Author Topic: Looking to do high quality video conversion (Read 34049 times)

Hirudin · « **on:** June 03, 2007, 11:46 AM »

I've done it the hard way, it sucks, but you get high quality files. I actually wrote a tutorial type thing a few years ago for a flash class I was taking. Here it is if you wanna check it out DVD to Xvid.

Are there any programs out there that will let me take DVD content, manipulate it with AVISynth, convert the audio with LAME (-alt preset standard), and spit it out as an Xvid AVI (or even better MKV?). Something that'll convert the chapters, multiple audio streams, and subtitles to MKV would be good too! Maybe even be worth spending some money on.

Right now, here's the short version of what I do to convert an episode DVD (like a season disc of The Simpsons) to AVI...
0. use AnyDVD to decrypt my DVD 1. Rip the episodes out individually with DVDShrink 2. Use DVD2AVI to create a .d2v file that AVISynth can recognize 3. Use AVISynth to manipulate the video (deinterlace, decimate, run filters, crop, whatever) 4. Then put it into VirtualDUB to convert the video to Xvid (using 2 pass VBR) 5. Somewhere in there I also extract the audio 6. convert it to a wav, or normalize it in BeeSweet 7. If I'm going to use MP3 audio; use RazerLAME to make a VBR MP3 8. Use NanDUB to mux the audio and video into an AVI 8b. I might also use some other program to create an MKV with the DVD-like features (subs, multiple audio)

It's a little hard to keep track of, and quite time consuming, but you get good videos in the end.

Just to be clear, I'm not ONLY trying to use DVD a/v as the source, I just think that it's probably the most difficult and therefor anything that can handle DVDs can probably also handle MPGs, AVIs, and yes, even FLVs. For instance, I'd like to take the MKVs that I've already made and transcode them down into 320x240 Xvid AVI files for my Zen Vision:M, and probably some WMV files for a buddy of mine with a Zune.

[edit]I removed the phrase "the easy way" from the subject of this thread[/edit]

Eóin · « **Reply #1 on:** June 03, 2007, 03:21 PM »

SUPER is a program I only became aware of from people talking about it here. I've found it to be excellent, it does almost everything you could need and I think it should meet your requirements.

P.S. the website is horrible to navigate, but don't let that put you off.

Hirudin · « **Reply #2 on:** June 03, 2007, 10:31 PM »

I gave SUPER a quick try, I don't want to get into it but I didn't like the application and it didn't seem to work at all ta-boot. I'm on Vista 64, I figure SUPER doesn't like it...

It almost seemed like what I am looking for though...

imtrobin · « **Reply #3 on:** June 03, 2007, 11:11 PM »

If you have ripped them using AnyDVD or DVDDecryptor, use AutoGK to encode them to 700MB Divx or Xvid.

http://www.autogk.me.uk/

Hirudin · « **Reply #4 on:** June 04, 2007, 01:53 AM »

If you have ripped them using AnyDVD or DVDDecryptor, use AutoGK to encode them to 700MB Divx or Xvid.

http://www.autogk.me.uk/
-imtrobin (June 03, 2007, 11:11 PM)

Oh yeah! I remember hearing quite a bit about this back in the day, I seem to remember it being just about as close to 'automated' as you could get at the time. But for one reason or another I didn't use it very much, or at all. I'm not sure why though, maybe I didn't have the system specs, maybe the download was too big, maybe it was too expensive (I'm only guessing, it's possible it's always been free), etc. BUT I think it's high time for another try! Thanks imtrobin! I'll report back...

lanux128 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 04, 2007, 02:45 AM »

SUPER is a program I only became aware of from people talking about it here. I've found it to be excellent, it does almost everything you could need and I think it should meet your requirements.
-Eóin (June 03, 2007, 03:21 PM)

Eóin, take a look here before suggesting SUPER.. or Hirudin might bite your head off..

Hirudin · « **Reply #6 on:** June 04, 2007, 03:00 AM »

SUPER is a program I only became aware of from people talking about it here. I've found it to be excellent, it does almost everything you could need and I think it should meet your requirements.
-Eóin (June 03, 2007, 03:21 PM)

Eóin, take a look here before suggesting SUPER.. or Hirudin might bite your head off..
-lanux128 (June 04, 2007, 02:45 AM)

Yeah... And don't even THINK of mentioning FLV! Also, don't stray from the message and point of the original post. Consider it your GOD while you're here.

Eóin · « **Reply #7 on:** June 04, 2007, 05:26 AM »

Ah, I hadn't been following that other thread so didn't realise this was a spin-off

AutoGK is also quite good, for a ripper I'd recommend Imgburn.

Hirudin · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2007, 12:15 PM »

Yeah, ImgBurn is awesome, I love it as a burner!

Looks like you're forced to create image files with ImgBurn (which makes sense). With AnyDVD you can just drag the DVD contents to a local folder. I find the DVD files (VOBs and whatnot) work in pretty much any DVD software while images sometimes cause problems.

I've been using DVDShrink to extract the individual episodes out of a DVD. Works very well, is easy, and free!

Hirudin · « **Reply #9 on:** June 04, 2007, 12:24 PM »

I gave ~~Gordian Knot~~ AutoGK a try last night, seemed to create a decent video. Very automated, but I didn't see many options... (I even tried right clicking on the program!). I have a suspicion maybe I have to change the options in the Xvid program, or in some .ini somewhere though.

Unlike some people, I'm not happy just letting a program "do it's thing" when I know there's a ton of options to be had. For instance live TV shows probably need different options than cartoons to create the highest quality video.

Eóin · « **Reply #10 on:** June 04, 2007, 05:10 PM »

Looks like you're forced to create image files with ImgBurn (which makes sense).
-Hirudin (June 04, 2007, 12:15 PM)

I had thought the same thing too for a while, but in fact when in the build mode you can set a writeable cd or dvd as a target device allowing you to skip the intermediate iso stage if you wish.

Hirudin · « **Reply #11 on:** June 04, 2007, 06:13 PM »

Looks like you're forced to create image files with ImgBurn (which makes sense).
-Hirudin (June 04, 2007, 12:15 PM)

I had thought the same thing too for a while, but in fact when in the build mode you can set a writeable cd or dvd as a target device allowing you to skip the intermediate iso stage if you wish.
-Eóin (June 04, 2007, 05:10 PM)

I meant while ripping DVDs, looks like you have to make an image. Since I almost always process the DVD contents before burning I prefer to use the actual DVD files.

That Build mode works great as well! It was also a recent find for me.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #12 on:** June 06, 2007, 03:32 AM »

I find DVDFab Platinum to be really very useful. It comes with a lifetime of free upgrades (and it is prolifically updated - practically everytime I open the app there is a new version to download).

It rips pretty much anything you throw at it (either to ISO files or to a VIDEO_TS folder) and will resize/bit copy/reduce to main film etc. (even on the fly) and burn a copy of any DVD but also allows recoding for iPods etc and has a generic convert option which produces XvidD plus the original audio format or MP3 audio in the form of an AVI file.

I haven't tried the generic conversion but the rest of the app is excellent and remarkably quick.

I have attached a couple of screen shots so you can see what is there but I suggest you donwload the trial from

www.dvdfab.com

the only drawback is that it is now $50 - but it really is a pretty much one click automated app that works brilliantly and the speed of development makes the price tag quite cheap.

Looking to do high quality video conversion

wr975 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 06, 2007, 04:30 AM »

I gave Gordian Knot a try last night, seemed to create a decent video. Very automated, but I didn't see many options... (I even tried right clicking on the program!). I have a suspicion maybe I have to change the options in the Xvid program, or in some .ini somewhere though.

Unlike some people, I'm not happy just letting a program "do it's thing" when I know there's a ton of options to be had. For instance live TV shows probably need different options than cartoons to create the highest quality video.
-Hirudin (June 04, 2007, 12:24 PM)

Gordian Knot gives you 100% access to all the options a codec offers. :-)

See the three guides here: http://www.doom9.org/xvid-guides.htm

Gordian Knot is already a bit dated because all development went into AutoGK. IMHO AutoGK is the best one-click solution around, but I still prefer Gordian Knot (together with the included Robot4Rip). It's a bit of a learning process to get used to the program, but after years of using + a couple of mouse gestures (using StrokeIt) I can create XviD encodings (ripped from DVD) with minimum work in a quality and size I want.

For ripping copy protected DVDs I'm using AnyDVD. This tool allows me to continue using DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink + lets me watch DVDs without seeing forced ads/trailers/PiratesAreCriminals. And the best: Lifetime updates.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #14 on:** June 06, 2007, 09:17 AM »

Just tried DVDFab 'generic' conversion to produce an AVI (Xvid + MP3) and it seems to work great. You can set fixed bit rates, output sizes, frame rates etc. and is all very easy to use.

Hirudin · « **Reply #15 on:** June 06, 2007, 03:31 PM »

I gave Gordian Knot a try...
-Hirudin (June 04, 2007, 12:24 PM)
Gordian Knot gives you 100% access to all the options a codec offers. :-)

See the three guides here: http://www.doom9.org/xvid-guides.htm

Gordian Knot is already a bit dated because all development went into AutoGK
...
-wr975 (June 06, 2007, 04:30 AM)

Ohhh... I see, I guess I was thinking AutoGK and Gordian Knot were the same thing, I actually tried AutoGK. I'll have to go give Gordian Knot (ManualGK as it were) a try.

DVD Plat looks like a good DVD compressing program, but it looks too DVD centric to me. Another one to check out is DVD RB Pro's mobile output:
Screenshot - 6_6_2007 , 2_29_19 PM.png

Hirudin · « **Reply #16 on:** June 07, 2007, 04:41 AM »

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I've found a program that seems very promising! It's called StaxRip (Formally DVX I think).
Screenshot - 6_7_2007 , 3_26_20 AM.png

A couple of the very cool features I've run into so far...
* It opens little help descriptions the first time you enter a new area. They tell you what the different buttons/options mean. This could get annoying the 10th time I see them, but for now I think they're great!
* It is a front end for many programs (I just tried to encode a video and it said that I needed 8 more programs). But it doesn't leave you hanging!
* If you don't have a program already it'll download and install it for you! Amazing! I wonder if it'll also keep track of what versions are available and update when needed?
* When it needed to install the first program, the UAC of Vista popped up, just as it should have! As an early Vista adopter I'm glad to see software that works correctly in Vista.
* It has a very clean, modern interface. Not super important, but it's nice when the layout makes sense and is pleasant to look at.

I hope it works, I hate to review a software before actually confirming the functionality...

But at the very least, to me, THIS looks like the ultimate video transcoding software.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #17 on:** June 07, 2007, 04:56 AM »

Hmmm ... do you really want software randomly downloading unknown software and installing it?

Black Mamba · « **Reply #18 on:** June 07, 2007, 07:19 AM »

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I've found a program that seems very promising! It's called StaxRip (Formally DVX I think).
-Hirudin (June 07, 2007, 04:41 AM)

Thanks for the tip. It's really great!

Time to learn how to encode properly.

Hirudin · « **Reply #19 on:** June 07, 2007, 01:14 PM »

Hmmm ... do you really want software randomly downloading unknown software and installing it?
-Carol Haynes (June 07, 2007, 04:56 AM)

Usually no, but I've actually used the majority of the software that it's requested so far. (I should say: when it started asking me to download software I just started at the top of the list and worked my way down. Every program name that I actually read is a program that I've already used.) Programs like these usually come with all the executables that they work with, but they're almost always old and outdated versions.

I don't know about most people, but I consider converting video to be a big chore, so I put it off. That almost always means that I have to go and download all the software I want to use again (because what I already have is invariably outdated). Even remembering the names of the software I need is hard enough, but trying to find the latest versions is worse.

Darwin · « **Reply #20 on:** June 07, 2007, 02:13 PM »

I was considering ripping some DVD's onto my harddrive so that I could watch them in compressed format while on a palaeoanthropological dig in Belgium next month (leave June 21st, so don't expect I'll be around here much after that) without having to take the media with me. Am I the only one that finds this process so sloooooowwwww and resource intensive that it's not worthwhile? I've tried DVDFab, Divx Suite, Super@ and Total Movie Converter. I haven't tried in about a month, so maybe it's time to try again - I've uninstalled a good 60 programmes any one of which could have been causing conflicts and what not... Anyway, I did manage to test the quality be ripping the opening credits and first chapter of Superman Returns into an avi file with Divx, and was very impressed with the result but am not sure I have the time or the energy to rip the five or six movies I was thinking of taking with me. Maybe I should just take the media and be done with it!

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #21 on:** June 07, 2007, 03:54 PM »

I have to say I don't think DVDFab is slow - it seems to take not much longer on my system than copying 8Gb of data to the hard disk (which is what it is doing effectively - even if it is compressing it as it has to at least read the data). That's if you copy it into DVD5 format.

Really compressing the data to small XviD files is a bit slow and time consuming but why not just leave it when you go to bed? You can load up multiple copies of DVDFab and process umpteen DVDs simultaneously (OK you have to rip them first unless you have umpteen drives).

The other thing I like about DVDFab is that it lets you use the computer while it is working - apps like DVDShrink tend to push CPU usage up to 100% and lock you out unless you set the low priority option - but then it takes an age.

Darwin · « **Reply #22 on:** June 07, 2007, 04:34 PM »

You're preaching to the choir, Carol! I love DVDFab - been using it and DVDIdle Pro for years. I think I was experiencing issues relating to a very small amount of free disc space (about 10GB) and too much junk installed. I've upgraded the harddrive and uninstalled all sorts of detritus and have installed the latest version of DVDFab - I'm good to go so will try ripping something and report back. I'm encouraged by your experience using it!

Hirudin · « **Reply #23 on:** June 07, 2007, 06:47 PM »

Yeah, working with video takes forever! I would imagine for the most part any DVD9 to DVD5 compression will take roughly the same amount of time, but I'd be willing to bet that Nero is one of the fastest (it's probably somewhere in the middle for quality though).

But, to me it sounds like you've got about 2 weeks to do 6 movies. Sounds very doable!

For quality DVD backing up, I'd recommend AnyDVD and DVD Rebuilder Pro using ReJig. ~$50 each.

Darwin · « **Reply #24 on:** June 07, 2007, 06:59 PM »

But, to me it sounds like you've got about 2 weeks to do 6 movies. Sounds very doable!

Yeah, just have to get off my duff and do it, I suppose. But I still haven't decided what to rip... Decisions, decisions, decisions... I'll let DVDFab do its thing tonight with something and report back here tomorrow.