Fastest Conversion System

[JXBlack]

I want to convert a bunch of DVD's to *.avi files preferrably DivX. What is the fastest way of doing this?

Thanks

[dat720]

Probably rip them all to ISO, batch encode them to AVI....

Altho batch processing videos is kind of a bad idea, you should do them 1 at a time and review the quality to make sure your happy, rather than doing them all, finding their all crap and doing them again.

I use mencoder with batch files to rip movies directly off the disc straight to AVI, takes around 45mins and its done.

[JXBlack]

Many thanks for your reply.


45 minutes sounds good to me as my last attempt took 7 hours with a program called Fair Use.
I downloaded Mencoder but it won't install. I am a WinXp user and not a very good one. Is this a windows program?

Thanks again

[setarip_old]

Hi!45 minutes sounds good to me as my last attempt took 7 hoursBe aware that one of the major determining factors regarding overall time taken is system specifications. Your system may be very much slower/weaker than that of another poster's...

[Irakli]

I downloaded Mencoder but it won't install. I am a WinXp user and not a very good one. Is this a windows program?

Mencoder is a command line tool, so it must be run using Windows commandline or batch file.

Regards,
Irakli

[dat720]

JXBlack, if your skills aren't very high you may want to try another program, AVIDemux might be good for your needs, but you have to rip the video first.

If you'd like to learn mencoder i can provide some example commands i use, mencoder gives a great sence of achievment and offers a great level of control.

PS for the record my PC is Intel Q9550, Quad Core 2.83ghz 12mb Cache, 4gb Ram, Intel G33 Motherboard, 512mb Nvidia 8600GT and 64bit Windows Vista.

[JXBlack]

Dear dat720

I would love to learn how to use MEncoder and any help your could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

[dat720]

Here is a basic mencoder command that will get you going, it will produce a video at original resolution, uncropped using Xvid @ 800kbs as the video codec and mp3 @ 128kbs as the audio codec.

If you want higher bitrate for video change the bitrate option just after the -xvidencopts.... experiment with different values to find a visual quality you are happy with.

For higher audio bitrate chage the -lameopts br option, use valid values like 64,96,128,160,192,224,256 and 320.

Create a file named xvid.cmd and past the below contents into it, then simply drag and drop a video onto the cmd file.

You will of course need to change the path to where you mencoder exe is kept.

xvid.cmd
"D:\VidTools\AutoMen\mencoder.exe" %1 -ovc xvid -xvidencopts bitrate=800:chroma_opt:vhq=4:bvhq=1:quant_type=mpeg -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128:mode=0 -o "%~dpn1.xvid.avi"

PS for high motion scenes 1 pass @ 800kbs gives pretty average results, you should either do a 2 pass encode or bump the bitrate upto something like 1100-1300kbps.

[dat720]

Any particular reason you want to stick with xvid?

h264 is a much better codec and gives higher quality at the same bitrate.

[JXBlack]

Thanks for your replies.

Actually I really want DivX because that can be played on my Sony DVD player. However I can convert XivD into DivX.
I don't know anything about h262.

I am going om a 1 week trip to Bangkok, when I return I hope we can pick up this correspondence.again as I will need a little more help with Mencoder.

[dat720]

Your player should also be able to play XVID, most standalone DVD players that can play divx also support xvid.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Right. DivX and Xvid are both MPEG-4 ASP codecs. Provided you respect the limitations of your DVD player's hardware decoder, Xvid can generate perfectly usable files.

H.264 is a lot better in almost every respect. Not many DVD players can hande it, yet :)

~MiSfit