DVD to mkv

[Thomas_AR]

I hope i am in the correct forum. if not my apologizes and please move to the correct one.

As my DVD collection is growing quiet large i intent to convert my DVD (legal) collection into mkv files which have to contain 2 sound tracks and also two subtitles. Copying then to an external drive, connecting those to my television.
I tried this with Handbrake, working fine and via HDMI cable they can be seen very but very good on my LED.

Is there any better solution regarding the conversion part and software? In Handbrake i am using Quality RF 20.

Any ideas or input?

[hello_hello]

Did you mean to say they don't look very good on your LED?

As long as you're using x264's default settings and not messed with it's advanced options and caused a problem that way, CRF20 should look pretty good. Maybe the problem is with the video not being de-interlaced properly or something similar. It's hard to know without seeing it. Could you upload a sample of the original video and the encoded version somewhere for others to look at? In what way does it not look very good (if that's what you meant)? Some TVs also have pretty average media players built in. How does the encode look when played on the PC?

Personally I use MeGUI for encoding as I'm not a fan of Handbrake but they both use the x264 encoder so all else being equal the encoded video should look the same. MeGUI has more of a learning curve than Handbrake though. I generally use a CRF value between 18 and 20 myself.

[Thomas_AR]

No, they look very good!
Was just asking if there could be done something better. I will check out MeGui. Thanks for the Tip.

[manolito]

@Thomas_AR
I guess you know that MKV is just a container and not a format. To convert your DVDs to MKV all you need is a software called MakeMKV. This software will repack the content of the DVD into an MKV container without reencoding. This means there is no loss of quality at all, but the size is not smaller than the original DVD.

But what you probably want is reencoding the source DVDs to a smaller size, and you already picked the recommended format (H.264). The preferred encoder is X264, and there are plenty of GUIs to choose from. IMO Handbrake is a very good choice especially for people who do not want to tweak a lot of settings. One drawback is that for AAC audio Handbrake uses the FAAC encoder which is not on a par with other AAC encoders like Nero, Fraunhofer or Apple. But for your specific needs AAC audio is probably not required.

Other GUIs for X264 are RipBot264 (only supports 1 audio track so useless for you), MeGUI, StaxRip and many more, just browse this thread...

They all have their strengths and weaknesses, you have to find out for yourself what is best for you. And if you are happy with HandBrake there is no reason to use anything else.


Cheers
manolito

[Thomas_AR]

Hi Manolito, thanks for your explanation. yes i am aware of containers and encoding. You are right my purpose is to encode to a smaller size, as they still look fabulous on my TV. Regarding sound and Handbrake i use the original sound format of the DVD and so the AC3 (ffmpeg) encoder and not the Faac encoder which is the default in Handbrake.
Thanks again Manolito. Your name sound Spanish ;) Saludos de Buenos Aires.

[manolito]

Thanks very much, but I am from Berlin, Germany...:)
The reason I picked this nickname is here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1576592#post1576592


Cheers
manolito

[tomcat_]

i don't mean to hijack the thread...but my question is very much with the same subject..

I understand that makeMKV is keeping uncompressed and just changes the format.

There are some DVDs that are "educational". For example i have a collection for babies or little children that it is not a main movie as such but has menu's, interactive exercises etc.

If i keep the ISO file then i can use the whole DVD like the disc. However, is there any way i can keep the dvd structure but compressing it at the same time, without having to demux, encode, then mux again with all menus etc?

Thanks

[manolito]

If you need to keep the DVD structure then you also must keep the DVD format. For a smaller size you have to choose between using a "Compressed Domain Transcoder" (DVDShrink, DVD2One, CloneDVD...) or using DVDRebuilder.

There is no need to manually demux, encode, remux again since all these tools will do that for you automatically. For highest quality DVDRebuilder is your best choice, but for moderate reduction levels you will get away with DVDShrink or other transcoders.


Cheers
manolito

[Thomas_AR]

/OT on

Thanks very much, but I am from Berlin, Germany...:)
The reason I picked this nickname is here:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1576592#post1576592


From München and living in Buenos Aires.

/OT off