Media tools for Mac

“I Blu-ray discs purchased from Amazon USA, but failed to play these on my BD player. I did some Google search and found that the matter concerns region coding. My discs are purchased in the US so they are Region A. I try to play them on Blu-ray players in Australia and this is Region C, so there is a message appears to say that the discs can not be played…”

That’s a problem often asked by Mac users. Below is an article about solving the trouble, especially for Mac user.
Does BD player support all the blu-ray discs? It should have, but for the sake of blu-ray disc codes, the blu-ray players are restricted to play the blu-ray discs of its region and region-free ones only, it’s the same for Mac users, unless you use a Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac to turn the blu-ray movie into free resources.
What are blu-ray disc region codes? Why are there BD region codes?
Region codes place geographical restrictions on where in the world a Blu-ray movie can be played. For example, a BD system bought in the USA region would play only Blu-ray movie disks with that area’s encoding.

The purpose of region codes is twofold. First, it allows regional pricing to be affected by the movie studios. Since pricing will be very different around the world, the system prevents home users importing home movies bought overseas at a lower price. Secondly, it allows the control of regional release of movie titles. Often, for instance, Hollywood films are available to buy on disk in the USA and Europe before other parts of the globe. With regional encoding, the studios can prevent unlicensed movie imports so giving distributors around the world control of supply.

The region codes are entirely voluntary on the part of the studios releasing the disks, and Blu-ray movie releases need not have any region code, so called “region free” releases. If a Blu-ray movie is region free, it can be played on all systems regardless of region. Interestingly, many early releases of Blu-ray films were region free.

Blu-ray disc regions
The world is divided into three regions by the BDA (Blu-ray Disk Association): Region A, Region B and Region C. The following map shows the regions as defined.

A:  East Asia (except Mainland China and Mongolia), Southeast Asia, the Americas and their dependencies.
B:  Africa, Southwest Asia, Europe (except Russia), Oceania and their dependencies.
C:  Central Asia, East Asia (Mainland China and Mongolia only), South Asia, central Eurasia and their dependencies.
Bypass the blu-ray disc region codes and have your BD player play blu-ray movie of all regions

In any case, mac users are trying to work out how to bypass the blu-ray region codes built into their BD players, but there are rarely successes. Here’s my suggestion for those who want to play Region A blu-ray discs on Region B/ C BD players of the mac users: Use Blu-Ray Ripper for mac to back up blu-ray discs to hard drive, connect the hard drive with BD player, and play the blu-ray movie from hard drive. Blu-ray players usually support various video and audio codec, and ensure high-quality playback of M2TS, MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV, etc.
Here is a simple flow of copying commercial blu-ray movie to hard drive on Mac:
Click “BD/DVD ROM” Load blu-ray disc to Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for mac
Click the “Full Disk Copy” button
Click “Convert” to start copying the blu-ray movie to hard drive.

Due to its full HD 1080p high quality, the blu-ray movie bites much space. Generally a blu-ray movie takes up 20-50 GB, if you are short of storage, an alternative method is to create a region free blu-ray copy (either blu-ray disc or blu-ray ISO file) that is compatible with your blu-ray player/ PS3.

If you are a Windows user, you can refer to: http://www.pavtube.com/guide/make-bd-player-play-region-a-region-b-region-c-blu-ray-movies.html

Wanna watch Blu-ray via Seagate HD Media Player with  forced subtitles? But haven’t found out a practical way? No worry, with Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player Ripper, you are free to rip  Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player with forced subtitles only. Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player  Ripper not only can remove AACS, BD+, MKB V17 protection from commercial  Blu-ray movies, but also can convert BD to a wide variety of file types  compatible with your Seagate HD Media Player, including Seagate FreeAgent  GoFlex TV HD Media Player and Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player. The following  guide shows you how to rip Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player with forced  subtitles in detail.

Step-by-step instruction:
How  to watch Blu-ray via Seagate HD Media Player with forced subtitles? (For Mac  users)

Step 1: Free download  Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to  Seagate HD Media Player Ripper, install and run it
Click “BD/DVD Folder” to import your Blu-ray movie files  to the application.

Step 2: Select forced  subtitles and audio track
1. Select subtitle
Click the drop-down list of “Subtitle”, then all the  subtitle info in the Blu-ray will be shown clearly, including language and  stream ID, so you can select your needed language as your subtitle.

Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to Seagate HD  Media Player Ripper also offers an option called “Force Subtitle”. When you  check “Force Subtitle”, you will see subtitles only when actors are speaking  another language that is not your mother tongue. For instance, if you specify  English (your mother tongue) as your subtitle, and meanwhile tick off “Force  Subtitle” option, then when actors are speaking English, no subtitles will show  up, but when they are talking with each other in French, the English subtitle  will appear accompanying with the French.

2: Select audio track
Click the pull down menu of “Audio”, and then the list  will give you the detailed information of audio tracks, including language,  audio codec, stream ID and audio channel. TrueHD audio and DTS-Master Audio are  both supported.

Step 3: Select output  format for Seagate HD Media Player
Both Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV HD Media Player and  Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player support playback a wide variety of  movie formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG-4  (Xvid), DivX, DivX HD+, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB Real Media, AVCHD, H.264,  WMV9, VC-1, M2TS,and TS/TP/M2T. To rip Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player with forced  subtitles, you just need select a format from the above mentioned formats.  Taking H.264 HD Video for instance, you just need do as below:

Click on the drop-down list of “Format”, and then follow “HD  Video”> “H.264 HD Video (*.mp4)”.

Step 4: Set advanced  settings to custom output file quality
To rip Blu-ray  to Seagate HD Media Player with forced subtitles via Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to Seagate HD  Media Player Ripper, you can click “Settings” button to adjust audio and  video parameters in the following popup window, including codec name, aspect  ratio, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel.

Step 5: Rip Blu-ray to Seagate  HD Media Player with forced subtitles
Once the above mentioned 4 steps are finished, you can  click the big button “Convert” to rip Blu-ray to Seagate HD Media Player with  forced subtitles. Once the conversion is done, you can get the final output files  by clicking “Open” button with ease. By then you are ready to watch Blu-ray via  Seagate HD Media Player on your wide screen TV without leaving your couch in  comfort.

Learn more:
How  to watch Blu-ray with Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player? （for Mac）
How  to play back Blu-ray movie via Seagate GoFlex TV HD Media Player? (For Mac  users)

Blu-ray movies do not always include one language. Chances are that two or more languages are spoken in one movie. In that case, going without subtitles is not a brilliant idea. Take the blu-ray movie 2012 (region A) for example, you have English as default audio track, so some guys thought they need no subtitles when backing the blu-ray movie to Mac. And they did rip the blu-ray movie to Mac without subtitles. However, when playing the ripped blu-ray movie on Mac, they would be disappointed to find that in some scenes Chinese is spoken, and there are no subtitles! If you do not want to see subtitles when they speak English, and would like to retain the subtitles for the scenes of foreign languages, you got to figure out a way extracting Forced Subtitles.

Forced subtitles are subtitles that included in commercial Blu-ray and partial DVD movies so as to provide a better visual experience to display the characters when a foreign or alien language is spoken, a sign, flag or other text in the scene is in different language. The forced subtitle is embedded into one of the streams and you have to get it out and remix it to the video. The process could be very complicated. Here I would introduce you an easiest way keeping forced subtitles when ripping blu-ray to Mac. Below is a guide on how to do a blu-ray backup with forced subtitles:
Required hardware: Mac with external BD drive
Required software: Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac

Step 1. Load blu-ray (or DVD) movie to Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac
Connect BD drive with Mac via USB cable, and place the blu-ray disc/DVD you want to rip in BD drive. Run the Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac, click “BD/DVD Folder” to import standard DVD or Blu-ray movie. Here I import blu-ray movie Avatar, in which a foreign language “Navi” is spoken.

Step 2. Set Forced Subtitles for chapters you want to rip.
By default no subtitle is set. Select a chapter and click play button, you’ll find there are no subtitles when previewing. Set Forced subtitles for each chapter follow this way: specify a language as your English in “Subtitle” pull-down list, and check “Only show force subtitle” before converting Avatar to hard drive. The Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac can extract forced subtitles from blu-ray discs and DVDs for you.

Avatar movie with English Forced Subtitle (English subtitle is included only Navi language is spoken):

Step 3. Specify output format.
The Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac allows users to rip blu-ray movies to MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, TS, MOV, M4V, etc of up to 1080p HD quality. Just click “Format” bar to set a desired format.

Step 4. Rip blu-ray movies to Mac with forced subtitles.
Click “Convert” to start ripping blu-ray to Mac. The blu-ray ripping software will handle the English subtitles in Avatar only when the Navi are speaking.

Why Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac?
The Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac could remove all the protections (AACS, BD+) of Blu-ray and DVD movies, rip and convert the movies into popular audio and video formats to portable devices such as iPod, iPad, iPad 3G+ WiFi, iPhone 4, Android smart phones (Motorala Droid X, HTC Evo 4G),Zune, Blackberry, PSP, Creative Zen, Xbox 360, Apple TV, PS3, WD TV, etc.

Download a free trial of Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac (Intel processor only) and try it out so as to enjoy more from your blu-ray movies!

For Win Users: How to rip Blu-ray movies with forced subtitles remained?

Weighing less than a smartphone, the palm-sized Samsung SP-H03 Pico projector always gets you ready to share photos, videos, or presentations. Movie lovers will be pleased to find it is so convenient to play HD movies up to 720p with the small package. And its battery life ensures you won’t be cut out when playing a 2-hour movie. What’s more, you can expand its capacity 16 GB in size with a micro SD card and carry dozens of 720p movies. The Samsung SP-H03 Pico projector plays AVI, MP4, ASF, MPG, RM, FLV and WMV files at ease. Downloaded movies can be presented on screen at a size ranges from 9” to 80”. Plenty of joy, isn’t it? But you deserve more entertainment. The Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper for Mac now enables you to rip all your blu-ray and DVD collections to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector for playing. This powerful Mac blu-ray to Pico Projector converter tool gives you movies at 720p HD quality while down-size a blu-ray movie to 1-4G. The following guide aims to give you a general idea of ripping blu-ray disc to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector and converting DVD to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector optimized video formats.

Step 1: Free download Pavtube Mac Blu-ray to Pico Projector Converter, install and launch it
Once launch the Pavtube blu-ray to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector converter for Mac, click “BD/DVD Folder” to import standard DVD or Blu-ray movie files. The blu-ray DVD to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector Converter for Mac supports batch conversion so blu-ray disc, DVD and videos can be loaded at a time. (Note that a BD drive is necessary for ripping blu-ray disc).

Step 2. Set audio track and subtitles for selected chapters.

To set audio track and subtitle (if necessary) for blu-ray and DVD movies, you may click on the Audio box and select an audio track with desired language. And set subtitles in the same way. There is a box of “Force Subtitles” too. When you set English as subtitle and check the box of “Force Subtitles”, the subtitle appears only when languages other than English are spoken. For example, in the movie Avatar, I select English subtitle and set Force Subtitles, the subtitle appears only when the Navi language is spoken.

Step 3: Select iPhone 4 720p as output format for Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector
When using Pavtube Blu-ray to Samsung SP-H03 Converter for Mac to convert blu-ray movie to the for Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector, iPhone 4 720P MP4 video performs best, although it was designed for iPhone 4. You can click on the pull down menu of “Format”, and then follow “iPhone” -> “iPhone 4 H.264 720P (*.mp4)”.

To watch Blu-ray movie on Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector in better playback quality, you can click “Settings” button and optimize the video and audio parameters. For instance, when ripping blu-ray movie to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector, you can set bit rate up to get better visual quality, but please keep in mind that higher bit rate value results in bigger file size.

For common DVD, iPhone 4 H.264 720P MP4 is not your first choice. However, you can still choose it and make it fit for DVD to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector conversion. Just select the “iPhone 4 H.264 720P (*.mp4)” format, click “Settings” button and adjust the video size according to your source DVD movie. Most DVD movies are MPEG-2 encoded video in 4:3 display ratio, so you can set the Video Size to 720*480 (NTSC) or 720*576 (PAL). In that case the image will not be stretched when projecting with Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector.

Step 4: Transfer Blu-ray and DVD movie to Samsung SP-H03.
Once all settings are done, you can click “Convert” button to start ripping Blu-ray and DVD to Samsung SP-H03 720p video on Mac. When the conversion is completed, you can get the output files for your Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector for playback via click “Open” button with ease.

The powerful Pavtube blu-ray to Samsung SP-H03 converter also helps Mac users to customize blu-ray folder, DVD folder, and ISO image file to 720p MP4 as well as AVI, MP4, ASF, MPG, RM, FLV and WMV files for Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector.

For Windows Users: How to rip Blu-ray to Samsung SP-H03 Pico Projector for playback?

Take web browser,  better messaging and contact management, excellent call quality and long  talk time aside, its 3.7-inch,854×480 screen makes Motorola Droid  perfect for watching HD movies, camera footage, TV shows, music videos,  and more. However,because  of copyright and format issues, to play commercial Blu-ray and DVD movies on this amazing  device is not an easy thing. You have to use a blue ray ripper mac to remove  copy protections as well as ripping them to Motorola Droid compatible format. This  tutorial intends to show you the best way to experience Blu-ray and DVD movies  on your Droid with Pavtube Mac bluray to Motorola Droid Converter,  please feel free to check the following detailed instruction.

Step 1: Download, install and launch Pavtube Mac bluray to Motorola Droid Converter
Once  launched it, you can click “BD/DVD Folder” or “IFO File” to load  Blu-ray/DVD files.

Step 2:  Select subtitle and audio track
Click pull down menu of “Subtitle” and  “Audio” to select your needed subtitle and audio track respectively.  The drop-down list will show you all the info clearly, including language and  stream ID of subtitle, language, audio codec, audio ID, and channel of audio.  You can choose one according to your own requirement. The preview window will  show you the changes in real time.

Step 3: Select output  format for Motorola Droid
Click the drop-down  menu of “Format”, and then follow “Common Video H.264 Video (*.mp4)”.

Step 4: Do optimal settings
Click”Settings”  button to optimize video and audio parameters, the optimal settings of  Pavtube blue ray ripper  mac for Droid are recommended as below:

Optimal  Video and audio settings:
Video  codec: H.264 MP4
Size (resolution): 848*480pix
Bit rate: 2500kbps
Frame rate: 24fps
Audio codec: AAC
Sample rate: 48khz
Bit rate: 64kbps/ 96kbps/ 128kbps
Channels: Stereo

The above mentioned settings will ensure you a perfect playback quality at full screen, without frame  skipping and any video/audio out of sync issues. If you prefer a smaller file size, just  adjust the video bit rate down to 1,500kbps and it will still look well while watching  on the screen.

Step  5: Start ripping Blu-ray and DVD movie to watch on Driod with Pavtube Bluray to Motorola Droid Converter Mac
Once all settings  are done, you can click “Convert” button to start Blu-ray and DVD  ripping.
The output MP4 files can be found out via clicking “Open” button  effortlessly, what you should do next is adding  the MP4 files to the SD card and enjoy them freely on Motorola Droid.

Learn more about Bluray to Motorola Droid Converter for Windows.