Table of contents
Introduction
BD3D2MK3D is mainly a GUI to convert movies from 3D BDs to 3D MKV video files in Full or Half Side by Side, Top & Bottom or Frame sequential format, encoded in h264 with x264 (or in h265 with x265). BD3D2MK3D can also accept lossless 3D AVC+MVC files created with MakeMKV as input.
BD3D2MK3D is based on many useful third-party programs and tools. I have written it mainly because it was difficult to do all operations necessary to convert a BD3D manually, and because the documentation about the method to use was poor and spread over a lot of posts in this long and technical thread: Guide to convert BD 3D to 3D Left+Right Stereoscopic and Anaglyph. It was also painful to have to download and install all the programs needed for the conversion.
A brief history
As you can see in the original thread, the development of the method and the tools necessary to do the conversion was a collective effort. I wish to thank all contributors.
My first attempt to create a GUI based on the various tools available at that time resulted in BD3D2AVS. It was based on eac3to, ldecod and ssifsource. Ldecod was used to decode the dependent view of the stereoscopic input streams. It works well, but it is terribly slow, and is was therefore not a good solution. Luckily, the external tools have evolved, and I wrote a second version of the program, called BD3D2MK3D. The original BD3D2MK3D was mainly based on ssifSource and DirectShowMVCSource, but is now also obsolete.
Starting with v0.30, BD3D2MK3D is based on new tools, much more efficient, like the tsMuxeR update for 3D blu-ray and the Intel MVC decoder to decode the dependent view, with the help of the avisynth plugin FRIMSource by videofan3d. The GUI uses also a lot of other tools. See the Help menu for a list of the most important tools.
Over time, I've also added many tools independent of the main conversion, mainly to allow experienced users to modify the resulting MKV to, for example, add their own 3D subtitles.
Features of BD3D2MK3D
- Convert any 3D playlist from a properly decoded blu-ray 3D to a standalone 3D Half-side by side (HSBS) or Half-top & bottom (aka Over/Under or HOU), or to Full-SBS or Full-T&B, or even to Frame Sequential 3D MKV file.
- Can also accept as input a 3D-MKV file created with MakeMKV (with the option to include the 3D MVC stream).
- Can resize the output to 720p
- Can output a 3D stream compatible with 3D-Ready DLP projectors (720p Frame Sequential at 59.94fps).
- Can convert the subtitle streams to 3D, using the depth stored in the original BD for each individual subtitles. (The subtitles can also be kept in 2D if you wish.)
- Can hardcode (or "burn") a subtitle stream (all or forced captions only) over the video with the right depth for each individual subtitles.
- The subtitles can be muxed in the original BD SUP format for an excellent quality or in VobSub (IDX/SUB) format for a better compatibility.
- It is even possible, with some manual work and the help of the Tools menu of BD3D2MK3D, to use a subtitle stream coming from another source (such as a SRT downloaded from the internet or a SUP stream from the 2D BD of the same movie) and convert it to 3D with (approximately) the right depth values to mux it within the final MKV or hardcode it to the video. See the mini guide here.
- Can extract the regular 5.1 DTS or AC3 cores of the DTS-HD, DTS-HD-MA, E-AC3 and TrueHD audio streams.
- Can convert the audio tracks to AC3 or AAC for a better compatibility or a smaller file size.
- The chapter points are automatically preserved in the final MKV file.
- Can include tags about the movie (movie title, director, producer, actors, summary, comments, etc...)
- It is possible to provide your own image for the icon of the MKV file and the display in a media center, or to retrieve it from the original BD.
- Can add some seconds of black at the beginning or end of the video so that the user has some time to configure his 3D TV and to turn his active 3D glasses on before the beginning of the movie.
- The encoding to h264 is made with x264 (32 or 64-bit) for an excellent image quality, and the user can select the most important encoding settings, such as the encoding mode (CQ, CRF, ABR or 2-pass), the preset, tune, profile and level. It can also specify manually additional options if he wish. Similarly, x265 can be used to encode in h265 with a much better compression, but with a few limitations. The user can even encode with any command line encoder by providing his own command line.
- The correct 3D video mode is automatically defined in the h264 video stream (the "frame-packing"), in the header of the MKV video file (the stereoscopy mode), and optionally in the file name, so that most TVs and 3D players can switch automatically to the right 3D mode when the file is played.
- The final MKV file is automatically muxed at the end of the encoding, and there is an option to shutdown the computer when everything is finished.
- BD3D2MK3D has also some independent tools, notably powerful tools to convert an external subtitle stream to 3D, using the 3D depth values extracted from the original 3DBD, and optionally the subtitle positions cloned from another subtitle file.
- And much more...
Current version
The current version is 1.35 (January 11, 2025)
Download BD3D2MK3D
The latest version of BD3D2MK3D can always be downloaded here: BD3D2MK3D.7z
(The obsolete BD3D2AVS based on ldecod can still be downloaded here: BD3D2AVS.7z
Please note that BD3D2AVS is obsolete. It is still available if you want to try the old conversion methods, but it is no longer developed, and it doesn't contain all features and bug fixes of the latest BD3D2MK3D. Use it at your own risk, and don't ask for help!)
Installation of BD3D2MK3D
- Pre-required and recommended programs:
- BD3D2MK3D requires Windows Vista or greater to work properly. Windows XP is not supported (due to incompatibilities in the Intel MVC decoder).
- Avisynth+ or the old classic Avisynth v2.6.0 (32-bit) must be properly installed on your computer. (Avisynth is a complex program, but you don't need to use it directly. Just install it.) Currently, Avisynth+ 64-bit is recommended, but you can also use the 32-bit version if you have an old 32-bit computer, or the classic avisynth if you have developed your own avisynth scripts working only with that version.
- Since BD3D2MK3D doesn't decrypt the commercial 3DBDs, you need a way to decrypt them. You can use a good BD decrypter that can create an ISO on hard disc, such as DVDFab HD Decrypter or Ideal Blu-Ray Copy. You can also use AnyDVD HD, that decrypts the original BD on the fly. It is also possible to decrypt only the title you want and convert it to lossless 3D-MKV with MakeMKV. (MakeMKV is free while in beta if you use the key provided here.)
- To convert the subtitles to 3D or to IDX/SUB format, it is highly recommended to install Java (preferably the Eclipse Temurin JRE for Windows x64 from Adoptium), necessary to run BDSup2Sub, provided with the program. (BDSup2Sub++ is also used and it doesn't require Java, but the Java version is still highly recommended to avoid some bugs of the ++ version.)
- BD3D2MK3D can "burn" (hardcode) the 3D subtitles on the video. It's useful if your 3D TV cannot display the 3D subtitles correctly. For the best result, it is recommended to burn the subtitles in BD SUP format. For this, you need to install the Microsoft .NET Framework v4. If it is not installed, the subtitles in the old VobSub (DVD IDX/SUB) format will be used, and the result will be less good.
- It is also recommended to install a good video player that can play BD's M2TS and MPLS files and that let you select any audio or subtitle stream. The player is used only for the preview. The free players PotPlayer (recommended) or MPC-HC do the job well, but there are many other good players. Just avoid the Windows Media Player, that doesn't work well at all.
- BD3D2MK3D is distributed as a 7Z archive (similar but much better than ZIP). To extract the program from the archive, you need a good archiver program such as 7-Zip.
- To install BD3D2MK3D, simply extract the content of the 7Z archive to a directory of your choice. BD3D2MK3D saves its settings in its installation directory, and doesn't use the Windows registry. It is therefore highly recommended to install it in a folder where you have full access rights. Do not install it in Program Files or in Program Files (x86). Some users have also reported problems when the program is stored in a path containing foreign or accented characters, therefore it may be better to avoid them.
- If you wish, you can create a shortcut to BD3D2MK3D.exe in your Start menu (or Start Screen under Windows 8 and 10). Or you can simply open the installation folder in Explorer, and double-click BD3D2MK3D.exe to launch the program.
Contact and forums
Please post your feedback, suggestions and bug reports preferably on the Doom9 forum,
in this thread, or optionally at the VideoHelp forums in this thread. Thanks.
Old discussion threads:
You may also write (in French or English) to:
(Sorry, I had to hide the email address to avoid SPAM!)
Please use email only for messages not relevant to the forum. Questions and bug reports should be posted publicly, so that everyone can benefit from them. Thanks!
If you need to submit a bug, please provide the following information:
- The version of BD3D2MK3D you are using.
- The version of Windows you are using (8, 10...) and its default language.
- If the program is crashing with an error message, the full text of this error message (you may have to click on the "Details >>" button of the error dialogue box to see it).
- If you are in trouble with a specific BD3D, please tell me what BD you have tried to convert, and in what region it has been sold.
- Try to describe as much as possible what options you have used.
- Try to describe exactly what you were doing when the problem occurred, and how to reproduce it.
