An idiot-proof guide to converting DVD's to AVI/MKV/Whatever..

[krishock]

Hello all,

I have been trying to find a relatively smooth way to convert DVD's (That I own.. legitimately..) into multimedia file formats such as AVI/WMV files that I can use on my vista media center PC. So far, I have failed miserably.. so I come to you for help.

I can rip the DVD's to hard drive as VIDEO_TS folders without much of a problem (anydvd), but that's where my success ends. I cannot find a way to convert the movie from that format to a file and get the same quality I had on the DVD. I've experimented with DVDFab, but it always seems to lower the quality of the file. I've also used AVS Video Converter and I've found it to be confusing, poorly documented and when it works.. it takes days to create the file.

I just want to take a high-definition, surround sound DVD, rip it to disk, open a program and create a high definition surround sound AVI/MKV/WMV/Whatever for my HTPC. I want no loss in quality.. drive space is not a concern.

Any advice at all would be sincerely appreciated..

[jagabo]

VOB2MPG for no loss in quality. Otherwise AutoGK.

[Baldrick]

MakeMKV and make a MKV.

[krishock]

Thanks for the replies..

running makeMKV now.. will report back on results..

[krishock]

Ok.. here's the result of my run with makemkv:

It created three files instead of one.. why?
Each of the files, when played, show the subtitles.. why are they on by default?
The files, when played, seem to crash VLC (Sometimes, but not all the time).

I'm otherwise happy with the speed of the conversion and the picture quality.

Any help?