Encoding tv shows and dvd

I find that DVD Decrypter is a good DVD ripper followed by the wonderful Auto Gordian Knot. A 2 part process reduces the strain on the DVD drive and AutoGK can get on with the buisness end with a two pass encoding. 90 minutes for 700Mb, 1.4Gb for 2 hours plus. In between depends on the detail in the movie.

My preference

I know it sounds old-school, but I still use Dr. DivX for almost all my encoding. Sometimes I'll use MPEG Streamclip on Mac OS X or VirtualDub on XP/Vista. The reason I stick with these programs is because they all use the DivX encoder. Most the alternatives mentioned in this thread do not use the DivX encoder. That means your videos might not play on DivX certified DVD players, phones, PNDs, etc. Always use genuine DivX software to ensure you are getting interoperable DivX videos.

The DivX encoder has several presets like "Home Theater" and "Mobile". Make sure you start with a profile that matches your device and then adjust the encoder settings for the best quality/size.

For example, I have a DivX Home Theater DVD player. I record TV shows on my iMac using EyeTV. The recordings are 1920x1080i MPEG2 files which I can easily import into Dr. DivX. Select the Home Theater profile on the "Basic" tab then move to the "Advanced" tab. Under "Pre-processing" I resize the video to 720x400. Set Quantization to "H.263 Optimized". Set Output to "Progressive". Leave Noise Reduction and Psychovisual Enhancements "off". On the Codec tab, change the Codec Performance to "Insane Quality". Set the Rate Control Mode to "1-pass quality-based" and the Target Quantizer to 4.0.

I get excellent quality with those settings and one hour of video is usually less than 1 GB. However, you could also try bumping the Quantizer up to 3.0 for better quality. The videos will still playback great in any DivX Home Theater device.

The 1-pass quality-based encoding method eliminates all the guesswork in picking bitrates and it gives great quality with just one pass. Some people still encode videos with a specific target size in mind (like 700 MB), but if you don't care about the size, use quality-based encoding.

DivX Connected will play 720p videos so you can use the 720p profile but remember those 720p videos won't play on a Home Theater DVD player.

Note, in the USA it is illegal to decrypt a DVD and Dr. DivX will not decrypt anything. However, it does work well with un-encrypted DVDs which is very handy if you have a DVD camcorder.

What do you suggest as a bit rate to avoid pixelation? i had it set to 1200 when the rubbish quality came out, i changed to 2500 and it has come out much better and at 1.36 gig per episode.

I plan on these episodes being really high quality anyway.

Hi Davross,

Can't remember if I tried the above software but I remember a lot of them being simpy useless with very limited configuration options. The main ones I used for a long time were DVD Shrink (or DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD etc) to rip the DVD via VOB etc and then used AutoGK or Handbrake to make the AVI (the standard in encoding software).

For the last year, I use DVDFab as this enables me to rip straight from DVD to AVI and I find it more user friendly than some of the other encoders. There is likely a loss of quality but that's the price for convenience.

I don't know how much knowledge you have of ripping (and I'm no expert myself compared to some out there) but the very basic elements regarding quality will be:

File size & Bitrate Not always the best option as movies are different sizes. Granted, a lot of 'users' tended to go for 700mb or 1.4gb based on the ability to burn to DVD for obvious illegal reasons. Better option is to set bit rate and not to worry about length of movie (especially as you have the 330 anyhow). How many bits per second of video. A lot of software gives you the option to set a determined file size eg 700mb or the bit rate (often set at 1400 kbits ~ circa 1.4gb per movie.

Resolution Bitrate and quality of the movie will be influenced by this. More pixels means increased clarity/definition but you're also spreading your bitrate across every pixel. So...you'll need to increase your bitrate to take this into account. A better way to judge this is to look at the bitrate per pixel. Many will aim for between 20-30 kbps.

FPS For most movies, it's 24FPS. TV is often 30FPS. Just check the options on the software to make sure this is selected. As an aside, make sure your LCD screen is 24p compatible (50hz or 100hz etc don't go into 24 so you're not getting smooth video playback - this is based on pulldown...)

2 Pass ABR vs CRF - Encoding with 2 Pass, software looks at complicated parts of movie and on the 2nd pass allocates bit rate accordingly (Average Bit Rate around your selected bitrate 1400 Kbps) vs. Constant Bit Rate which can be done with a 1 pass encode. Most decent software will have the option to select these.

As a last resort, if file size doesn't matter, check out Make MKV. It's still free and though doesn't encode DVD to H264, one click simply rips and transfers your DVD files using the unchanged Mpeg2 stream into an MKV container.