DVD to MKV without transcoding or compression.

[ee98vvt]

I have got many DVDs ripped on my hard disk and kept to their native format with all the video and audio streams and subtitles of interest (i.e. I used DVDFab's DVD to DVD). I need to convert each DVD to a single video file suitable for playback on any PC and with the following features:

1. I need to preserve the original video stream (i.e. no compression neither transcoding) for best video quality results
2. I don't care about size but obviously I don't want it to be bigger than the DVD itself (i.e. 8-9GB worst case)
3. I want to be able to turn the subtitles on or off (i.e. not hard coded or embeded)
4. I want one single video file (preferably an .mkv)

I understand that there are "de-muxers" out there that can extract video and audio streams of a DVD, and similarly "muxers" that can then put the desired streams back together to a suitable container.

The problem I am having is that I am looking (and have been for quite a while) for the best single programme that can do this reliably in terms of video quality. I would have thought, extracting a video stream and then muxing it back into a single video file container without touching it at all, shouldn't involve any kind of encoding/transcoding and the final video result should be an exact replica of the original video stream. I was wrong!

To a great surprise, using MakeMKV (to convert my desired video and audio streams to a single .mkv), I noticed all sorts of artifacts, the most major one being video stuttering (or perhaps known as choppy image?) everywhere the video angle was changed! Now, this is freeware and does the job so I was wondering wheather there is a more professional (always targeting quality) programme that eliminates or at least improves this issue. I don't mind using a couple of programmes I guess, but it would be nice to be simple as I don't really want to tweak too many parameters unless of course I must!

Thanks for your help!

[Baldrick]

Make an ISO?

I haven't see any other tool like makemkv that does everything for you. Or else must you demux all streams using for example pgcdemux and then use mkvmerge to make an mkv from them.

[ee98vvt]

I don't understand the point of an .iso file. At the end of the day, this is just a generic container (like .zip, .rar) that can be loaded onto, say Power DVD, just as a DVD folder on your hard disk would (?).

I really do need a video file format, as it tends to be much faster than opening an .iso or DVD native Video_TS folder and also it can be played almost on any video player. In addition, what I find with loading an .ifo file onto any player other than Power DVD, is that the quality is really bad and I think the software can't cope with DVD native format (?). Media Player Classic seems to be okay if you tweak it (i.e. play around with the filters etc.).

I was wondering, there must a be a way to make an .mkv (or even .mp4 etc.) by just extracting video and audio streams left untouched in the container, which can be played just as good as loading the DVD itself onto Power DVD (?)

Thanks for your last suggestion to use two different tools. I haven't tried that yet, I guess if the quality is just as good as the original DVD, then it'll have to be that! Strange though, people talk so much about MakeMKV and my first experience with it was terrible..

[hech54]

What's wrong with an MPEG file? VOB2MPEG comes to mind.

[ee98vvt]

Well, I tried VOB2MPEG and got a great result but I could not mux any subtitles into it. This is important to me.

Also, I tried the pgcdemux and mkvmerge path, and although again the quality was superb, that too failed to mux subtitles into the file.

MakeMKV does exactly what I need I guess (and without having to use more than one button), but the quality is awful!

Any suggestion poeple?

Thanks.

[Des]

AutoMKV will do what you are looking for but has a steep learning curve and doesn;t seem to always work on all systems.

HDConvertToX will also do this, it's by the same author as AutoMKV (replaces it actually), however personally, I have never been able to get it to work the way I want to.

The Beta Version of Handbrake will also do what you are looking for, and is a one button solution. It isavailable through the Handbrake page off the tools page here.

--dES

[ee98vvt]

I haven't used AutoMKV, but I have tried HDConvertToX and it's not what I am looking for. It's an encoder really which I don't want. I want the original stream as it is, muxed into a different container (i.e. mkv or even mp4) together with subtitles and different audio streams. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to do. Transcoding, which is what HDConvertToX and Handbrake do, takes ages and degrades quality (compress, decompress and recompress etc.).

[Baldrick]

Did you try latest handbrake beta? Maybe a new feature.

[ee98vvt]

Yes, I have tried Handbrake Beta.

[nick1977]

Just tried makemkv and it works perfectly for me. Admittedly my bluray player says codec unsupported when I try to play it back via network but that is a limitation of my machine.
Playing back on PC is fine using KMPlayer, although stutters for the first 3 seconds or so when "finding it's feet".
Since all the program does is directly copy the streams to a new container I would suggest a bit more investigation into why playback is poor for you. It maybe the software you are using to playback.

Nick