Which video tools can make tine dvd rips to avi or mkv?

[hello_hello]

I'm fairly sure you don't need to install any additional codecs for MeGUI, unless you use the DirectShow method of decoding video, which generally should only be used as a last resort. MeGUI uses DGIndex for indexing mpeg2/DVDs (same as AutoGK) and ffms2 for most other file types.
MeGUI installs all it's tools in it's own installtion folder, like AutoGK does. Except of course for AVIsynth. And maybe (I can't remember) you need to put NeroAAC.exe in the MeGUI/eac3to yourself if you want to convert audio to AAC. Or maybe it's also installed automatically these days.

If you like AutoGK you'll probably like MeGUI (eventually). They both work in similar ways, creating AviSynth scripts, using similar tools.... the main difference is AutoGK is designed to be mostly "auto". You can't modify the scripts it creates or change how it does things much. MeGUI on the other hand (unless you use the one-click encoder) lets you have a lot more control over the process if you want it.

I'm yet to see a guide for MeGUI which isn't hopelessly out of date. Have a look at post #22 in this thread.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/347364-Free-DVD-to-AVI-converter-that-can-preserve-...al-resolution?
I wrote step by step instructions for opening a video using MeGUI, indexing it, then setting up an encode. It's fairly basic, but it's a start. There's more information a few posts down too, I think. I answered a lot of MeGUI questions for someone else there.

Personally..... I gave up on the CCCP. I install MPC-HC and generally let it use all it's own internal filters for playing video... no external codecs required. I do also install ffdshowtryouts and the Haali Media Splitter manually as I use them for encoding at times (that's a different story) but that's about it. ffdshow will decode pretty much everything you'll ever need to decode via DirectShow so there's really no need for "codec packs". I think ffms2, which MeGUI uses for indexing and decoding a lot of file types, might in turn require the Haali splitter for some of them. Which is probably why the CCCP pack is recommended, because it's really just MPC-HC, ffdshow and the Haali splitter. I install each manually instead.

Anyway, if you start with something easy, maybe open any old MP4 or MKV file to re-encode, and follow the steps I posted in the thread I linked to, that should get you started. There's also the one-click encoder which can be configured to automate a lot of the process but I've never used it. No doubt there's a bit of a learning curve... I'm pretty sure I asked quite a few questions when I started using MeGUI. I'll help if I'm around, otherwise I'm sure there's others who will.

[loninappleton]

Ok, thanks


The goal is to make small files-- tiny files -- and audio normalization would be a bonus. The DVD of Appleseed drove me nuts played through my standard Sony dvd player. What should I be watching for in the guides to make small files?

OT since videohelp has a hardware section, are there any players that have the "midnight theater" or normalization function? Or is that still strictly on home theater amps and tv's?

Only yesterday I found a setup for VLC which I hope will accomplish some effective normalization. I had only found the more sophisticated settings for audio recently.

[hello_hello]

I don't know of any encoding programs which "compress" the audio, if that's what you mean by normalization.

MPC-HC does "on the fly" volume normalizing. It's under Audio Switcher in options. I've never used it myself.
If you disable the types of audio you'll find in video files under Internal Filters/Transform Filters (AC3, AAC, MP3 etc) it stops MPC-HC from decoding those audio types itself, and if you have ffdshow installed, it can be used to decode the audio. That's generally what I do.

ffdshow also does the same "on the fly" normalizing as MPC-HC (you'll find it under the Volume filter). The "on the fly" normalizing is better than nothing, but I'm not crazy about it. Basically it slowly turns the volume up until a set level is reached, then when a louder peak occurs it quickly turns it down again, then it slowly turns it up...... I can often hear it and find it annoying, but I guess it's better than keeping everyone awake. Something else to try......

ffdshow can use Winamp plugins, so that gave me an idea to look for a Winamp audio compressor, and after trying a few, settled on this one: http://www.winamp.com/plugin/rocksteady-2-1/1099
Once it's "installed" in the ffdshow audio decoder (there's a Winamp2 filter in ffdshow) you can then configure the compressor. I tried lots of settings, and eventually settled on these. They turn the volume up and down so fast I can't tell it's happening.

Amplify up to level of: -1db
Full amplification up to: 25%
Maximum amplification: 15db
Amplification gain time: 10ms
Smart limiting: Yes
Joint stereo: yes
RMS window width: 75ms
Position in rms window: 100%
Calculate rms level per: 32 samples

If you want more compression, just crank up the maximum amplification, but I find once you go over about 15db, you'll start to hear the volume of really low background noise "pumping" at times.

I have ffdshow's filters ordered this way (you can drag and drop them to change position).
Volume: I have it set to -6db as the compressor plugin seems to work better if the peaks aren't already at 0db.
Mixer: Set to mix to stereo. I don't know if the compressor will work for multichannel audio, I've never tried it.
Winamp 2: Runs the Rock Steady plugin
Equalizer: Optional, of course.

Small files..... there really is no magic trick. Personally I encode everything using Constant Quality encoding (x264) with a quality setting of around 18 to 20, but just try a few test encodes using different quality settings until you find the highest value you can live with. If that's not enough.... consider reducing the resolution a bit. Also use the slowest x264 speed preset you can stand.

Of course you can tell MeGUI to give you file size "x" and see how it goes. I find the easiest way is to just leave the x264 encoder set up for a quality based encode (there's 2 pass encoder options, but there's no need to use them). Then when you're ready, use the AutoEncode button to add the encoding job to the job queue. When the AutoEncode window pops up, select the "file size" option and tell it what file size you want. MeGUI will then take care of running a 2 pass encode to give you the file size you requested, but of course, the quality will be a mystery until it's finished.

[loninappleton]

I will examine these things. Lots of settings to make which is good. More frequent use of the word "basically" not good. That touches on my own penchant for pedantry where "simply put" is a better usage. After hearing it over and over again I've come to the conclusion that it demeans and condescends to the listener and for me hearing it is like being tased.

Moving on, I have recently found some settings after years of use for VLC in their normalizine routine supplied by a user. Has anyone found setup of these Normalizing functions in VLC to be effective?

Briefly, here are the suggested settings for playback of media in VLC:

quoting thefreewindows.com etc:

"Some media players like Winamp <http://www.thefreewindows.com/3136/winamp-media-player-a-beauty-with-problems/> have special plugins that bring all volume levels near an average you can decide. I use the VLC player <http://www.thefreewindows.com/358/vlc-media-player/> for videos because I find it convenient, yet a dynamic volume plugin seems not to be available for this player. There is not such an option in VLC itself. However, you can make a few very easy adjustments to achieve almost perfect dynamic volume and avoid extreme loudness.

Go to the *Audio Preferences* of VLC (in *simple* mode) and make these adjustments:

*1*) Set the default volume to 200%, *2*) Set “replay gain mode” to None, *3*) Check the “Volume normalize” option, and *4*) Set the value at the right of Volume Normalize to “0.50?.

This configuration will work at least when you use *Wave* output.

It will not make the soft sounds louder, it will only decrease automatically the volume when it becomes too high. This way you can have the master volume (of the amplifier or the PC) loud enough in order to hear normal dialogues, and when someone in the movie shouts, or there is gunshot, etc, sound volume will automatically decrease. You will enjoy the goods of an auto gain function, without losing completely the dynamics of a movie.

If my configuration is not “exactly” what you need, just play with the Normalizer value, set it to 0.30, or to 0.80, etc., leaving the other adjustments as they are."

[ends]

[hello_hello]

More frequent use of the word "basically" not good. That touches on my own penchant for pedantry where "simply put" is a better usage. After hearing it over and over again I've come to the conclusion that it demeans and condescends to the listener and for me hearing it is like being tased.

Is that directed at me? Because I'm sure I can find other things to do rather than post in this thread and have my choice of words nitpicked.

Moving on, I have recently found some settings after years of use for VLC in their normalizine routine supplied by a user. Has anyone found setup of these Normalizing functions in VLC to be effective?

Seems to work. As does using VLC's compressor. Enable it using the extended settings button. Taking the threshold down to about -15db and the ratio up to about 10:1 would be a good place to start. The threshold determines the level at which the compressor begins to work. The ratio is how much the volume is reduced once it exceeds the threshold level.

[loninappleton]

When I make the criticism I usually follow up with this:

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

That's the annual banished word list. It is released every year on New Year's Day.
Basically made the list *very early* in 1984 and has reappeared frequently since.

And I try to make the criticism only to repeat offenders and only in a thread I have started.

And I've taken the criticisms far and wide to publishers, editors and authors who think it is appropriate to use and adverb anyplace in a sentence. Simply put, it's a verbal tic that has no place in written language.

I'm continuing to collect guides for MeGUI and have no questions til I at least get some of these tools working.

[hello_hello]

Oh well.... maybe someone who doesn't mind pedantic criticism over word choices will be willing to answer your MeGUI related questions.

[aedipuss]

When I make the criticism I usually follow up with this:

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

That's the annual banished word list. It is released every year on New Year's Day.
Basically made the list *very early* in 1984 and has reappeared frequently since.

And I try to make the criticism only to repeat offenders and only in a thread I have started.

And I've taken the criticisms far and wide to publishers, editors and authors who think it is appropriate to use and adverb anyplace in a sentence. Simply put, it's a verbal tic that has no place in written language.

I'm continuing to collect guides for MeGUI and have no questions til I at least get some of these tools working.

lol. you ought to at least proof read your crap. it reads like a second grader wrote it and you really shouldn't use the wrong words like "and" for an or make up words like "til" for until.

[davexnet]

lol. you ought to at least proof read your crap. it reads like a second grader wrote it and you really shouldn't use the wrong words like "and" for an or make up words like "til" for until.

+1

[loninappleton]

Is til really a made up word? I guess I'll have to give the ring back now.

[fritzi93]

Eh, 'til (note the apostrophe) means until. It's somewhat archaic. You may encounter it from time to time, depending on your reading tastes. It's more of a, hmm, literary flourish or embellishment, not much used now.

[hello_hello]

And.... while I don't think there's anything wrong with starting a sentence with a conjunction, there should be a reason for it. I wonder if, while sending his criticisms on word usage to publishers, editors and authors far and wide, loninappleton has given them a good chuckle by unnecessarily starting sentences with the word "and" as he did here, twice. Conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence, or two words or phrases etc. These days, many people accept their usage at the beginning of sentences too if they join them together, but alas, loninappleton used "and" twice at the beginning of sentences which not only didn't join them together, he'd separated them into different paragraphs to make starting them with a conjunction even less appropriate.

[loninappleton]

I am still here and get the updated remarks. I'm trying to get some guides printed. For this reason I cannot give you more ammo to criticize my writing style or lack of it. Not now anyway.

[AlanHK]

Eh, 'til (note the apostrophe) means until. It's somewhat archaic. You may encounter it from time to time, depending on your reading tastes. It's more of a, hmm, literary flourish or embellishment, not much used now.

Also as "till". Actually very common in speech if you listen. (Well Australian and British speech at least.) A very old usage, not a modern contraction. "Till" was the root of the word.

till, prep., conj., and adv.
2. In senses of to derived from the local.

a. where the object is not a point in space. Now Sc.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 18 Þu þohhtesst tatt itt mihhte wel. Till mikell frame turrnenn.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxiv. 2 Ill suggestions to till me til syn.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) Pref. 2 What lufe he had til his sugets.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) iv. 12 Changed..fra a faire damysell til a dragoun.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Aiv, She restrayned her appetyte tyl one mele & tyl one fysshe on ye day.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid vi. Prol. 64 Till vertu thaim to brod.
1582–8 Life Jas. VI. (1804) 260 He was putt till extreme tortor.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iv. 193 He was..restored till his liberty and Arch-Bishoprick.
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 497, I venerate the adherence till't.
1858 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Sc. Life (1870) v. 104 ‘They're what we must all come till’.

Pretty ironic discussing this in a thread with so many errors in the title.
Sorry, "ironic" is probably a "banned word" too.

And there is nothing inherently wrong with "basically", as long as it's not overused or used to condescend.

[fritzi93]

Ha, we're pulling out the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary now?

Well, I just opened my Penguin Books copy of Langland's "Piers the Ploughman" (Middle English) at random and yeah, there it is: "till". Not to mention a variant: "tyl". Which makes me wonder which came first: till, til, or until.

And to further confuse the non-native speakers of English, there are some homonyms as well. The language is full of erratic spelling and rank undergrowth.

IIRC, Ben Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt (and probably many others) advocated spelling reform, which would have been a good start. That went nowhere.

[loninappleton]

Eh, 'til (note the apostrophe) means until. It's somewhat archaic. You may encounter it from time to time, depending on your reading tastes. It's more of a, hmm, literary flourish or embellishment, not much used now.

Also as "till". Actually very common in speech if you listen. (Well Australian and British speech at least.) A very old usage, not a modern contraction. "Till" was the root of the word.

till, prep., conj., and adv.
2. In senses of to derived from the local.

a. where the object is not a point in space. Now Sc.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) Ded. l. 18 Þu þohhtesst tatt itt mihhte wel. Till mikell frame turrnenn.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxiv. 2 Ill suggestions to till me til syn.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) Pref. 2 What lufe he had til his sugets.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) iv. 12 Changed..fra a faire damysell til a dragoun.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Aiv, She restrayned her appetyte tyl one mele & tyl one fysshe on ye day.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid vi. Prol. 64 Till vertu thaim to brod.
1582–8 Life Jas. VI. (1804) 260 He was putt till extreme tortor.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iv. 193 He was..restored till his liberty and Arch-Bishoprick.
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 497, I venerate the adherence till't.
1858 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Sc. Life (1870) v. 104 ‘They're what we must all come till’.

Pretty ironic discussing this in a thread with so many errors in the title.
Sorry, "ironic" is probably a "banned word" too.

And there is nothing inherently wrong with "basically", as long as it's not overused or used to condescend.

@alanHK,

I do not agree with the I'm Ok, You're OK approach to the use of basically.
Example: your twelve year old has 'discovered a new word" as twelve year old will do. Everything is basically this and basically that and Basically can easily begin a sentence as anything else. You are the parent and are tiring of hearing this repetitive word which has become rubbish for it's over use. You say to the child, "You get two more basicallys" and then it's off to your room because I've had enough!"

Then as the basicallys continue out of childish defiance, you hold up one finger and then the second.

Over the course of what is now a few years I've heard too many basicallys in too many wrong places. It is an affectation, a trope of the meritocratic narcissist and very likely comes from overuse passed down through the academic community. During the economic crisis how often were you told how basically and essentially everything was something or another and well, there you have it? The whole pattern of dumbed down or demeaning speech is now full of basic and basically ending up with the redundant "basic necessities" usually applied to third world countries and their lack thereof.


This is how a word becomes meaningless, demeaning and condescending. And it's not OK at all.

Currently I'm working on how to get rid of the phrase that ruined Caroline Kennedy's political career: "y'know."

[hello_hello]

Nice piece of fiction..... but I used the word "basically" once while going out of my way to explain something to someone who's ability to determine if a word is being used in a condescending or demeaning manner is apparently non-existent, and who's manners don't extend to refraining from nitpicking over word choices when someone is trying to help him.

[loninappleton]

Apparently videohelp doesn't care if we wander far afield of the subject. I'm surprised a moderator hasn't stepped in. I do not want to cause or be a part of a flame war and I am not a troll, honest. I never mentioned anyone by name. If an apology is necessary, consider the initial remark as an "aside" to the audience: something I had to tell somebody or else have a great difficulty continuing in expectation of-- my worst nightmare. Yes, in my "internal monologue" when waking from sleep I catch myself saying "basically" and hope no one heard it.

[davexnet]

Apparently videohelp doesn't care if we wander far afield of the subject. I'm surprised a moderator hasn't stepped in. I do not want to cause or be a part of a flame war and I am not a troll, honest. I never mentioned anyone by name. If an apology is necessary, consider the initial remark as an "aside" to the audience: something I had to tell somebody or else have a great difficulty continuing in expectation of-- my worst nightmare. Yes, in my "internal monologue" when waking from sleep I catch myself saying "basically" and hope no one heard it.

Have you considered talking to a professional about your issues?

[johns0]

Can you please keep to the thread topic or ill close it.

[AlanHK]

@alanHK,

I do not agree with the I'm Ok, You're OK approach to the use of basically.

I said 'And there is nothing inherently wrong with "basically", as long as it's not overused or used to condescend.'
Try reading the complete sentence.
Your problem is with the misuse of the word, not the word itself, and blaming others because they remind you of how someone else used a word in a completely different context is quite absurd.

[Cornucopia]

This needs a comeback kind of like a famous Cheers quote that I love:

Sam: She's trying to become the kind of waitress that you'd enjoy being waited on by.
Diane: (whispering) You just ended that sentence with two prepositions...
Sam: Don't you have customers to deal with?
Diane: That ended witha preposition, too...
Sam: Don't you have customers to deal with, mullet head?

Basically, if you want people to cut you some slack, you should cut them some.

Scott

[johns0]

Thread closed.