Need help encoding, please help...

[Sierraguy]

Okay, this may seem like an old question but all of the info I've seen on VideoHelp has been for tools that are several years old (can they be that good? and there has to be more modern file formats...

I'm streaming video from my XP machine (using TVersity) to my XBox 360. I'll soon being including a DLNA compatible BluRay player and Western Digital HD TV Live. On a new 1080p LCD 50".

Currently:
I'm streaming across 802.11n but will be going to powerline adapters as the wireless continually requires recaching.
AS of now, my XP box is a 2.2ghz intel with 4gb RAM. Even DVDFab brings it to it knees. But it gets the job done slowly. I'm looking for a cheap quadcore with tons of SATA slots (under $600). (any recommendations). I have several terabytes of storage to work with.

My toolchest includes DVDFab, Handbrake, DVDShrink. AnyVideoConverter, DIVX Converter pro, AVISynth; FairUse Wizard, VOBtoMPG, Fast Video Converter pro. Amongst others.


Q1:
That would be the best format to encode my DVDs to? Common format that is recognized across multiple platforms, preferably uncompressed with high resolution and surround sound (Dolby Digital, DTS, THX, -->AC3?)
I need surround sound support and the highest quality video with no video/audio syncing problems.

Q2:
What tool would you recommend for encoding? And please don't say DVD Ripper (you've been spamming all similar questions) as I have of the ripping tools I need.

I'd prefer to avoind command line and scripting (AVISynth) unless its the absolute best tool out there..... I'm a former programmer but would like a good GUI. If a tool requires scripting, I'd like do documentation and samples.

Any input? Format and tools?

[poisondeathray]

HDD are quite affordable these days, you can get 2TB for ~$110-120 (just a year ago I paid that much for 1TB, half the capacity) - so I wouldn't encode them to anything, I would just rip them 1:1 . This way you don't lose quality , and waste no time re-encoding. Your XP box right now could handle it no problems

[Sierraguy]

Don't convert them from the full DVD VOB to anything? Leave them multifile VOB just like on the DVD or convert to sinlge VOB as in "Vob Passthru" in DVDFab?
TVersity will transcode VOB to a format the receiving device will accept?

[poisondeathray]

I think it depends what you're streaming it to. Sometimes you may need to rip as ISO , sometimes split VOBs, sometimes 1 big MPG. The point is , the video is the same in all these, just "wrapped" up differently - you can rip your dvd with different options, and still not re-encode a thing.

Have a look at the tversity and xbox360 forums for specific compatiblity issues. IIRC, there are a few quirks when streaming to xbox360 vs. ps3 for example. The WD will play it either way