Recommend me a x264 tool for DVD backups

[markanini]

I'm running a fairly modern dual-core system with 2GB RAM looking to decrease the size of my DVD backups currently being VIDEO_TS folders. Lost and frustrated after trying half a dozen tool not working the way I want I decided to post a thread on this board.

I'm looking for a tool with the following features:
Command input for x264 encoder to avoid GUI specifying obsolete options
Avisynth support with a selection of useful filters that are the latest and greatest
Chapters
Nero AAC and option to keep original AC3

I'll be playing the files on the computer and don't mind sizes of 1.5 GB or more per movie as long as the quality is good, however I don't want conversions to take too long.

[nurbs]

Command input for x264 encoder to avoid GUI specifying obsolete options
Write your own .bat files then.
Avisynth support with a selection of useful filters that are the latest and greatest
AvsP is a good tool for creating avisynth scripts. The list of filters isn't totally up to date since it hasn't been developed for some time, but everything most people may want to use is there and there is nothing stopping you from entering them manually.
Chapters
DVDDecrypter can create a chapter file when you rip the DVDs.
Nero AAC and option to keep original AC3
If you index the video with DGIndex it can demux the AC3 tracks. You can reencode them to AAC easily with eac3to and again a batch file if you want to do several tracks.

[markanini]

How about a tool that creates two or more of these tasks automatically? I tried AutoMKV which looked promising but got stuck after the auto crop feature failed and wouldnt let me proceede.

...DVDDecrypter can create a chapter file when you rip the DVDs.
Thanks for the info I bet this will come in handy especially for some episodic DVDs I have.

[nurbs]

MeGUi can do most of that. You can enqueue video and audio encoding jobs and also DGIndex jobs and much more with it. It also comes with an avisynth script creator, but that isn't as extensive as AvsP. On the plus side it can autodetect interlacing and choose a proper deinterlacer for you.
The codec configuration for x264 is currently not up to date and since it's summer it can take a while before work on it resumes.

AutoMKV hasn't been in development for a while, so don't expect up to date codec support there either. HDConvertToX is a new GUI from the same developer.

I read that Ripbot264 is also an easy to use tool.

To get back to your first post: Encoding speed depends on resolution, codec settings, your CPU and your avisynth script, so depending on what you want to do the latest and greatest filters will probably be too slow for your taste.

edit:
By the way, if you do episodic DVDs with DVDDecrypter rip each episode to a different directory to avoid trouble.

[Dark Shikari]

Handbrake?

[stax76]

Lost and frustrated after trying half a dozen tool not working the way I want I decided to post a thread on this board.

Makes me wonder what was the problem with RipBot, AutoMKV, MeGUI or StaxRip? If you don't have much experience with MPEG-4 encoding you might need some patience, reading a couple of good guides etc.

[markanini]

Makes me wonder what was the problem with RipBot, AutoMKV, MeGUI or StaxRip? If you don't have much experience with MPEG-4 encoding you might need some patience, reading a couple of good guides etc.

MeGUI would crash on me AutoMKV wouldnt let me proceede after auto-crop failed somehow. I'm trying HDConvertToX and it seems to be working fine, the interlacing detection feature is nice. I'm going to test the other tools as suggested to see if they do any better. Anyway I thought my needs were valid concerning x264 built in prests, which I trust, not being broken by GUI advanced config, allthough I admit my wording for it wasnt clear. Having Avisynth support like in HDConvertToX and MeGUI is nice way to get introduced to useful avisynth plugins I might not have known about before.