A Python script that uses ffmpeg and the mp4v2 tools plus data from themoviedb.com or thetvdb.com to create a neat, iTunes accepted .m4v file for a movie.

I am in the process of “ripping” my entire collection of movie and TV-show DVDs and BDs to harddrive to have them available in iTunes and on my Apple TV. All my experience, tipps and quirks go into this script.

You'll need: o Python 2.7 o ffmpeg from http://www.ffmpeg.org o mp4v2 tools from http://code.google.com/p/mp4v2/ o tmdb Python module, use easy_install tmdb o tvdb_api Python module, use easy_install tvdb_api o lxml Python module

This should be it.

Use

movierip --help

but be warned, this thing's got about as many switches as ls. Here's an example.

movierip -e 1 -d 2 Lars\ and\ the\ Real\ Girl\ (2007).vob

The magic is in the file name: “Real Girl” is the movie's title and it's been published in 2007, according to themoviedb.com. The script will use that info to query the database and retrieve metadata. It the query yields more than one movie, the script will ask which one to pick. The -e is for English sound track, -d for German (“deutsch”). Using --soundtrack LNG=# will expect a sound track for language LNG in track #.

Combine a number of files using cat and pipe them into ffmpeg:

cat VTS_01_1.VOB VTS_01_2.VOB VTS_01_3.VOB
VTS_01_4.VOB VTS_01_5.VOB VTS_01_6.VOB
VTS_01_7.VOB VTS_01_8.VOB |
movierip --sd -d 1 -e 3
-m song="Independence Day" -m year=1996 --choose 0 -

The “song” and “year” metainfo are used to identify the film on themoviedb.com. The moviedb query returns more than on emovie for that name and year and we “--choose” the first. German and English audio tracks are converted.

movierip -v -N -T 2 \
     -m type=tvshow -m show="The Simpsons" -m year=1989 \
     -e 1 S08E01.vob

Let's convert a Simpson's Episode. I've copied the VOB files off of the DVD using Slysoft's CloneDVD Mobile. That makes it really easy to overcome the convoluted data structure on the DVD, but it doesn't allow me to copy more that one sound track. Sad, but can't be helped. I supply show and year info on the command line using -m and set the type to tvshow so movierip knows which database to query for episode details and iTunes puts the resulting file in the right category. -N lets ffmpeg be nice to other processes, -T limits the number of concurrent ffmpeg threads to two instead of the default four (so I can use the computer more comfortably during conversion) and -v lets me see ffmpeg and utility command lines on the terminal.