Help! Avi(Divx rip) to DVD programs for a newbie

[sleepymak]

Hi guys, I'm new to the ripping and making backup dvd scene, and I've used a program to burn my backup dvd using this program that my friend recommended me but it was so complicated and took a long time. are there any programs you guys can recommend that was fast, easy and simple for you guys to use? and maybe a program with a integrated burning system, so after it rips it will burn by itself? any help or suggestion would be helpful! thanks in advance!

[guns1inger]

ConvertXtoDVD isn't free, but does what you want. It is fast (relatively speaking), simple, creates simple menus for multi-movie discs, and has a built in burning engine. There is a free version called DivxtoDVD which does not create menus and does not burn for you.

Be aware though, there are many quirks and traps to be found converting downloaded material. Variable quality, strange formats, glitches in the data from uploading and downloading. No simple "One-click-wonder" program is able to deal with all of these situations. ConvertXtoDVD is the best I have found for dealing with most, but even it is not perfect.

So if you go down the easy route, have realistic expectations about quality, and about the sorts of problems you will get. Audio sync and blocky video will be the main ones. When you hit them, come back and we will teach the the proper way to do this.

[mattso]

I'm back! :P

Seriously, some instructions would be good here. I have tried lots of one-click software, and yes, ConvertXtoDVD seems the best.

But how do you load downloaded avis into avisynth & encode with, say, TMPGEnc or HC Encoder?

No, I'm not just talking porno snippets here :P , but there's tons of free stuff out there incl underground music clips & NASA mpegs etc.

When I try to load this stuff into avisynth I always get errors? I use "DirectShowSource". I also use HC Encoder mainly.

(Sorry if I hijacked this thread!! I think it follows on though?)

[guns1inger]

I think it is getting too far off the 'give me a simple solution' direction of the OP, so I have PM'd you instead.

[jimmalenko]

@ the OP:

You'd be much, much better off going DVD -> DVDR as a backup stategy, as opposed to DVD -> AVI - > DVDR if at all possible. I'm assuming this is what you're doing since you talk about ripping (decrypting a CSS-protected DVD) and backup DVDs (which are normally backups of your store-bought DVDs). Either that or you're still learning the lingo

[kschang]

How about ratDVD?

[sleepymak]

hey guys, first off thanks for all your quick replies! i dont think i was really clear, but my friend told me that changing the dvd to divx, and then change the format back to dvd from divx is the best way to go since there's no quality loss. i dont mind if it's not a free program or not but the more simple it is the better and i dont need any menu, chapter or title, since it seems like it's kind of hard steps to take. any help is appreciated! thanks again!

[kschang]

Your friend is wrong. When you rip a DVD and convert to DIVX.AVI, you lose a LOT of info. Fortunately our eyes are usually pretty tolerant of such stuff and our brain automatically fills in the rest for the most part. After all, you have to do some VERY heavy compression to get a 4 GB movie down to 700 MB or however small your AVI file is. When you expand that back, you don't get the same thing.

You also lose the menu, the extras, the alternate audio tracks like director's commentaries, and so on and so forth.

[alphabetbackward]

When I backup a DVD, I use DVDShrink and DVD43.

For converting to DivX, I use AutoGK and DVD Decrypter.

I'd say that all the programs are relatively easy to use.

[jimmalenko]

i dont think i was really clear, but my friend told me that changing the dvd to divx, and then change the format back to dvd from divx is the best way to go since there's no quality loss.

Two conversions Vs none, compression loss .... not to mention the "waste of time" factor. Tell your friend he is sadly going from A to B via Z and not actually getting the best he can get using that method.

If < 4.7GB, DVDDecrypter ISO Read / ISO Write can get you a 1:1 copy retaining all features in anywhere between 20-40 minutes.

[whitejremiah]

Your friend is wrong. When you rip a DVD and convert to DIVX.AVI, you lose a LOT of info. Fortunately our eyes are usually pretty tolerant of such stuff and our brain automatically fills in the rest for the most part. After all, you have to do some VERY heavy compression to get a 4 GB movie down to 700 MB or however small your AVI file is. When you expand that back, you don't get the same thing.

You also lose the menu, the extras, the alternate audio tracks like director's commentaries, and so on and so forth.

although it's not a VERY common practice, you can retain the alternate audio tracks these days and with a TON of work, you COULD even retain the menus as well......(or else there's always ratdvd ) but honestly, at least whenever i personally make a backup of a movie in divx, i do actually try include all the needed audio tracks (i do cut corners on stuff like foreign audio if it's not the original language, that type of thing, but i generally try and keep the director's commentary and in the case of japaneese anime, i will keep both english and japaneese audio, as well as subs)

Mind you it still isnt really a very common practice yet...but it's starting to become so slowly....