Explanation of the conversion process

[whipdancer]

I've searched, but still haven't come up with an understanding of the process of converting a video from one format to another. In this case, I'm referring to "from a disc" to "a file on a machine" (in very generic terms).

So if someone can point me in the right direction because I don't want to re-invent the wheel, I'd be most appreciative.

Otherwise, maybe this is something that might be useful?

What I'm trying to understand is how I get from the DVD/BD that I purchased to a file on my PC that I can play on media player/ps3/xbox360.

I know how to rip, but it took a while to figure out that that is step 1. It took a little more digging to figure out that I need to go around the copy protection on the disc. So, I'm past that part, but it would have been nice to have a FAQ or wiki to refer to. I'm currently using handbrake to convert the ripped dvd files to MP4 with AAC 2channel audio. Took some experimentation to figure out why the settings (a big thanks to Lord_Mulder for his h.264 explanation paper - very very useful!).

So, I know how to get my regular dvd's from the disc to my xbox (or ps3 or popcorn machine, etc). But I really don't know what is happening behind the scenes (if that makes sense).

I now know of words (such as mux and remux), but I'm really not sure how they apply, as I still haven't found a layman's definition. Nor do I know where they come into play in the process - but I know they do come into play somehow/somewhere.

Sorry for the long post. I hope I'm clear on what I'm asking. I'll post an example of what I think I understand later this evening and that may make it very clear just how little (or not) I understand about what it is I'm trying to do.

I do want to be very clear on one point. Thank you to everyone who spends the time and effort on all the tools that help make this possible and answering questions from newbies like me.

I really do appreciate it.

[whipdancer]

Here's an example of what I've learned about how to convert a standard DVD (but I'm not sure that I've got it all correct).

A) To convert a standard DVD to a format playable via PS3, Xbox360, Popcorn etc, I find it easier to get what was on the disc to the hard drive first:

1. Since this is a time consuming process, I don't want to do one disc at a time. In order to do more than one disc at a time, I want to transfer the data from the disc to my hard drive (a.k.a. "Rip"). To do this, there are a number of tools available. I typically use MagicDVDRipper. Other good ones are anyDVD, DVDFab Decryptor (and more that I can't think of right now).

2. The ripping software will copy the data to the hard drive. There will be a VIDEO_TS folder. Inside that folder will be files that have extensions .BUP, .IFO, and .VOB. The VOB files are video files. The IFO files are a type of index file. The BUP files are a type of backup file.

B) Now the actual conversion can take place:

//since I don't know what actually happens behind the scenes, this is just some commentary by me//
I'm assuming this is where some mux'ing and remux'ing happens. Not sure what that actually entails, though.
//ok, end of my commentary//


C) How I do it:

1. I use a Handbrake to convert the DVD files to the MP4 format. Because of I use it, I don't see most of the processing. I simply select the VIDEO_TS file and let Handbrake analyze. I set the destination, adjust some of the settings, and make sure I select MP4 as the container. A couple hours later, I have a new file that I can play via <some device>. It supports a queue, so that I can encode a bunch at once.

--so, if this all makes sense, I'd appreciate any comments.

[creamyhorror]

Any video you play back consists of "streams". There'll be a video stream, an audio stream or two, and maybe a few subtitle streams. Muxing, or multiplexing, is simply the process of combining streams into one final container file (e.g. AVI or MKV or MP4). Demuxing is the reverse - separating a stream from the rest of the streams in a container file.

Handbrake is demuxing the MPEG2 video stream from the VOB files and converting it to a H.264 video stream. This conversion consists of 1) preprocessing and 2) encoding. By preprocessing, I'm referring to things like deinterlacing or inverse telecining, deblocking and denoising. These procedures improve the stream and turn it into a form that the actual H.264 encoder (x264) can deal with effectively. The preprocessed stream is then served to the encoder, which compresses it to the final video stream according to the x264 settings you've specified.

A similar process occurs for audio, which is also stored in the VOB files.

Finally, Handbrake muxes the encoded streams together into a completed MKV or MP4 file.

That answer your questions?

[stax76]

Many applications have a log file listing all processing steps made, a look in there might be helpful for you.

[whipdancer]

Any video you play back consists of "streams". There'll be a video stream, an audio stream or two, and maybe a few subtitle streams. Muxing, or multiplexing, is simply the process of combining streams into one final container file (e.g. AVI or MKV or MP4). Demuxing is the reverse - separating a stream from the rest of the streams in a container file.

Handbrake is demuxing the MPEG2 video stream from the VOB files and converting it to a H.264 video stream. This conversion consists of 1) preprocessing and 2) encoding. By preprocessing, I'm referring to things like deinterlacing or inverse telecining, deblocking and denoising. These procedures improve the stream and turn it into a form that the actual H.264 encoder (x264) can deal with effectively. The preprocessed stream is then served to the encoder, which compresses it to the final video stream according to the x264 settings you've specified.

A similar process occurs for audio, which is also stored in the VOB files.

Finally, Handbrake muxes the encoded streams together into a completed MKV or MP4 file.

That answer your questions?


:goodpost:


Emphatically, yes. Thank you.

Now much of what I've been seeing (in log files and posts) makes more sense.

[whipdancer]

Many applications have a log file listing all processing steps made, a look in there might be helpful for you.

I've been doing that, but what I was looking at didn't really have a context for me. I had information, but it didn't mean anything to me.

Creamyhorror's simple explanation gives some context to the log file that I looked at last night from HDConvertX (and the one's I see from handbrake).

Still don't know what each thing is doing, but I think I might have enough information to learn what I'm missing now. And if not, I'll ask more questions here.

Again, I really do appreciate all the help.

[creamyhorror]

Good to know that it helped.