How to down-convert a high definition movie to your iPad/iPod/iPhone and PS3

Now that the tools available have matured some (and there is a decent BR ripper for the Mac), I’ve updated my guide on how to make a version of your high-definition movie for your iPod Touch or iPhone, as well as a 720p version for your PS3 or iPad!

[Edit 2/12/2010: Now that the tool-chain has matured some, its easier to convert that High-Def movie into a number of formats to work with your PS3, iPhone or even iPad!]
[Edit 5/02/2010: Redid the types of encoding, acknowledged the PS3 3.30 firmware that supports AC3 through the PS3 in MP4 files and added other tweaks for the iPad.]

The first and last steps for both Windows and Mac are basically the same – use MakeMKV to rip the high-def movie to your hard drive and then encode it using Handbrake. The only difference is how to convert the DTS audio to AC3 audio.

Windows

Preparation: Install the following software: MakeMKV for Windows, AudioConverter for Popcorn Hour (and any additional apps AudioConverter needs, the program will download and install them on first run), Handbrake

Workflow:

1. Put your high-def disc in the BR drive and run MakeMKV. Be sure to note where it is going to put the resulting MKV file. After an initial scan, you can uncheck all the unwanted materials – the cast interviews, blooper reel, etc. Then find the main title (usually with a number of chapters specified, and the largest movie file) and expand it. In the main title you will find a number of audio files, usually DTS or DD, as well as subtitles. Make sure you have only one audio soundtrack checked (either DTS 5.1 or DD 5.1, do not include “Master Audio” or “TrueHD” audio tracks). On some titles, you might see both. You’ll have to guess at which one is the correct one – in one case the DTS 5.1 audio was the correct one and the DD 5.1 was a mix of the audio for the visually impaired (a narrator would describe the scene initially). The resultant MKV file will be between 15-30GB.

2. Use AudioConverter to convert any DTS tracks to AC3. Select “Convert DTS Tracks” and then choose “Convert to Dolby Digital” and check the remove box to remove the old DTS track. Select your input MKV file from the first step and go!

3. From here, we will create two copies of the movie. The first one will play on all devices (iPad, iPhone 3GS, and the PS3), the second one is a “better” version for the PS3.

3a. Using Handbrake, specify the MKV file from steps 1 and 2, then select the AppleTV preset. Check the Audio tab to make sure there is both an AC3 passthrough as well as a mixed down version using AAC audio. The AAC audio version will play on your iPhone and iPad, while the AC3 version will play on AppleTV and PS3 units (the PS3 3.30 software supposedly enables AC3 surround sound – I haven’t tested this myself). Specify a file name and then either hit start or add it to the queue if you’re going to make a second encode.

3b. With the previous MKV file still as the input file, select “High Profile” and check that there is still an AC3 passthrough and AAC mix down tracks under the audio tab. Set the Picture Settings to 1280 width for 720p, or leave it at 1920 for the full 1080p picture. Specify a different output file name or location and add to queue, then start the queue in the queue window!

Mac

Preparation: Since there aren’t any Macs (as of this writing) that come with Blu-ray, you’ll need an external Blu-ray drive – it will need to have some writing capability (DVD or BR) and not a Read-Only drive otherwise OSX will just ignore it. Install MakeMKV, Handbrake, and the following tools as described in the steps below… (cribbed from here). Note: you will need to have XCode installed from your Leopard or Snow Leopard install DVD to compile some of these programs below. Its not that big of a deal, so just go install it.

1. Create a directory in your home directory.

mkdir ~/ConverterTemp

2. Install CMake from here (choose Previous Releases (2.6.4) > Darwin-Universial for the Mac).

3. Compile and install Aften (this encodes the audio to AC3)

cd ~/ConverterTemp
svn co http://aften.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/aften Aften
cd Aften
mkdir default
cd default
cmake ~/ConverterTemp/Aften/
make
sudo make install

4. Install MKVInfo

cd ~/ConverterTemp
curl -O http://iamthekiller.net/downloads/mkvinfo.zip
unzip mkvinfo.zip
sudo chmod 755 mkvinfo
sudo cp mkvinfo /usr/local/bin

5. Compile and install libdca

cd ~/ConverterTemp
svn co svn://svn.videolan.org/libdca/trunk libdca
cd libdca
sudo ./bootstrap
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install

6.Install MKVDTS2AC3

cd ~/ConverterTemp
curl -O http://iamthekiller.net/downloads/mkvdts2ac3.zip
unzip mkvdts2ac3.zip
cd mkvdts2ac3
sudo chmod 755 mkvdts2ac3.sh
cp ~/ConverterTemp/mkvdts2ac3/mkvdts2ac3.sh ~/ConverterTemp/mkvdts2ac3/mkvdts2ac3
sudo cp ~/ConverterTemp/mkvdts2ac3/mkvdts2ac3 /usr/local/bin/

7. Install MKVMerge

cd ~/ConverterTemp
curl -O http://iamthekiller.net/downloads/mkvmerge
sudo chmod 755 mkvmerge
sudo cp mkvmerge /usr/local/bin/

8. Install MKVExtract

cd ~/ConverterTemp
curl -O http://iamthekiller.net/downloads/mkvextract
sudo chmod 755 mkvextract
sudo cp mkvextract /usr/local/bin/

Then you can remove the temp directory in your home directory.

Workflow:

1. Put your high-def disc in the BR drive and run MakeMKV. Be sure to note where it is going to put the resulting MKV file. After an initial scan, you can uncheck all the unwanted materials – the cast interviews, blooper reel, etc. Then find the main title (usually with a number of chapters specified, and the largest movie file) and expand it. In the main title you will find a number of audio files, usually DTS or DD, as well as subtitles. Make sure you have only one audio soundtrack checked (either DTS 5.1 or DD 5.1, do not include “Master Audio” or “TrueHD” audio tracks). On some titles, you might see both. You’ll have to guess at which one is the correct one – in one case the DTS 5.1 audio was the correct one and the DD 5.1 was a mix of the audio for the visually impaired (a narrator would describe the scene initially). The resultant MKV file will be between 15-30GB.

2. If the file contains a DTS audio track (identifiable by “DTS” in MakeMKV), you will need to convert it to AC3 so the AC3 portion can be preserved in the result file for your PS3. Run the following at the command line:

mkvdts2ac3 -n <name of MKV file from step 1>.mkv

If you aren’t sure if the movie has a DTS soundtrack, don’t worry, you can always run that command on the file and it will tell you if it didn’t find a DTS track to convert to AC3. The “-n” parameter tells the app to remove the DTS track instead of leaving it in the file with the AC3 audio.

3. From here, we will create two copies of the movie. The first one will play on all devices (iPad, iPhone 3GS, and the PS3), the second one is a “better” version for the PS3.

3a. Using Handbrake, specify the MKV file from steps 1 and 2, then select the AppleTV preset. Check the Audio tab to make sure there is both an AC3 passthrough as well as a mixed down version using AAC audio. The AAC audio version will play on your iPhone and iPad, while the AC3 version will play on AppleTV and PS3 units (the PS3 3.30 software supposedly enables AC3 surround sound – I haven’t tested this myself). Specify a file name and then either hit start or add it to the queue if you’re going to make a second encode.

3b. With the previous MKV file still as the input file, select “High Profile” and check that there is still an AC3 passthrough and AAC mix down tracks under the audio tab. Set the Picture Settings to 1280 width for 720p, or leave it at 1920 for the full 1080p picture. Specify a different output file name or location and add to queue, then start the queue in the queue window!

And that should be it! Whether you’ve got a Mac or PC you should be able to convert those movies. Be wary though, converting down 1080p video can take a long time, especially if you’re not running a Core i5 or i7-based quad-core CPU!