Converting DVD to good format for playing from hard drive

[Launchpad59]

Hello all.

Newbie here just learning the ropes. I have recently learned to rip using DVDshrink and am burning using DVDdecrypter in ISO write mode using guides from the site and post's from the forums.

Currently I am trying to learn how to rip my movies from a DVD and convert them to a format I can play using windows media player 11, such as mpeg or avi. I am not really interested in video or audio editing as much as just wanting to be able to watch them quickly and easily without having to load the movie into a virtual drive or some other work around. I also do not have many qualms about the size of the resulting files but any help on how to make them of a decent size is would be greatly welcome.

I have seen some posts that revolve around issues such as this but have not really found the answer, I have read that vob files can be renamed into mpeg files and be used that way but the majority of posters do not seem to want to do it this way, not sure why, I guess because of the large file size.

I have looked in the guides section and see guides on converting to DivX and XviD but I am unsure if this is what I need to be doing or if there is a simpler way to solve this?

Praise to all who have worked on the guides sections of this site as well as posters who help those asking questions. I have learned a lot by just lurking, but for some reason I feel a little dirty for having done so. :)

[Guest]

Why not just get a player that can play your DVD directly?

[poisondeathray]

Your title is confusing to me: "Converting DVD to good format for HD use?",

Are you wanting upscale from SD => HD ? this is very difficult to do with any decent quality but there are some threads that address this issue

[Launchpad59]

Why not just get a player that can play your DVD directly?

Actually I have software installed to allow me to play DVD's straight through media player from my DVD-drive.

The reason I want them transferred to my hard drive is so I can watch movies straight from there without having to tote around/deal with a DVD collection. The wife is a little OCD and nags when I have movies in another part of the house when the kids are looking for them. Just trying to simplify things I guess. Less clutter, faster multitasking.

[Launchpad59]

Your title is confusing to me: "Converting DVD to good format for HD use?",

Are you wanting upscale from SD => HD ? this is very difficult to do with any decent quality but there are some threads that address this issue

Sorry if the title is confusing, couldn't think of the best way to word it.

I am working with standard def, not wanting to upscale to high def. Trying to figure out how to rip a DVD to my hard drive in a format that I can watch using windows media player 11. Like converting it to a .avs or .mpeg file without drastically eating up hard drive space.

[Guest]

The reason I want them transferred to my hard drive is so I can watch movies straight from there without having to tote around/deal with a DVD collection. Make an ISO image and use a player that can play it directly, such as Media Player Classic.

[Launchpad59]

Will media player 11 handle an ISO image? I would prefer not to switch to classic if possible.

[poisondeathray]

I think you would have to mount the image with something like daemon tools first. (I know VLC can play back ISO, but I am unsure if WMP can). The benefit is that the quality is identical to the original, you preserve menu structure, and you don't waste any CPU time transcoding formats

Another option - If you wanted to compress, a good beginner's easy to use application is autogk. You can get fairly good quality about 1/2 to 1/3 the size of the original DVD, but it doesn't preserve the menus or extras. There are many guides here and other sites, and a whole subforum dedicated to this program

[Launchpad59]

Thanks posiondeathray. I will look into learning about autogk.

[Guest]

Play the ISOs with VLC. What is the big deal? Why go through all the conversion hassle?

[Launchpad59]

I guess so I can play them using media player, also if autogk allows the converted files to be smaller in data size than the ISO image that would be good for me. That way I could store a decent collection of movies right on my hard drive.

I am guessing that the converted files won't be near the picture quality or of the same resolution of the original but I would be willing to suffer some losses in that department to achieve the goal. I understand how this would not be a preferable path for others though.

[mel2000]

Why not just convert the DVD to a 320x240 or 640x480 wmv file for WMP 11? There are a several freeware converters that can do the trick.

E.M. Free DVD Copy
Features: Can shrink DVD 20%
Input: DVD
Output: AVI, DVD, FLV, MPEG1, MPEG2, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win XP/Vista
http://www.effectmatrix.com/free-DVD-copy/index.htm

Any Video Converter Free
Features: Converter, batch encoding, splitter/joiner
Complaints: Nag at end of conversion
Input: 3GP(Mobile), AVI, AVS, DV, DVR-MS, FLV, M1V, M2V, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, QT, RM, RMVB, VOB, WMV/ASF
Output: AVI, FLV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, SWF, WMV/ASF
OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista
http://any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5692

FormatFactory
Features: Batch encoding, joiner, rips unencrypted DVDs
Input: 3GP(Mobile), AMV, AVI, AVS, DAT, DVR-MS, FLV, MKV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, RM, RMVB, SWF, VOB, WMV/YUV
Output: 3GP(Mobile), AVI, FLAC, FLV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, SWF, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista
www.formatoz.com/

FreeStar Free Video Converter
Input: 3GP(Mobile), AVI, DAT, FLV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, RM, RMVB, VOB, WMV/ASF
Output: AVI, FLV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista
http://www.free-star.org/free-video-converter.html

XMedia Recode
Features: Rips unencrypted DVDs, splitter/joiner, bitrate calculator, preview window, batch encoding
Complaints: German menu language needs to be switched to English
Input: 3GP(Mobile), 3GPP(Mobile), 3GPP2(Mobile), AVI, AVS, FLV, H.261(PSP), H.263(PSP), H.264(PSP), M1V, M2V, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MP4V, MPEG-TS, MPEG1, MPEG2, SWF, VOB, WMV/ASF
Output: 3GP(Mobile), 3GPP(Mobile), 3GPP2(Mobile), AVI, FLV, H.261(PSP), H.263(PSP), H.264(PSP), M1V, M2V, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MP4V, MPEG-TS, MPEG1, MPEG2, SWF, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win 2000/XP/Vista
www.xmedia-recode.de/

[Launchpad59]

Thanks, this might allow me to do exactly what I am looking for. Have got autoGK installed and studied up a little on it. Tried to start it up last weekend and do some trial runs but apparently I do not have avisynth installed so it would not run, going to get that fixed and check out autoGK when time permits.

E.M. Free DVD copy looks promising, whilst reading through their web page I noticed that it claims to put watermarks on the output files, to which I say "Boooo!", but hey you can't complain about freeware. Do you lean towards of one of the programs listed above over the others?

[setarip_old]

@Launchpad59

If you find AutoGK too daunting, you cam always try my old favorite, "MPEGMediator"...

[gonwk]

Hi folks,

@ mel2000 ... Wow, a Nice List ... but not all of them are Freeware!

Q1: Mel ... are all these softwares Spyware & Adware Free!?!?

@ setarip ... Hi ... can you link to the one that you like. Is this the "MPEG MEdiator 1.5" or are you talking about something esle?

@ Launchpad ... when converting to AVI or WMV ... how do you plan to handle getting to a certain point of the Movie. For example you are watching a DVD and then you stop at 50 minutes tiem frame ... next day you want to watch the rest ... it is easy to get to that mark in DVD format. With AVI ... you basically have to just Fast Forward from the beginning ... which is kind of Pain in the neck!

Q2: Launchpad have you figured out a Solution to that delimma!?!?

Thanks,

G!:)

[Launchpad59]

@ Launchpad ... when converting to AVI or WMV ... how do you plan to handle getting to a certain point of the Movie. For example you are watching a DVD and then you stop at 50 minutes time frame ... next day you want to watch the rest ... it is easy to get to that mark in DVD format. With AVI ... you basically have to just Fast Forward from the beginning ... which is kind of Pain in the neck!

Q2: Launchpad have you figured out a Solution to that dilemma!?!?

Thanks,

G!:)

Have not found a solution for resuming from a specified time frame, although there may be one out there. Personally for me this is not a concern right now, most of the time the movies are background entertainment while I am working, so I just start one up and go to work. Keeps me from getting depressed while getting some tedious work done.

In regards to Q2: Which question? Will Media Player 11 handle an ISO image. Not that I know of, but I am still learning new things all the time.

[Launchpad59]

Posting an update on my progress.

Have not had a lot of time to work on this lately as my job has taken up a lot of time lately. Also the ice storm from last week has switched some "personal time" priorities around.

I did find time to try E.M. Free DVD copy from the list of programs mel2000 recommended. I had problems with this app. It froze randomly and often for no apparent reason. I converted two movies and both of the output files skipped so bad they were basically unplayable. Not sure if this is due to user error or software fault. I abandon the application after messing with it for around four hours.

Current plan is still to get my head wrapped around autoGK (which should not be a problem thanks to some awesome info from the guides and user posts here on the site) once I get enough time to invest in getting something done.

Congrats Steelers fans! That last drive was something else.

[Karkas]

Just thought I'd throw another software option out there, this will compress the video_ts file.

Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/)

While some here will knock it; it is amazingly easy to use, but you have to make sure copy protection is removed from the iso you feed it.

You will preserve best picture quality at smallest size by compressing with MPEG-4 Part 10 (aka H.264 & AVC) and very playable in MP4 container or avi container.

However, your rig may be too slow to decode without studder (which you mentioned earlier). This could be due to codec interference or a slow machine. I have a post in the newbie forum here about how to nuke bad codecs, give it a lookover and post your system specs up.

If AVC is too much for your machine to handle try MPEG-4 Part 2 (AKA DivX & XviD or ASP & SP). Still very good quality but much lower system requirements.