Ripping DVDs to AVI/MPEG/whatever

[matt333]

I turned it into an MP4 and this cut the size in half, but there was an error and it didn't convert at all after many hours

I was using FormatFactory...anything free and better? What about reducing the size?

THX

[Jism Jim]

Let's start with questions instead of answers:

What error message did you get?
Did you try again with the same software?
What is it that you're trying to achieve?
Why do you want to reduce the size?

There is a very good program called DVDshrink that can reduce a DVD9 to DVD5 size. But I don't know if that's what you want.

[matt333]

error message just said "error"
did not try again because it took so long to convert
i'm trying to reduce the size of a 3 gig dvd to something at least half that
i want to reduce the size so people on the forum don't have to download a 3 gig movie

[rotobott]

I use Avidemux which is free and very versatile.

Here's a tutorial.

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archi...t-t357763.html

[groovesection]

AutoGK
http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=Downloads
will do it all automatically and will do a very good job
http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=TutorialEN

[lds17pl]

I use free Any Video Converter (there is option to shut down computer after convertion)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xozmhnnngdm
(please remove extension ".bin" after dl)

and free dvd ripper Platinum
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?k5dnwlmwmqm
no pw needed, after unrar use free serial number (at folder SERIAL) to get unlimited access

[orinoco]

Originally Posted by rlg118

I've ripped many DVDs using WinX DVD Ripper. You can rip to AVI, WMV, MPEG, MP4, FLV, iPod, iPhone, and many other formats.

I'm just trying out WinX
Ripping whole dvds or chapters,great.
Ripping specific clips,not great- as the dvds don't actually play in the video window.
Instead,you slide 2 bars to get the beginning and end of the clip you want.And all that appears in the window is a still of the frame that starts the clip.
But,what's worse is that there's no sound either -which is bad enough for video editing but extremely tricky for audio only clips !

In short,you have to play the dvd in another player.Get the parameters for the start & finish of the clip and then type them into WinX -which it does at least allow you to do as well.But all very time consuming

At which point I'm hoping someone's going to tell me I've missed something and you can actually get the dvd to play whilst editing.
Because,that aside,the results are actually excellent.
Anyone ?

[ooopsy]

I use the full-version GordianKnot, which gives amazing results (as opposed to AutoGK, which is easier but also gives a lot less control over the final result). You only need this and DVDDecrypter to get going, although I think it already be included in GordianKnot.

The trickiest part is to get a good tutorial. I found a very good one in French for me a long time ago, which obviously will be of no use to you. Here's one I found in English that looks pretty complete : http://www.box.net/shared/dl5xj2iclo

2 tips : * choose Xvid double-pass for excellent and standalone-player-friendly results, in which case configure your Xvid codec properly. The aforementioned tutorial does not dwell on it. Here's a good step-by-step : http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/xvid_setup.html. Configure the Xvid codec directly from the control panel, not from GK. This way, you won't have to configure it every time.

* avoid complicated calculations to determine the size of your rip (and avoid 1-CD rips, which can give terrible results with any movie beyond 70 minutes). In GK, in the "Bitrate" table, just up or downsize your total file size (yes, you determine it yourself) until "Bits/(Pixel*Frame)" hits 0.190. Basically, don't let it turn to yellow unless you really need a smaller filesize.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend trying to cut clips staight from the DVD. Rip the whole movie (in CBR settings to avoid out-of-synch audio when further editing) and edit with VirtualDub for basic clips.

[rlg118]

When I watch a disk, I keep a notepad handy to write down the approximate times of any interesting bits. Then all I have to do is find those times in the viewer.

You're right - it would be easier if you could view the disk in real-time, but I've gotten so used to doing this that it doesn't matter to me.

[orinoco]

Thanks for all your help -again

I copied the same 1 min 30 sec from a dvd to my hard drive -prior to uploading to YouTube.
And it was about 40mb when I put it into MP4 and about half that when I used AVI,which is still huge for such a short clip.

I know previous posts have mentioned that YouTube put it into an acceptable format for you.But I still have to get the clip from the dvd to my hard drive -without much picture degradation and a smaller file size than I'm currently managing...........?

I know this is getting tedious. And I'll go away shortly. Promise