DVD to h.264 -- with multiple audio and subtitle tracks

[Ozo]

I am trying to compress some DVD (or VOBs) to h.264. At this point, the exact choice of the h.264 encoder and file container (AVI, MKV, MP4, etc.) is not really important to me, ... as far as quality is OK and that it can be read by VLC. I will focus on these details at a later time.

But what IS important (to me) is to be able to keep at least two audio tracks as well as two subtitles tracks (ex: both English and French audio and subtitles tracks). With VLC, I would then be able to select which audio track to hear, and which subtitle track to display, if any.

I looked at the latest versions of DVDFab, FairUse Wizard, AutoGK and HandBrake. Unless I am missing something, none of them support preserving two audio tracks AND two subtitle tracks. DVDFab only supports one audio track; FairUse only supports one subtitle track; AutoGK does not seem to do h.264 at all and HandBrake seems to be limited to a single subtitle track as well. Please note that I just tried these software once and may have skipped over some nices features.

So I am wondering if there is a software (free or not) that can do that? Please note that I am quite new to DVD conversion and would prefer a software that's relatively easy to use, i.e. with simplified options or some sort of pre-validated presets.

Can anyone comment on the right toolset and procedure?

Thanks,

Ozo.

[Baldrick]

I guess it would be easiest to use fairuse wizard or handbrake and convert to mkv or mp4 with h264. Then rip the subtitles you want to keep using vsrip to idx,sub files. Add/Multiplex the subtitle files to the mkv using mkvmerge or mp4 using YAmb.

[Ozo]

Then rip the subtitles you want to keep using vsrip to idx,sub files. Add/Multiplex the subtitle files to the mkv using mkvmerge or mp4 using YAmb.

Great idea. I will give it a try.
Should I be worried about subtitles synchronization with the audio tracks (because of using a different tool for subtitles)?

Thanks,

Ozo.

[Ozo]

Ok, I tried a lot of different tools and applications to do this, i.e. convert from DVD (VOBs) to h.264 while keeping two audio and subtitle tracks. I found no tool (free or not) that can do it while offering enough control on the conversion to be of any real use. It kills me how someone can design a DVD converter tool and ignore that some people may want to keep all audio and subtitles tracks. Anyway.

The best solution that I found (so far) is:

1. Rip your movie to VOBs (ex: using DVDFab)
2. Use HandBrake to convert your VIDEO_TS folder to a h.264 MKV file
--> Select the two audio tracks you want to keep (2 audio tracks max with HandBrake!)
--> Select no subtitles tracks ("none")
--> Select the .MKV format for the output file (HandBrake defaults to MP4)
--> ** [Edit] : Note that HandBrake fully uses 100% of my four cores! Many other apps were only using one core!
3. Use VSRip to extract all subtitles tracks you want from the VOBs
--> You give the VTS_01_0.IFO as input
--> It creates one pair of sub/idx files containing all subtitle tracks
4. Use mkvmerge GUI to merge the sub/idx and the MKV files together
--> Drag and drop the original MKV file as well as the IDX file into the "Input File" box
--> Mux and save as a new MKV file (with subs included)

End result: a MKV file with h.264 video, two audio tracks and as many subtitles tracks as yoy grabbed with VSRip.

Note: I tried using MP4 (instead of MKV), but had problems with YAmp.

Note2: I also just found out that VLC is not stable when playing MKV files. It can crash when seeking back and forth in the file. Other containers may be a better solution if you intend to play back using VLC.

Note3: There is Nero Recode v3 that still need to be tested, but I am afraid of its bloated installation. I may still try it today.

Regards,

[gonzus]

Ok, I tried a lot of different tools and applications to do this, i.e. convert from DVD (VOBs) to h.264 while keeping two audio and subtitle tracks. I found no tool (free or not) that can do it while offering enough control on the conversion to be of any real use. It kills me how someone can design a DVD converter tool and ignore that some people may want to keep all audio and subtitles tracks. Anyway.

The best solution that I found (so far) is:

1. Rip your movie to VOBs (ex: using DVDFab)
2. Use HandBrake to convert your VIDEO_TS folder to a h.264 MKV file
--> Select the two audio tracks you want to keep (2 audio tracks max with HandBrake!)
--> Select no subtitles tracks ("none")
--> Select the .MKV format for the output file (HandBrake defaults to MP4)
--> ** [Edit] : Note that HandBrake fully uses 100% of my four cores! Many other apps were only using one core!
3. Use VSRip to extract all subtitles tracks you want from the VOBs
--> You give the VTS_01_0.IFO as input
--> It creates one pair of sub/idx files containing all subtitle tracks
4. Use mkvmerge GUI to merge the sub/idx and the MKV files together
--> Drag and drop the original MKV file as well as the IDX file into the "Input File" box
--> Mux and save as a new MKV file (with subs included)

End result: a MKV file with h.264 video, two audio tracks and as many subtitles tracks as yoy grabbed with VSRip.

Note: I tried using MP4 (instead of MKV), but had problems with YAmp.

Note2: I also just found out that VLC is not stable when playing MKV files. It can crash when seeking back and forth in the file. Other containers may be a better solution if you intend to play back using VLC.

Note3: There is Nero Recode v3 that still need to be tested, but I am afraid of its bloated installation. I may still try it today.

Regards,

I know it has been some time, but I wanted to thank Ozo for posting these instructions. This is EXACTLY what I have been doing in order to convert my DVD collection into a digital library.

I have added a couple more steps in order to add chapter names to the ripped movies (instead of plain "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", etc.):

3.1 Use mkvextract to extract the chapter list and timings from the handbrake-ripped movie into a text file. mkvextract is installed as a command-line utility along with mkvmerge.
3.2 Download or (gasp!) type the chapter names into a text file. I have found the Barnes & Noble web site to be a good source of chapter names.
3.3 Merge these two files by hand or with a script.
4.1 Before merging everything with mkvmerge, specify the desired chapter file.

Hope that helps and best regards.

[chirayuw]

I wanted to ask How do I sync the subs to the video after it has been coverted, cos the sub's will rip at dvd timing not converted video timing?

[buzzqw]

HDConvertToX allow an arbitrary number of audio ans subs tracks..

BHH

P.S. maybe you will wait tomorrow, since i will publish a full update

[gonzus]

I wanted to ask How do I sync the subs to the video after it has been coverted, cos the sub's will rip at dvd timing not converted video timing?

I have never done anything special, the subs end up synced to the H.264 video perfectly.

Good luck.

[gonzus]

HDConvertToX allow an arbitrary number of audio ans subs tracks..

BHH

P.S. maybe you will wait tomorrow, since i will publish a full update

Thanks for the pointer.

[Viper_Bravo]

Using HandBreak, in the Video tab what Constant Quality do u all recommend? At 100% will the MKV be the same size as the VOB?

Also can I use HandBreaks option to have Chapters in the finished KMV or do i have to use the mkvextract/mkvmerge method?

[Cestmoicestmoi]

reviving old threads might not be very useful but as I ended up here myself today... because I was a bit lost and perplexed with the issue of gathering several tracks/streams in a single container such as .mp4 .avi .mkv etc.

surprisingly in 3-4 years things don't seem to have changed much in terms of information on this subject

converting videos is no more much of an issue, but gathering numerous video, audio, subtitle tracks within one container (just like converting the whole content of a DVD to a smaller container such as a .mp4 container) is surprisingly very little documented e.g. on Wikipedia on pages concerning the various container formats, there is an incredible amount of information ...except the basic info about number of tracks supported ? besides I just saw on another forum/thread that Apple suppressed in some of its products the possibility of selecting various sound tracks (?!)...

well, a tip, I just discovered that in QuickTime Pro v77 on an old mac-ppc, in for ex. doing a select all & copy in one opened audio file, in another opened video file I could just do "Edit / Add..." and then in the "window /property window" of this video file there was just a new audio track ! didn't try yet much saving and exporting etc. with this new file, but apparently it just works ! (caution : by default all the new tracks are enabled, so you hear some garbage like in a film all different languages together)
... waooo... I just tested, one can even do amazing things : I added another video track, a second video track, and it worked (a 125 MB h264 video on a .mp4 -h264-aac-) so I end up with 2 video tracks and 2 audio tracks on the same QT open file... indeed one video hide the other, but in the Window / Window Movie Properties/.... then in selecting one of the video tracks, below in selecting "Visual Settings" there are options such as "mask" (on the left) and "transparency" etc. with various choices... and the result is that you just blended 2 movie tracks... amazing, I have been using QT for years and never realized that I could just do with QT Pro in seconds such things (far much quicker and easier than with much more complex products such as iMovie or Final Cut Express, etc.) !

[Cestmoicestmoi]

(con't)
I though that it could be useful for others to mention what is said above, because I spent on my old mac-ppc about 1-2 days trying to just change/add audio tracks in a few minutes with my usual "converting tools" such as : iffmpeg and ffmpegX (2 excellent tools) trying to add/exchange audio tracks on some videos, above all without having to launch these hours long reencoding of old movie files (i.e. for ex. I had a stock of old DVD-VOB multilanguage files, where the languages had been years ago mixed up between tracks apparently from one file to the other, hence sometime they had been converted to .mp4 (h264-aac) single-language files with the wrong language !). But all these tools such as iffmpeg/ffmpegX are not planned for managing multi-track files. Then finally found that QT Pro could do that easily.

[4your:only]

@ozo

If source has DVD compatible Layout, you can extract video, multiple audio and subs with makemkv to mkv. No compression at this point. With a converter tool that reencodes video and is able to copy/reencode audio and copy subs you should get the file you want. The problem could be the sub, you may need an additional step to extract, convert and remux the sub in your destination file.

The route to take depends a lot on the source. I assume, ozo found a way to handle this, because the thread is 3 years old. The horse might be dead now