What is the most efficient method for...

[barskey]

Here is what I want to do, and I am looking for input on the easiest way to accomplish it.

• 1) "Rip" a movie to the computer from a DVD.
  2) Create a PSP version of the movie for, you guessed it, syncing to a PSP.
  3) Burn a backup DVD of the movie to play in the car without the menus and extras (just the main feature).
  4) Create an iTunes (quicktime) version for playing on the computer (possibly iPod too, if I ever get one).
  5) Keep the original "ripped" version around until I find out which encoding works best with iTV.

Here is what I have tried, and the problems I am finding:

• 1) I use MacTheRipper to get the DVD to the computer. This works great, but there are a couple of options.
  a) If I use Full Disc extraction, I get a VIDEO_TS folder with lots of VOB files, and I cannot create a PSP or iPod movie from this.
  b) If I use Main Feature extraction, I get a VIDEO_TS folder with only the main title in several VOB files, which works great for re-burning a DVD with the movie only (using Toast). I can't, however, use this to create a PSP file and I can't burn a DVD f the overall folder is larger than 4.7GB.
  c) If I use Title Only extraction, I get a sinlge VOB file. This is great for creating a PSP or iPod movie, but I can't burn this to a DVD. If I use the dvd4 tool to create a VIDEO_TS folder from this VOB file and the VOB file is smaller than 4GB, the resulting VIDEO_TS folder is smaller than the original (did compression occur)?

I know there is a lot of info here, but I am wondering if anyone else is trying to do the same as I am?

Thanks in advance for the discussion.

[Case]

In this scenario, I would rip the disc twice: once (full disc or main feature) for backup DVD and once (title-only single VOB file) for transcoding to other formats.

If I use the dvd4 tool to create a VIDEO_TS folder from this VOB file and the VOB file is smaller than 4GB, the resulting VIDEO_TS folder is smaller than the original (did compression occur)?

The dvd4 tool uses one (default) or two (optional) audio streams, while the original may have had more audio streams. This may result in a smaller folder. Could that explain it?