resolution (?) image squashing problem with DVD rip

[suburban100]

Hi guys!

long time lurker first time poster as they say.

I have a problem with a DVD I'm trying to rip. Same results with DVDFab and a trial version of ImToo, which is that the image is squashed/stretched into something like a 4:3 box in a 16:9 frame with black bars left and right.

For some reason the extras on the DVD rip properly (but I don't need them), and I have tested other DVDs with the same programs/settings and they worked fine. It is just the feature part of this DVD that has the problem and I'm 99.9% sure all the settings are correct, ie HD rip to mpg2

Any suggestions/help greatly appreciated, this is needed for a screening in a few days.

Cheers!

[suburban100]

well first of all I guess I posted this in the wrong forum - should have been in ripping

I think I have fixed this, of course it was pretty obvious, there were some advanced settings in the profile of Imtoo that needed to be set to preserve aspect ratio/16:9, but I still don't know why this was forced on automatically (if that was the case) when I test-ripped the dvd extras ??

Anyway I have just bought the full version of Imtoo, not that it matters now as it's paid for but what are ppl's thoughts on this software?

Thanks for reading!

[fritzi93]

Welcome to the forum.

Not to be a wise guy, but if a decrypter is *not* listed in the Tools section here, it's because Baldrick thinks it's not worthy. I have no experience with ImToo.

Most members here would recommend AnyDVD or DVDFab. Fab also has a free version, DVDFabDecrypter, that's good enough, although updates to rip newer protections may lag slightly behind the pay version. Too late now for you, but for the price of ImToo, I'd skip it and get AnyDVD or DVDFab.

Good luck.

[suburban100]

Cheers Mate!

I have used DVDFab before and wanted to try something different - wasn't mad keen on the interface tbh, results good though however I only used it for decrypting. The ImToo package seemed like good value and there are lots of other tools there I can use so I just went for it. A bit hasty maybe, was in a bit of a rush to get it sorted.

edit: also, even though I paid for a full version a few years ago it turns out that all of the features have expired on my license (haven't used it for a while) - I don't mind paying for something that works well, but once I've paid for it I really object to being forced to pay again for renewal

The rip has turned out ok although I will have to tech it at work, it is to be output @ 720 so I'll need to run it on the projector to test
Also there are a few settings I'm unsure of to get optimum results so there will probably be some reading around here and a couple more cracks at ripping to get best results. The film is a doco and it's not great quality to start with so I don't want it to get any worse

Cheers!

[fritzi93]

Well, sounds like you solved it any way.

I'm a little unclear as to how you're using some terms. "Ripping" usually means no more than decrypting/copying to hard drive. But it seems you're converting and outputting 720p, or is that the next step? Are you upconverting DVD or downconverting Blu-ray?

It seems a bit odd that both ImToo and DVDFab couldn't handle the aspect ratio correctly. Never had a problem with any Blu-Ray, but I recall a few DVDs that were badly authored, especially in the early days. I'm a bit rusty now with DVD, having moved on to BD and replaced most of my DVDs. Maybe someone else will comment.

[suburban100]

I think I probably am confusing this a bit by not using the right terms

What I have to do is convert a DVD to mpg 2 (I thought this was "ripping") upscaled to be screened @ 720

Imtoo and DVDFab do this in one go, basically set it up to output a 1280x720 file high quality etc (things I am unsure of and have to read up on are bitrate, 2 pass etc), this is done in Imtoo Ripper Ultimate - the package also came with Converter but I thought that was just for converting types, eg MKV to MPG

Yeah, I have no idea why both progs messed up the ratio, and super weird that this only happens on this DVD, and only on the feature part, extras ripped at the right ratio with it just set to auto

I have to take off for work now, thanks for your help fritzi93

[fritzi93]

You're too kind, since I haven't actually been able to help you.

May I ask why you're outputting 720p? If you're upconverting DVD there's some quality loss involved in re-encoding. Usually it's best to keep the original resolution and let the display handle upconverting if necessary. If dealing with Blu-Ray, downconverting is reasonable if file size is a concern. But the same thing applies to BD as to re-encoding quality loss.

[lordsmurf]

Ripping is extracting content from a disc. Nothing more.
Even if done in a single pass, anything beyond that one task is converting (re-encoding) the video.
And ImToo is junk.

[suburban100]

thanks guys

so the process should be just rip, then encode, rather than using an all in one. The results in the end weren't all that bad but I really want to improve it.

lordsmurf, I was just seduced by the package deal and liked the interface when I used the trial, why do you say imtoo is junk? Just interested as I really want to get this as good as possible and like I said, wanted to try something other than DVDFab. Wasn't really able to find much info on imtoo either way - I normally don't rush into buying stuff like this and do my research, I should have spent some time reading the tools section first

I believe the way we do it at work is rip in DVDFab then do any upscaling in Premier, then encode in adobe media encoder
fritzi I'll try another rip and see how it goes without upscaling

cheers!

[The Mariner]

G'day,

For straight ripping a DVD to your hard drive, try DVDSmith Movie Backup a go. It's free, the interface is minimalist & it works well for me. You will end up with a typical DVD folder/file structure. If you want to convert a DVD 'on the fly' to a different format, give Freemake Video Converter a go.