possible use of Windows Media Encoder within Rebuilder

[writersblock29]

Hello, Jdobbs -- and the many highly knowledgable people who bless these forums with a wealth of knowledge.

I've been toying around with setting up all of my backups and committing them to hard drives, with the intention being to set up a home entertainment PC which doesn't require the actuall handing of disks in order to watch our favorite movies. I know that I can do it by using DVD Rebuilder to shrink the movies down to the point of saving some hard drive space the way it already functions now... but 4.32GB per disk doesn't take long to fill even the biggest of hard drives that are availible these days. Simple math states that all the movies I've got will require stack upon stack of hard drives to store them all... unless I were to use more effecient encoders such as Windows Media Encoder or even Divx, which would give me great quality at a fraction of the normal space that an MPEG2 stream would require.

But I'm also interested in creating full disk backups -- menus, extras, and all, which I can play through the home entertainment PC with a few simple clicks of a mouse. No actual disks to scratch... no labels and cover art to eat away expensive ink cartriges. Really, no moving parts whatsoever except the heads of the hard drives themselves.

So what I've been pondering is this: Is there any way to run a normal backup while using WM9 VC-1 codec instead of CCE/HC/whathave you and still wind up with a full disk backup -- complete with functional menus?

I know that I'm bound to get a few replies simply telling me to use the search function -- and that's all fine and good if some links for further reading can be suggested that I may have missed or overlooked while I did exactly that. All the solutions I've stumbled on so far seem to involve only copying the main movie only -- but I'm also interested in applying my approach to episode disks as well.

Since Rebuilder can handle several diffent encoders -- as well as a transcoder or two (and Rebuilder's one of my favorite DVD backup solutions to date) I figured it really couldn't hurt to ask.

Is it possible to do what I'm asking? Some lines of script that may make this possible? Or perhaps some reading materials that may give me some ideas as to a "happy medium?"

Any help you readers out there can offer me -- even if it's only to tell me to "forget about it" -- are deeply appreciated!

Respectfully,
--Jeff.

[ricardo.santos]

you can use ratdvd to compress your dvd (menus/extras etc) to the levels of xvid/divx, i tried it a couple of times but didnt like the picture and it kept on givving errors, you might have better luck with recent versions

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=95287&highlight=ratdvd

[jdobbs]

Well, I can't say I'm working anything that will do exactly what you say... mainly because in order to keep the menus, etc., you'd not only need to write the backup software, but also the player.

I'll give it some thought, though.

I am working something similar. In the next minor version update (v1.11) I plan to have support for backup of movies to MPEG-4, XviD, or H.264 within Rebuilder.

[buzzqw]

with menu support also ? :eek: :eek:

BHH

[jdobbs]

No... this is mainly for output to the iPod, PSP, or Divx/XviD players.

[rack04]

No... this is mainly for output to the iPod, PSP, or Divx/XviD players.

Will the target output size and resolution be adjustable? I'm really looking forward to testing this feature on my Axim X50v using TCPMP. Thanks for you continued support and innovation.

[feedback]

writersblock29

I've been toying around with setting up all of my backups and committing them to hard drives

I have been thinking of something along that line also. For me however, I was wanting to save my many home movies on something more reliable than tape or easily damaged DVD's.

Some of these home movies, on 8mm tape, are irreplaceable in that some family members are no longer alive. That is why I am looking for the MOST reliable method of archiving the movies.

Storing movies on a HD seems to me to be about the best way to keep my movies for future generations of my family to see, if the result is of a manageable size and of good quality.

Indeed, wouldn't it be nice to be able to see one's great, great, grandfather in a movie going about daily activities of his time or seeing how your family may have celebrated Christmas so long ago.

Alas, I do want a high quality backup that I can store on my HD
and DVD Rebuilder has been so great at doing that for my regular Hollywood movies. So, with the changes that jdobbs is implementing for Rebuilder I may be able to get the quality and size I need for archiving my home movies to hard drive.

Regards,

P.S. If someone knows of a better way of archiving I am all ears.:)

[happycase]

Well, I can't say I'm working anything that will do exactly what you say... mainly because in order to keep the menus, etc., you'd not only need to write the backup software, but also the player.

I'll give it some thought, though.

I am working something similar. In the next minor version update (v1.11) I plan to have support for backup of movies to MPEG-4, XviD, or H.264 within Rebuilder.


Add an HD-DVD output option (AVC codec?) and I might consider donating again. :)

[writersblock29]

@Jdobbs

Oh, my! I've created a monster! I'm truely sorry to have been the one to bring this up! *Tell you what, though: Send me the bill for the painkillers if what you're developing starts giving you headaches -- my insurance is all paid up!*

[Qouted]: " ... mainly because in order to keep the menus, etc., you'd not only need to write the backup software, but also the player.

In my situation, the players would be software-based, and the hardware would be a modified computer setup... but I see what you're saying, since probably most people who'd use such a feature would want them to play in some sort of set-top box. Which means more headaches. Which in turn means more painkillers. How do you win?

@Feedback

[Re: Preserving home videos]

I hear you; the only reason I haven't used hard drives for "permanent" home movie storage is because I'm always afraid that the hard drive might drop a head someday or just plain fry. (Which -- if I weren't merely backing up movies I legally own, would be something I'd be scared of with moving all of my entertainment movies to hard drive as I asked about above...) My solution? Make tons of copies. And give 'em to whatever family member you can send them to. I usually also make myself an extra DVD copy to archive in a firesafe -- since once you lose something like that, you can't take it back. But let's say your house burns flat to the ground, and the firesafe turned into a melting oven: You've got family members with copies keeping the dust off their shelves! Insects had it figured out some time ago; there's safety in numbers. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

@Ricardo.Santos

Thanks for the link for RatDVD. I haven't messed with it before, but I'll try it out just to see where it all goes.

[lantern]

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but the title is pretty much what I wanted. Is there anyway to utilize wme with Rebuilder? The wmv files (or others) produced by ffmpeg don't work correctly in any of my phones (Hermes, 8820, or a737) the wme files work perfectly. I only want the main movie most of the time.

Thanks!

[lantern]

Any chance for access to wme?
Thanks?

[jdobbs]

Don't know. I'd have to look at the interface and haven't had time to do that yet.

[lantern]

Thank you so much! DVD-RB is such a fantastic piece of software it saves me so much time and effort!

[jdobbs]

Thanks. :)

[Sophocles]

Oh, my! I've created a monster! I'm truely sorry to have been the one to bring this up!

Nothing to be sorry about, some monsters are good, especially in bad movies.

I've also been working on storing movies to hard disk so that I can setup an indexed ready to call library. I don't really care if individual movies have a menu or not since I always select the best possible surround sound track, and extras to me are a waste of time. I do however like to have chapters.:P

[cdanddvdpublisher]

@Jdobbs

I hear you; the only reason I haven't used hard drives for "permanent" home movie storage is because I'm always afraid that the hard drive might drop a head someday or just plain fry.

That's where a good external hard drive or a good dvd writer come in handy, particularly the dvd burner - save a few copies and keep them safe