Ripping a DVD library

[soccerdad]

First of all- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

After years of bypassing many posts on this site with discussions on DVD rips, I am now planning on ripping my library. Now as many know, I am using WMC7 for a lot of my DVR stuff at the moment. Therefore my rips need to work with WMC and be able to stream to an xbox. I am looking for some of your favorite programs and methods for ripping DVDs and converting them to .wtv, .wmv, or .avi files. I am new to ripping but assume that you loose the chapters when you convert to these file types? I have tried using dvdfab to decode the DVD so it can copy it to my drive. I have done it in both .iso format as well as the the individual video_ts files. I am not sure where to go next to get them into a good format. I prefer not to use command line type conversions. I prefer windows type interfaces.

Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[ACTCMS]

Happy New Year from me also...

I use DVDShrink set to No Compression to rip to TS_VIDEO folders. Then I use MPEGStreamClip to 'join up' the main feature and Save it to MPEG. If it is a TV series, I save each episode seperately.

MPEGStreamClip does have an option to 'Export to AVI' command but I've never actually tried it since I don't use .avi.

[ga_mueller]

I use DVDfab to rip (no BRays) to video_ts folder, no compression. I only rip the main movie so no chapters or anything. Then Handbrake to compress, using "high" profile. It has a nice Windows interface. You can also queue a bunch of titles to compress, and it will run all of them unattended. Final file size is ~ 1-1.2G, and on my (admittedly) small 32" panel, quality is excellent. Handbrake can only encode to mp4 or mkv containers, though, so not sure if this will work for you. Compression typically takes 3hrs on a dual-core Turion laptop... Good Luck, and Happy New Year!

[psycik]

Any dvd rips I make are to mp4 format - 2 pass and depending of how "good" the movie it, will depend whether I push it to 1.5Gb to 2gb. I use mp4 as it's handy for the iphone/apple tv. I use handbrake - can be gui based or command line (the gui can write the batch file for you) which is handy when there's lots to do.

AutoGk is another good one for keeping them as xvid avis though.

[Lao Pan]

After ripping the folder (main movie only) to hard drive (my method no longer available on the net - injunction :mad I used MEGUI to index, create script and convert all my DVDs to 720p 23.976fps x264 MKV (from PAL 25fps) - using spline 64 resize, quality is almost as good as blu-ray with file size usually near to the original mpeg files. For ripping my Blu-rays I use Clown BD - with AnyDVD-HD

[smajor]

My method is almost exactly that of Leo Pan, the only difference is I use Handbrake. I just coverted all 10 seasons of Stargate SG1 form DVD and they look AMAZING in 1080. Does WMC allow mkv playback with little or no effort?

[JonnyCam]

My method is almost exactly that of Leo Pan, the only difference is I use Handbrake

So the resizing within Handbrake is pretty good?

never tried it, just ripping my boxset of Macgyver so I don't have to bother changing dvd's and can watch from all the TV's in the house, and it's taking ages!

Kind of on topic - there is some software called ripit for Mac, whihc downloads coverart etc for the series you are ripping + sypnosis and puts it into the mp4 metadata for itunes, does anyone know of any windows software which does similar?
and can I embed metadata in an MKV, and still have ti read by itunes when it converts it?

(I only own one apple product, but the Wife is getting an ipad, and I feel some transcoding is in my future.)

[HarryH3]

Also check out freemake at http://www.freemake.com/ It has a load of conversion options and will use your GPU if your video card has the ability. That speeds things up considerably.

[smajor]

So the resizing within Handbrake is pretty good?

(I only own one apple product, but the Wife is getting an ipad, and I feel some transcoding is in my future.)

Yeah, it's definitely improved over the years. I'm sure there is something that might be better, but learning curve vs. results makes Handbrake good for me. The results are more than acceptable for upscaling to HD TVs, in my opinion.

Checkout AirVideo for that iPad, providing you're in range of Wireless. Awesome $3 app.

(sorry for the slight thread derail answering this).

[steveum]

I used DVDFab to rip to the hard drive then use handbrake to convert to h.264. I think I use the high profile setting as someone else said above. I use the m4v containers since they allow you to have multiple audio tracks, subtitles and chapters. MKV containers support those same features, but I think the m4v have broader compatibility especially if you use anything apple (ipad, iphone, apple tv).