Yet Another Product Recommendation Needed....

[Bardmaster]

Odd, all of a sudden it decided it could read the mp4 files. But I still think the Xilisoft rips look about the same and are smaller.

Having a bit of trouble with Simpsons episodes for either encoder (Nero Recode or Xilisoft) where the sound is about a second off from the video. Hmmm...

[bill1029]

Glad you got it to work for you. I think recode is a great idea, though a bit poor in the video quality area. But it sure is fast !!!

I just can't get the 5.1 sound to work with the nero recode files. Divx, Xvid, and VOB have the 5.1 with no problem at all, and the Nero/Dlink support requuests were piss poor.

I didn't push the issue too much as I had decided to use the Divx and/or Xvid (still working with both to find out which one I like better) though they take a LOOOOOOONG time to encode.

I haven't noticed any scrunching of video with the DSM-520 though ??? or I should say yet...

I'd like to hear more of what people are using for video formats though with the DSM-520. So far I've used both the Divx High Def and am currently encoding an XVID HD file from a native VOB file. I HAVE to keep the file to <= 4GB due to the DSM's limitation of playing a larger file. The Divx looked very good using Dr. Divx, but the image was a bit dull and darker compared to the original. We'll see what the Xvid looks like, though I had a 2Gb Xvid that was fairly close to the 4Gb Divx quality. We'll see what the HD Xvid looks like !!!

[Diggit2001]

Sorry, just got back from vacation. Nice to see the thread has gathered more interest and I'm happy there are other DSM-520 users out there with similar questions.

I think I have pretty much given up on Nero Recode/mp4. For some reason my D-Link box will not play the files consistently. Sometimes it says it not a recognized file type and sometimes it plays it no problem. I don't get it. Anyhow, I am going to go back to looking at divx and xvid.

FulciLives, you do make a very strong argument. Ripping a large DVD collection would use a bunch of time, and drive space that isn't really necessary. I don't really have a large DVD collection. It's only about 20 or 30 discs and I'm not looking to rip everything. Just some of my favorites. Like bill1029, I too am just a gadget freak and I think it would be pretty cool if I could get all of this working acceptably.

So, this brings me back to using RipIt4Me and something else to get it to an acceptable format, quality and file size. Bill1029, have you decided on a format as of yet?

Thanks everyone.
-Chris

[FulciLives]

autoGK is a pretty good tool (I'd say the best even) for creating MPEG-4 files using the DivX or XviD codec. Some people also say that AVI.NET works well but I tried it once and couldn't get it to run on my computer even though I had installed the needed Microsoft net.framework but I must be a fluke as many people do use it.

So either give autoGK or AVI.NET a try.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[bill1029]

[quote="Diggit2001[url=https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=RipIt4Me]RipIt4Me[/url] and something else to get it to an acceptable format, quality and file size. Bill1029, have you decided on a format as of yet?

Thanks everyone.
-Chris[/quote

Right now I've narrowed it down to this:

I use ripit4me (seams to work well with protected discs) to put VOB's unto HDD.
I use autogk (using the divx codec) to convert to a Divx file. My settings are:
output size: Custom size = 4095MB (this is 4 Gig) I will ALWAYS use this to ensure my files are the highest quality possible and still able to play on the DSM-520
Advanced settings:
Fixed width set at 1280 (yet the last movie was actually encoded at 864X368, but looks great !!!
Original in the audio type
Divx for the Codec
All default in the hidden settings.

For my audio files, I've been very satisfied with windows media player, and use the 135 to 215 kbps setting. Sound quality is acceptable at that br.

So far so good. I'm still playing and comparing, but the Divx seamed to be about twice as fast and a bit better video quality than the xvid. This cold easily be just a settings issue though. I need to work on very small movie files to reduce the amount of time my "tests" take, but I want to be sure that whatever settings I choose, it looks the same with a much larger file requiring more compression. So far so good...

Anyone else, feel free to chime in here for video settings/codec's

[bill1029]

I was using Dr. Divx with High Def selected and constrain to 4095MB, however the output size was NEVER what I wanted; it would fluctuate between 3.1GB to 4.3GB. The 4.3GB files would not play on the DSM-520.

So based on FulciLives recommendation, I turned to autogk and have been pleased so far. I'll keep on playing though !!!

[overloaded_ide]

I started reading this thread, but have to go now and thought I'd post my thought, though I skipped alot and maybe sone-one else said it already.

You said your not worried about file size I think. OK forget all that codec stuff or anything else, just a straight rip to your hard drive is all you need unless something else is stated in the product manual or a streaming program if you need one.

Wireless G network is more than fast enough for watching a DVD, I do that all the time here.

I just rip the DVD to hard drive in a folder where I know where I put it, then watch it on another PC over the network if I want to later. Same DVD quality as the disk itself.
To do this you only need DVDshirink for most disks, and rip with NO compression.
Some disks shrink may not do well do to newer protections, run AnyDVD or DVDregion Free +CSS in the background if needed and DVDshrink rips the disks fine. I just started using Region Free, and DVDshrink says not protected while it's ripping a disk now.

Anything I want different like movie only,so I don't have to mess with annoying menus, warnings, or comercails I do with Shrink. Also can easily edit the start and end points of the movie. This way I don't have to bother watching studio stuff or ending credits either, also uses lessspace when I burn the backup DVD.

Anything else you need to do depends on the hardware you have to play it and software to stream it, I don't know about those.
But I will be looking that product up myself as it sounds interesting for me also.

[bill1029]

Thanks overloaded_ide ,

I actually started this tour by using the raw VOB's, however the DSM-520 plays them very well, but the search function is very poor, and has a tendancy to begin skipping. Overall, the unit plays them, but not well.

And the 4GB limit on file size is, well... limiting. Using two vobs creates a one to two second pause, and would require either video playlists or a seperate folder for each movie..

This was the 2nd best option.. but wanted a single movie file.

Thanks for the advice though... that's why I've discovered this forum, and continue to learn from you !!!

[Diggit2001]

I notice that when I use RipIt4Me to rip the raw VOBs to the hard drive, the video quality remains intact, but the sound quality is a lot lower. Is this normal, or am I missing something here?

Thanks

[mats.hogberg]

You're missing something. A lot lower than what?

/Mats

[Diggit2001]

Sorry, I guess I could have been a little clearer. The sound is just really low as in quieter. I have to crank the volume way up to get it to a "normal" level, compared to playing the actual DVD.

[mats.hogberg]

...when you play the DVD using what?
...when you play the VOB using what?
Mostly, low audio is down to a badly configured AC3 codec. Rest assured that the audio is untouched. It's just played back differently as DVD and as VOB.

/Mats

[Diggit2001]

1. I rip the DVD to my computer using RipIt4Me.

2. I go downstairs to my TV and begin playing back the DVD on my DVD player to my TV.

3. At the same time, I start playing the VOB file on my TV via the D-Link box.

4. I switch back and forth between the inputs to compare the DVD to the streaming VOB.

Video quality is great. Sound quality is not.

[mats.hogberg]

Different routes, maybe even different audio tracks? VOBs aren't meant to be played at all - they are just parts of a DVD taken out of context, and there's no std way of playing them. Your D-Link box is either playing another audio stream than your DVD player, or treating the same stream differently.

/Mats

[overloaded_ide]

Yes, vob's can be trickey and you may not even be getting the same tracks.
I had a problem in the past where I ripped a disk with a well know program and the DVD would start playing in English correctly but somewhere about VOB 3 it would switch over to a foriegn langauge like spanish or french or whatever.
Many people here liked that program, but I could never get it to work right, then I found Shrink and never had a problem.

So you might be playing AC3 6 channel on the DVD but with a VOB maybe you are playing a 2 channel track?

Another thought is maybe you have various sound settings somewhere, like you can adust CD audio to one volume, and WAV audio to another volume, Mic and such to other volumes. Could it be that the DVD is playing like on a CD volume setting and the VOB playing on like a WAV setting and they are not set to the same volume levels?
That has happened to me on the PC before doing various things, not sure if it could effect your stuff that way or not though. On the computer it was just mixer settings.

[RabidDog]

I fail to comprehend why you are encoding your files at a fixed width of 1280. The orginal file is at best going to be 720 width. You also state that your TV will upscale if you want. Lower res always equals smaller files. I would suggest that 4gb for a divx file is overkill as you should generally get compression of between 20-40% of the original file. I would use autogk with output of (approx) 1,5gb with AC3 sound. Buy a faster CPU to speed up encoding, or overclock the one you have. ALso one pass quality based encoding will halve the time required, with a Gtd quality output. Obviously your settings may be your best guarantee of quality.SMaller files also stream better as the the Bitrate per hour is lower

[bill1029]

Thanks rabidDog,

I know that the fixed width is above the input source, and that absolutely no improvement will be seen in video quality.. but what brought me to that setting, and maybe someone can enlighten me here, is that three back to back conversions when encoded with the same settings I have listed except the 1280 (wasn't set to a fixed width) resulted in a file about 2.5GB (even though I had the constrain to set at 4095MB. Unfortunately there were too many artifcts in the fast motion scenes that were unacceptable. That led me to set the fixed width higher, and the result has been a 4GB file that has a high enough bitrate to greatly reduce the artifacts.

I understand that this makeslittle sense due to the higher resolution causing the larger filesize, however the quality has been much more predictable?

HD space is of little concern, as I will upgrade as needed. the 500GB drives are so cheap right now, and will only continue to get cheaper.

Maybe I need to stick with the 720, and somehow calculate the bitrate required to get my file size to 4GB, but I really like the variable bit rates instead. Not sure of a way to do that?

[Bardmaster]

I previously posted Xilisoft as a good DivX encoding option, but it doesn't like encoding when other apps are running - sound may be off by a few seconds, or the picture gets "chirpy" (stutters). You can also see the gridlike pixilation blockiness whenever there's a fast-paced scene, even ratcheting up the bitrate from its default 1200Mb/s. Left alone, it's good for non-action movies (read: comedies, dramas, kid movies), and you can add multiple videos in its queue and let it churn out a dozen movies overnight - a definite plus!

For me, the BEST video quality, still with small-size files (like 1.5GB for 2 hrs) is using DivX 6.4 in 2-pass mode with a 7 "quality override" setting, via a shell product like XMPEG (or #1 DVD Ripper, which can also rip copy-protected DVD's, but I always use the fast and 99% success-rate DVD Decryptor with RipIt4Me).

Only problem is, I've had random crashing issues (Athlon X2 4400+, 2GB DDR-400 RAM, junky ECS KV2 mobo), mostly after the first pass with XMPEG, and randomly with #1 DVD Ripper. So frustrating to wait an hour, and then the damn thing crashes! Plus XMPEG takes 95% of both my CPU's and slows down dramatically if it can't hog all the PC's resources, so it's a fire-and-forget-and-pray solution. I've tried different versions of DivX with the same results, and less than 6.4 doesn't seem to use my dual CPU's, taking even longer. Also looking for other, more stable shell solutions, but wondering if it's the DivX codec not getting along with my PC.

So I've turned to InterVideo DVD Copy Platinum 5, which doesn't rip copy-protected DVD's (back to the ever-popular RipIt4Me solution), but works great encoding previously-ripped DVD's to DivX. It must have some built-in VBR (variable bitrate) algorithms because it does a single pass, with standard "Home Theater" setting of 1200Mb, and 1) only takes about 60% of both CPU's, 2) doesn't suffer when I'm doing other things, 3) has proven very stable and reliable so far, and 4) outputs a very good quality DivX AVI file at about 1.5GB/2hrs in about 1.5 hrs. Even fast-paced action scenes, like in Matrix Reloaded where Nero is fighting a hundred of that agent nemesis guy (name escapes me right now), and I don't see any blockiness on my 26" LCD TV.

The TRUE test for me has been the movie CARS, where you can easily see the blockiness on all those fast-moving, colorful, high-resolution cars. The only quality output for CARS has been the DivX 2-pass via XPMEG solution. Even Nero Recode Digital was blocky, despite being 3500+ Mb/s and twice the filesize!

Still experimenting, but so far my ripping solution is ONLY RipIt4Me (DVD Decryptor), while the encoding solutions are all DivX but the encoder I use depends upon what kind of movie it is, and how patient I am:

LOW QUALITY (comedies, dramas, most animated): XiliSoft DVD Ripper Platinum 4
MEDIUM QUALITY (action/adventure, horror, fantasy/sci-fi): InterVideo DVD Copy Platinum 5
HIGH QUALITY (whatever doesn't look good from above): XMPEG with DivX 6.4 2-pass

Side-note: I've noticed all the above solutions squish letterbox movies about an inch on top and bottom, making it close to unacceptably narrow on a 26" LCD TV (720p). This is compared to straight DVD playback on the same TV. Nero Recode 2 Digital somehow resolves this so playback fills the entire set, but at the expense of video quality. Case in point: "The Titanic" (ripped for my wife, of course) is a thin strip in DivX but full-screen in Nero mp4. I THINK it sacrifices some screen space on the edges, however.

How would one change the frame resolution settings when encoding with DivX or XviD? Letterbox movies show up as 720x480 in XMPEG but that includes the black areas, and the ACTUAL video is 720x308. If I try to change that, it just stretches the video vertically. Hmmm, perhaps also increasing the horizontal setting will achieve a similar result as Nero - full-screen but edges get cutoff? I'll have to experiment with that.

This is definitely a science of sacrifice! It's just a matter of what, and how much, you are willing to sacrifice, to achieve the best result for YOU. No wonder it's so hard to nail down "the perfect solution!"

(sorry for the long post...)

[Bardmaster]

Sorry: in the previous post all the bitrates were of course in Kb/s and not Mb/s. Trying AutoGK right now since so many of you guys swear by it - looks like it has 2-pass encoding AND a queue. Bye-bye Xilisoft!

[Bardmaster]

Sorry: in the previous post all the bitrates were of course in Kb/s and not Mb/s. Trying AutoGK right now since so many of you guys swear by it - looks like it has 2-pass encoding AND a queue. Bye-bye Xilisoft!