Good file format to play on Windows HTPC

[waynezo]

I want to store individual songs from concert DVD's on a HTPC. I would like to reduce the size of the vob with out losing any quality. There are so many encoders and formats I can't figure out which is good. I have tried handbrake. I like nero 9, but I don't want to buy it if there is freeware that will do the same. Divx is more affordable.
Any advice or opinions will be appreciated.

[stax76]

Rule 12

Do not ask "what's best" because this question cannot be answered objectively. Each and everyone has their own view about what's best in a certain area. The best is what works best for you!

Next StaxRip version use DivX Plus as default which it does using x264, Nero AAC and MKV with mkvmerge. I'm gonna use this for all my encodes, it's likely to become very popular.

[RunningSkittle]

Look here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=129748
and here: http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=78

*Likely you will want to use x264 to encode the video
*audio depending on what you want: AAC, AC3, DTS, Vorbis, MP3... you have many options
*container... mp4 or mkv what ever your player/preference is...

You do not need to buy ANY tools. Everything you want/need to know is in these forums!

[CWR03]

I would like to reduce the size of the vob with out losing any quality.
That can't be done with any MPEG-4 compression. You can reduce the file size by ripping the VOB and keeping only the audio track you need for playback - that will often reduce the size of the file by 10-20% depending on how many and what type of audio it contains, and will not lose any quality.

[waynezo]

I may use Handbrake. Is there a way to rip individual vob's with Handbrake without converting them?

[waynezo]

Does anybody know of a good guide for handbrake?

[Inspector.Gadget]

http://trac.handbrake.fr/

[tetsuo55]

You could use MakeMKV and do a lossless remux to mkv