Minimum size for good quality?

[EB66]

What would you say would be a decent size file with fairly good quality when ripping a dvd to your computer? over 1gb? over 2gb?

I have used torrents before and downloaded movies, most of them were around 700mb in size and the quality was not good

[killmoms]

I'd err on the side of higher is better, but I notice compression artifacts more than your average bear. 1500kbps seems to be a decent compromise between size and quality for most things when you're creating iPod-compatible (H.264 Baseline Low Complexity) 640w files. You might want to jack it up for things with more action/movement though.

[Killyp]

I've started ripping everything in 2500kbps H.264 2-pass/6-channel discrete (surround sound) audio. However, that takes ages, and a movie like Schindler's List takes up ~4gb.

I'd recommend 1500 kbps H.264 (do 2-pass if you have the time) and 160 kbps stereo audio. Make it 640 pixels wide too if you want it to be compatible with an iPod...

[Eidorian]

1000-1500 kbps works for me.

Handbrake usually makes that 1130-1670 kbps in the end. It's a little faster then real time when I turbo the first pass.

[EB66]

i don't need it to be ipod compatible my I have a 3rd gen so it doesn't play video anyway....what is the reason for h.264 as opposed to other formats, better quality?

[EB66]

nvm i just did a little research and it seems that Mpeg-4 part 10 and H.264 are basically the standard now

[Mr.Noisy]

you want ideally 1100 - 1500kbps which you'll get ripping via Handbrake ;)
add h264 when ripping mpeg4 for an ipod.

[EB66]

well im actually going to be ripping them with mactheripper first and then compressing and encoding them with handbrake if that changes anything

and i don't want them to have anything to do with an ipod, i have an old one

[Eidorian]

well im actually going to be ripping them with mactheripper first and then compressing and encoding them with handbrake if that changes anything

and i don't want them to have anything to do with an ipod, i have an old oneI usually rip first with MTR and then run a long queue of disc images. (18-24 hours) No need to swap the discs when you have them all on a hard disk.

It's a little faster to encode off of the hard drive as well but the quality is the same as if you were encoding off of a disc. This isn't taking into account excessive copy protection.

[EB66]

I usually rip first with MTR and then run a long queue of disc images. No need to swap the discs when you have them all on a hard disk.

It's a little faster to encode off of the hard drive as well but the quality is the same as if you were encoding off of a disc. This isn't taking into account excessive copy protection.

thats what I was planning on doing its a great idea because then you can just run the queue overnight and in the morning youve got urself a finished product

i just wasn't sure how big the files would be because im trying to get a good idea of how much will fit on my hd

[Eidorian]

~44 minute episodes of Stargate SG-1 run in at 368 MB (1000 kbps, 1173 kbps actual) and 524 MB (1500 kbps, 1673 kbps actual)

[EB66]

alright thanks alot dude!

[killmoms]

Ah, well then if you don't care about iPod compatibility I'd suggest encoding them using Main Profile, which will yield better quality at the same bitrates. Main Profile at 1500kbps is QUITE competent (and is still well within the limits for AppleTV or Xbox 360 streaming, should you ever purchase one).

[EB66]

what is main profile is that a type of encoding or a setting in handbrake?

[killmoms]

what is main profile is that a type of encoding or a setting in handbrake?

It's a level of H.264 encoding, and you'd set it in Handbrake.

[EB66]

alright cool ill test that out

[Eidorian]

I just use the Normal setting but I set the bit rate to 1000 kbps to save on space.

[MosesSupposes]

I typically use "normal" settings too, and then bump the audio bitrate down to 128 (not sure if it actually saves space). I find 2-pass encoding makes a big difference too.
I've recently set handbrake and MTR's destination folder to my external. I'm doing all my ripping and handbrake encoding on a Western Digital ext. Is this gonna kill my drive fast?

A long thread, but there are some crazy movie collections and some good discussion about this stuff here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=384485&highlight=front+row).