Front Row in 5.1

[dusterdave]

I am planing on buying Nero Ultra for Recode but want to make sure it will do what I want:

I want to play my DVD libraries through Front Row so I have started backing up my decrypted DVD's onto my computer. I am under the impression that Nero Recode will convert the decrypted DVD's to h264 MP4 with 5.1 audio that will play in Front Row. Is this correct?

I have been looking through these forums and it seems that most processes require a half dozen steps and many programs, will Nero Recode be a simpler method?

I just wanted to make sure before blowing $80 on Nero Ultra.

Thanks,

Dave

[cacepi]

I am under the impression that Nero Recode will convert the decrypted DVD's to h264 MP4 with 5.1 audio that will play in Front Row. Is this correct?
Almost, but not quite.

Quicktime, which is what FrontRow is based upon, cannot play 5.1 audio in an mp4 container. You'd have to mux the files into a format that Quicktime can recognize (i.e. .mov files) if you want to play backups through FrontRow.

Not that I'd recommend it, though. Quicktime's support for h264 is really subpar compared to other decoders. My suggestion is to get Remote Buddy (http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy/) and play all your DVD backups through VLC. It's a lot easier than trying to get Front Row to work how you want.

I haven't really used Nero Recode so I can't help you there, but I'm sure there are others on the forum who can. Good luck!

[dusterdave]

I can already stream the DVD backups over the wireless network fine on the Mac but I would still rather set them up in Front Row.

Is there an easy way of muxing the DVD backup files to a .mov or anything else that Quicktime will play with 5.1?

Dave

[Ronin-7]

I have not used this myself but there is a video codec plugin called Perian (http://perian.org/) based off the open source codecs that can be used in QuickTime.

Best thing to do is to test it with a MP4 + 5.1 file and see if it works, you can download the trial version of Nero to try it out.

There is also another competing media centre UI for the Mac called CentreStage (http://centerstageproject.com/) I've no idea if it is just another front end to QT & iTunes like Frontrow is but it's worth checking out.

[dusterdave]

I tried the MP4 with 5.1 with no luck from the Nero demo - video works fine, no audio. I also tried the Perian plugin before but I think it mainly .avi files.

I bet that a lot of people want exactly what I am looking for, there must be an easy way to convert decrypted DVD files to a .mov with 5.1 sound that plays in Quicktime?

Dave

[Ronin-7]

You should have a look at Mediafork (http://mediafork.dynalias.com/) which is a GUI to x264 & other open source tools on the Mac, there is talk in their forums (http://mediafork.dynalias.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=105) with some success in experimenting with AAC 5.1 + MP4 in QT. But it looks like it is still in development (http://mediafork.dynalias.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=195), still given time it may be possible to get what you want without having to mux into mov.

[dusterdave]

According to what I saw on the Mediafork forums, the person who thought that they got 5.1 in MP4 was mistaken. So, still no solution - I don't mind going to a .mov if it will work.

Dave

[giandrea]

According to what I saw on the Mediafork forums, the person who thought that they got 5.1 in MP4 was mistaken. So, still no solution - I don't mind going to a .mov if it will work.

Dave

You could use mov with AAC 5.1 or AC3 5.1, or you could go for Matroska with AAC 5.1 or AC3 5.1. You just need the right components:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/matroskaqt/

http://trac.cod3r.com/a52codec/

[bond]

moved