Best DVD to PS3 format?

[diprotic]

Been out of the video scene for a while.

Used to be XviD got us the best "bang for our buck" in terms of compression and quality.

Now that h.264's around, I wonder if that's a better way to convert interlaced NTSC DVDs to a format for files that will be mostly played on a PS3 w/ a 50"+ plasma TV.

Has h.264 replaced XviD in terms of quality, or is there another option you'd recommend?

[Ai Haibara]

You can try MultiAVCHD to generate AVCHD video for the PS3, too. Another option is to simply stream everything to the PS3 using something like PS3 Media Server.

[smitbret]

It depends on whether or not storage space is an issue. If not, save the trouble and just rip it without re-encoding. The PS3'll play back a raw .vob file just fine. Use DVD Shrink.

At the other end of the spectrum is an h264/5.1 aac encoded .mp4. You can shrink a DVD to about 1.2GB and not lose a shred of noticeable quality.

[jman98]

You can try MultiAVCHD to generate AVCHD video for the PS3, too.

I'm not seeing the point of AVCHD if your source video is DVD as the original poster said.

[Ai Haibara]

I suggested it as an option because it might generate video files the often-picky PS3 won't complain about, that's all.

[diprotic]

You can try MultiAVCHD to generate AVCHD video for the PS3, too. Another option is to simply stream everything to the PS3 using something like PS3 Media Server.

I am intending to run everything through PS3 Media Server. PS3MC can even stream straight ISOs IIRC. But I'm looking to get a semi-portable file that will make better use of disk space. Disk space isn't a huge deal but I'd like to save space where I can.

[diprotic]

It depends on whether or not storage space is an issue. If not, save the trouble and just rip it without re-encoding. The PS3'll play back a raw .vob file just fine. Use DVD Shrink.

At the other end of the spectrum is an h264/5.1 aac encoded .mp4. You can shrink a DVD to about 1.2GB and not lose a shred of noticeable quality.

I'm thinking about h.264.

Is ffmpeg with libx264 the same as using straight x264? Can you point me in the direction of a good 2-pass encoding command-line? I'm a bit of a cli geek

[neomaine]

Been out of the video scene for a while.

Used to be XviD got us the best "bang for our buck" in terms of compression and quality.

Now that h.264's around, I wonder if that's a better way to convert interlaced NTSC DVDs to a format for files that will be mostly played on a PS3 w/ a 50"+ plasma TV.

Has h.264 replaced XviD in terms of quality, or is there another option you'd recommend?

There aren't too many interlaced DVDs out there. Not sure why you're singling them out.

Saving space is nice, but at this point - space is A LOT cheaper than time. Go right to ISOs if you can. If you really intend to go the (additional) compression route, divx/xvid is just fine. The consirable extra time to re-encode to h264 vs divx/xvid isn't worth the minimal difference in space savings, especially for DVD.

[diprotic]

There aren't too many interlaced DVDs out there. Not sure why you're singling them out.

Saving space is nice, but at this point - space is A LOT cheaper than time. Go right to ISOs if you can. If you really intend to go the (additional) compression route, divx/xvid is just fine. The consirable extra time to re-encode to h264 vs divx/xvid isn't worth the minimal difference in space savings, especially for DVD.

I'm singling out interlaced DVDs because the ones I'm interested in transcoding are interlaced; they're not commercial DVDs.

Good to know that h264 isn't worth the trouble vs. xvid. I'll just rip them like the good ol' days back in 2000. Thanks!

[jagabo]

I use x264 to encode DVDs for my video server. With the veryfast preset (with a few mods) and CRF=18 encoding I can encode a typical movie in about 20 minutes (i5 2500K CPU). Then I mux the original AC3 audio with the video into an MKV container. The files usually turn out between 1 and 2 GB and are nearly indistinguishable from the original DVD at normal playback speeds.

[smitbret]

It depends on whether or not storage space is an issue. If not, save the trouble and just rip it without re-encoding. The PS3'll play back a raw .vob file just fine. Use DVD Shrink.

At the other end of the spectrum is an h264/5.1 aac encoded .mp4. You can shrink a DVD to about 1.2GB and not lose a shred of noticeable quality.

I'm thinking about h.264.

Is ffmpeg with libx264 the same as using straight x264? Can you point me in the direction of a good 2-pass encoding command-line? I'm a bit of a cli geek

Sorry, I'm not much of a CLI guy. I prefer to use Handbrake or Ripbot264 that give me the choice of clicking boxes OR entering the values in the comment field. Handbrake, however, does offer a CLI version that I'm not familiar with at all.

I rip my stuff for PS3 playback as well. People will dog on it all day, but except for the lack of .mkv support, it's playback support is better than all but a handful of dedicated media servers. Even that is debatable since the PS3 supports .mp4 with multi-channel .aac tracks.

Knowing that you're planning on using PS3 Media Server but not knowing if you have any other playback devices in the picture, I would use Handbrake to rip the DVD to .mp4. If space is the most important, I would use the "Regular--->Normal" progfile and then, using the x264 encoder, set the CRF=18 like Jagabo recommended. For audio, though, I would convert the 6-channel .ac3 track to a 6-channel .aac at a 320kbps bitrate and set the DCR for 1. Feel free to tinker with the advanced settings tab, but remember that the PS3 won't playback video with more than 4 reference frames; you'll just get the audio and a black screen on playback.

If you wanna save some space, but wouldn't mind cutting the encode time by about 60%, just use the MPEG-4 (ffmpeg) (instead of x264 in the video tab) and use the same settings for the audio. I would probably do a 2-pass and set the target size for about 700MB for every hour of the movie. Should still give you good DVD quality and since it's MPEG-4, it'll be compatible with just about any playback device.

Either way, PS3 Media Server won't need to transcode on the fly for PS3 playback.

Xvid is fine for the PS3, but a lot of devices being manufactured now don't support .avi containers so any of the .mp4 options will give you a more future proof solution.

[smitbret]

There aren't too many interlaced DVDs out there. Not sure why you're singling them out.

Saving space is nice, but at this point - space is A LOT cheaper than time. Go right to ISOs if you can. If you really intend to go the (additional) compression route, divx/xvid is just fine. The consirable extra time to re-encode to h264 vs divx/xvid isn't worth the minimal difference in space savings, especially for DVD.

I'm singling out interlaced DVDs because the ones I'm interested in transcoding are interlaced; they're not commercial DVDs.

Good to know that h264 isn't worth the trouble vs. xvid. I'll just rip them like the good ol' days back in 2000. Thanks!

If you decide to give something else a try, use the "Decomb" filter rather than "Deinterlace" filter for better, more efficient results.

[smitbret]

I suggested it as an option because it might generate video files the often-picky PS3 won't complain about, that's all.

I read this a lot, but I've never really discovered why the PS3 is considered picky. From my experience, there's only 3 situations where the PS3 really struggles:

1 - Quicktime files
2 - .mkv containers
3 - video with more than 4 reference frames

What other struggles does it have?

[jagabo]

I read this a lot, but I've never really discovered why the PS3 is considered picky. From my experience, there's only 3 situations where the PS3 really struggles:

1 - Quicktime files
2 - .mkv containers
3 - video with more than 4 reference frames

What other struggles does it have?

AC3 in MP4?
FLV?
Can it access network (SMB) shares?
NTFS?

[smitbret]

I read this a lot, but I've never really discovered why the PS3 is considered picky. From my experience, there's only 3 situations where the PS3 really struggles:

1 - Quicktime files
2 - .mkv containers
3 - video with more than 4 reference frames

What other struggles does it have?

AC3 in MP4?
FLV?
Can it access network (SMB) shares?
NTFS?

My PS3 plays .ac3 in the .mp4 container. Always has. What other player does?
.flv - You win

Whether it supports NTFS or SMB has nothing to do with being a picky video player. That's like saying the WD Live sucks because it doesn't have built-in wireless ethernet or playback DVDs and Blu-Rays.

I guess what I should have asked is what are you comparing it to? Obviously it won't be as functional as an HTPC, but it would be a pretty hard sell to get me to put a PC in my living room and try to teach my SO and kids to use it when they are used to standard DVD players.

[Ai Haibara]

I read this a lot, but I've never really discovered why the PS3 is considered picky.

Well, I normally use the term when referring to set-top DVD/Blu-Ray players (including the PS3) or handheld devices, because they are fairly strict on what they'll play (and even if you use one of the supported containers, the videos will probably have to be encoded with a strict set of guidelines). Other than that, though, I did have some troubles now and then encoding material (AVI/MP4) for the PS3. Haven't attempted it in quite a while, of course... it was easier for me just to play material on one of our computers.