What compression/codecs shall i convert all my DVD's into?

[marknicholls]

I have just brought eyehome and it works a treat, i am now considering ripping all my DVD's to my mac and running it all wirelessly, like i do with my music

I was going to convert them all to avi, but then thought about the future, and i remember reading that iTunes may well be supporting video in the future....does anyone know what format it will be using? and if i can convert my DVD's to that format, and run them via eyehome?? (hopefull by that time itunes may be compatiable with eyehome)

Many Thanks for any help in advance

 

[AppleMatt]

avi is just a container, you can pretty much put anything into it video and sound wise (even as a 'hack')

You need to discover:
- What formats the device can play
- What codecs import to this format
- Which of these gives best quality/size ratio
- Decide on the quality (you're always going to lose some even if you choose a really high data rate)
- Decide on the time you want to spend. There's no point specifying a excellent codec (h.264), large data rate (8Mbps) and waiting god knows how many days for your computer to finish ripping one DVD when you have a collection of 100s.

iTunes definitely supports mpg/mpeg. I haven't tried avi but I don't see why it shouldn't work. Just download the latest version (4.8, but 4.9 will be released in under a month) and try yourself.

Also, I'd remove your email addresses from your signature and put them in your profile, SPAM bots can pick them up.

AppleMatt

 

[marknicholls]

avi is just a container, you can pretty much put anything into it video and sound wise (even as a 'hack')

You need to discover:
- What formats the device can play
- What codecs import to this format
- Which of these gives best quality/size ratio
- Decide on the quality (you're always going to lose some even if you choose a really high data rate)
- Decide on the time you want to spend. There's no point specifying a excellent codec (h.264), large data rate (8Mbps) and waiting god knows how many days for your computer to finish ripping one DVD when you have a collection of 100s.

iTunes definitely supports mpg/mpeg. I haven't tried avi but I don't see why it shouldn't work. Just download the latest version (4.8, but 4.9 will be released in under a month) and try yourself.

Also, I'd remove your email addresses from your signature and put them in your profile, SPAM bots can pick them up.

AppleMatt

Thanks man, i need to have a play when i get home, i am hoping eyehome can access movies via itunes....i may be wanting a bit much though!

Say for example i have Alias season 1 and would like to create an Alias Folder, with season 1 as a sub folder, then all the episodes, can i get a DVD ripper that will extract each indivudual episode into a file? rather than just the VOB file?

Thanks

 

[AppleMatt]

Thanks man, i need to have a play when i get home, i am hoping eyehome can access movies via itunes....i may be wanting a bit much though!

Say for example i have Alias season 1 and would like to create an Alias Folder, with season 1 as a sub folder, then all the episodes, can i get a DVD ripper that will extract each indivudual episode into a file? rather than just the VOB file?

Thanks

Yes you can. My favorite ripper is HandBrake. You might want to wait until version 7 is complete before starting. I've put all my DVD ripping on hold until that time.

It wouldn't surprise me if the eye software was updated to support this feature, especially if enough of their customers let them know they wanted it.

http://handbrake.m0k.org/

AppleMatt

 

[marknicholls]

Yes you can. My favorite ripper is HandBrake. You might want to wait until version 7 is complete before starting. I've put all my DVD ripping on hold until that time.

It wouldn't surprise me if the eye software was updated to support this feature, especially if enough of their customers let them know they wanted it.

http://handbrake.m0k.org/

AppleMatt

Thanks applematt

When is the new version out, and whats the difference's? when you copy your DVD's do you configure the software a specific way? specific settings, or do you use the default settings?

I have read loads of forums about this issue, and lots of people spend ages configuring the software depending on what kind of DVD they are copying, and i really dont wanna have to do this!

I had a go with mactheripper last night and it look DVD quality when i streamed it to my TV (with default settings)

 

[marknicholls]

I am not getting my surround sound kit for a few weeks so before i spend ages of time converting all my DVD's, does the avi file (which i have just converted and the quality is excellent) keep the surround sound or will it only be stereo?

when i get the optical surround sound, i can attatch it to my eyehome

will avi keep the surround sound or does it need to be kept as a VOB file?

Many Thanks

 

[AppleMatt]

When is the new version out, and whats the difference's? when you copy your DVD's do you configure the software a specific way? specific settings, or do you use the default settings?

I don't know, and nor does titer (the developer). Basically it's out when it's out. Development over the last few months has been slow, I don't know the reason(s) why however.

I always leave it on the default settings, however I do trim the black borders from the picture. It's worthwhile trimming every edge if it needs it (click "crop borders").

will avi keep the surround sound or does it need to be kept as a VOB file?

Like I said before .avi is a 'container'. Think of it like a box, and into that box you can put anything you want. So if you want to put in an audio recording that has 5 channels, you can. Be aware however, even though you can 'fit it into the box', it may not be supported by all players. So if you choose the 5 channel encoding in HandBrake, yes you'll get multi-channel sound.

AppleMatt

 

[James Philp]

I find that DVD quality is bare minimum. Most codecs only support stereo sound that I know of.
For me there's some satisfaction to getting the DVD box (or case) off the shelf, opening it and watching as it smoothy goes into the DVD player.

Bear in mind that DVD's can take A LONG time to rip. I have about 300 DVD's and with current technology I wouldn't even think about it without a top-end G5 and a hardware converter card of some kind.

A typical DVD is around 6GB or so (i think). My collection would be 1.8TB of raw data. Converting (say 2 hrs per disc) 500 hours of DVD encoded stuff down into high enough quality stuff (say 700MB per 2 hours) would take so long I don't bear to think about it. And then there's the storage aspect!

I'll wait until it's as easy as iTunes is for CDs before I do it to my movies; but I think with copy protection this era may never come.

I'm not even sure that a decent quality video data rate can be sustained by common wireless technology. I know you need a 802.11g just to stream music in iTunes/airport express.

Good luck to you, I hope you know how much of an everest this may turn into!

 

[Nermal]

I know you need a 802.11g just to stream music in iTunes/airport express.

Are you sure? Uncompressed CD audio is 1411 kb/s, well under the 11 Mb/s supplied by 802.11b.