DVD Ripper virgin after advice !

[Panther96]

So far all I've managed to do is convert a DivX to VCD (pretty good I thought, lots of reading off this site !).

Now I'm after more of a challenge, so I want to rip DVD to PAL SVCD, but I don't know the best way to do things

I've read the tutorials on here and various posts, but I seem to get conflicting information. I've been downloading loads of stuff, and so far have the following :

SmartRipper
FitCD
Virtualdub
TMPGEnc 2.56
DVD2AVI
dvd2mpg
avi2mpg2
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.50
Chapter Xtractor
VCD Easy
Nero 5.5.6.4

What will give the best results in a resonable time ? and is there anything else I need ?

I'm using a PIII 850Mhz Processor, 256Mb RAM, about 10gig HDD space, 32Mb GeForce 2, Pioneer 10x DVD and LiteOn 24x CD-RW

Any help and advice greatly appreciated

[djtrixx]

I've done about 500+ rips, everybody has their own method, but this is what works for me.....

Smartripper to rip the dvd to the hd
dvd2avi
tmpgenc to reencode
nero to burn.

I know that CCE is actually faster than tmpge, however, I found more stable results with tmpge, without a lot of tweaking.

Hope this helps...

[mrbingley]

Of the progs you've d/loaded I use the following in this order.

SmartRipper

DVD2AVI

TMPEGenc

VCDEasy

Then read the newbies guide to making a VCD and Bob's your uncle.

HTH
Chris.

[Panther96]

So I don't have to use things like FitCD then ?

Not bothered the simpler the better !!

[dlb]

Try using dvdx - 1 program does it all, the results are fantastic with a bit of experimentation.

[nanz1]

dlb
I wanted to know if there is a way of using dvdx and being able to put all of it on one cdr. I use that program and always get my mpeg in two parts and one always has about 73 min and the other one is usually about 5-10 and minutes long and it seems a waste for just that much on one cdr. Would love some feedback thanks. I use nero to burn my vcd on 80min cdrs.

[BOXINGJUNKIE]

Can anyone tell me where I can download Smartripper? The link here on this site doesnt work. It just says cannot find page.

Thanks Boxingjunkie

[Martyn1980]

My usual way is if im not using DVD2SVCD is

Smartripper- Use Stream encoding to Rip Movie Only, Subtitles If you Want, And English Audio AC3 only, unless your native language is there

DVD2AVI- Add the first vob file of the movie you ripped, the rest will follow automatically, leave the video settings alone, set the audio to Track Number 1, output method decode to wav

CCE 2.50 add the avs script file in here, you need to select all files to see the avs file, once this is done, uncheck the audio box, look at your bitrate and put it in the bitrate box, i recommend CBR if its your first SVCD, put the Quality settings at about 15 and the Anti Noise at about 3, click on encode, and check Dolby Surround downmix if its wanted, and 48khx to 44.1 to mid if your DVD cant play 48khz sound, now click on save project NOT save avi, and wait while it creates a d2v file and a wav

Fit CD - add the d2v file here and set your resolution at 480 x 480/576 sound bitrate 224 and other settings Mpeg multiplexing as BBmpeg, resize as Bicubic Resize, (S)VCD authoring as VCD Easy, then set how many discs you want it to go on, up to 120minutes i would put 2 CDs, over that, put 3, you should now have a Video Bitrate, now save this as an avs script

CCE 2.50 add the avs script file here, you need to go to all files to be able t see it, now add the bitrate you got from Fit CD and close Fit CD, set it to CBR as its your first SVCD uncheck the audio box and the vaf box, click the quality box and change the Image priority setting to 15 and the anti noise to 3 now click on encode

Tmpeg with toolame - add the wav file from DVD2AVI to the audio box and the d2v file to the video box, set it to audio only and clickon encode.

BBmpeg/avi2mpg2 - click on start encoding and go to the program stream settings tab, and set it for SVCD, now go to the input output file tab and add the mpv file you got from CCE to the video box and the mp2 file you got from Tmpeg to the audio box, now go to the general settings box and make sure Mulitplex Video and Audio is checked, set the maximum filesize as 796mb and click on OK

You Should now have 2/3 mpgs

VCD Easy - Set it to SVCD 1.0 and add your mpg, create a menu through mpg tools and add that, and chapters if you desire them, once your done select a place for the image file and name it, then click on Go

Nero - Cancel the wizard, click on File Burn Image, find the image file you done in VCD Easy and click on Write, once its done you should now have a fully compliant SVCD which should look great.

I know this isn't what you asked really but im bored, waiting for a download to finish, i just got a bit carried away.

[Martyn1980]

Smartripper

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/smartripper.cfm

[dlb]

Nanz1.

In the output settings you can set the size of the output file to anything you want. You can even havce the program produce files by individual chapters. I have tried this once but could not figure out how to :
1. author the chapters in vcd easy
2. get the files to play smoothly on my standalone.

Hope this helps.

dlb.

[Akai Rounin]

[IMHO]The biggest problem with SVCD is that there is no benefit to using MPEG2 if you are going to encode at less than 2500-3000 kilobits per second video. If you know your constant bit rate will be lower, you'd might as well use MPEG1 instead, it will save encode time and look just as good as an XVCD. Ever take a look at MPEG2 at around 800 kilobits per second? ~*UGH*~ MPEG2 requires a much higher bandwidth than MPEG1 (or DivX) to present a decent picture. If you know you want to fit movies on a single disc, just stick with non-Standard VCD and leave SVCD alone.[/IMHO]

HUN-YA!

Akai Rounin

[tienquang2]

Of the progs you've d/loaded I use the following in this order.

SmartRipper

DVD2AVI

TMPEGenc

VCDEasy

Then read the newbies guide to making a VCD and Bob's your uncle.

HTH
Chris.

I know that everyone has their own method of making copies of movies. I personally very new to this. I use DVDx 2.0 to turn my DVD movie to mpg with chapters. Then I just burn the chapters into VCD using EasyCD creator 5.0; I am done. It took me about 4 hours just to convert the DVD to mpg. My VCD comeout OK, can't complain although it is not DVD quality.

It seems like you are doing:
1. SmartRipper
2. DVD2AVI
3. TMPEGenc
three steps whereas I am doing one step DVDx to get to mpg. Did all your steps took less than 4 hours for every 2 hours of contents?

Thanks for the response.

Am I skipping somesteps here? or am I losing quality due to this

[Martyn1980]

Your losing quality, if its easy then its usually not the best way of doing it.

If your way had anywhere near the same quality then we would all be doing it.

On average it would take me 10minutes to rip an 2 hours off a DVD
5 minutes to create a d2v file and a wav
about 100minutes to encode the video in Tmpeg
5 minutes to create the image file in VCD Easy
5minutes to burn the VCD with Blindwrite

and i bet its far better quality than you have

[tienquang2]

Your losing quality, if its easy then its usually not the best way of doing it.

If your way had anywhere near the same quality then we would all be doing it.

On average it would take me 10minutes to rip an 2 hours off a DVD
5 minutes to create a d2v file and a wav
about 100minutes to encode the video in Tmpeg
5 minutes to create the image file in VCD Easy
5minutes to burn the VCD with Blindwrite

and i bet its far better quality than you have

Thank you Martyn1980 for your input. It is this kind of detail inputs that newbie like myself can have a more understanding about this hobby. Now I can see why people are doing more steps (not necessary, more time wasted) than I have been doing.

Again thank you...

[Akai Rounin]

Time for Timer...

These times are for your basic 90 minute feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Cats & Dogs or Shrek, perhaps:

1. SmartRipper - ~15 minutes
2. DVD2AVI - ~25 minutes
3. TMPEGenc - ~120 minutes
4. Chapter X Tractor - 5 seconds
5: VCDEasy - 4-6 minutes

Roughly, 2 hours 45 minutes to completion from a dead start. Maybe add a few miscellaneous minutes for creating a test MPEG of an action scene, calculating the proper bitrate to fit the whole flick in 795 MB of disc space and adding an interactive menu system or whatever... Still, once you get the hang of all this, it would certainly take less than 4 hours. This is on an AMD Athlon XP 1500+/ECS K7S5A mobo with 512 MB DDR RAM, 16x LiteON DVD-ROM, 32x10x40 LiteON CD-R/RW. [NOTE: It took around 12-15 minutes to burn with a BTC 8x4x32 burner before an upgrade.]

HUN-YA!

Akai Rounin

[Martyn1980]

No problem glad to be of help.

You should be able to get similar times as me, although the video encoding will be a bit slower on your system, but that depends if you set Tmpeg on Normal, high, highest, or motion search, i personally recommend High or Motion Search.

It can not only be quicker and better quality, but its more satisfying knowing you did it yourself, than one program doing it all for you.