Batch re-encoding from Video_TS folders to H.264? (There has to be an easy way!)

[Tirade]

First post so yeah Ive been staring at the forums for the last 5 days waiting on my 5 day timer to expire so i can post.

Here it goes!

I currently have about 200 DVD ripped using DVD Shrink. I use the standard re-author method of just selecting the movie and then backing it up. I let it auto compress but usually its either no compression to a max of about 15% so the movies are still the same as if they were on the DVD.

I run everything out of my HTPC into an AVR which decodes the PCM or AC3 audio I guess (still learning the lingo).

Im at 250GB X 4 HD space and running low and no desire to keep buying my HD's. I want to compress each movie down into an MPG4 h.264 video file. I have no need to reencode the audio since the AVR does the decoding for me and these movies will only be played from the HTPC.

Each drive has about 40-50 movies on it each in its own subfolder. Each subfolder is about 4gb in size.

Whats the simplest, quickest, easist way to bacth convert these movies into what I want? Assuming something standard like 1500mbps @ 720X480p.

I dont mind buying software to do this, I just want something that I can start and in a few days is done. In the end id still like to use MyMovies to maintain my database and launch stuff directly from Media Center using ZP or TT.

[neuron2]

I'm really getting tired of all these noobs that won't bother to read our rules, even after 5 days of "staring at the forums"!

Please read and follow forum rules, specifically, rule 9: use a proper thread title. Thank you.

http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm

[Tirade]

I'm really getting tired of all these noobs that won't bother to read our rules, even after 5 days of "staring at the forums"!

Please read and follow forum rules, specifically, rule 9: use a proper thread title. Thank you.

http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm

I fixed the title, thanks for taking to the time to provide a constructive reply.

[desta]

You were asking overly generalised questions, and tbh, you're not helping yourself with your reply to neuron2.

[neuron2]

I fixed the title, thanks for taking to the time to provide a constructive reply. You seem to have missed rule 4: respect the moderator.

[Tirade]

You seem to have missed rule 4: respect the moderator.

The way I was raised, respect is earned and by you being a prick with your first reply you arent exactly asking me to be nice. I just read rule 4 again and I could have sworn it said "be nice to each other" and "insults will not be tolerated". Calling me a "noob" and replying like a dick wouldnt exactly fall under rule # 4, that is unless the rules dont apply to you.

7,000+ posts might make you famous in your eyes but if you want my respect the least you can do is give some in return.

Now back on topic, while my title was vague at first, the question is far from over generalized. I tried to be as complete in my post as possible so if I missed some important information then please let me know. Im trying to get some answers not start an epeen war.

[desta]

I wouldn't really expect your account to be active much longer, if i were you.

Oh, and your question was definitely over-generalising... take a look through the forums to see why (hint: asking stuff like "what the quickest".. "something standard like 1500", etc etc).

[Tirade]

I wouldn't really expect your account to be active much longer, if i were you.

Oh, and your question was definitely over-generalising... take a look through the forums to see why (hint: asking stuff like "what the quickest".. "something standard like 1500", etc etc).


Actually, I purposely did not ask "whats the BEST way" as best is obviously subjective. Asking what is the quickest way is definately not generalising anything as time is definately not subjective.

1500 is the quicktime standard for HQ settings (or so thats what I read on this site). If that information is wrong then again Ill repeat that Im new to all this and there is a lot of info to take in at once.

[Sharktooth]

Well, lets calm down. The mods are pretty annoyed to always repeat the same things to newbies and eventually neuron2 was in a bad mood.
So, please be nice to each other and let's have a nice and civil discussion (yeah i know those words sounds weird from my mouth... im usually an a$$...).
However, there are several tools that can serve up for your needs.
Have a look at the MPEG-4 Encoder GUIs forum and look for MeGUI, StaxRip, RealAnime etc.
All those programs can handle batch encoding from DVD rips into h.264 + ac3 (ensure you use the .MKV container for that purpouse).
As usual, :readguid: for more info.

[neuron2]

I'm going to set an example here...

How to be laid back and let stuff roll off your back when an obvious misunderstanding has occurred. I request other mods not to issue any strikes here.

My initial sentence was ill-advised and constituted "collective punishment" of noobs. Therefore, the non-germane parts of the thread should be disregarded.

@Tirade
Welcome to the forum!

[Tirade]

Well, lets calm down. The mods are pretty annoyed to always repeat the same things to newbies and eventually neuron2 was in a bad mood.
So, please be nice to each other and let's have a nice and civil discussion (yeah i know those words sounds weird from my mouth... im usually an a$$...).
However, there are several tools that can serve up for your needs.
Have a look at the MPEG-4 Encoder GUIs forum and look for MeGUI, StaxRip, RealAnime etc.
All those programs can handle batch encoding from DVD rips into h.264 + ac3 (ensure you use the .MKV container for that purpouse).
As usual, :readguid: for more info.


I think neuron2 and I made up privately, I think we were both a bit annoyed (my noobishness is his case which makes his life more reptitive day in and day out and my 5 days of waiting just to post in my case), and often times we forget the other guys point of view.

Thanks for the reply btw, and a few questions.

Is 1500kbps considered the minimum standard HQ DVD ripping (the previous poster has me doubting this now), I dont need it ripped to a specific size as this is all being stored on HD's, but everything Ive read said a minimum of 1500 or 1600 was the way to go to be considered HQ encoding. Even if I can reduce my file sie by 50% thats another 200 movies I can fit in the PC before I have to buy more storage.

Ive read briefly on the MKV container and from the polls it sure seems to be the container of choice for 06 ;), I never considered it because Im not really familiar with it but I'll definately look into it.

I paid for a product called Fairuse when I first started looking into this but it doesnt support the reading of video_ts folders and it required me to convert the folders to iso's first and I knew there had to be a better way (and I want to avoid spending more money).

[Sharktooth]

h.264 is a very efficient codec. in most cases 1500kbps will be enaugh for a good quality... but there are always cases where global compressibility is so low it wont suffice.
in your case i would suggest a constant quantizer (CQ) or constant quality (CRF) encode (assuming you'll use x264 as encoder).
That will ensure your movies will have always the same average quality but bitrate will vary from movie to movie.
CRF or CQ 18 is a very high quality encode but it can generate big filesizes.
Do some tests from 18 to 24 for quality encodes (you wont need to encode the whole movie for testing... just a small part) and make your choice.

EDIT: Most of those GUIs also come with presets or profiles to help the newbies.

[Tirade]

h.264 is a very efficient codec. in most cases 1500kbps will be enaugh for a good quality... but there are always cases where global compressibility is so low it wont suffice.
in your case i would suggest a constant quantizer (CQ) or constant quality (CRF) encode (assuming you'll use x264 as encoder).
That will ensure your movies will have always the same average quality but bitrate will vary from movie to movie.
CRF or CQ 18 is a very high quality encode but it can generate big filesizes.
Do some tests from 18 to 24 for quality encodes (you wont need to encode the whole movie for testing... just a small part) and make your choice.

EDIT: Most of those GUIs also come with presets or profiles to help the newbies.

I downloaded all 3 GUI's and didnt see a CQ or CRF setting for any of the 3 at first glance ( I may need to search deeper). They only seemed to offer an output size (i.e. 1CD, 1/3DVD, 2CD) or a bitrate settings in the form of kbps.

With the anime GUI I didnt see an output option of AC3 (nor is it listed as an available output). I think it encodes the audio no matter what.

Ill spend the next few hours and tomorrow researching each and playing around to see which works best for me.

[foxyshadis]

CQ = "Constant Quant"
CRF = "Constant Quality"
in the MeGUI parlance. They're in codec config, btw, not the bitrate calc.

[Tirade]

CQ = "Constant Quant"
CRF = "Constant Quality"
in the MeGUI parlance. They're in codec config, btw, not the bitrate calc.


Thanks! I found the option, but I also found the MeGUI profiles and there is a CQ profile that looks like it will fit the bill (The default of that profile is 18 it seems).

Ill review the settings of that profile (not that I know what Im looking at), disable the audio conversion and choose MKV as my container assuming ZP and TT both support it (Im sure ZP does, Ill need to look into TT).

Then Ill batch in 2 or 3 movies and hit Auto Encode and cross my fingers. Does that sound about right? I probably need to move this discussion to the encoders forum soon.

[Sharktooth]

if you have problems with MKV, download the latest Haali media splitter.

[Tirade]

Tried doing a few things here at the office today. I installed MeGUI but it wont run (errors out when I click the icon to start it). StaxRip works and Im currently converting now using one of the CQ profiles and choosing AC3 as my audio and MKV as my container. There were a few steps where it stopped to ask me more questions and definately not a "set it and forget it" option or so it seems.

Ill give MeGUI another shot at home tonight (it worked there) and see what happens. Ideally I just want to cut my DVD's down in size by 1/2 or 1/3 and keep the AC3 audio. I dont want it obvious that the video was encoded I just want it to take up less space on the HD. The CQ profile I used for this StaxRip program thats running in the background uses a CQ of 18, Ill check the size when its done.

[Gehenna]

In Staxrip ,you can change the level of assistance
View / Project Options / Advanced / Assistant (uncheck them)

Also another approach to batch encoding in Staxrip is to create the needed templates (Setup staxrip using desired container/encoder/audio/res.etc) save the template (file / save project as template)

Create a simple batch program (.bat)

'(Single Vobs look like this)
StaxRip -template:Sliders_DivX "D:\Sliders\03x01 - The Rules of The Game\VTS_01_PGC_01_1.VOB" -encode -exit
StaxRip -template:B5_XVID "D:\Babylon 5\05x20 - Objects in Motion\VTS_02_PGC_05_1.VOB" -encode -exit

'(Indexed Files)
Staxrip -template:DVD_Episodes_(Babylon_5) "D:\Babylon 5\03x05 - Voices of Authority\03x05 - Voices of Authority.d2v" -encode -exit

'(Multiple Vobs like this)
StaxRip -template:B5_XVID "D:\Babylon 5\05x19 - The Wheel of Fire\VTS_02_PGC_04_1.VOB" "D:\Babylon 5\05x19 - The Wheel of Fire\VTS_02_PGC_04_2.VOB" -encode -exit
StaxRip -template:Movie_X264 "D:\Movies\Movie Name4\VTS_01_1.VOB" "D:\Movies\Movie Name4\VTS_01_2.VOB" "D:\Movies\Movie Name4\VTS_01_3.VOB" -encode -exit -shutdown

Templates Created in Staxrip :
Sliders_DivX
B5_Xvid
Movie_X264
DVD_Episodes_(Babylon_5)


If using VOB`s as input the whole process is automated,from indexing/audio encoding/video encoding/muxing.

You may need to add the Staxrip directory (ie.. C:\Program Files\DVD Apps\Staxrip ) to your Enviromental Variables Path in XP,else use the full path of staxrip in batch file

Also you will need to change the target directory to %source_name% (View / Project Options / Target Directory),depending on your naming convention of your vobs,changing target to %source_name% means the encoded file will reside in the source directory

Note: You can also batch process DVD Decrypter & DGIndex (http://neoplanet.net/Doom9/batch_decode.txt) to add another level of automation,then call another batch file to start the encoding process (http://neoplanet.net/Doom9/batch_encode.txt)..
The two batch files are created with a simple VB6 app
Just my 0.02$

[Blue_MiSfit]

The error you get with MeGUI is likely from you not having the .NET 2.0 Framework installed. The installer is available in the main MeGUI thread. This is a required component, as MeGUI is written in .NET.