Looking for Lossless video recommendation

[HeftyHeftyHefty]

I'm new to this so please bear with me. I have a 400GB hard drive and I am looking to backup DVDs to it at full DVD quality using an AVI container. The video would have to be at native resolution and the highest audio quality, so 5.1 audio if available.

I do not want to use any compression, so I guess mpeg2? I know how to get the movie off a DVD using DVD Shrink (with no re-compression). Now i need to convert it from the VOBs to a single file.

My goal is to have all my movies on the hard drive at full DVD quality.

Is this doable? Anyone doing this already? I know I can end up with 6GB+ files. Or is it easier to just keep the VOBs?

[yoda313]

Hello,
You could use divx high def mode and use the bitrate of the original dvd (the video bitrate - I believe divx will let you go up to 8000 bitrate). That will get you a near exact avi file of the dvd.

Kevin

[yoda313]

Hello,
Also, do you care about menus and extras???

If not you could just rip the movie only and keep that - dual layer or single layer discs-. Then if that is small enough you could just keep the vob.

Kevin

[BSR]

I think VOBEDIT will do what you want, demux VOB files.
Check it out.
Then you just have to mux the video and audio together to get 1 file.

[BobK]

If it was me then I'd keep the vobs- use DVD Shrink to get rid of menus and anything else you don't want (extra audio tracks), then let Shrink process it with no compression.

[housepig]

why reconvert? it would be easier to keep the .vob files and play them with a software player.

[yoda313]

why reconvert? it would be easier to keep the .vob files and play them with a software player.

Hello,
I suggested that in my last post. He should reconvert to save space if it becomes an issue - though with a 400 gig harddrive that would be tough to do.

Kevin

[yoda313]

Hello,

Another thought, you should check out several of the dvd sizes. Look for how large the movie only rips would be (shrunk or unshrunk). If you have more than 20 or 30 dvds you may want to do some divx encoding (20x4=80gigs--- 30x4=120 gigs assuming single layer dvds way higher for dual).

Kevin

[HeftyHeftyHefty]

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I like DivX in high qualities but I miss the 5.1 surround sound. I tried AC3 but when I play it back in Winamp it comes up as being Mono. Any thoughts? Is it the player or could I be encoding wrong?

Seems like keeping the VOBs is the way to go for Uber Quality. Which is what I've been doing so far.

[rfielder]

What about DVD Decrypter from:
http://www.dvddecrypter.com/

Doesn't it just copy from DVD to hard disk? No video conversion, no changes to video or audio.

In fact, you can tell it not to split files, so you end up with one large VOB which is the main movie. The vob will play in WinDVD directly.

Wouldn't this give the best results, since nothing is changed from the original?

[yoda313]

Hello,
Here is one guide for dvd to divx with 5.1 sound:

https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=243#243

Good luck.

Kevin

[BSR]

What about DVD Decrypter from:
http://www.dvddecrypter.com/

Good point, then you don't have to wait for DVDshrink to do an analysis of movies that you are not compressing.

[HeftyHeftyHefty]

I've used DVD Decrypter and it works fine, however I like DVD Shrink better cause of the Re-Author tool which allows you to strip out the menus and other languages. It also has the option to keep one big VOB.

Thanks for the link to the DivX and 5.1 guide. I'll try it again.

[rfielder]

I've used DVD Decrypter and it works fine, however I like DVD Shrink better cause of the Re-Author tool which allows you to strip out the menus and other languages. It also has the option to keep one big VOB.

I agree, if you are manipulating a DVD, then DVD Shrink is more powerful.

However, my understanding was a request to save the movie only, not the entire DVD. DVD Decrypter does that in File mode - is saves the movie as one big VOB without changes to the content (beyond removing copy protection). You get the movie only - you don't need to tell it not to save menus and stuff since those are not part of the movie itself.

[BSR]

Can't DVD Decrypter also get rid of audio and subtitles you don't want using IFO mode.