Batch converting hundreds of video_ts folders to mp4

[MTwannabe]

Hello videohelp group! I'm new to the forum and have posts clear back in 2010 for batch converting video_ts folders but as we know technology rapidly advances now and since I need something that is DLNA compatible (not MKV) I'm looking to convert
hundreds of DVD's already down a datastructure like so:

Movies
.....KIDS
..........CARS
...............VIDEO_TS
..........IGOR
...............VIDEO_TS
..........POCAHONTAS
...............VIDEO_TS
I've have hundreds of these and when they work well with players like KMPlayer, VLC, etc. but not to well to other devices.....

Anyway, I'm moving to something like MediaBrowser and it seems that MP4 works lot better and more compatible for client devices like SmartTV's and such. So, I'd like to know what is a good batch program to use that one could just point to the parent folder and TRUST it will batch convert the Video_TS folders (NOT SINGLE VOB's) correctly to mp4. Please
give recommendations if you have any and maybe an example...
I'm wanting to keep the best quality as possible (preferable at least 720). I'll also be starting to add some newer DVD's that are in 3d (Blueray) because of the upgraded TV and if the same program could be used for that to convert that would also be spiffy (is that still a word used .....
Just FYI I currently use AnyDVD for my DVD conversions. Thanks

[Baldrick]

Try vidcoder.

[sfs1965]

I second vidcoder. Probably the easiest solution with the best quality.

[MTwannabe]

This looks like a great program and have downloaded and then pointed it to z:\movies but I'm getting
An error occured during scanning....
but if I point to each individual folder (i.e. \KIDS\Cars\Video_TS) and add it seems fine. The problem with this route and over 600 movies in the \KIDS folder it is going to take a bit of time just to add them...Is there a true batch program that you just point \kids and it scans the folders and converts if not then a script for the above program would be fine if available. Thanks!

[ozok]

There are programs that do it for video files but I'm not sure if a program that scans subfolders for DVD exists. People generally don't do that amount of DVD encoding at once.

[MTwannabe]

So maybe I"m confused. DVD format was out long before Blueray and the .mkv's So, traditionally everyone (years ago) were making DVD format backups of their DVD's which is what I did and still have. So, because of this and the new formats mkv, mp4 and .mkv as not as compatible as everyone had hoped (try them on DLNA devices) a lot have been moving now to .mp4. So, I have a need to covert a bunch of DVD format folders to mp4. So what I'm understanding is there is really not a "true" batch converter (whether free or paid)....? Is this correct....wh

[ozok]

You can open each DVD folder with Vidcoder, set your settings, add job to queue and start batch encoding. "Batch" here is used for encoding process, not folder selection. What I meant in the previous post was that it wouldn't do selecting all the DVD folders for you. You can encode a few DVDs at a time this way, that's what I do with TV series etc.

[MTwannabe]

Wow really. So for 600 folders I'd need to do this 600 times. Hmm might have to look at a linux way of scripting this. This is nuts...

[redwudz]

Not too many members here have that many DVDs on a HDD. I have converted about 400 DVDs to MKV with VidCoder with no problems. I converted them from the DVD disc directly to MKV, H.264, AC3 5.1 audio. Most times the audio is already AC3, so no conversion needed for that.

Yes, it took a while. I set up a PC with four DVD drives and did four at once and just kept feeding them in till I was finished. It took about six days of spare time.

I really doubt you will find a program to batch convert 600 DVD files to whatever format. That just isn't done that often. Maybe you can write a script as VidCoder is just a add-on front end to the Handbrake program. You could create your own front end. Check the VidCoder website.

The settings I have been using with VidCoder are H.264/AC3 as mentioned. I set Detelecine and Decomb at default and audio to AC3 passthrough. And H.264 at a CQ of 19.5. That gives me a H.264 size of about 2GB, depending on the length. The size determines the quality, so be find the quality you want. All other settings at default. Watch out for episodic DVDs, they sometimes take a bit of more work to get all the videos.

[_Al_]

HandbrakeCLI is pretty powerful, I was not aware of that, just looking at it now ... encoding audio or just copy depending on type of audio format, advanced options for x264 ...

HandbrakeCLI that loads VIDEO_TS, does it encode only longest title?

writing that program should not be that difficult, except with filters, like deinterlace, detelecine, or resize to correct size getting rid of aspect ratio, etc., that would need to be troubleshoot

[sanlyn]

I have converted about 400 DVDs to MKV with VidCoder with no problems. I converted them from the DVD disc directly to MKV, H.264, AC3 5.1 audio. Most times the audio is already AC3, so no conversion needed for that.

I wish people would refrain from using the word "convert" when what they really mean is "lossy re-encode".

[MTwannabe]

I wish people would refrain from using the word "convert" when what they really mean is "lossy re-encode".

Just jumping into a thread and making a remark like that is not nice. If you have something to actually add to the thread. Great! In the end it doesn't matter if the person uses convert or re-encode.
To convert something is: to change (something) into a different form or properties; transmute; transform.
which is what is needed.

[sanlyn]

Sorry, MTwannabe, I hate to barge in and conflict with advisors who like to say that re-encoding is "no problem". Not a problem for them, perhaps. Not a problem for you, perhaps. Certainly, not a problem for those who don't see so well. If someone told me what a wonderful deal it would be to re-encode all my DVD's because "h264" sounds really new and cool, I'd never trust them with my movies or anyone else's. You feel that consideration about the disadvantages of second-generation re-encoding is not "useful information"? Enjoy, then.

[MTwannabe]

Sorry, MTwannabe, I hate to barge in and conflict with advisors who like to say that re-encoding is "no problem". Not a problem for them, perhaps. Not a problem for you, perhaps. Certainly, not a problem for those who don't see so well. If someone told me what a wonderful deal it would be to re-encode all my DVD's because "h264" sounds really new and cool, I'd never trust them with my movies or anyone else's. You feel that consideration about the disadvantages of second-generation re-encoding is not "useful information"? Enjoy, then.

Such for the sake of the conversation now...
Here is a direct statement from streamingmedia...
"However, if you output to much lower data rate H.264 format, that’s almost certainly a encode, since you’re converting to a more lossy codec" Wow encode and convert in the same sentence even...

[sanlyn]

This quote doesn't strike me as too savvy either:

I'll also be starting to add some newer DVD's that are in 3d (Blueray) because of the upgraded TV and if the same program could be used for that to convert that would also be spiffy .....

You might have clarified that a bit. Are these BluRay/3D, or ar they DVd/3D you want to resample to BluRay, or are they BluRay (i.,e, AVCHD) burned to DVD disc?

Well, no....forget that. When I first saw that statement I was curious about what it meant, but I could be misreading it.

[jalaute]

I opened this thread with excitement- am in the same boat as MTwannabe. Pretty let down at the end. I would think this is actually a pretty common scenario as people try to transition from using a stand alone player like VLC to one of the many media center applications (which are a lot more particular with input format recognition). I've read (once or twice) about 3rd party scripts for batch processing in handbrake (much older posts in other forums), but have been unabe to track down this mythical beast. Any thoughts?

[Baldrick]

Nope. Still no easy solution to batch all video_ts folders at once.

[DarrellS]

Just one more reason why it is a good idea to rip DVD as a single VOB (mpeg2 file) when using a program like DVDfab. Then you could just use ffmpeg and a .bat file to convert a folder full of VOB files to x264.mkv (I would not use mp4 myself).

for %%a in ("*.vob") do ffmpeg -i "%%a" -c:v libx264 -preset medium -crf 21 -acodec copy "%%~na.mkv"
pause

[awgie]

I just want to jump in here and thank everyone who recommended VidCoder! I have a boat load of DivX files that I need to resize for them to be compatible with the Pioneer DVD player in my truck. It has a maximum frame size of 640 x 360 for any video container (which I don't understand, since it is a DVD player, and DVDs are 720 x 480, but that's the way it is). It will play avi, mp4, 3gp, mkv & mov files, but regardless of the container format, only MPEG4 Simple or H.264 Baseline codecs are allowed, with a maximum file size of 2GB and maximum length of 150 minutes.

Trouble is, almost all of my DivX files are 720 width by whatever height (example M*A*S*H episodes are 720 x 544; Air Force One is 720 x 320). A few of the older 4:3 videos I encoded several years ago are 640 x 480, so the height still exceeds the player's capability. I wanted a program that would re-encode the files quickly. I had been using AVIdemux for some of my tasks, but it estimated over three hours to resize a two hour movie. VidCoder did it in 15 minutes - that's over 10 times faster, and on my laptop, I can't see any difference in quality between the 720 x 400 original, and the 640 x 356 resized video.

I'll have to play with the settings a bit, however. The resized video came out at 1.31GB, but the original was only 1.18GB.