Help converting DVDs to MP4 for ext HDD playback with Samsung TV

[Webup]

Hi Guys

I bought a new Samsung UA32EH5306 32" LED LCD which has USB support,one for wireless and the other for a drive.
Today I went and got a 1TB 2.5" AData USB3 drive to connect to it.

I have in my desktop PC an Icydock loaded with 4 x 2tb drives and what Im doing is copying/converting my ripped DVD collection onto the 1Tb external drive so I can watch them on the TV.

Using Handbrake I have converted a few DVDs which are Video_ts folders to single file MP4 and then tested they work fine on the TV.

Now Im leaving pretty much all the handbrake settings on the defaults and using these settings
Regular -Normal profile
H.264
Framerate same as source
Quality Constant quality RF20 ( i read a guide that said anything above this will make a massive mp4 file)

The resulting file is only 800mb or so down from a 4.27gb etc DVD/Video_ts folder

Can anyone suggest the best settings or way I can get the DVDs all onto my drive without losing any DVD quality but not having the files bigger than the original DVD size???

[Baldrick]

I would use constant quality.

How does your RF20 video look like? You could try lower it a bit and see how it looks like.

[Webup]

Hi Baldrick

RF20 is not too bad. Im trying again now at RF18 to see what file size results.

Am I losing loads of quality since the DVD size is 4.27gb etc and the MP4 is less than a quarter of that?
I also notice the current version of Handbrake 0.98 doesn't have the option anymore to specify file size and a few other differences.
It is pretty fast though,1hour to convert DVD film to an MP4 Is the latest one the best to use?

Last night I set up a batch of files to run and some came out at 13gb???

[glenpinn]

Hi Baldrick

RF20 is not too bad. Im trying again now at RF18 to see what file size results.

Hi, i am using handbrake as well, i have done hundreds of DVD to h264 MP4 and all were great.

Handbrake only does cpu encoding, and on my ivy bridge 3770 cpu it usually runs at about 60 to 70% usage on all encodes, regardless if it is DVD to MP4 or 1080/50p AVCHD from my new panasonic HDC-SDC750 HD camcorder.

I use normal profile with stock settings (no tweaking of settings)

output format = h264 MP4
constant framerate
constant quality RF20 for non animated & RF25 for animated movies

RF20 for non animated gets very good quality for the low file size, and you could go down to 23 without any issues and get the file size down as well.

For animation movies i dont see the point of RF20 when RF25 is brilliant, and keeps the file sizes down as well.

What audio output setting do you usually use.

BTW if i was you (in my experience) i would not go any higher than RF20 as it simply doesnt seem to be any different that RF20 and you just adding too much more to the file size when its not needed.

It is pretty fast though,1hour to convert DVD film to an MP4 Is the latest one the best to use?

what is your CPU ???

Last night I set up a batch of files to run and some came out at 13gb???

pretty hard to say why that happened without knowing how you setup the batch conversions, definately something went wrong.

[jagabo]

Can anyone suggest the best settings or way I can get the DVDs all onto my drive without losing any DVD quality but not having the files bigger than the original DVD size???

I don't know exactly what your TV will play, but you can get no loss of quality at all (and retain all the menus and extras) by ripping to a VIDEO_TS folder with DVD Fab (free). If your TV won't play that you can try using VOB2MPG to remux the VOB data into an MPG file, or MakeMKV to remux into an MKV container. That is much faster than reencoding with Handbrake (or any other encoder) and there will be absolutely no loss of quality because it's just taking the compressed video out of the VOB container and putting it in an MKV container.

If you want to reduce the file size with Handbrake look closely at dark areas with noise (smoke, dust, film grain, etc.). That's where x264's weaknesses are. You'll see lots of posterization artifacts.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/345427-Handbrake-Should-i-leave-it-on?p=2156674&vie...=1#post2156674

[glenpinn]

or MakeMKV to remux into an MKV container. That is much faster than reencoding with Handbrake (or any other encoder) and there will be absolutely no loss of quality because it's just taking the compressed video out of the VOB container and putting it in an MKV container.

Hi jagabo, i have never heard of MakeMKV, so if he uses that to remux the vobs to MKV, will the resulting file size still be the same as the original DVD.

EDIT: i just found the answer in this link (and it was a dumb question from me anyway)
if it doesnt re-encode then the resulting MKV file will be the same as the original DVD

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/MakeMKV

the OP wants to get his whole DVD collection onto a 1tb portable hdd, and i know many people who are now ripping their dvd collections and converting to h264 in an MP4 or MKV container for the very same reason.

some of them are using handbrake, others are using mediaconverter or media expresso, but handbrake seems to output to a much lower file size than any other program, in my case handbrake does an RF20 MP4 conversion with a resulting file size less than half of any other program using the same settings.

[jagabo]

in my case handbrake does an RF20 MP4 conversion with a resulting file size less than half of any other program using the same settings.

Most of the programs use the same x264 encoder so it's just a matter of the settings used. The only way the OP can get DVD rips "without losing any DVD quality" is to avoid reencoding. He seemed to be content with the same size as the DVD.

[jagabo]

duplicate

[glenpinn]

[QUOTE=jagabo;2192393]

He seemed to be content with the same size as the DVD.

hi again, in the OP he stated his DVD conversions to MP4 were 800mb which he commented on being considerably smaller than the original dvd size, and is using a constant quality of RF20.

i am having a few doubts about Handbrakes quality over that of MediaConverter after another AVCHD conversion i tried in both those programs at RF29 and side by side MediaConverter is better this time.

i will be posting up a thread tomorrow seeking opinions on some test files i am uploading to my mediafire account.

[jagabo]

He seemed to be content with the same size as the DVD.

hi again, in the OP he stated his DVD conversions to MP4 were 800mb which he commented on being considerably smaller than the original dvd size, and is using a constant quality of RF20.

He wanted a "way I can get the DVDs all onto my drive without losing any DVD quality but not having the files bigger than the original DVD size", implying that the size of the DVD was fine with him.

I guaranty you your CRF20 encodes are losing quality. If you looked closely at them it would be obvious. Of course, you may consider that level of loss acceptable.

[glenpinn]

He wanted a "way I can get the DVDs all onto my drive without losing any DVD quality but not having the files bigger than the original DVD size", implying that the size of the DVD was fine with him.

i totally misread the last segment of his very first post, in which case MakeMKV would be fine, but he needs to buy it, and the other option you suggested to remux the Vobs to an mpeg2 file would be my choice, as i used to do this myself back in the days before i started using other formats.

I guaranty you your CRF20 encodes are losing quality. If you looked closely at them it would be obvious. Of course, you may consider that level of loss acceptable.

i agree 100% that there is loss of quality from the original DVD, and yes, the level of loss i get i can definately live with.

for me its a combination of having a good quality file and saving hdd space at the same time.

[Webup]

Thanks for all the replies.

I dont have a huge collection and there is a lot of trial and error in my methods.

Im using a desktop PC with an old Q6600 quad core CPU but it seems to go ok.
The TV (at the moment) is only 32" and we sit quite far back from it so I dont want to be too much of a quality snob however I may as well do a decent job of it to save redoing the work a year or two later.

With regards to converted size I dont mind if the files on the TV are the same as the DVD ie 4,27gb etc as long as they play and dont look rubbish.
A 1TB external drive I can get a fair few movies on there and it makes it a cool feature to be able to flick through movie choices from the remote. Where we are we don't have netflix or any of these movie services so if you don't own or rent DVDs you aint watching a film!


I might look into MKV and MPG conversions. Are these as easy to do as using Handbrake.
I like it that handbrake you just point to the folder and bascially click start and its all done. Next to no special steps required.
I have AnyDVD-HD from slysoft and a few other programs.

[glenpinn]

I might look into MKV and MPG conversions. Are these as easy to do as using Handbrake.
I like it that handbrake you just point to the folder and bascially click start and its all done. Next to no special steps required.
I have AnyDVD-HD from slysoft and a few other programs.

i would not say that handbrake is just point and click, once you import your file or folder you need to go thru the output settings/preferences tabs and make all your output settings, but once your familiar with the various quality settings, it gets pretty easy after that, you tend to memorize the settings.

i still think that converting your VOBS to h264 MP4 in handbrake using an RF20 quality gives you as good as you can get to the original DVD quality at way less file size, but thats just me, even if i watch my dvd movies on my 50" plasma in the MP4 format from handbrake, im very happy with them, but as jagabo said, you cant get quality as good as the original dvd file using any other conversions format.

your Q6600 should be fine, although not nearly as fast as my 3770 cpu.

[Webup]

i would not say that handbrake is just point and click, once you import your file or folder you need to go thru the output settings/preferences tabs and make all your output settings, but once your familiar with the various quality settings, it gets pretty easy after that, you tend to memorize the settings.

Hi

I open handbrake
Choose container MP$ Quality constant RF18
Set the output folder
Click source and find the ripped DVD folder
Click start

After this all im doing is clicking source and finding the next DVD and adding to queue.

I have now done about 40 DVDs one after another running overnight without changing a setting once.
Im just queuing them all up like 20 DVDs at a time and letting it go.

i still think that converting your VOBS to h264 MP4 in handbrake using an RF20 quality gives you as good as you can get to the original DVD quality at way less file size, but thats just me, even if i watch my dvd movies on my 50" plasma in the MP4 format from handbrake, im very happy with them, but as jagabo said, you cant get quality as good as the original dvd file using any other conversions format.

your Q6600 should be fine, although not nearly as fast as my 3770 cpu.

Thanks, if I wanted to go lossless and simply merge a video_ts folder into a single file such as MKV or MPG what is the easiest program to use?
PS I used to build PCs a few years back now and the Q6600 I have in this old rig is the same one I bought when they first came out.
Used to set a few overclocking records on a forum back then.

[glenpinn]

here is a link to download the handbrake Dvd to MP4 + AVCHD to MP4 profiles that i use.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5cwljcew3p3c342

do you know how hard your CPU is working during your conversions, my 3770 ivy cpu runs between 60 and 70% on most conversions, so handbrake is certainly very gentle on mine, which is good because it leaves me a lot of headroom to do lots of other stuff while it is busy encoding, or i can queue a few up and run over night knowing the cpu wont be throttling too hard.

as for remuxing your VOBS to a lossless single MPG file, as jagabo mentioned earlier, he recommended using VOB2MPG to remux the VOB data into an MPG file

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/VOB2MPG

i used to do it another way, but using that tool seems to be a bit quicker.

[jagabo]

VOB2MPG is simpler than Handbrake and will only take a minute per DVD (once the VIDEO_TS folder is on your computer). In the time it took you to set up Handbrake you could have remuxed the VIDEO_TS folder to an MPG file.

[glenpinn]

VOB2MPG is simpler than Handbrake and will only take a minute per DVD (once the VIDEO_TS folder is on your computer). In the time it took you to set up Handbrake you could have remuxed the VIDEO_TS folder to an MPG file.

i tried it a few hours ago, worked a charm, no problems, had a few dvd folders on my hdd so it saved me having to rip the discs.

thx for the recommendation.