Converting DVD to AVI?

[Sylvus]

I have a couple DVDs of television series that I would like to convert to AVI (xvid, most likely) for storing on my hard drive and streaming to my xbox.

Does anyone know what the most standard way to do that is? I've done a number of searches and can't decide which way to go. I'd like it to be fairly easy and of good quality, and not have to pay much (at all) for it.

Thanks!

[Zaelath]

I've never found something that makes small rips and good quality, other than doing it in a number of steps with a number of programs all of which you can get for free...

i.e. you
- rip the vobs
- demux the video (mpeg2) and audio (ac3)
- recompress the video (divx) and audio (mp3)
- mux the video and audio

There's bound to be a tutorial on afterdawn.com with links to the software you need (and if it doesn't use it, I'd say virtualdubmod for the video demux/conversion)

You *can* get one step ripper/converters, but for some reason you still end up with a 1.5Gb video even though they're using mp4 (divx, etc) compression for the video, I *think* that's cause they leave the audio ac3 which is massive compared to mp3

Oh, and don't expect no compression artifacts in a 700Mb DVD -> AVI conversion with single pass divx encoding...

[Bubba Grizz]

Somewhere in this forum is a thread I started about the same thing. Fair gave me great information about something called PVP Vault. I used that for a long time before I started using DVDFAB. DVDFAB does it all for you as far is decrypting and copying. I don't believe it will do avi but I have been copying all my dvds. I go the full disk copy so it is just like the original and I can burn it to disk if needed. To watch on my computer I use VLC media player.

[Zamtuk]

I use TVersity for all of my xbox streaming needs.

[Winnow]

Piracy to the rescue

http://www.rlslog.net/dvd-catalyst-3-v3-85-retail-te/

Don't know if any good but at least it's free.

[Sylvus]

Before this thread gets derailed too much, ZAMTUK, I'm specifically looking for DVD to AVI conversion. I'd like the files to be relatively small and in a standard format that can play on any computer as well as on xbox.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll take a look at them when I get home from work. Feel free to keep them coming!

[Fairweather Pure]

That DVD Profiler I suggested to Bubba has to be getting on in years at this point. It works, but I would hope there would be a better alternative after all these years!

If anyone has a good, reliable way to convert DVDs for use on the iPhone, I would appreciate the information. The signal to noise ratio when searching online for such a program is amazing.

[Aslanna]

I used one of the Apollo products in the past, I think it was this one, and it seemed to do a good job

[valryte]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this one, but try http://handbrake.fr/

You'll want to rip the DVD first to disk then use Handbrake to convert it to whatever you want.

[Kluden]

I have found endless help and results using the forums at http://www.afterdawn.com/ with all my dvd ripping, decoding, burning, rewriting needs. They have a turdload of programs available too on their site that are mostly freeware that do the tasks.

I know I used windows media maker to turn some avi's to mp4 or whatever to put on a dvd and watch in a player...perhaps it does the revers? that of course is free software too with windows.

[Bubba Grizz]

DVDFAB has an app for converting dvd's to ipod and any other mobile. http://www.dvdfab.com/ I had been using a less than legal copy for a long time as it would allow me to update with no problem, until about a week ago. I've been copying my netflix movies and I wasn't able to get Surragates to copy due to the new encryption. So I gave in and decided to buy 2 years of DVD to DVD for $46. I don't mind paying for software that I find useful and easy to use.

I did have some probelms with playback but that ended up being a needed upgrade for VLC.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Quick and (somewhat) dirty, not the greatest quality, but it works:

1. Download and install both DVD Decrypterand AutoGK.

2. Insert your DVD. Open DVD Decrypter.

3. Choose IFO mode (Click "Mode" then select "IFO")

4. Click the "Decrypt" button. The main movie from your DVD should rip to your hard drive. Close DVD decrypter.

5. Open AutoGK.

6. Next to "Input directory" browse to the VIDEO_TS folder of the image you just made with DVD decrypter. (E.g. E:\\GOOD_BURGER\\VIDEO_TS)

7. Next to "Output File" pick where you want the completed XviD file to go (e.g. E:\\Good Burger.avi)

8. Choose the size you wish your finished file to be. Standard size is "1 CD (700Mb)" but you can choose any size you like. Of course, the smaller the file, the less the quality.

9. Click "Add Job".

10. Click "Start". The encoding process will take +/- several hours, all depending on the speed of your system.

After it is done, you can delete the IFO image (E:\\GOOD_BURGER\\)

There's a more comprehensive guide here with more steps and much, much better quality: http://dvd2mkv.sanjb.net/

[Zaelath]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this one, but try http://handbrake.fr/

You'll want to rip the DVD first to disk then use Handbrake to convert it to whatever you want.

Handbrake works *really* well, if you don't use any of the horrible horrible presets (though they're probably fine for ipod conversions where the screen is tiny)

e.g. I get good results for TV DVDs with:

Picture: (same as source, mine are PAL, but it seems to take this as a suggestion... wasn't same size as source)
Video Filters: None, if it's animation you need Detelecine/Decomb
Video: Codec x264, FSP same as source, 2 pass encoding, turbo first pass, Target Size 350Mb (42 min shows)
Audio: AAC
Advanced:level=30:bframes=0:cabac=0:ref=1:vbv-maxrate=768:vbv-bufsize=2000:analyse=all:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1:subq=6:8x8dct=0:trellis=0:weightb=0:mixed-refs=1

Still not sure that's the best mix for the advanced settings, but looks decent, any of the default presets had horrible artifacting