In advance I'd like to say that this will likely be a very large post, but thank you very much for taking the time to read all of it.
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Over the years I've amassed a rather large Anime collection. It should come as no surprise that I'd rather have it all in a manageable digital form as opposed to countless DVDs. I'd like to begin the long agonizing process of ripping it all into my computer, but I have very specific goals I'd like to achieve.
I'll start by letting you know what software I presently have access to, and am familiar with. I'm open to learning new software, and although I'd rather not have to spend anything, money is not an issue:
DVD Decrypter
DVD Shrink
Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate 5
Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate 5
Sony's DVD Architect 4.0b
Now for my goals with this project:
I must first say I understand there is no "magic number" when it comes to video bitrates, file-sizes, etc especially with anime. All anime are not made the same. Animation is originally encoded (if I'm using the terminology correctly) at different bitrates and with varying amount of fps, and the industry doesn't appear to have a standard. Then you have cell anime, fake-cell that is actually rendered, CG anime, etc. That said, I shall continue...
- I want to achieve, as best as possible a standard, or multiple standards more likely depending on the source, for ripping anime. I'm looking to balance quality and file size with quality for me personally a bit more important. Let's say 60/40.
On all my anime I want to rip the video stream along w/ both english/japanese audio and all subtitle tracks.
If possible I'd like also retain the original chapter breaks, but if this is either not possible or involves an excessive amount of extra work I'll be satisfied w/ set chapter breaks of 5:00 minutes.
I'm a fan of the .mkv container, but am willing to adapt and am concerned about possible complications if I have to burn to a DVD again in the future as I will want to retain, as I mentioned, all the video/audio/subs that I ripped.
I don't care for the DVD menus really as I don't actually plan on copying the anime to a new DVD unless the original is damaged. In such a case I"m perfectly content in creating my own using DVD Architect.
If it's not already clear... no hard subs pls.
One file per episode/movie
Ideally I'm hoping for file sizes of no more than 250mb per typical anime episode. Let me know how reasonable this is.
I'd like to achieve 5.1 surround audio, but stereo quality is acceptable.
I try to keep the hobby alive in america by supporting stores that sell anime rather than getting torrents or buying what I can only assume or high quality bootlegs. I'm referring to the online stores as well as ebay where you get a series that should be hundreds for only $39 or something. I have seen these and the quality seems to be fairly good. I'd like feedback on the typical methods used in torrent files and these DVDs. What did they do right/wrong? What can I do better? I want as close to a standard as I can get that I can apply to all of my anime. Also, I'd like to learn a bit about the video encoding process. I don't understand what is meant by 1-pass/2-pass encoding yada yada.
I'd also like to point out that I'm not unfamiliar w/ these process in general, and have done it before, but I want to learn the details so I can do it well.
I hope I've covered everything. I really really appreciate everyone's help w/ this. I'm a quick learner, pick up new concepts easily, and retain the knowledge almost indefinitely. If I'm successful I will do everything in my power to create a guide to achieving anything anyone would want to do w/ anime ripping. I've searched the forums and this place is so large information is hard to find imo. I'd like to help contribute to this community with a detailed guide including screenshots and various methods with different programs, options, solutions, etc., but I need to learn the methods myself first. Please help.
Thanks again!
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Anime is among the most difficult kind of video to reencode properly and demands among the greatest encoding skill. Unless you are very familiar with frameserving using AviSynth, then my advice is to forget about it and, if you absolutely have to shrink the sizes, reauthor and shrink using DVD Shrink, keeping it in MPEG-2 DVD format. For example, if a thread like this one:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=138305
which explains the problems that can crop up and the solutions, seems like gibberish, you are nowhere close to being ready to tackle a big project such as the one you propose. I don't use AnimeIVTC myself because I'm not that anal about it, but the problems he points out are all too real, and even easy solutions are difficult if all you have available are toys like Xilisoft's garbage programs.
The movies are relatively easy and some of the episodic anime is easy, but the vast majority of the episodic series have their own quirks which make properly reencoding them very difficult without a lot of experience. I hate to be so negative, but my opinion is that you're biting off way more than you can chew, if you want it done right.
That said though, there are plenty of programs you might try that should do a decent job on the easier stuff - programs like XviD4PSP, Handbrake, MeGUI, AVIDemux, and others of their ilk.
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