Newbie needs help converting DVD to file for uploading to YouTube

[pazchiro]

Ok, so I downloaded Mac the Ripper and I was able to rip the contents of my DVD to my desktop but it is still in _TS format and I need to convert it to some sort of file that I can upload to You Tube. Does anybody know how to do this? HELP!!!!!

[Case]

Try again with ripping each feature to a single file.
Then convert that file to H.264, like referenced in post 1741636.

[pazchiro]

First, THANK YOU for trying to help.

OK..... so I'm trying to figure this out but I'm in WAY over my head.
Here's the whole scenario. I was interviewed for the local news. The piece aired yesterday. I digitally recorded it and then burned it onto a DVD in my DVD player/recorder. Now I have a DVD and no clue how to upload that 2 minute clip to you tube. Somebody told me about Mac the Ripper but it's the conversion that I'm having trouble with. From the look of some of those clips on youtube, it CAN'T be that hard to get stuff on there.

Is there an easy way to do this?

[terryj]

yes.
you said that you recorded it with a DVD Recorder.
Put the disc back in the recorder, and finalize
the disc per your recorder's manual.

once done, put the disc in your mac.
Open up MpegStreamclip, and then open the .VOB file
( should be .01.vob) on the disc.
When prompted, open all files in the stream,
then under Edit, select Fix Timecode Breaks.

with that done, then export to Mpeg-4.
In the export window, select the settings I have listed below


export then upload that file to Youtube.

[pazchiro]

THANK YOU Terry J!

After purchasing the quicktime/mpeg2 playback component, I was able to export the file to Mpeg-4. HOWEVER, I tried to upload it and youtube said it was too big... they recommended shrinking it and trying again later.
Silly question... How do I shrink it?

[dnix71]

YouTube limits uploads to 10 minutes. If it's longer than that, then use mpegstreamclip to make the pieces smaller and post them as movie part1, part2, etc.

[hargioia]

It also might be too big a file vs. too long. You could try toggling your data rate -- try it at 256 kbps. How many MBs is the file right now?

[pazchiro]

The video file is 112.4 MB right now and it's only a 2 minute clip. So yes, it's a "file too big" issue. When you say "toggle your data rate" do you mean that I should re-export it at 256 kbps? I will try it again. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Case]

The video file is 112.4 MB right now and it's only a 2 minute clip

Is your converted output HDTV resolution or something?
At 426x240 such a video should be under 12 MB.

[pazchiro]

Thanks for staying on the Case, Case!
I don't know what the output is.... what should I do at this point? Try to shrink the file somehow or go back to the DVR/DVD and record it over? Is it possible to shrink this file? If so, how? Thanks.

[Case]

To check the output, open the output MP4 file in QuickTime Player and do a Cmd-I. A new window should give some information about the file. It would be interesting to see what this info is for your large file, and help pinpoint the anomaly.

terryj posted a nice screenshot with export settings.
Maybe you missed a bit when copying those settings?
For best quality, you should export again, VOB to MP4,
but you could shrink the large file, MP4 to MP4,
either way with terryj's settings.

[terryj]

it is possible by doing one of two things:

1. You can adjust the quality down to bring the file size down.
Adjust the slider from 95% quality to say about 60% quality
( but no lower than 50%), and this will dial down the file
size considerably.

2. A tip I picked up from Joseph Nilo and I also saw
on DJTV,
is to adjust the audio settings down,
choose MPeg-4 AAC, and change the AUTO setting down to
44.1khz, and the audio bit rate to 160kbps.
this will also help shrink the file size down.

[Case]

I did a test output with a 0:01:52 DVD source that ended up being 52.1 MB with the quality slider at 95% (3888 kbps total, according to QuickTime). Whoa. Nothing fancy compression-wise: no water, no fire, no high action, just three people talking.
Then I used a bitrate calculator that said 303 kbps (for video) should be enough. MPEG Streamclip helpfully gave a nice estimate of 6.6 MB. Using that to number to limit the data rate, it came out at 6.5 MB (484 kbps total, according to QuickTime). There was a little bit of quality loss (less texture) compared to previous try, but very acceptable at a much more download-friendly size.

Can't say that I figured out the quality slider yet, but 95% with H.264 may be a bit much for 'just' a site.