Opening unprotected DVD or AVCHD folders in Handbrake?

[spapakons]

Hello!

I have some movies in my hard disk saved as DVD (VIDEO_TS) folders or AVCHD folders (produced with MultiAVCHD) so I can easily burn to a blank DVD. However, some times I just want to convert one of them to another format, such as a 640x480 MKV file with small bitrate so I can watch on my tablet. I know Handbrake can open unprotected DVDs or AVCHD discs directly from my drive. Is there any way, any setting or plugin to open DVD/AVHCD movies from a folder rather than a physical disc? In AVHCD I could open the two video files, convert separately and merge with MKVToolnix. But in DVD there are usually over five and it is not very convenient to convert them one-by-one and then merge them. Is there any way to open the DVD/AVHCD folder directly in Handbrake as if it was a physical disc? Do you recommend any other utility than can do that and export to HEVC format with reasonable quality for as low bitrate as 200K?

Thank you in advance.

PS: I tried the good old FlaskMPEG to convert DVD folders to AVI with the x265vfw codec but it is ridiculously slow! A more modern a much faster alternative is appreciated.

[Alwyn]

AVIDemux will open all VOBs and join them up. I've written a guide for this here. That procedure creates an MPEG2, but if you change the Video Output and Output Format to what you want and use the configure buttons, you will be able to output an MP4 of your choice.

[spapakons]

I tried it and it worked. I opened the first VOB file of the movie and was asked if I wanted to open the rest. Then the whole movie was opened by merging the files. To convert to HEVC with nVidia Cuda hardware acceleration, I choose Nvidia HEVC from the Video format list. Then I go to Configure and set the desired bitrate. To resize to 640x480 I go to Filters, Fit to size and set the target size. I then choose AC3 (Aften) from the Audio list to convert to Dolby Digital. Set the bitrate. If I need to downmix to mono I go to Filters, Remix, Mono.

Warning: in Nvidia HEVC let "RC mode" to "Controlled by preset", set Preset to Slow and set the desired bitrate, otherwise your bitrate is ignored and you get a huge file.

I then tried to open the first video file from an AVCHD folder. Avidemux didn't offer to open the second file automatically, but you can append it afterwards.

[spapakons]

I tried to open a DVD movie in Avidemux and convert to 640x480 nVidia HEVC 200Kbps (slow profile), AC3 Mono 48Kbps MKV file. While the video is perfect, there is no sound for some reason. I did that again just in case I forgot to configure something, the new file also has no sound. The original sound is AC3 Stereo 192Kbps. I used Aften for the AC3 encoding. What I did wrong? I only checked mixer filter and set to Mono, nothing else. I am now using the good old XMPEG with the AVI encoder, x265vfw codec and AC3 ACM for the audio. It seems surprisingly fast, let's see how good the end result is...