Trying to convert DVD to AVI

[kajee]

I am hoping someone can help me with this. I have no troubles using a large range of products or services that allow me to do this, my problem is finding the right one.

I have recently obtained a large sum of original dvds of tv shows which include, NCIS, Law and Order (CI,SVU), House and other shows that are similar.
Now I wish to convert each episode into AVI format on my PC, but i want them to be at ~350mb for every episode that is ~42 minutes and ~175mb for every episode that is ~22 minutes. I have a small case of OCD and i need these files to be the same size as my shows that i have downloaded. but i also want decent quality as well, something that can resemble the shows ive downloaded too.


I have used AutoGK and successfuly had it convert an episode to 350mb, but its height and width were very small and the quality was nothing special either. I have used other programs that do the same but the quality is horrible or the size is rediculously large.

I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction and let me know what I can do to get similar quality and size to that of shows that are downloadable in avi(xvid codec) format.



kajee.

[guns1inger]

You can set the width of the AutoGk output. If you choose custom size you get 2-pass encoding, which should give you pretty good quality.

That said, I have yet to see a 42 minute downloaded 350 MB Xvid that was any better than just very average in quality.

If you want quality and Xvid then you need to go larger. If your OCD is such that you cannot live with the file sizes varying then you have to either accept a lower quality level, or re-encode the smaller files to a larger size to allow for your own conversions to be of decent, rather than average, quality.

I have never understood how people can call the downloaded Xvid/Divx files of the standard sizes "DVD quality" or even "near DVD quality" or indeed anything more than "average quality OK for watching on a small screen".

Personally, I can't be bothered ripping and converting DVDs. The time and effort just isn't worth it to me. It is easier to just put the disc in instead. I do, however, convert and keep some material taken from OTA digital broadcasts. In those cases I encode to a 720 width using H264 and aim for around 10MB per minute - or 550MB for a 55 minute show. This gives me a level of quality far better than Xvid.

[kajee]

I dont expect DVD quality or even near-DVD quality. But this quality that AutoGK gave me was really bad. It was watchable but it was hard to watch. I just want roughly the same quality as the downloaded versions of these TV Shows (I should also state that I own the original of these as well, it is just that my bandwidth has been reduced considerably each month so I can no longer download them)

I don't mind the amount of time it takes, I just need them to be organised. I can't have burnt/backed up material mixed in with my original copies, but if they are all on my computer the size and being able to view them is the only thing that worries me.

[guns1inger]

The quality from AutoGK should not have been that bad.

I suggest you go to the author's site and read the tutorial there to get the basics - like setting the desired resolution - and also to make sure you have the correct version of Xvid installed. Having the wrong version will affect quality.

[kajee]

I am using AutoGK version 2.55 and the Xvid codecs that came with that. Do you recommend any specific version or should I just check the AutoGK site for that?

Most tutorials I read state to leave it auto or to set it at 720. So I left it to convert at 720 this morning and will check it later tonight once I have finished work.

But yeah I had heard so much good about AutoGK and after attempting so many at auto and having them come up as an inferior quality to what I consider standard for a 350mb avi file I was rather disappointed and thought I should check to see if I had done something wrong or whether there was another program out there that I could use.

[guns1inger]

You will find that most of the downloaded files have a width of 640 or less (usually less), which will give you better quality than 720 width at the same resolution.

You could also look at AVI.net as an alternative tool

[kajee]

I have tried AVI.net but it also freezes on me when I attempt to search for the DVD I have decrypted and wish to convert. I will attempt to use it some more and work out its problems. And yeah I was going to do a 640 or possibly 624 but I wasn't sure to be honest. I guess it's going to take a fair amount of trial and error.. and time.

Thanks for the help guns1inger.

Hopefuly I won't have any more questions for a while.

[guns1inger]

My rig is similar to yours, and I can convert using AutoGK at better than double real-time. You should be able to churn through a selection of half-hour shows pretty quickly. I would select one, load it up several times with different widths, and then process the batch and compare outputs.

The other issue you have with fixed file sizes (something that those who convert for downloading don't seem to care about) is that the quality is also dependent on the type of content. Something with a lot of action needs more bitrate than something with just talking heads in order to maintain the same quality. if you encode everything to the same file size (and therefore bitrate) then you will not (in fact cannot) get consistent quality.

[kajee]

Yeah, I realise that the brightness and as to whether there is 'action' involved in the video that will affect it. Hence why with NCIS I wasn't expecting a great deal of quality. Just being hopeful.

I just wish I knew how the people who release these shows for download do it the way they do.

[manono]

I just wish I knew how the people who release these shows for download do it the way they do.

They're not using AutoGK, for one thing. Well, most aren't. Anyway, aren't most of the downloaded ones 624x352 or similar? So, set the width to 624, the audio to MP3 at 128, the size to 350 MB, and let it go. You said the quality it gave you when the width was set to auto was low and the resulting width low. With some very low width of 384 or some such, when full-screened it'll look very soft and of poor quality. You might post a log for one of the lousy results so we can have a look.

Because it's designed for beginners, AutoGK isn't very 'tweakable'. When encoding manually people have the use of a huge number of AviSynth filters to help make these shows more compressible.

[kajee]

manono, thanks for the reply. I didn't expect them to be using something as simple as AutoGK but I don't have the knowledge for anything like this. If it's hardware I can do almost anything, but software just goes over my head for the most part. I'll just keep going until I am happy with my final result

Thanks again.

[kajee]

Ok, I think I may have found my problem. I can't believe I didnt see this before but it recorded all the episodes and put them into the 350mb file. When I think of it now, the ability to compress 2hours and 49minutes into a 350mb file and look the way it does is amazing.

I now have to work out whether I need to seperatly decrypt each file by itself or whether I can AutoGK it the way it is and hope that I only get one episode in each AVI.


I apologise for my double post but I appear to be getting script errors and having firefox shutdown on me each time I try to edit it. I think it's time for a restart.

[guns1inger]

If you are working from a DVD you should be able to load the IFO file and have AutoGK see the titles. You other options include splitting the episodes with DVD Shrink in re-author mode, or using something like VOB2MPG to extract each episode as a separate mpeg file, and then converting.

[kajee]

gun, I have decrypted the dvd and I am accessing it from my HDD through AutoGK. It allows me to select the title I wish to access but in the log it appears to load all VOB files, I am thinking this may be happening because they are all strung together. As in _1, _2, _3 and so on. Getting each episode from DVD Decrypter Seperatly is no harm or hassle for me. It just means I need to attend the PC more often rather than once every half an hour.

[guns1inger]

If all the titles are in a single titleset (which they appear to be) then each title will span more than one VOB. AutoGK will load all of them to make sure all titles are available.

Simpler than DVD decrypter is to rip once, get the whole lot, then use VOB2MPG to get the titles as MPG files, You can then load these into AutoGK and encode.

[manono]

AutoGK is broken as far as selecting individual episodes using the IFO from an entire DVD decrypted to the hard drive. You're supposed to decrypt each episode to its own folder. You use DVD Decrypter set up for IFO Mode, and not the default File Mode.

Or, with the entire DVD already decrypted to the hard drive, use PGCDemux to select out the individual episodes. Set it to 'Create a PGC VOB' and then feed the resulting episode VOB into AutoGK. Or use VOB2MPEG to do something similar, as guns1inger suggested.

[Relayerman]

For what its worth, I have done tons of TV shows from DVD to Xvid via AutoGK and the 350mb size is great. Set the width to 512 in the Advanced Options and the 1 hour shows will look dandy on regular TV. Use the Ctrl-F9 option to set some other options such as Sharpen MPEG, etc. I use CloneDVDMobile by SlySoft to rip the individual episodes to VOBs all at once and then straight into AutoGK. Works like a champ.

[guns1inger]

512 ? good god man, that's a postage stamp. How small is your TV ?

[Relayerman]

512 ? good god man, that's a postage stamp. How small is your TV ?

Running it full screen looks great. I don't have an HD widescreen, but it looks fine on my 36" boat anchor TV. It looks fine on my PC's 22" widescreen lcd monitor as well.

[guns1inger]

Each to their own . . . . . .

[T-Fish]

AutoGK is broken as far as selecting individual episodes using the IFO from an entire DVD decrypted to the hard drive.

according to len0x, its a limitation in DGIndex, thus not broken in AGK.


btw. i agree that 512 is the width to go for, but ONLY if the show is 1.33:1. (older shows)

[manono]

according to len0x, its a limitation in DGIndex, thus not broken in AGK.

Yes and no. AutoGK definitely implies that you can choose a PGC and get the resulting video for that PGC. But that's not necessarily true. If there's more than one PGC in that particular VTS, you get everything in that VTS. Selecting the IFO works only if each episode is in a different VTS, which happens about - what - half the time?

As a mod at the GK/AutoGK forum at Doom9, I'd like a nickel for every time someone has run afoul of that problem and has asked for help. Yes, the limitation is DGIndex's, and the problem is easily solved by decrypting each episode to its own folder.

Not that many people read the included tutorial, but in a part of it written by lenox and not by me he mentions the problem, and is pretty unclear (in my opinion) about what the problem really is:

IFO file is used when you have a DVD like directory that contains IFO file and corresponding VOB files. IFO file is parsed and choice of audio streams and subtitles is presented to the user. If IFO file contains multiple PGCs (program chains) or angles then user will be asked to confirm which ones contained in the vobset (unless the name of VOB file contain this information already). Note that AutoGK cannot work properly on a vobset that still has multiple angles/program chains, so make sure to use appropriate tools to prepare the vobset. Another thing to remember is that AutoGK only works on unencrypted VOB files.

http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=TutorialEN

Even if a rookie read the the part I boldfaced, the chances are good that he wouldn't understand what len0x is saying there. By 'appropriate tools' he means get rid of anything you don't want encoded from that particular VTS. In other words, use DVD Decrypter in IFO Mode. Or use DVD Shrink or PGCDemux or VOB2MPEG after putting the entire DVD onto the hard drive, to isolate out only the angle or episode you want.

Since other programs have no trouble pulling an episode out of a VTS with multiple episodes (except in those rare instances when you have all the episodes contained within the same PGC), AutoGK itself could also pull them out before sending them to DGIndex, so I wouldn't lay the blame entirely (or even partially) at DGIndex's doorstep, since it doesn't pretend to do more than index whatever VOB(s) you throw at it.

[T-Fish]

hmm interesting. thanks for elaborating on this
i guess len0x would have to change to much to get this working properly, thus
shifting blame a little. not really a problem once one knows how to work around it.

thx

[manono]

hmm interesting. thanks for elaborating on this
i guess len0x would have to change to much to get this working properly, thus
shifting blame a little. not really a problem once one knows how to work around it.

I agree. I may have been a little too glib about saying how easy it would be to fix it. Maybe it's a difficult thing to change it so it handles all sources properly. I have no idea whether or not len0x has ever tackled the problem. Since this is a well known limitation, my guess is that he decided fixing it was more trouble than it was worth, since there's a fairly easy workaround.

[awgie]

If you've already decrypted the DVD, you can use pgc.NET to rip each title (pgc) from the original VOB. pgc.NET is the companion tool to avi.NET. I have been using avi.NET for years, and I have not found a more efficient and consistent tool for converting DVDs into DivX or XviD avi files. Only occasionally do I have to resort to Dr. DivX. It is a little slower, and if the title takes more than one VOB file, you have to remember to actually select all of the VOB files (unlike avi.NET where you only have to select the first one), or it will produce an avi file based only on the one you selected.

Both of them are very good and easy to use.