ripped dvd's to avi, which route?

[ojfish247]

Hi,

I've ripped all my dvd's to disc (so i can watch anytime in media center in my htpc) using Decrypter, using the file method.

I want to convert to a format which is much smaller that a straight forward rip.

I've tried handbrake, converting to avi using their normal presets, but i just can't get it to work well enough.

So, can you guys and gals suggest the best method? Which guide to use? In the future, i also want to but an xbox 360 so it can act as an extender for my htpc, and from what i understand, avi is the only format (at present) it can handle.

Russ

[guns1inger]

I like AutoGK. I convert SD mpg streams from OTA broadcast to Xvid using it and am happy with the results. I use a fixed 640 pixel width and encode at around 11 MB/minute (around 550 MB for a 50 minute program). I get a nice clean output with almost no artifacts on a program like Top Gear, with a lot of fast motion scenes, using these settings.