thoughts about vob to mp2 using dvd2avi

[nimrodo]

Was wondering what people thought about it - compared to azid it is much easier to use. - no overflow due to incorrect gain setting and no problem doing the whole ac3 stream stright from the vob with no need to convert to ac3 file first.

[Truman]

What is the problem with the gain setting? Check Auto Find Maximum Gain, and you wont get owerflows. Also there is no extra step to convert to .ac3 first. If you use smartripper, use stream processing, check the audio stream and select "demux to extra file".

Back to your question. I did few tests comparing azid>ssrc>toolame, vob2audio>ssrc>toolame and dvd2avi>toolame. As long as you select the "HQ settings", there is only a slight difference between the methods. For me the winner is azid>ssrc>toolame. DVD2AVI is the easiest to use. No matter which method you use, it takes very long if you go for best quality.

[nimrodo]

dvd2avi>toolame and "HQ settings", how when u use toolame through tmpeg? all u get to set is bitrate and frequency....
Auto Find Maximum Gain takes way to long - and u have to check each ac3 file seperatly
when using smartripper "demux to extra file" you get just another vob file - which i still think u have to convert to ac3.
By the way why do you use source range for encoding mp2?
Hope i am wrong....


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: nimrodo on 2001-11-05 13:32:00 ]</font>

[stanwebber]

the ac3 downmixing/decoding in the last few betas of dvd2avi is quite good; however, i detest the wavefs44 downsampling. currently i downmix/decode with dvd2avi then downsample & encode using ssrc & toolame(azid/lame gui)

[Truman]

Yes, you can not select any other option than bitrate, channel mode and frequency when you use toolame through TMPG. I don't need anything else, I don't want VBR or swap the channels or downmix to mono or whatever.
More important is decoding and downsampling. Azid let me put the subwoofer channel into the stereo streams, dvd2avi do not. DVD2AVI decoding is faster.
Downsampling/ normalising takes long with dvd2avi and ssrc.
Here the settings are quite important, for example it is a noticable difference between "low" and "high". I recommend "ultrahigh" in DVD2AVI and normalising in ssrc, that requires the 2pass processing (very long again). Of course it also depends on your stereo. If you use the TV set speakers, maybe you wont hear the difference, I'm not sure. Also I think it is a matter of taste.
Btw, I used a music DVD(AC3_6CH_48kHz) for my tests.

When I rip a DVD, I usually need only one audio track (sometimes two). So I go to stream processing, check the video file and select direct stream copy. Then I check the first audio track and select demux to extra file. Same procedure with the 2nd audio track. Then I will end with a bunch of vob files, that contain the video only, and 2 *.ac3 files. Nothing else. Why should I rip audio streams, that I do not need?

Well, I use TMPG's source range for mp2 encoding, because I do not know a way to split a .mp2 file. Cutting the MPEG after conversion is not an option for me.