# Recommended Video File Format and Ripping Software for QLab Playback?



## sfxGuy (Jan 16, 2014)

Hi Gang,

Happy New Year!

Our theater is hosting a short film festival for the second year. Last year I just swapped discs in our Blu-Ray player. The presentation was rather ugly as while swapping discs the B-R player defaults to its home screen and Panasonic is not a sponsor of the festival. We also do not have a shutter for the projector. =(

Here's what I'd like to do...

Rip all the discs (some DVD some Blu-Ray) into appropriate files on my workstation (Win7) at home, load them onto an external HDD and build a QLab show file at the theater. I don't want to compress the video any more than it is on disc and want to keep the same resolution. I'll have to specify specific subtitles during the ripping process on some of them and build them into the file. I may also have to choose a specific audio track to include. I'd really like this to look as "professional" as possible.

Can anyone recommend ripping software (free?) and an appropriate file type/codec? In addition to our MacMini/QLab setup, we also have a good PC with SCS 10 Pro installed. I'd also consider different presentation software/methods if it's cheap/free. Please remember that I'm not a video editor, etc. I'm also getting into the busy time at school with the musical.

All thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Sean


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## cpf (Jan 17, 2014)

I've had no troubles using Handbrake with its built-in transcoding settings. 

If you want lossless - VLC supports playing from the VIDEO_TS folder you can copy-paste right from the DVD, with no transcoding. Then, use (cough cough my software, but it's free) VLC Presenter to keep things looking professional as you switch files.


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## Amiers (Jan 17, 2014)

Personally I would just buy a simple video switcher and bounce from your Blu-Ray player to the laptop in between films. Just have soft music or movie trailers going through a playlist on the laptop. It can't take you more then what 5 mins to eject disc, load a new one and get past the menu screen?


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## lwinters630 (Jan 17, 2014)

Less work would be to have two or more dvd/bluray players and a switcher. Some switchers even allow computer graphics. switching from player one to player two is a simple push the button.


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## sfxGuy (Jan 17, 2014)

Thanks guys!

@Amiers I considered using VLC and doing just what you suggested. I could even build a playlist preshow and simply press play when appropriate during the screening. But my understanding is VLC will only play DVD files not Blu-Ray files 

As for using a video switcher... I have one. But I can't figure how to cue up the next disc (on the second machine) without seeing the interface on the projector screen, particularly if it involves engaging the right subtitles or audio stream. A screening may include 5-8 different short films. I'm trying to streamline and look as elegant as possible. Besides, it looks like I can't be at the theater for one screening (still working on that). So, it should be as dummy-proof as possible too. The issue is also switching the audio from one machine to another. Our Panny downmixes multi-channel audio (5.1/7.1) the 3.1 (LCR/Subs) for our system. Granted 70% of the films only have stereo tracks.

Can Handbrake rip a disc, include the appropriate subtitles and audio stream I choose and output a compatible (mp4, avi, etc.), lossless file. I think Handbrake will only transcode.

I also considered ripping all the raw video to hdd and burning a new Blu-Ray disc for each screening. Two problems with this idea... It seems very time consuming and the Blu-Ray drive on my workstation is read-only (can burn DVDs).

Am I really looking to do something that special? This would seem to be a common thing to me. But what do I know?

Thank you!

Sean


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## cpf (Jan 17, 2014)

VLC can play Blu-Ray disks - as long as they aren't copy-protected. May or may not be the case with the films you're showing.

Does your video switcher not have a blanking feature? Or, at least, a third input you could drive with anything that can produce a stable, black image (VCR?) or appropriate inter-film graphics from a PC? Then, you can just go BD Player 1->PC/VCR->BD Player 2 with all the time you need to set things up in between.

As for this being a common problem - yes, I've done something like this many times. The people running the event made it easier by providing BD Disks with no setup required, and a menu that was an appropriate graphic (with no visible buttons) so if we mixed up the projector shuttering the audience wouldn't really notice. The workflow was

1. Wait until film ends (look at time code on BD Player to know for sure)
2. Shutter projector immediately before title screen showed up again (we only had one player)
3. Load/unload disks
4. Hit button on Si Compact to switch to the next scene with volume levels appropriately set
5. Hit Select on BD player to activate the hidden menu button
6. Unshutter projector

Also, what kind of projector is it?


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## sfxGuy (Jan 17, 2014)

Thanks cpf. I'm told that none of the discs are encrypted/copy-protected. I guess indy filmmakers don't want to pay for it. So VLC might be the answer with your Presenter add-on. I should be able to rip the raw video onto the HDD and play it via VLC. Now I have to simply figure out if options like subtitles/audio tracks can be saved in the playlist or if it's something I have to do as each file loads. I'll head to the theater after school today to experiment... We have a BenQ SH960, 5500k, 1080p, single chip DLP. It actually looks pretty good for "film" screenings. I wouldn't try to use it for theatrical use, however. We're driving it HDMI only as that's the kind of TCP/IP line extender I chose. Our video switch is an AVT-6071 Multi-format Switcher. It has a single HDMI out and can pretty much accept any type of consumer/prosumer input. It can only switch 3 HDMI inputs however. Which currently is: MacMini (for QLab), PC (for PowerPoint/Karaoke) and BD player... I'll have to see if my dad has an old DVD/VHS deck lying around as a plan B... Thank you!

Edit... We have two 35mm projectors as well. Our projectionist does things like this seamlessly. I'm trying to learn as much from him as I can before he retires. He is 81 after all. It's a shame that modern technology and IP owners make this process so much more difficult than it needs to be.


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## Joshualangman (Jan 17, 2014)

I think this is getting overly complicated. You had it right initially. Use QLab. You can make the entire festival one auto-followed cue sequence, if you desire, or leave each film as a separate GO. Can you get actual video files from the producers of the films? My first tactic in this case would be to physically mail blank hard drives to the filmmakers and ask them to put the film on it and send it back. No discs. Is that an option? What about renting a really large Dropbox account and getting the filmmakers to dump the files in there? Can you contact them directly?

As far as formats for Qlab 3: http://wiki.figure53.com/QLab+3+Video


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## zmb (Jan 17, 2014)

Joshualangman said:


> I think this is getting overly complicated. You had it right initially. Use QLab. You can make the entire festival one auto-followed cue sequence, if you desire, or leave each film as a separate GO. Can you get actual video files from the producers of the films? My first tactic in this case would be to physically mail blank hard drives to the filmmakers and ask them to put the film on it and send it back. No discs. Is that an option? What about renting a really large Dropbox account and getting the filmmakers to dump the files in there? Can you contact them directly?
> 
> As far as formats for Qlab 3: http://wiki.figure53.com/QLab 3 Video


Or if they did have to use discs, make a very clear request that they copy a AVI/MPEG/MOV/WMV file to the disc instead of using their editor's create DVD command. Want it to be a data disc that could carry any file type and not a video disc.


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## Joshualangman (Jan 18, 2014)

By the way, not that this is necessarily relevant to your situation, but it's been confirmed that you can use QLab on a new Mac Pro to play (two simultaneous streams of) 4K video out, which is of course the current industry standard for resolution in digital cinema. This should be very useful for some film festivals.


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## ruinexplorer (Jan 18, 2014)

Unfortunately, 4k video is only one standard for digital cinema. The Digital Cinema Initiative recognizes 2k (2048x1080 at either 24 or 48 fps) and 4k (4096x2160 at 24 fps native resolution - containing both CinemaScope 4096x1716 and Flat 3996x2160 - as opposed to UHDTV of 3840x2160, Ultra Wide HDTV5120x2160, or the less known WHXGA of 5120x3200). 4k cinema is only becominig slightly more used as film transfer is still most often at 2k and most early adopters of digital media were at 2k. Personally, I would run the media on a solid state drive, unless your hard drive spins at 10k rpm.


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## sfxGuy (Jan 30, 2014)

Thanks guys! Just wanted to let you know how I made out...

Firstly, thanks cpf for the VLC Presenter link. It got me through opening night! It's not as elegant and flexible as QLab, SCS or SFX. But it plays brilliantly. It's biggest draw-back is the inability to choose options (audio track, subtitles, etc) before putting in the playlist so it simply plays when reached in the list. Opening night films had no such options. So I was golden. It's a brilliant, FREE, option, especially if all your doing is simply screening a single film.

Thanks, Joshualangman, for the obvious answer which had escaped me. I had to do this on the cheap. So a 50 GB Dropbox was not going to happen. What I did, however, was build a hidden page on our website allowing filmmakers to upload their file(s) to an ftp server I put together with an old WinXP machine at the theater. That was brilliant. Thanks!

The last hitch: Who'd have thunk that indy filmmakers are more broke and in debt than theater artists? About a third didn't have files they could upload. They'd have to contact their editor and pay for another edit? (I'm new at this filmfest stuff). I handled these with MakeMKV (makemkv.com). Not my software. It's still technically "in BETA" and free (with an option to buy a license to support the developer). MakeMKV rips and bundles the raw data on the DVD/Blu-Ray into an MKV container, making it lossless (no transcoding involved). You can make your choices (audio track, subtitles, etc) before ripping & bundling the file. Because there's no transcoding, the process is fast. I experimented with a 2hr DVD which took <15 min to rip and bundle. Your playback software simply has to support native codecs on DVDs & Blu-Ray discs. I used QLab, SCS & VLC presenter flawlessly.

Caveat: MakeMKV can apparently by-pass copyright protections on DVDs & Blu-Rays making it kinda shifty. Even if you've legally licensed content, ripping a copy-protected disc is in direct violation of the DMCA. Grey area, I realize. But worth a heads-up. I had no such concerns with the discs I had since they had no such copyright protection.

Thank you to everyone who helped out with this one. It really had me stumped!

Sean


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## Patrickc (Apr 20, 2015)

I know this is an old thread, but I found a (sort of) workaround for this. I was running a small film festival, and I decided to use QLab as my main playback device. Most of the submissions were H264 but some were DVD. 

The DVDs weren't encrypted or region specific and I had permission from the film makers to use them for the duration of the festival. I discovered that VLC would play the Vob files simply by dragging and dropping them into a folder on my desktop, and making them a playlist. Since the first couple were the menu screen, playing them would bring up the menu and I would have to click play, just like playing a DVD. Removing these files (usually numbered 0_x) would start the film at the beginning.

Since VLC can be set up to hide on screen playback controls and always start in the second screen simply hitting go would play the film. The added refinement was to write a script in Qlab to tell VLC to play a specific playlist. I simply made a number of folders for playlists on my desktop and a number of scripts pointing to the appropriate folders. When I received a DVD I then just had to copy the files to the next folder and drag the script into Qlab. There was a small delay (less than a second) but it worked faultlessly, and I was able to integrate DVD files into the Q list, having a 1 button start for each film. 

Hope this helps someone,
Patrick


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## Jay Ashworth (Apr 20, 2015)

My only question, Patrick, would be this: If using VLC that way, does it send black to the second display when not playing, so as to preclude the projector dropping into Logo Mode?


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## Patrickc (Apr 20, 2015)

Hi Jay
No It doesn't, but then it doesn't need to. At no point is the mac disconnected from the projector, so even without QLab & VLC running it shows the desktop of the Mac second screen (which can be black). As it was I made a black desktop and then added the logo of the festival, so this is all anyone saw between films. I obviously set the mac to not dim screen, and disabled the toolbar on the second monitor. This was so much better than any DVD player than we could afford which often have their own non-editable splash screens.

I should have added that there was a slight delay as the script acted on VLC, but it was much less than a second. I wouldn't have been happy with this if it was a theatre production and it was a critical cue, but in the context of a film festival where the house lights needed to be dimmed etc it was perfectly acceptable.

Thanks
Patrick


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## Jay Ashworth (Apr 20, 2015)

Patrickc said:


> At no point is the mac disconnected from the projector, so even without QLab & VLC running it shows the desktop of the Mac second screen (which can be black). As it was I made a black desktop and then added the logo of the festival, so this is all anyone saw between films. I obviously set the mac to not dim screen, and disabled the toolbar on the second monitor.



To quote a line from our current show...

By Jove; hadn't thought of that.


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## NickVon (Apr 20, 2015)

Patrickc said:


> Hi Jay
> I obviously set the mac to not dim screen, and disabled the toolbar on the second monitor. This was so much better than any DVD player than we could afford which often have their own non-editable splash screens.
> 
> Thanks
> Patrick



Okay, how do you Disable the Tool bar on the second Monitor. (with OSX 10.8) I like the mulitiple desktop stuff but having the menue bar at the top for 'NON-fullscreen things annoys me. Whats the trick?

Nick


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## Patrickc (Apr 20, 2015)

I haven't currently got a machine running Mavericks. One on lion That I did last years film festival on (8 year old Macbook!) and one on Yosemite. On Yosemite I untick displays have separate spaces. Mavericks was a bit odd the way it handled the second screen, not sure if it works. For the sake of interest I untick everything on mission control as it is really annoying in a show environment.

Patrick


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## Joshualangman (Apr 23, 2015)

To disable the toolbar on the second display in recent versions of OS X, deselect "Displays have separate spaces" under Mission Control in System Preferences. You need to restart for it to take effect.


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