Creating high quality avi from DVD

[Ben Edwards]

2009/1/17 Loïc Martin <loic.martin3 at gmail.com>:
> Ben Edwards wrote:
>> Over the years I have tried several programs to create avi files from
>> DVD.  My files do not look anything as good/sharp of other peoples. I
>> am guessing it is the settings I am using, and the codecs.  The
>> container does not have to be .avi.  A program witch rips and encodes
>> on the ply would be good but quality is my main concern.
>>
>> Any advice would be good, probably best to keep this thread focused on
>> quality of output rather than other aspects such as
>> functionality/usability.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Ben
>>
>> PS DVDRip-o-matic was one of the programs I got fairly good results with
>>
>
> Sorry for the late reply, I was away.
>
> To get best results, use the x264 codec to create MPEG4-AVC (H.264)
> video, and encode the audio either in OGG (then you'll want to create an
> .mkv file) or in AAC (you can then make an .mp4 file, even though .mkv
> would still work).
>
> Since you want to play them on a PS3 and want good quality, don't waste
> your time with MPEG4-ASP (XVID, DivX...). The PS3, the PSP, Ipods and
> Blueray players all have hardware decoding for MPEG4-AVC, and AFAIK
> you'll want .mp4 files for those (not .mkv, even though you can play
> .mkv on the PS3 if you install Linux on it).
>
> If you're a beginner, use Avidemux, then chose the codecs and save as an
>  MP4 file.
>
> Most newbie errors that results in a bad quality file are:
> - forgetting to remove the black bars on top, bottom and sometimes on
> the side (=cropping);
> - not knowing that the resulting resolution (after cropping) needs to be
> multiples of 16 for x264 encoding;
> - resizing the video is a big mistake that was only necessary with
> codecs that compressed badly (DivX) and on really low resolution
> monitors - don't resize to get the desired aspect ratio, keep the lines
> you have and use the aspect ratio parameter instead;
> - encoding interlaced video is subpar, if your source is interlaced
> encode it with the interlaced option in x264 and use filters when
> reading the file on a computer LCD (TV should be ok).
> - don't hardsub, add the subtitles as a separate track included in the
> video file, you'll get better quality for the text (if you OCR it) in a
> better resolution than the video itself, and save space (+ easy to
> change the style when you read the video).
>
> All those make a big difference in quality (along with choosing x264
> over other codecs, I can tell because I still haven't finished
> re-encoding my DVD from Xvid (audio in OGG) to x264 (audio in AAC). For
> the audio, there's no real difference between OGG and AAC, but for MP4
> it's MPEG4-AVC video + AAC audio.
>
> Default options in Avidemux for x264 are quite conservative, I can't
> help you for what the PS3 can support, but I'm sure you can use higher
> options, esp for partition decision, method, max ref frames, mixed refs,
>  use as ref, bime. Always use two-pass encoding, for example the
> size-based.
>
> To refine the process, if you're trying to encode NTSC DVD of movies,
> you can encode in the original (movie theater) 24fps instead of the
> DVD's 29.97fps (PAL is less a problem since it's only 25fps).
>
>
> To get access to more x264 options and use a better .mp4 muxer than the
> one in Avidemux (gives troubles sometimes) use mencoder (video), faac
> (audio) and mux with MP4Box (in the gpac package). With mencoder you can
> use straight x264 libs and options.
>
> For an example with mencoder + x264, here's a command line I use (it
> most probably won't work on the PS3, you'll have to lower the options):
>
> mencoder video.m2v -vf crop=720:544:0:16 -ofps 25 -nosound -of rawvideo
> -o output.264 -ovc x264 -x264encopts
> threads=6:bitrate=1400:bframes=16:b-pyramid:ref=6:partitions=all:8x8dct:direct=temporal:weightb:me=umh:merange=64:subme=7:b-rdo:mixed-refs:bime:trellis=2:no-fast-pskip:no-dct-decimate:nr=0:fps=25:sps-id=1:pass=1
>
> Faac is straightforward. MP4Box, for example:
> MP4Box -par 1=16:9 Movie.mp4 -add output.264 -add
> Japanese.aac:lang=japanese -add English.aac:lang=english -add
> English.srt:lang=english

Thanks a lot for taking the time and giving a very detailed/useful
reply.  I do have a question about the audio.  I tend to copy the
Dolby Digital audio rather than encode into .ogg etc.  Am I correct in
guessing .ogg would give me a stereo, rather than surround sound,
track.  I am verry keen to keep the surround sound.  I guess this may
be using a lot of bandwidth and may result in the quality of the video
being not so good.  I have actually gone to 1500 bits (with xvid) but
am not totally happy with the quality.  I will give x264 a go.

Lastly do you know if there are any encoders that can use multiple cores?

Regards,
Ben

> Cheers,
> Loïc
>
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