Best Video Converter for PS3

[Guinea]

I am looking for a video conversion tool. I am starting to build a library of movies and TV shows that I am streaming to my PS3 via a NAS setup. I don't mind spending money on one, as long as it is worth the money. I am just looking for advice on video conversion software and which one is the best one available. I would like one that can perform large batch conversions. I would like to be able to select a few dozen files at once and convert them all using a template, instead of individually (Like PS3 Video 9 forces me to do). I would also like the cleanest upconversion as possible...being able to display clear HD videos with no audio sync issues. A lot of the free software I have tried locks up when I select too many files and the upconversion is not very good.

An added benefit would be the ability to put a DVD in my computer and convert that to a PS3 video as well...so I can start clearing out my DVD collection. Thank you in advance for any advice. Like I said, I don't mind spending money, but I want to make sure I buy the right one...one that will last me and be a permanent solution to my video conversion needs.

[jman98]

I think letting the PS3 dictate what you do is what I will politely call "ill conceived". Others can help you with that though.

I want to tell you something that surely has never crossed your mind, but it should have. I hear the same thing you said from lots of people in the USA these days. They want to get rid of "clutter". This seems to be the current obsession. Well Guinea, have you given any thought at all to exactly what you are going to do when you rip all your DVDs and convert them and you sell, give away, or throw away ALL of your original discs and the hard drive you store the conversions on dies? Almost nobody does. Hard drives have a finite lifespan. It's not a question of "Will it die?" but "When will it die?". If you're going to do this then you're going to need a second hard drive that you keep detached and use as an exact copy of the main drive withl all of your conversions so that when that drive dies, you're not sitting around crying about how you lost ALL of your movies and you have hundreds/thousands of dollars worth of films completely gone.

[Guinea]

Anyone who uses NAS type storage should be intelligent enough to implement some form of RAID setup and backup utility. That is a fairly standard thing to consider. Currently I have a 4 bay NAS with a RAID-5 configuration. Migrating harddrives, swapping harddrives and adding additional harddrives are all supported in a RAID 5 setup. I am fairly confident that my data will remain secure. If it does not and the worst case scenario happens....guess what? Life goes on. I do not get too wrapped up in things that can be replaced. I appreciate your concern, but these are things I HAVE considered, and to be honest, they are not worth getting stressed out about.

[Brainiac]

If you haven't tried freeware, then I would recommend DVD Decrypter and MPEG Streamclip.
DVD Decrypter can be used to rip the VOB file to you hard drive without splitting the VOB file. Then you can load the VOB file into MPEG Streamclip and convert it to an MP4 file. I tried a quick conversion, and when I loaded the VOB file, I got a warning in MPEG Streamclip about timecode breaks, along with an option to fix them. YMMV.

Brainiac