Best Way to Convert DVD to MP4

[kerb]

Greetings,

I have a bunch of DVDs that I ripped using DVD Decrypter.

I would now like to convert the DVDs to MP4s without losing data rate quaity and any aspect/dimension changes.

What is the best way of doing this please?

Best regards.

[Baldrick]

You will lose quality if you reconvert/shrink. But you can use handbrake, staxrip, megui to convert to a mp4 with h264 video, keep the audio intact and keep the source aspect/video size.


But what's your goal with this? Play on something with mp4 support?

You can make a single mkv from the dvd with makemkv. No reconversion at all. It's not possible if you want a mp4.

[kerb]

I need to use some video clips on my website using Flash Player and in MP4 format.

So far I have only tried Handbreak but I have to specify a data rate. I would like to be able to preserve the original data bit rate as specifying a value in Handbreak does not actually mean the encoding can get any better than it already is.

Hope I am being lucid.

Looking forward to any comments you may have.

Thank you.

[Baldrick]

Use constant quality encoding, https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/ConstantQuality

You can't preserve the exact source bitrate and you don't need to either because h264 video doesn't require as high bitrate as dvd mpeg2 video.

[Bonie81]

@ kerb

Baldrick already suggested a few software. In addition, you can try AVIDemux to chop a clip for your web-site from DVD-VOB, and configure Video MPEG-4 (AVC) with detailed settings of x264 (Good Quality constant rate factor 18-to-26)and audio to AAC (128kbps @ 44100Hz Stereo) with final output format MP4. AVIDeMuX will save your time to chop dvd vob into desired clips and re-encoding to mp4.

Alternatively, if you have all clips ready (chopped-vobs) you can try all CLI - Commandline Versions of x264, Nero AAC Encoder and My MP4BOX GUI.

[jagabo]

In theory you can remux the MPEG 2 and AC3 data from the VOB file into an MP4 file and get absolutely no loss of quality. The MP4 file will be a little smaller than the VOB file because MP4 has less overhead. Many (most?) players will not be able to play the resulting MP4 files properly.

[Bonie81]

In theory you can remux the MPEG 2 and AC3 data from the VOB file into an MP4 file and get absolutely no loss of quality. The MP4 file will be a little smaller than the VOB file because MP4 has less overhead. Many (most?) players will not be able to play the resulting MP4 files properly.

jagabo,
yep....
in theory MP4 can take MPEG 2 and AC-3 or DTS, but streaming from website needs h264 and aac or mp3 (???) for flash player to view.

[jagabo]

In theory you can remux the MPEG 2 and AC3 data from the VOB file into an MP4 file and get absolutely no loss of quality. The MP4 file will be a little smaller than the VOB file because MP4 has less overhead. Many (most?) players will not be able to play the resulting MP4 files properly.

jagabo,
yep....
in theory MP4 can take MPEG 2 and AC-3 or DTS, but streaming from website needs h264 and aac or mp3 (???) for flash player to view.

Yes, I said as much.

[wulf109]

Nero Recode 4.8

[smitbret]

In theory you can remux the MPEG 2 and AC3 data from the VOB file into an MP4 file and get absolutely no loss of quality. The MP4 file will be a little smaller than the VOB file because MP4 has less overhead. Many (most?) players will not be able to play the resulting MP4 files properly.

jagabo,
yep....
in theory MP4 can take MPEG 2 and AC-3 or DTS, but streaming from website needs h264 and aac or mp3 (???) for flash player to view.

Not completely true, the decoder is the same for MPEG-4 L2 and MPEG-4 L10. If time is an issue, you can always reencode to MPEG4 (ffmpeg) instead of h264. Although jagabo has some great settings for high-speed h264 encodes that would be nearly as quick with a decent CPU.