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Ripping DVDs - what's best for my needs


PBzeer

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I've read a ton of stuff on ripping, but can't seem to find what I need to know.

 

First, my setup: Only DVDs, no Blu-ray disks

 

My current method: Use AnyDVD, then copy files to hard drive. This works well for me, but disk space is becoming a problem.

 

All I'm interested in is watching the movie itself on a laptop.

 

So ... I'm trying to determine if I would be better off using something like Winx DVD to rip to MP4 instead of copying all the VOB, IOF and BUP files. Would it make for smaller file size?

 

Alternatively, do I need all the DVD files just to play the movie? Is there like one VIDEO_TS file that just plays the movie?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

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To me I just rip the main movie using MakeMKV. I leave everything at full quality because storage has become so cheap, but if you wanted to compress it down, then you would need to run the completed file through something like Handbrake.

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Does this mean compression is the only avenue to smaller file size? That if you rip say Now You See Me with a VIDEO_TS folder of 63.3 GB, you'll end up with a MP4 of 63.3 GB? Or even larger?

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Koleckai Silvestri

Does this mean compression is the only avenue to smaller file size? That if you rip say Now You See Me with a VIDEO_TS folder of 63.3 GB, you'll end up with a MP4 of 63.3 GB? Or even larger?

 

A video_ts folder has more than just the movie. It can have extras, trailers, menus. It can have extra sound tracks like descriptive audio (great if you have blind friends like I do) or other languages, and additional subtitles in languages you'll never use.

 

Using a tool like MakeMKV, you can leave what you don't want on the disk. I just pull the movie, English Audio and English subtitles. MakeMKV does a 1:1 copy of the files you specify. From there you can use a tool like Handbrake to compress it if you want. You can adjust the size (i.e. shrink down to 720p) for a large savings without sacrificing much in bitrate. You can lower the bitrate and stay at 1080p. Can switch it to 1080i if you want. Etc... As an example, I took a 1080p copy of Big Bang Theory and lowered it to 720p. The file went from 1.5 GB to 300 MB.

 

However you're correct that to get your 63.3 GB folder down to a 3 GB MP4 digital copy, things are compressed and thrown out in the process.

Edited by Wayne Luke
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A video_ts folder has more than just the movie. It can have extras, trailers, menus. It can have extra sound tracks like descriptive audio (great if you have blind friends like I do) or other languages, and additional subtitles in languages you'll never use.

 

Using a tool like MakeMKV, you can leave what you don't want on the disk. I just pull the movie, English Audio and English subtitles. MakeMKV does a 1:1 copy of the files you specify. From there you can use a tool like Handbrake to compress it if you want. You can adjust the size (i.e. shrink down to 720p) for a large savings without sacrificing much in bitrate. You can lower the bitrate and stay at 1080p. Can switch it to 1080i if you want. Etc... As an example, I took a 1080p copy of Big Bang Theory and lowered it to 720p. The file went from 1.5 GB to 300 MB.

 

However you're correct that to get your 63.3 GB folder down to a 3 GB MP4 digital copy, things are compressed and thrown out in the process.

Thanks, that's more of what I'm looking to learn. I'm not really looking at changing what I have, but am looking for a better way forward.

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A follow up question on compression. I'm viewing on a screen with 1366x768 resolution. What would be a good compression for that?

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Logos302

Its subjective to your viewing likes and dislikes some people don't mind compressing the hell of things, some don't.  I would try some short clips at different settings and compare it.  Find what you like.  

Edited by Logos302
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If your ripping DVD's the best quality resolution your going to get anyways is 720x480 anyways. Most of those pure movie only will only be around 5GB. You could probably compress that down to under 1GB if you wanted. It will lose quality obviously.

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Thanks to all who responded, but especially Wayne Luke for his take on which files to rip to MKV. If it works as well as it did with Now You See Me, 63.3 GB to 4.6 GB, even without compressing, it should double my number of movies per TB. And that's pretty much what I was looking to do. Now, all I gotta do is re-rip 300+ dvds.

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Vidman
First, my setup: Only DVDs, no Blu-ray disks

 

Does this mean compression is the only avenue to smaller file size? That if you rip say Now You See Me with a VIDEO_TS folder of 63.3 GB, you'll end up with a MP4 of 63.3 GB? Or even larger?
How is there a 63.3GB folder on a DVD?
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I use DVDFAB since it can create the MKV file that I need and compress the movie in one shot. Also I'm curious about the way you are ripping your DVDs. The maximum size of a 1 sided DVD is around 9 GB, so I don't know how do you get a folder that is 63 GB. I don't get a file that size even for Blu-ray.

 

In the past I ripped my DVDs to the VIDEO_TS folder structure as I wanted to keep all features, but now I'm starting to use MKV more. MKD can keep multiple subtitles and languages. It can even have chapters. You can also create a specials folder and keep there all of the special features. In my experience this is friendlier for MBS, as the files can play easier in all clients, even if it requires transcoding. 

 

I like the MKV container for the passthrough audio, but if you don't care about that, then MP4 might be a better container as you can use that file directly in almost any device and you will not need that much transcoding

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I don't know how it comes out that size. I copy the VIDEO_TS folder to my disk (movie name folder/video_ts) using AnyDVD first, and that's what I get. For Now You See Me, I end up with 173 files in the video_ts folder.

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Latchmor

Hi, the huge number you are seeing is some sort of protection.  I had this with a DVD a while ago when ripping with DVDFab.  It still lets your rip but my rip didn't play correctly.

 

I think I used RipIt4Me to help get rid of the excess vobs and leave the playable ones http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RipIt4Me

 

Cheers

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Have started re-ripping my dvd's with MakeMKV. For RED 2, after processing, it shows 6 titles with 19-22 chapters, at 5.7-6.1 gigs apiece. So I went back and looked at my VOB files for it, but saw nothing that suggests how they get that much data on one dvd. As I've been deleting my VIDEO_TS folders on my big drive, I've noticed quite a few with 63+ gigs in them. (As far back, datewise, to Prince of Persia). MKV is definitely my choice from here out.

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Koleckai Silvestri

They are dummy files mapped to the same files on the disk. For instance if there is a extended version, the disk map will just insert the scene files into the movie but not copy the entire movie. MakeMKV builds an entire movie for you so there can be additional copies depending on commentary, camera angles or additional scenes. I usually just pick a movie file, test it and toss the rest.

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That's what I've been doing. I keep the movie, the English subs and the best sound. Not only is it using up a whole lot less space, my 3TB external is now usable with the MKV files.

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I'd have to echo makeMKV suggestions ...slim, fast, no frills, works effortlessly.

Also using freemake for the odd conversions from wtv does a nice enough job  ..i'm sure there are better though, it took me years to find something as good as makemkv for rips but now easily a fave & must have and one for Audio too "Free Rip Mp3 Converter" that can (thank god) Rip a dance music mix cd like a mix cd from start to finish w no gaps,chops,beeps etc. I would pay for these 3 happily. 

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