Encoding DVDs - H.264?

Given the time it takes to rip a DVD, I'd wait to see what Tiger and Apple's h.264 implementation have to offer. It may or may not be better than the shareware alternatives, but it might be cool, there's always the chance of some killer iTunes-like video app waiting for Tiger, and it'll almost certainly be a lot faster than the non-Apple alternatives (due to optimization for the PPC).

Besides, if Apple offers a good h.264 codec then the advantage of ripping into an "Apple-ok" format is that if they ever do release a media center app/device, your video would be guaranteed compatible. If it wasn't, you'd feel pretty stupid having wasted days ripping stuff only to have to re-rip later.

 

H.264 takes a minimum of twice the processing power of mpeg4 part 3 (read Divx) at the same resolution and picture quality, although the bitrate will be somewhere around 30% lower. At D1 resolution (720x480) and near-DVD quality, even the fastest Mac with the best software codec will be pressed to encode in real-time. Don't equate video conferencing with encoding a DVD with minimal loss in quality and a 2Mbps bitrate. I'd wait a bit before I'd invest that kind of time.