Need some help on DVD to Avi for HDTV

[Tommy-T]

Hi guys,

I'm new and made this account because I sarched through the guides and I couldn't find one that was describing what I wanted to do. I want to rip my DVD's to some format that my PS3 will read from my external. I've tried ways that didn't work, the quality is very blocky and not really watchable. I know it's possible, because I've seen downloaded stuff that looks great on HDTV's. Here's the progs I've used, DVD decrypter, and autogk, even brung up the hidden menus in AutoGk and still couldn't get good quality. any help would be great guys! Thanks!

[manono]

If you're using AutoGK, post a log.

The hidden menu is hidden for a reason. It's not to be fooled with unless you know what you're doing and most times there's no reason to go in there.

[Tommy-T]

Hey thanks for the reply.

I deleted the logs so I'll have to post a new one with the same steps that I took tomorrow. but, I followed this Video on youtube and did exactly what he did and had no sucess with the quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur1BxrFuu4E&feature=related

^ If you care to see what I did.

[manono]

I don't feel like watching a 10 minute video. A log will provide more information at one glance than will watching a 10 minute video about someone else's experience with a different movie. Different movies compress differently and some should never (most should never, if you ask me) be confined to a 700 MB size, not in this day and age of inexpensive DVDRs.

[hech54]

I've used, DVD decrypter, and autogk,

DVDDecrypter hasn't been updated since 2005. You may have gotten lucky recently ripping with it but your luck WILL run out very soon. Use DVDFabDecrypter to rip your DVDs to your hard drive...then compress from there.

[Tommy-T]

I got my log file out of the bin. here it is, Hope someone can figure it out to tell me what steps I need to perform to get this done correctly.

[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] AutoGK 2.55
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] OS: WinXP (5.1.2600).2
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Job started.
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Input file: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\VTS_01_0.IFO
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Output file: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\American Gangster.avi
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Output codec: XviD
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Audio 1: English AC3 6ch
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Subtitles: none
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Format: AVI
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Target size: 701Mb
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Audio 1 settings: Auto
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Started encoding.
[7/6/2011 4:07:39 PM] Demuxing and indexing.
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Processing file: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\VTS_01_1.VOB
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Source resolution: 720x480
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Found NTSC source.
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Source aspect ratio: 16:9
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Source seems to be pure FILM.
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Output will contain 252962 frames
[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Decoding audio.
[7/6/2011 4:19:18 PM] Normalizing audio.
[7/6/2011 4:22:25 PM] Encoding audio.
[7/6/2011 4:46:52 PM] Using VAQ in XviD
[7/6/2011 4:46:52 PM] Audio1 size: 150,189,024 bytes (143.23 Mb)
[7/6/2011 4:46:53 PM] Overhead: 10,118,528 bytes (9.65 Mb)
[7/6/2011 4:46:53 PM] Video size: 574,744,224 bytes (548.12 Mb)
[7/6/2011 4:46:53 PM] Running compressibility test.
[7/6/2011 4:46:53 PM] Writing the following script to C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\agk_tmp\Amer ican Gangster_comptest.avs
================================================== =========
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dl l")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrain SSE2.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\agk_tmp\Amer ican Gangster.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples= 10,aspect=0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftad d=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1.18518518518519
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 640
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples= 10,aspect=new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe =0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
LanczosResize(out_width,out_height)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
SelectRangeEvery(300,15)
================================================== =========
[7/6/2011 4:57:03 PM] Duration was: 10 minutes 9 seconds
[7/6/2011 4:57:03 PM] Speed was: 20.75 fps.
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Compressibility percentage is: 36.52
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Using softer resizer.
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Chosen resolution is: 528x288 ( AR: 1.83 )
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Predicted comptest value is: 56.13%
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Running first pass.
[7/6/2011 4:57:04 PM] Writing the following script to C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\agk_tmp\Amer ican Gangster_movie.avs
================================================== =========
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\DGMPGDec\DGDecode.d ll")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\autocrop.dl l")
LoadPlugin("C:\PROGRA~1\AutoGK\filters\RemoveGrain SSE2.dll")

movie = mpeg2source("C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\movies\agk_tmp\Amer ican Gangster.d2v")
cropclip = autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples= 10,aspect=0,threshold=34,samplestartframe=0,leftad d=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
fixed_aspect = 1.18518518518519
c_width = width(cropclip)
c_height = round(height(cropclip) / fixed_aspect)
input_par = float(c_width)/float(c_height)
input_par = (input_par > 1.4) || (input_par < 1.25) ? input_par : (4.0/3.0)
out_width = 528
out_height = round(float(out_width) / input_par)
hmod = out_height - (floor(out_height / 16 ) * 16)
out_height = (hmod > 4) ? (out_height + (16 - hmod)) : (out_height - hmod)
new_aspect = (float(out_width) / float(out_height)) / fixed_aspect
autocrop(movie,mode=0,wmultof=4,hmultof=4,samples= 10,aspect=new_aspect,threshold=34,samplestartframe =0,leftadd=0,rightadd=0,topadd=0,bottomadd=0)
BicubicResize(out_width,out_height,0,0.5)
RemoveGrain(mode=2)
================================================== =========
[7/6/2011 7:13:03 PM] Duration was: 2 hours 15 minutes 57 seconds
[7/6/2011 7:13:03 PM] Speed was: 31.01 fps.
[7/6/2011 7:13:04 PM] Expected quality of first pass size: 58.00%
[7/6/2011 7:13:04 PM] Running second pass.
[7/6/2011 9:27:18 PM] Duration was: 2 hours 14 minutes 11 seconds
[7/6/2011 9:27:18 PM] Speed was: 31.42 fps.
[7/6/2011 9:27:18 PM] Job finished. Total time: 5 hours 19 minutes 38 seconds

[manono]

[7/6/2011 4:12:58 PM] Output will contain 252962 frames

Your movie is nearly three hours long. And you want to stick it in a single CD? AutoGK is good but it can't perform miracles. It's forced to use a pretty low resolution (very soft picture) and use a lower quality percentage (artifacts including mosquito noise and maybe blocking in complex scenes).

Hope someone can figure it out to tell me what steps I need to perform to get this done correctly.

At a minimum - at the very least - make it for 2 CDs. Or, better yet, set a fixed width in the Advanced Settings, 640 or 624 maybe, and switch over to single-pass target quality encoding at the default 75%. You should get the result in about three hours. The size will be larger but the output quality should be quite good. Then burn it to a DVDR rather than obsolete CDs.

[Tommy-T]

Thanks, I'll try that and post back tomorrow. I don't want it on DVDR. I want it on my external to play back on my PS3

[Tommy-T]

How do you switch to single pass?

Edit: Nvm, I figured it out lol

[Tommy-T]

Movie just finished and it turned out a whole lot better than the others I did. is 1400 MB really the smallest? Although it turned out good, I think being that big is a bit much for my external.

[manono]

You did 1-pass target quality encoding? If so, the lower the percentage the smaller the file size. You can experiment to find the lowest percentage you're comfortable with. I knew 75% would be OK. Maybe the lowest I'd be comfortable with would be about 65%. I think it probably used AC3 audio (check in MediaInfo or in the log). You could save some more space by forcing MP3 audio in the Advanced Settings.

If you used 2-pass encoding for 1400MB then you can experiment to see the size and resolution you're comfortable with. The easiest way to get the quality you want (with little control over the final size) is to run those 1-pass quality percentage encodes.

Again, though, your movie is very long so it really needs a larger size to look decent. A much more typical 100 minute movie (typical for a US movie, anyway) might need a much smaller size for the same quality. I don't really understand why you think it would be too big for your external player.

[Tommy-T]

It's been a little while since I posted back, Been tied up at work.


I did do the 1 pass encodes. The quality still isn't good on my HDTV as it would be if I put the DVD in, even with the file size being huge. I've seen a lot of movies others have done that are 700MB rips and they look just like a DVD on my HDTV.

I'm willing to take the time to learn the harder way just to have the quality and size I want.

Here's a new question for you, Since you said the smaller the percentage, the smaller the size - 75 to 65 wouldn't make the file size that much smaller being only 10 percent different would it? Thanks and sorry to be a hassle with this stuff

[manono]

I've seen a lot of movies others have done that are 700MB rips and they look just like a DVD on my HDTV.

No you haven't, not 176 minute long action-packed ones with a 1.85:1 AR.

It's always a good idea to post the log when asking questions about AutoGK. Also since you didn't use either the ESS or MTK options in the first log you provided, I'll assume you haven't used them since. For playback on DivX supporting players, sometimes the custom matrices used by default in AutoGK can make for strange looking video, weird colored blocks and the like. I don't know if that's the kind of thing to which you're referring when you say they don't look like the DVD.

To (not) answer the question, I don't think the percentages scale linearly. My guess is that it's exponential. But I don't really know for sure. You're right, though, the size using 65% won't be all that much less than 75%. And if the size is huge at, say, 624x352 resolution, then that should give you an idea of the size required to achieve a certain quality.

Why not try a normal 90-100 minute movie and see if the results are more to your liking? I would guess that American Gangster is especially hard to compress well.

[Tommy-T]

ya I didn't use ESS or MTK, not sure what those are or even how to use them - explain please? I'd be happy to give them a try.

My mistake, I didn't mean that I've seen movies that were as long as American Gangster compressed to 700MB but typically movies I've seen posted online are normally 700MB unless it's something as long as American Gangster. Just to be clear, I'm not trying to rip my movies to post online! Just want to save room on my external for more of my movies to watch on my PS3.

I do want to let you know something I've been doing wrong.... I noticed that I had been using a very out of date movie ripper to rip movies and tried something newer and after encoding a movie which was ripped from the newer ripper, quality has been much better than with the old one...Not sure why though? it's still not as great as I'd like it to be though but I'm determined to figure this out, Thanks for baring with me man!

[manono]

Turning on the ESS option makes an encode more compatible with a wider variety of DVD/MPEG-4 players. You can either set up AutoGK with the option activated, or you can turn it on in the Hidden Settings.