dvd

MakeMKV review

by
Screenshot of MakeMKV on Windows 10

If you want to make backups of your DVDs or Blu-Ray discs, or watch them on a device without an optical drive, then MakeMKV is a tool that you should consider.

MakeMKV takes the content of your DVDs, and creates a Matroska (.mkv) file that can be read by many media players, including the likes of VLC, Plex and more recent versions of Windows Media Player. Matroska is a very forgiving container format that can accommodate just about any video and audio codec, and has excellent support for subtitles.

What sets MakeMKV apart from tools such as Handbrake is that there’s minimal transcoding. That means that the MKV file will match the quality of the original source, with the same aspect ratio. Handbrake will typically transcode the video into another format and offer to up-scale the video to HD. This will probably result in a smaller file, as newer video formats are more efficient, but every time you transcode a file using a lossy compression algorithm, you lose some of the quality. It also takes longer to convert files using Handbrake because of the transcoding.

The files created by MakeMKV will include subtitles, where these are provided on the original disc, and they’re not ‘burnt in’ so can be enabled or disabled by playback devices. Chapters are also retained.

Overall, it’s easy to use, and doesn’t offer the dizzying array of options that Handbrake offers.

Currently, MakeMKV is beta software, and has been for over a decade – this may explain the rather dated-looking web site. It is shareware, albeit free to use whilst in beta. However, if a final release is ever made, expect to be asked to pay for it. If you want, you can buy it now for $60 (currently £54.25 including VAT).

Be aware that it’s currently illegal to copy DVDs in the UK, even for your own personal use.

The film queue

by

On Saturday I moved house again, although this time the move should be a little more permanent. I’m now living in North-East Bradford, rather than in the western area around the university, in a refurbished Victorian stone-built terraced house with two other lads. It’s a nice house, although it does mean a longer walk to work.

Unfortunately we don’t yet have internet – that’s a story I’ll leave for another entry – so I’m using the opportunity to watch some of the films that I own on DVD which I haven’t seen before.

Thus far I have watched the remaining episodes of Torchwood Season 2 that I haven’t seen – previously I have watched the first 4 and last 4 episodes, but missed those in the middle of the series. This included the episodes ‘Adam’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ which are quite important to the overall story arc – having watched these episodes now, the final episode makes more sense. I also watched Baseketball, a film starring the creators of South Park, which I enjoyed but would only recommend to those who enjoyed South Park or Team America. Otherwise you’ll find it puerile and immature.

On my list to watch next are:

  • The Dark is Rising – a film that Hari wanted to watch and that we rented from LoveFilm, but haven’t yet got around to watching
  • Nacho Libre – kids film starring Jack Black that I picked up cheaply in a sale
  • Hellboy – heard mixed reviews, some people say it’s great, others hated it
  • Robots – another kids film
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – Thought the first film was very well done, but never managed to see this in the cinema.

Incidentally I posted a similar list this time last year – so a year later and I still haven’t seen Hellboy or Nacho Libre.

I also have various DVDs like The Simpsons Movie, Shrek the Third and most of the Matrix Trilogy which I have seen in the cinema but haven’t since watched on DVD. I’m going on holiday a week today and at the current rate we won’t have the internet installed by then, so I have another week of keeping myself busy.

Knock-off Nigel

by

When you watch a British DVD, usually before the film starts, you’ll have to watch this:

But now on TV, we have this:

The message it’s trying to spread is that people who download films or buy counterfeit DVDs are sad, corner-cutting lowlifers – no ‘cool’ person would want to be like Nigel. While I like the less confrontational stance, I somehow doubt the effectiveness of the new ads.

Of course, the best one is the parody by the IT crowd:

Films that I own on DVD and haven’t yet watched

by

Here’s a list of films that I’ve bought on DVD, but, so far, I haven’t actually watched:

  • Shrek 3
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Hellboy
  • Nacho Libre
  • Family Guy presents Blue Harvest

Of those, I haven’t even seen 3 of them at the cinema/on TV.

This is mostly a mental note to make sure that next time there’s nothing good on TV, I get around to actually watching these films – after all, I’ve paid money for them.