate wave files since the dts is in 7.1 ch format. Thanks again in advance. I do now have the Arcsoft decoder installed.

[TinTime]

You should (I would think) be able to use your GUI application to do this. I'm not sure what functionality the GUIs give as I haven't used them though.

However I'd suggest you go back to your blu-ray and start again. The fact that you have a file called test.dts at 768kbps suggests that you've extracted the core from the DTS-HD track on your blu-ray. What have you actually done to arrive at this test.dts file?

For DTS-HD MA eac3to will produce a file as whatever bitdepth the source file is - typically 16 or 24 bit.

[yetanotherid]

There's a DTS plugin for foobar but not for DTS-HD.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdadecoder/files/

Read the known issues file first, and I assume it'll only let you decode to a multichannel wave file rather than individual wave files.

I assume besplit (http://besplit.doom9.org/) will split it.

[TinTime]

Interesting. I didn't know that - clearly :)

[billsantos]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdadecoder/files/

Read the known issues file first, and I assume it'll only let you decode to a multichannel wave file rather than individual wave files.

I assume besplit (http://besplit.doom9.org/) will split it.

Unfortunately, this didn't work and I got the unsupported file format message.

[billsantos]

You should (I would think) be able to use your GUI application to do this. I'm not sure what functionality the GUIs give as I haven't used them though.

However I'd suggest you go back to your blu-ray and start again. The fact that you have a file called test.dts at 768kbps suggests that you've extracted the core from the DTS-HD track on your blu-ray. What have you actually done to arrive at this test.dts file?

For DTS-HD MA eac3to will produce a file as whatever bitdepth the source file is - typically 16 or 24 bit.

To arrive at the dts file, I opened the original m2ts file in tsMuxeR and demuxed the output of the file with the DTS-HD (identified in tsMuxeR with track info "Bitrate: 768 kps core + MLP data. Sample Rate: 48 Khz. Channels: 7.1 (DTS Master Audio)). When demuxed, I end up with the dts file, which I was attempting to use eac3to (or some other recommended program) to get the 8 audio files in preferably wave format. I finally did get eac3to to work yesterday, but even with the Arcsoft installed and working (according to the eac3to log), I still only end up one wave file which, when opened in a video/ audio program such as Vegas, I see 5 discrete audio wave files. It could be that I didn't use the proper command or ending though, just eac3to.exe source.dts destination.wave. I'd still like to see all 8 wave files as a result rather than one wave file with the only 5 channels embedded and only accessible when opened in an audio/ video editor.

Incidentally, I gave up trying to use the eac3to GUI version as the Arcsoft decoder wasn't offered as an option in the settings.

[tebasuna51]

To arrive at the dts file, I opened the original m2ts file in tsMuxeR and demuxed the output of the file with the DTS-HD (identified in tsMuxeR with track info "Bitrate: 768 kps core + MLP data. Sample Rate: 48 Khz. Channels: 7.1 (DTS Master Audio)). When demuxed, I end up with the dts file,...

Seems your extracted dts is only the core, in tsMuxeR don't check the 'Downconvert DTS-HD to DTS' to obtain the full 7.1 content.

[TinTime]

If you use...

eac3to.exe source.dts destination.wavs


...then you'll end up with a mono wav file per channel.

[ramicio]

Is this from Blu-ray?

This command will browse the Blu-ray and give you a list of the titles:

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\

It will spit a bunch of different titles, with numbers in front of each one. Find the one with the length of your main movie. Then : 1 as an example title number :

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\ 1)

Then it will list the streams in that title. Look for your DTS-HD Master. That track number will be what you want to extract. 3 as an example:

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\ 1) 3: desination.wavs

That will take track number 3 of title number 1 and spit it to mono wavs. For DTS-HD Master you must have the Arcsoft decoder installed. What is the end file format goal?

[billsantos]

If you use...

eac3to.exe source.dts destination.wavs


...then you'll end up with a mono wav file per channel.

THANKS :thanks:

That did it and for the first time, I have been able to extract the 8 mono wav files.

[billsantos]

Is this from Blu-ray?

This command will browse the Blu-ray and give you a list of the titles:

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\

Thanks. I tried it, but I am unable to get the list. I'm guessing that "X" should be replaced with the letter of my Blu ray drive "E", which I did. Does the rest of the text need replaced with something also, "path" as ?, etc? I'd really like to try it.

[ramicio]

Well the Blu-ray needs to be extracted to the hard drive first, it's encrypted. the "x:\path\to\bluray\stuff\" is just a made up path to give as an example. If you rip to say "C:\New Folder\" then that would be the path, provided "BDMV" is extracted right to "New Folder". If that still doesn't work, then you can manually specify the .mpls file (<DISC>\BDMV\PLAYLIST\) if your movie is in a bunch of pieces. If you're lucky enough to have just one .m2ts (<DISC>\BDMV\STREAM\) for the main movie then you can just specify that as the file, and rip only that file.

[billsantos]

Is this from Blu-ray?

This command will browse the Blu-ray and give you a list of the titles:

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\

It will spit a bunch of different titles, with numbers in front of each one. Find the one with the length of your main movie. Then : 1 as an example title number :

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\ 1)

Then it will list the streams in that title. Look for your DTS-HD Master. That track number will be what you want to extract. 3 as an example:

eac3to.exe X:\path\to\bluray\stuff\ 1) 3: desination.wavs

That will take track number 3 of title number 1 and spit it to mono wavs. For DTS-HD Master you must have the Arcsoft decoder installed. What is the end file format goal?

I figured it out! All I had to do is type eac3to.exe e: and the numbers were listed with titles. So, just eac3to.exe e: 7). Then the 4th track as the DTS-HD master with the wavs ending. No need to go through TsMuxeR this way!

To be honest, I didn't even think any of this was possible because my Blu-ray drive will not play discs on my PC because my chipset does not support it. However, it will read the discs and I can copy/ extract/ whatever to the hard drive.

Now I have a project in mind. I have a bunch of episodes of a TV series on several Blu ray discs. I was able to find a few of them from around the web in FLV format and the quality was just about as good as the Blu ray. I have a few episodes I'd like to convert to FLV so I can make play simple with my media player, which accepts FLV format media. I only want to do this because it makes viewing a lot simpler and I can bypass the long, Blu ray menus and such. Can anyone guide me to some tutorials for this? I'm thinking now that eac3to might be a big part of the conversion process.

Thanks!

[ramicio]

Just rip the episodes from the Blu-ray. The FLV format is pretty stupid for an archival format. It's made for streaming, really. To add, eac3to can only rip raw video streams from a container, not do any encoding or decoding to it.

[billsantos]

Just rip the episodes from the Blu-ray. The FLV format is pretty stupid for an archival format. It's made for streaming, really. To add, eac3to can only rip raw video streams from a container, not do any encoding or decoding to it.

I used the guide here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=137151

However, I really haven't had to go beyond step 2 because I can play the m2ts steam from the stream folder, but my media player needs another format. If FLV isn't recommended, what would you recommend and how would I go from m2ts to the other format? Thanks.

[ramicio]

x264 is the best for everything, but what is this business about your chipset not supporting Blu-ray playback?

[billsantos]

x264 is the best for everything, but what is this business about your chipset not supporting Blu-ray playback?

My PC motherboard is based on Intel G31 chipset with an integrated Intel Graphics GMA 3100. Although I can easily play HD videos of most formats from the hard drive, I cannot play Blu ray discs directly from the player. I can rip from the player to the hard drive and then play them, but just not directly from a disc in the player. See: http://www.taiwanpcsources.com/intelgraphics.htm

To actually watch a Blu ray video, I can now either rip it to the hard drive and view the m2ts or find another format so I can view it on my LCD HDTV with outboard media player. The latter is what I'm seeking to do now.

So, do you, or someone else, have suggestions for a converter from m2ts to MKV?

Thanks.

[ramicio]

Your CPU can still decode the Blu-ray stuff. You just won't get GPU-accelerated decoding for Blu-ray playback. Less compressed stuff is easier to decode mathematically, anyway, the system just needs to be able to stream the data fast enough. Have you attempted playback? If so, with what player?

[billsantos]

Your CPU can still decode the Blu-ray stuff. You just won't get GPU-accelerated decoding for Blu-ray playback. Less compressed stuff is easier to decode mathematically, anyway, the system just needs to be able to stream the data fast enough. Have you attempted playback? If so, with what player?

When I was speaking of a media player, I meant one like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148585

I wasn't sure at first whether or not mine would be able to play m2ts format. I can easily play these files on the PC with various software based media players, so that wasn't the issue. However, I just tried one of the m2ts episodes I ripped. On the hardware media player, an Asus, it plays fine, so I won't need to convert to another format. The file is a little large however at 5 GB, so I had hoped I could maybe compress a bit with a different format. I have a lot of FLV's on the hard drive I plug into the media player and some of the FLV's are the same episodes I am now trying to rip. In FLV form, they are just under 1 GB size and you can hardly tell any difference in quality.

[ramicio]

It sounds like you're on the "click to encode stuff" side of things, while I'm not knocking you for it, I just can't give you any advice on software to help you accomplish playing FLV on a "media player." I really don't understand. You have the episodes on a Blu-ray disc, why you can't play them on your computer...

[billsantos]

It sounds like you're on the "click to encode stuff" side of things, while I'm not knocking you for it, I just can't give you any advice on software to help you accomplish playing FLV on a "media player." I really don't understand. You have the episodes on a Blu-ray disc, why you can't play them on your computer...

That's ok. I have deviated quite far from the original topic of this thread anyway. I originally accomplished what I wanted to (audio 8 channel mono wave extraction), thanks to you and others, and can now go the easy route with the Blu-ray rips to m2ts.

To sum up about not being able to play the Blu-rays on the PC, my system just wasn't set up for it when purchased. I didn't intend to want the capability at the time anyway, but how often do we change our minds? I'm just satisfied that the LG BD-ROM I do have will read the discs and I can rip data to the HD for further processing or play.

[ramicio]

Have you even attempted to play Blu-ray on your computer?

[billsantos]

Have you even attempted to play Blu-ray on your computer?

Yes. I also ran Cyberlink BD Advisor, which was bundled with the software that came with the LG drive. It reported that the video card drivers needed updating, which I did update, along with the LG BD drive firmware, and even the PC chipset update but all to no avail. The drive works fine for playing DVD's, Cd's and will also burn CD/ DVD, but my system simply lacks the capability to play a Blu-ray disc, although, as I said before, I can access the data through AnyDVD or similar. Also tried PowerDVD 10, but I get a message about an unsupported format.

There is a slim chance that updating my OS to Win 7 would allow the BD drive to play the discs, but for all I need the drive for, the upgrade isn't worth it to me.

[ramicio]

MPC-HC will play the discs. Any Win7 is worth the upgrade. XP's end of life has come.

[Midzuki]

any win7 is worth the upgrade.

Xp's end of life has come.

:) :) :)

[billsantos]

MPC-HC will play the discs. Any Win7 is worth the upgrade. XP's end of life has come.

What a surprise! Yes, MPC-HC does seem to allow the BD to play from the BD-ROM. Nothing else I have would allow the disc to play from the player. Only problem I'm running into is that I don't have any menus or playlists, so play is just whatever random episode starts to play on the disc. If there is a workaround or something I'm overlooking, it would be great indeed to have true BD playing access on this PC.

[ramicio]

No menu support, sorry, but at least you can play the stuff right off the disc. Is there any menu structure if you right click in the video and see what's in "Navigate"? I know DVD stuff gets up in there, I have no idea if it works for Blu-ray.