How to concatenate m2ts files; or simulate a blu-ray folder

Report · Jul 08, 2023

This is not really a Premiere question, more a Encore question, but that forum no longer exists so I'll try here.

Background

I present audio-visuals in local venues of Tasmanian wilderness areas. The video chapters are exported from Premiere as Blu-ray files, assembled in Encore, built to a Blu-ray folder on a USB stick, and presented to an audience from that blu-ray folder using an Oppo blu-ray player. The Oppo is a rare beast – it can play video from a Blu-ray folder on USB.

I do not trust computers to present a show. Too many things can go wrong. I only trust a dedicated device – a Blu-ray player, which has the professional-looking niceties of Opening titles, End Titles, and so on.

Problem

The problem is Murphy's Law, so I have backups of everything when I show publicly. Yes everything, including a spare projector. And I had to call on it once, 20 minutes before show time. I also take a spare blu-ray player – but it can't play blu-ray folders from USB. And Oppo projectors are no longer made.

So, I burn the blu-ray folder to disk, just in case the Oppo or the USB stick pack it in. Problem – my latest show occupies 28GB, too big to fit on a 25GB disk. And I don't trust dual-layer home-burnt disks.

An idea

My initial idea was to extract the m2ts files from the blu-ray folder, concatenate them using tsMuxer, copy to USB stick, and play the resulting 28GB file on my spare blu-ray player. However, tsMuxer has a problem – the longer the concatenated file is, the more out of sync the sound is.

Questions

Are there any dedicated video devices, other than Oppo, that can play from blu-ray folder on USB?
Any suggestions as to how I can concatenate m2ts files without re-encoding? I definitely want to use the m2ts files from the blu-ray folder, and not have to export from Premiere in a different format. The m2ts's are already tested and working fine.

Report · Jul 09, 2023

1. Know of no device.

2. You could rewrap the m2ts with Shutter Encoder to mp4 and join the with a MP4 joiner program without re-encoding.

Report · Jul 10, 2023

Thanks for the suggestion. I spent a couple of hours with Shutter Encoder, which not only can rewrap, but it can also merge files into one big file. Worked well.

With my Oppo, when I tested fast forward and then reverse (imagining during a presentation, that something has gone haywire, and I have to find the 'haywire' spot), the Oppo went stupid, jumping all over the place. On the other hand, my el-cheapo LG player handled forward/reverse perfectly – but if I jumped to next chapter on the remote, it jumped to the next video file on the USB stick. Looks like as long as I don't have to move about within the video, Shutter Encoder might prove useful.

Then I came across MakeMKV. Very nice. I could drag the BDMV folder onto the interface, select a destination, press Make MKV, and away it went. Amazing. Even more impressive, was the fact that my Oppo could now pick up the chapter breaks. I could jump between chapters with the Oppo, but not with the LG player.

Ques: the 28GB MKV file looks like one file to me. How does the Oppo blu-ray player know there are chapters inside?