Dvd to .mkv questions

[Mildragon]

I'm confused about a DVD source. All the media infos from the .vob files of the main title are in this link:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/oldd3s

Why does the frame rate differ? How should I handle this while ripping the DVD and converting the included eppisodes?



Anyway, I've encoded a sample from the DVD to .mkv (x264) with Megui.


DVD SOURCE SAMPLE (It's from the first episode):

http://www.sendspace.com/file/q038ye


OUTPUT SAMPLE (from the first episode):

http://www.sendspace.com/file/l01xgx



1. I used DVDShrink to make the .vob sample (in no-compression mode) from the DVD but the framerate was changed. I don't know why though...

2. script used for conversion: http://www.sendspace.com/file/9qcy1v

3. Quick question: I encoded in L 3.1 What do all these levels mean in x264 and how should someone handle them? Generally I use 3.1 for SD and 5.1 for HD. If I'm wrong please correct me.

4. I would like your opinions about the video output:

a. Is the aspect ratio correct?

b. What about the video framerate? Why 19.181 instead of 23.976 fps?

d. How do you criticize the video overall? (in terms of motion, colours, ghost artifacts, ost ringing e.t.c.) Please be straight and strict in your answers.

Thanks for your time.

[hello_hello]

I can't download you sample as my already slow internet connection is running like a dog at the moment. I live in PAL land so I'm not really good with NTSC anyway. However a couple of thoughts.....

VTS_07_0.VOB is only 55 seconds long. Are you sure it's part of the main title?

The AVC levels enforce certain encoder restrictions. I use Level 4.1 for everything these days as most newer devices support it. Some older devices don't of course. Standalone players generally support the same level regardless of the video's resolution. Some of the encoder restrictions do change according to the resolution but they're automatically enforced by using a particular AVC level so there's generally no need to change the AVC level according to resolution.

You will be able to play video encoded using level 5.1 on a PC but chances are you won't be able to use hardware decoding (assuming your video card supports it) and most standalone devices such as MKV capable Bluray players, TVs with built in media players, and even many newer portable devices support a maximum level of 4.1. I wouldn't use anything higher unless you don't care about standalone device compatibility.

[Mildragon]

Forget the VTS_07_0.VOB file it's not part of the main title. It was my fault to include it... however, my confusion about different framerates in the other .vob files still remains...

Thanks hello_hello for your answer about the different AVC Levels.

Could somebody answer to my other questions?

[Mildragon]

Still no-one???

[hello_hello]

Well I still wasn't successful downloading your sample. I'm not sure whether it's sendspace or there's just too many people using this internet connection at the moment but the download kept stopping.

Anyway (keep in mind I live in PAL-land so don't have lots of experience with NTSC, but seeing none of the other regulars have offered)....
The frame rate problem seems like it might be caused by the IVTC in your script. According to media info the majority of the vob files are progressive (23.976) so they should be encoded "as-is". Only the first is labelled as interlaced and assuming that's correct I guess it would be 29.970. Chances are it's just the studio promo at the beginning which is hard-telecined (29.970) while the rest is progressive, and MediaInfo reports it as interlaced..... or something like that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine

If you IVTC a 29.970 video you get 23.976, so it seems to make sense.
29.970/1.25=23.976
23.976/1.25=19.181

When you say the frame rate changed when you used DVD shrink to extract the sample I assume it started off 29.970 but the output was 23.976, according to MediaInfo?

Some thoughts, without being sure how you're encoding these exactly......
In MeGUI's options, under external program configuration, try unchecking "Auto Force Film at". I don't think that's the problem but it changes the way the index file is created and caused me a problem in the past. It changes MeGUI's analysis of the video as a result.

This is an episodic DVD (only the first vob file is listed with a duration)? If so, it appears you're encoding them as a single file, given the way the vob files are numbered. Is that correct? By default (and it's normal) when you have a bunch of sequentially numbered vob files (VTS_07_1.VOB, VTS_07_2.VOB VTS_07_3.VOB etc) MeGUI will index and encode them together as though they're one large file, which is fine when they make up a movie but probably not what you want if you're encoding an episodic DVD.

Normally you'd want VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_02_1.VOB, VTS_03_1.VOB etc, each vob file (or set of vob files) making up a single episode, then you open them and encode them separately. To use DVD Shrink to re-author the ripped files that way..... well I posted instructions for someone else recently but you probably know how to do it anyway.
Post #2 http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=165231

Once you have the episodes as individual sets of vob files, try opening and indexing/analyzing them individually with MeGUI with the "force film at" option disabled.

A while ago I encoded a movie from a 29.970 DVD using both MeGUI and AutoGK (I still use it for AVIs) and while I think they both decided it was a hybrid of sorts, MeGUI's output was 29.970 while AutoGK's analyzed it a second time and it's output was 23.976. Both encodes looked fine, so in the end I copied parts of AutoGK's script to use with MeGUI so it gave me 23.970 as well. Mainly because when it comes to NTSC hybrid DVDs I've only got a vague idea what I'm doing and AutoGK invariably seems to get it right.

Taking a guess, looking at your MediaInfo file, I'd assume each episode is actually 23.976 and therefore no IVTC or de-interlacing should be required, but I'll have another go at downloading your samples later on to see if I have more luck. In the mean time maybe some of the above will help, or an NTSC expert might come along.