Flexible Storage

[jckylen]

I am looking to rip my personal DVDs to my computer to allow me to watch them when I am on the road. In addition, I have a new Windows 7 phone (Samsung Focus) which uses the Zune software and will allow me to play my movies on my phone. So my question is a little detailed and I will spell it out. I currently have different programs on different systems which I am using to try and get the best performance and quality. Some of these include Wondershare DVD Ripper, iShysoft iMedia and WinX DVD Ripper.

I have experimented some with varied success. I don’t seem to be able to get full screen from all movies and yet they play direct from DVD in full screen with no problems. Using various formats (WMV, AVI etc.) to try and save space but keep the quality I just can’t seem to find a good solution. I have even considered just converting the DVD direct to an ISO then mounting and playing the video but that would restrict me to only being able to use my one system.

1) What would be the best format to rip movies (main film only) to my hard drive getting the best video and optimum for watching (filling the screen). I would like to keep as much as possible and have the ability to watch the full screen HD format without sacrificing quality. I would like the file to be as small as possible and allow for easy playback.

2) Primary replay is to a HP 17” laptop but system will be connected to 720p & 1080p LCD televisions.

3) My WP7 (Focus) can replay movies. I could use any of these software programs to change the saved files to another format (AVI to MP4 for example). For that reason the first saved format needs to be of good quality.

Any assistance or suggestions anyone can give I would greatly appreciate. I have read many of the threads out here on this and other forums and have learned (I hope) but I still feel like I must be missing something and as I am doing this like most people, for my own use when time permits, I am sure I could do better with just a few suggestions.

[Inspector.Gadget]

Some of these include Wondershare DVD Ripper, iShysoft iMedia and WinX DVD Ripper.

Start by discarding each of these programs; they are all GPL-violating ffmpeg ripoffs made by people who don't actually know how to use ffmpeg.

[jckylen]

Thanks for the quick reply Inspector and I have had some success with various process including the DVD Decrypter and Gordian Knot (sp) but only moderate success. And while I consider myself capable with many things, I have not been very successfull in creating an electronic video warehouse for myself with anything short of the commercial DVD ripping programs. So, first of all could you possible point me in a direction of something to read to help teach me what I should be doing to make this work and second is the process I'm trying to work out now of making the most versital primary storage that I can then share with my phone or laptop so I can take my movies with when I travel.

I've seen some people talk about using software to create lossless format or ISO and all kinds of other options including just copying the whole CD to a directory and running from there. This is definately one of those things where as a NUG I am trying to find some information and learn how to use what is out there.

[smok3]

1. i'd go with x264, using anamorfic encoding (if you phone can handle that), dvd's are not HD, what fullscreen problems do you have? the app i would choose is named handbrake (the windows version is a bit weird, but should do the trick)
2. see 1.
3. hopefully you will be able to find a way to encode only once, i have no idea what phones are actually capable of doing today... (find exact specs on what your phone is capable of playing, and no "h.264 video" is not enough data, if the manufacturer can't provide that data, put the thingy on ebay.)

[yetanotherid]

Maybe the full screen problem was caused by the program you're using to convert also encoding black bars to keep the video to a certain width and height rather than simply crop the black bars and convert just the video?

If it were me....
RipIt4Me to rip the DVDs to my hard drive (also needs DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink installed), AutoGK to convert them to XviD/AVI and either MeGUI or HDConvertToX (HDConvertToX isn't as versatile but it's easier to use) to convert them to x264/MP4 or MKV. Assuming your new phone plays HD video you mightn't have to convert them to any special "play on my phone" specification, (but I don't know what you're phone will play).
Converting to XViD/AVI will be quicker, but it'll produce larger files, especially if they're HD.

If you're not concerned about the file size but just want quality, don't bother with 2 pass encoding. I've no idea why the practice is still so common.
For AutoGK you'd just leave the quality percentage at 75% and let it rip (no pun intended) and for MeGUI you'd just pick a similar single pass quality you're happy with. CRF values of 18 and up are the norm. MeGUI defaults to 20 with it's presets which is a good place to start. (The higher the value the lower the quality). When encoding x264 you often have to encode using certain restrictions at times in order for the output to play properly on a particular device (I don't think it effects quality as such, just limits the degree/type of encoding tricks the encoder can use, depending on who'll be doing the decoding). MeGUI has various presets for different devices once you've installed and updated it. If you don't know what your phone will play, have a look to see how specific the specifications get.

How do you like the phone? I'm pretty sure I'm about to buy a Samsung Galaxy. I considered the one you bought but unfortunately I'm so emotionally scarred from running Windows Mobile 6 on my last phone and having to use ActiveSync to connect it to the PC, there's little chance I'll ever buy another Windows phone again, ever. No matter how much Microsoft "innovate" by copying everyone else in the future. In fact that phone would still be working if it had run a different OS, but unfortunately Windows Mobile Poop pushed me too far recently and it hit a wall at a higher velocity than it was designed to withstand. Oh well..... at least I can uninstall Outlook now. I hate that program so much.

[jckylen]

WOW - Thanks for the great assist with all that information. I'll start collecting the new tools and give all of your suggestions a good try and see if I can get my collection moving forward. Between movies and LPs my next couple of months will be busy.

Sorry to hear about your problems with WP6 - I've used the Tilt since it came out and due to my job it was the perfect fit and has had only marginal problems until it began to fail due to some old age issues. The Focus is fantastic (so far) with a few problems that I am finding work arounds for. Biggest surprise was the MicroSD issue. Seems that adding (or removing) the chip requires the phone to be reformatted and the memory is locked to WP7 phones so it would need to be reused in another phone. Haven't fully understood all that stuff but the reason for the format of the phone for adding SD card is due to the memory actually becoming part of the OS space (kind of like spanning drives in a PC). Heck, I still have a first gen Zune which has been great and when I've compared it to many coworkers iPods and others they ask if I would change.

[Ghitulescu]

I'm pretty sure I'm about to buy a Samsung Galaxy. I considered the one you bought but unfortunately I'm so emotionally scarred from running Windows Mobile 6 on my last phone and having to use ActiveSync to connect it to the PC, there's little chance I'll ever buy another Windows phone again, ever. No matter how much Microsoft "innovate" by copying everyone else in the future. In fact that phone would still be working if it had run a different OS, but unfortunately Windows Mobile Poop pushed me too far recently and it hit a wall at a higher velocity than it was designed to withstand. Oh well..... at least I can uninstall Outlook now. I hate that program so much.

Samsung Galaxy is Android - you will get spied by Google, not by Microsoft, it this is a relief :)