So I'm Dense. Easy Way to DVD/VOB to WMV

[opfreak]

I want to stream video to my xbox 360 using MCE, and the xbox 360 extendor.

I have already tired transcode, and ahh, too many buttons to push for some in my house.

I am not limited by diskspace, I will add more if needed, as long as the WMV file is not bigger then the orginal (why would it be).

I am after
a) simplicty ( I have to do a TON of dvds)
b) QUALITY, As loseloss, as can be going from the DVD to WMV. (almost number 1, but something a ton simpler with a small lose in quality, I'll take)
c) speed (I can batch files at night, but as always faster = Better)
d) mainting the 5.1 sound, by using the WMV 5.1 sound. (which from many reports the xbox 360 will then play correctly so the reciver can/will play surround sound).

I currently rip with DVD-shrink, DVD decytrp, and DVD Fab.

I have searched, but links to some of the guides seem to be down.

Since I have alot of DVD's, I would like a process thats as automatic as possible.

i.e. rip.> transcode> done.

I know I should search more, and am. But if a gure just has a good link to follow I appericate it.

[Sirber]

There aren't much GUI for WMV, since there are no commandline encoders. Not sure you can find something... :(

[opfreak]

There aren't much GUI for WMV, since there are no commandline encoders. Not sure you can find something... :(

well i'm willing to learn.

but if there was something easy. I'ld go that way first.

I try searching this forum, for like dvd, and keep getting no matches.

a google search, is all ad filled buy the junk soft ware.

[ilovejedd]

Is WMV the only format/container the Xbox 360 will accept? Because the only free encoder I know of is Microsoft's own Windows Media Encoder and Movie Maker. ffmpeg can encode using WMV codec but only to AVI or ASF container.

[opfreak]

Is WMV the only format/container the Xbox 360 will accept? Because the only free encoder I know of is Microsoft's own Windows Media Encoder and Movie Maker. ffmpeg can encode using WMV codec but only to AVI or ASF container.

from my understanding. it does not play avi, or asf containers.

I did just find a guide at http://microsoftuse.temp.powweb.com/zarax/dvd_index.htm

by accident, so I will try that.

to see if it works.

what video/audio bit rate though, is as close to the orginal as possible? (i.e. least amount of compression)

[check]

WmNicEnc (thread in this forum) may be a good option to look at. It will take an avs file as input and encode it to a .wmv with whatever settings you desire.
The steps left to fill are:
o rip DVD
o create d2v index
o create avs file
You can either do those by hand or you can use a tool such as MeGUI - check my signature for the wiki and read the first few pages of the basic guide. In your case i'd recommend one change:
Instead of creating one avs for the video and one for the audio, get your video avs and change "audio=false" to "audio=true", then you can input that to wmnicenc and it will do all the encoding for you.

[tchaikovsky]

I made a program by myself in 2004. It's not a GUI for command line and i made some update to support WVC1 last month.You can check it out.
http://www.blogcn.com/u2/81/36/galaxies/blog/40378026.html
hope it can help u encode to wmv
:)

Edit:
sorry for that blog download is not available.
http://galaxies3000.blogspot.com/
the WME Assistant beta post
this blog writing in english, not chinese and there you can downlod WMEA

[opfreak]

I made a program by myself in 2004. It's not a GUI for command line and i made some update to support WVC1 last month.You can check it out.
http://www.blogcn.com/u2/81/36/galaxies/blog/40378026.html
hope it can help u encode to wmv
:)

Edit:
sorry for that blog download is not available.
http://galaxies3000.blogspot.com/
the WME Assistant beta post
this blog writing in english, not chinese and there you can downlod WMEA


Sorry for the dissappearing act.

does your method preserve the ac3?

with vista screwing more things up. I need a wmv wth ac3 so that the surroud sound plays.

right now, all my wme encodes with pro audio 10, show surround sound with the graphedit tool (zarax). but the 360 does not decode the audio correctly, and only plays 2 channel audio.

But ac3 if present should work fine?

[tchaikovsky]

:)
WMEA can not preserve the ac3.
But Xbox 360 support WMV9 with WMA9 Pro video format. You can use WMEA encode your media files to wmv with multichannel wma9 pro.

[Stebet]

My method is perhaps a bit unusual but i'm veyr happy with the results.

1. Rip DVD
2. Decode AC3 (if it's in 5.1) and demux video as well in DGIndex.
3. Use Besweet to change 5.1 into 6 mono wavs (only applies to DVD's with 5.1 audio)
4. Use demuxed mpeg movie in WME and .ac3 if it's in stereo, otherwise the 6 wavs if it's in 5.1.
5. Encode audio with Lossless WMA9 Pro (24bit 5.1/2.0) and video i've been using 3 mbits (it really should vary according to the source but i'm not so picky), all VBR. Set correct framerate, cropping and PAR.

I have an Nvidia card so the Nvidia DVD decoder does all the deinterlacing work for me (hardware accelerated and damn good quality to boot) so i see no need for AviSynth.

This has yielded pretty nice results i.m.o and the Nvidia decoder cuts down on the encoding time a lot. I'm mainly encoding my DVD's for use on my Xbox 360 using it as an extender for Media Center.

[opfreak]

I've seen this in a ton of guides. why do people use besweet to take the ac3 to mono wavs, and then combine them again?

When WME will take the ac3 to wma?

Seems like an extra step? or does besweet fix something.
------------

is there anything wrong with the dvd2avi demux?
and can I use that number and use delaycut to fix the delay?

So for example my dvd2avi demux ac3 has a -92 ms delay.
would I put in -92 into delaycut?

[Stebet]

I've seen this in a ton of guides. why do people use besweet to take the ac3 to mono wavs, and then combine them again?

When WME will take the ac3 to wma?

Seems like an extra step? or does besweet fix something.
------------

is there anything wrong with the dvd2avi demux?
and can I use that number and use delaycut to fix the delay?

So for example my dvd2avi demux ac3 has a -92 ms delay.
would I put in -92 into delaycut?

WME chokes on 5.1 AC3's and throws an exception unless you have a very specific codec installed (can't remember which one) which is only available commercially i think. I don't know if it's a bug in WME (likely) or if all the other codecs that don't work are doing something wrong (unlikely). 2.0 channel AC3's work fine though.

I very seldomly hit AC3's with delays but if i do i do the BeSweet thing and insert the delay there. I'm using BeLight as a frontend to BeSweet b.t.w. I have had no problems with DVD2AVI demux.

[HookedOnTV]

I've had some success using the nicaudio.dll plugin with WMNicEnc to get AC3 right to WMA.