How to convert episodic DVD to H.264?

[Mongoo]

I'm trying to convert my famly guy dvds over to H.264 files. So far I am having trouble. I've tried godian knot but something is wrong with it, as no pref. box pops up when I click the X264 1pass or 2pass buttons.

So I'm now trying Megui. I'm new to alot of this, but I've read a tutorial. Still Megui is having problems. After following the all steps I get this error in the log...

Looking for job processor for job...
Processor found!
Starting job job1-1 at 2:19:51 PM
Starting preprocessing of job...
Preprocessing finished!
encoder commandline:

successfully started encoding
Processing ended at 2:19:53 PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Log for job job1-1

Channels=2, BitsPerSample=16, SampleRate=48000Hz
C:\Video\MeGUI\neroAacEnc.exe -ignorelength -he -br 64000 -if - -of "C:\FAMILY_GUY_V4_D1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_05_0 T01 2_0ch 192Kbps DELAY 0ms.mp4"Error:
MeGUI.AviSynthException: m2AudioAC3Source: error in file "C:\FAMILY_GUY_V4_D1\VIDEO_TS\VTS_05_0 T01 2_0ch 192Kbps DELAY 0ms.ac3"
at MeGUI.AviSynthAudioEncoder.encode()
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The current job contains errors. Skipping chained jobs





But even if the encoder would work, there is another problem. There are multiple episodes per .vob file. How can I just pick out the region I want to encode.
Is Megui the best way to Convert to H.264?

Thanks

[sujit]

There are multiple episodes per .vob file. How can I just pick out the region I want to encode.

there is a software called dgindex. open vob files in this software and use the [ and ] buttons to select any particular region. then choose file --> save. open megui. tools --> avisynth script editor. open the d2v file created by dgindex. use the appropriate options (cropping, etc) and save the avs.
Is Megui the best way to Convert to H.264?

yes, i think so.

megui has auto update feature, use it. it will not download neroAacEnc.exe (because of copyright issues). u can download it manually from here (http://www.nero.com/nerodigital/ena/down-ndaudio.php).
megui --> tools --> settings --> program paths
set the path for neroaac.

[Mongoo]

Thanks for the info sujit,

I've been running some test trying to get this worked out and still face some problems.

1st off, I can make d2v files with dgindex which are per episode but they do not work in Megui. Using the AE standard profile of X264 I get encoding times roughly twice the media's play time, this is with using a d2v created within the megui program. Encoding takes 3 to 4 times that and never finishes if I use a d2v created with dgindex.

Problem is with only using megui's d2v creator I can only select 1 vob and it usually ends up combining multiple episodes in sequence. I've found that Yamb can divide these, though it's not very spot on, which messes up the beginnings of episodes starting in the middel of the vob.

One area where dgindex did work out is in making a Wav of the family guy audio. The was needed because family guy has 5.1 audio, and megui would freeze when downmixing to stereo or make it sound echo'y if "use original tracks" was configured.

Any Ideas why megui is freezing over these issues?


De-Interlacing is a problem too. Megui will analyze family guy as a Hybrid/film mostly film, with top down, and TIVTC + TDeint(EDI). Most of the footage looks good, but every now and then you can see the interlacing going on, sometimes its really noticeable. Is there something else that can improve this?

What does AVScripts options "Mpeg Deblock" and "color correction" do? Do you suggest it for this type of media or is it not worth the extra time?

So far 100mb an episode looks pretty close to good for me. Thats using the AE Standard profile and resizing to 512x384, with the lanczos (sharp) resize filter, without the deblocker, color correction, and noise filters. Audio used was ND HCE AAC 64kbs. Thats 100mb at roughly 2x media play time on a AMD 64 3500+.

I've tried a 60mb ep using the same settings except with the Deblocker and color correction. That still looks pretty good, a little different though.

Anything you can add or to try out to make improvements?

Thanks

[~bT~]

Im not sure if this will help but do take a look.

http://bt.dvd-guides.com/How%20to%20rip%20episodic%20DVDs.htm

[sujit]

hi
make sure you are using the stable version of dgindex, v1.4.8 is the latest stable release. you can get it from here (http://neuron2.net/dgmpgdec/dgmpgdec.html).
latest megui version is v0.2.4.1039.
this combination is working absolutely fine for me and i always use dgindex to generate the d2v file.

for audio conversion, you can try besweet.
u can later mux the audio and video using any of the various muxers.

"Mpeg Deblock" is usually not required on a dvd source. as far as "color correction" is concerned, create a small d2v of a region which has a closeup of a character. encode this with and without the colormatrix. take a screenshot of the encoded video. compare the the two. u will get the answer.
this is the way i test, someone may have a general rule as to when to apply the colormatrix.

the best thing would be to upload a small portion of the video, so that someone can have a look. u can use the "save project and demux video" in dgindex to generate the video.

[Mongoo]

I have DGindex v1.4.8 but can not get Megui v0.2.4.1039.

Instead my Megui is v0.2.4.1038 and every time I start meugi it downloads the v0.2.4.1039 core then says it has to restart in order to update itself. Once it is back up though it is still v0.2.4.1038 and goes through the same processes over again unless I tell it not to update.

I've noticed that the d2v file sizes are different if made with Megui vs. dgindex even when the same video is used. Megui's is larger.