I usually rip DVDs to my HDD and then convert them to mpegs so that my extender can play them. However I then lose the ability to fast forward etc.

I can now rip and convert VOBs to DVR-MS files but when I put these in the same structure I use for my dvd gallery the files will not play from the PC unless I click on the file directly from explorer.

I keep the ts.BUP and TS.IFO files in the same place and set the wvx file to point at the dvr-ms files.

Any help ?

Vista is really bad about this, but luckily it is fixed in 7.

The best solution I've found is to set the appropriate metadata and then to put all the dvr-ms movies in one directory and add the folder to be a "Recorded TV" watched directory. Now the DVD Library will pick up and display all the movie with metadata. Unfortunately as you might expect they also show up in Recorded TV.

You can set the metadata manually with this utility. http://blogs.msdn.com/toub/archive/2005/05/12/416874.aspx

But you can also set this metadata with the latest version of todvrms.exe by using the appropriate switches. Here is a sample for Batman Begins -- one of my own feature requests.
"C:\todvrms.exe" e:\Test_movie.mpg e:\Test_movie.dvr-ms -m -r
"1/1/2005" -t "Batman Begins"

The -m makes the “WM/MediaIsMovie” equal to true.
The -r sets the “WM/OriginalReleaseTime” to the correct year of the movie.
And -t sets the title “Title” to the appropriate title.

If all of these values are correct (verify with IMDB), then VMC will automatically download the metadata for the movie if it is in a recorded TV watched directory.

Like I said before, this is all 100% easier in 7.

Hi Ben, thanks for the response. I'll wait for W7. I have it running on my netbook and love it so when it goes live I'll rebuild my windows media centre PC with W7.

In 7 you can just drop the dvr-ms file into your regular DVD folder and but you'll need to add the metadata.

So for example.
D:\DVD\Batman Begins\Batman Begins.dvr-ms

Then you use a utility like yammm to watch D:\DVD and automatically generate the metadata.
http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/359121.aspx

AS147:

I'll wait for W7.

I think you might have been confused by Ben's answer. What he described for you was the work-around for Vista. You can do that process without waiting for 7.

Unless you want to wait...

Also, you may want to follow the recent entries at this blog.

http://mynetworkproject.blogspot.com/

Recently posts have been centered around finding a solid way to automate the process of encoding DVD video into an MPEG format that can be put into a DVR-MS container and then added to Media Browser for viewing. It looks promising.

bjdraw:

Then you use a utility like yammm to watch D:\DVD and automatically generate the metadata. http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/359121.aspx

I was wondering if you have tried adding WM/DVDID to your .dvr-ms file. Or is that too much fiddling for your taste?

I stopped using Yammm, but I don't have loads of movies (yet). I look for the movie on dvdxml.com and add the DVDID tag along with WM/MediaClassPrimaryID and WM/MediaClassSecondaryID. Then Vista finds the cover art and "cast + more", even reviews and similar movies. Still shows up in "Recorded TV" though.

If there was some utility to automate that process, I'd be ecstatic! For example, as a minimum, such a utility should:

1. Automatically look up movie on dvdxml.com or e-home.no.
2. Add WM/MediaIsMovie = True (Boolean)
3. Add WM/MediaClassPrimaryID = db9830bd-3ab3-4fab-8a37-1a995f7ff74b (Guid)
4. Add WM/MediaClassSecondaryID = ba7f258a-62f7-47a9-b21f-4651c42a000e (Guid)
5. Add WM/DVDID = (what was found in Step 1, String)
6. Fix Title as necessary to match
7. Add WM/OriginalReleaseTime = yyyy-01-01T00:00:00Z (where yyyy = year, string)

I'm confused. You say that you don't have enough movies to use Yammm, but then you ask if there is a way to automate that process. If you automated that, then how would it be different from yammm?

All yammm does is automatically generate the dvdxml file and folder.jpg. And like you said, your process puts all of the movies in recorded TV, something that NO ONE wants.

As for how, you can generate that metadata with todvrms when you create the file with the appropriate switches.

bjdraw:

I'm confused. You say that you don't have enough movies to use Yammm, but then you ask if there is a way to automate that process. If you automated that, then how would it be different from yammm?

Few at present, not willing to spend the time to add more if it isn't the way I want it, you know? I already tried the "My Videos" route and several iterations of "DVD Library". Each try took several hours just for the few movies I was dealing with. Maybe I ask too much.

bjdraw:

All yammm does is automatically generate the dvdxml file and folder.jpg. And like you said, your process puts all of the movies in recorded TV, something that NO ONE wants.

It was changing the titles, directory names, cover art (foder.jpg and <moviename>.jpg) and its own mymovies.xml file, not a dvdxml.xml (comes from dvdxml.com). That was confusing me, and I wanted to find out what Vista does for free (and I still do) so I turned it off. It may still be the best option, but if you don't ask, you don't get.

bjdraw:

As for how, you can generate that metadata with todvrms when you create the file with the appropriate switches.

That sounds interesting. I looked at babvgant website but the wiki didn't describe "todvrms" so I wasn't sure if I found the right place or not. Did I?