“The time has come…to talk of many [technologies].” –Lewis Carroll(‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’)
Step 2(a): Converting DVD Format(VOB) to AVI(DivX/XviD) Format Using #1 DVD Ripper
#1 DVD Ripper is an extremely easy to use application that converts the movie DVDs to AVI/XviD format. Just open the folder where the ripped DVD movie files are stored in #1 DVD Ripper, and it loads all the tracks available in the DVD folder, with the main track(the longest one) selected for conversion by default. More tracks can be selected by checking their respective checkboxes; the subtitles can also be selected for each track(if available) from the dropdown box at the bottom of the window. Optionally, change the destination folder where the converted AVI files should be stored and start the conversion process. Default settings will be used in the conversion process(like XviD codec is used) but they can be changed from the Preferences window(DivX codec, audio and video bit rates etc). The application can also shut the system down once it completes all the conversion jobs(more than one DVD movie folder can be added before starting the conversion process). It names the generated files based on the name of the drive where the AVI files are stored, so I have to rename all the files after the conversion process is completed, a minor annoyance which might have a better solution that I don’t know of.
Here is procedure to convert a DVD movie to compressed AVI/XviD format:
Start #1 DVD Ripper from the Start Menu. The main window looks like this. The toolbar icons allow the source and destination folders to be selected and settings to be changed.
Click “Open DVD from a Folder” button on the toolbar and “Browse for Folder” dialog box will be shown. Browse to the folder where ripped files from the DVD are stored and select OK.
All the available tracks in the DVD files will be shown in the main window with the longest track selected by default. Select any more additional tracks and also choose if any subtitles should be added to those tracks from the drop-down box at the bottom of the window(subtitles need to be selected individually for each track, where ever available). More settings can be changed before starting the conversion process from the Settings window. Click the “Settings” button on the toolbar and browse through all the tabs to see if some setting needs to be changed. Changing the audio and video bitrates, video resolution, codec for encoding process, output folder, shutdown option once the conversion process is complete etc are some of the settings that can be changed.
All set, just click the “Start” button to start the conversion process. Preview of the track being converted will be shown along with a lot of other data . The title bar indicates what percentage of the conversion task has been completed.
A typical 90mins movie on a typical computer hardware might take around 6 hrs for the conversion process to complete. Browse to the destination folder to find the generated AVI files. According to the selected settings, and the size of the original DVD movie, the generated AVI file should be in the range of 800MB to 1.4GB in size.
Click “Open DVD from a Folder” button on the toolbar and “Browse for Folder” dialog box will be shown. Browse to the folder where ripped files from the DVD are stored and select OK. All the available tracks in the DVD files will be shown in the main window with the longest track selected by default. Select any more additional tracks and also choose if any subtitles should be added to those tracks from the drop-down box at the bottom of the window(subtitles need to be selected individually for each track, where ever available). More settings can be changed before starting the conversion process from the Settings window. Click the “Settings” button on the toolbar and browse through all the tabs to see if some setting needs to be changed. Changing the audio and video bitrates, video resolution, codec for encoding process, output folder, shutdown option once the conversion process is complete etc are some of the settings that can be changed. All set, just click the “Start” button to start the conversion process. Preview of the track being converted will be shown along with a lot of other data . The title bar indicates what percentage of the conversion task has been completed.A typical 90mins movie on a typical computer hardware might take around 6 hrs for the conversion process to complete. Browse to the destination folder to find the generated AVI files. According to the selected settings, and the size of the original DVD movie, the generated AVI file should be in the range of 800MB to 1.4GB in size.
The biggest plus point of #1 DVD Ripper is that it is very easy to use. It costs money but if you want to convert all the DVDs that you own into a format suitable for storing on hard disk with minimal effort, then it is a decent application. The most popular Free application that does a similar job, with lot more options that can be configured, but which takes a little bit more work is AutoGK. It’s a very versatile software and I will write about it in a later post.
6 comments
Every Flavour Beans » Step 2(b): Converting DVD Format(VOB) to AVI(DivX/XviD) Format Using AutoGK (1733 days)
[...] While the main strength of #1 DVD Ripper is ease of use, AutoGK is a conversion application that allows a lot of customisation of various settings, and is also Free software. Most of the configuration settings have good default values but can be changed to suit one’s requirements(eg: I never go with the default “2CD – 1.4GB” conversion size; 75% quality setting gives me smaller file sizes). AutoGK does everything that #1 DVD Ripper can do, and more, but perhaps with a little more work and less elegant user interface. It’s functionality can be enhanced by installing, optionally, other Free video related software. A step-by-step procedure of a typical conversion process using AutoGK is given below. [...]
Every Flavour Beans » Step 2(b): Converting DVD Format(VOB) to AVI(DivX/XviD) Format Using AutoGK (1733 days)
[...] While the main strength of #1 DVD Ripper is ease of use, AutoGK is a conversion application that allows a lot of customisation of various settings, and is also Free software. Most of the configuration settings have good default values but can be changed to suit one’s requirements(eg: I never go with the default “2CD – 1.4GB” conversion size; 75% quality setting gives me smaller file sizes). AutoGK does everything that #1 DVD Ripper can do, and more, but perhaps with a little more work and less elegant user interface. It’s functionality can be enhanced by installing, optionally, other Free video related software. A step-by-step procedure of a typical conversion process using AutoGK is given below. [...]
tabrez (1498 days)
@raymund just google for “join avi” and you will get plenty of results. I would recommend learning to use VirtualDub but there are easier-to-use tools available on the Internet.
[...] In the ‘Input’ tab, select the folder where the ripped DVD VOB/IFO files are stored by clicking the “…” button. SimpleDivX will list all the IFO files found in the folder and lets you select one or more of them. If you only want to convert the main movie and no additional tracks, then checking “Select Main Movie” check-box will in most of the cases select the correct IFO file automatically. Unfortunately, SimpleDivX doesn’t show the lengths of the tracks associated with these IFO files(as do #1 DVD Ripper and AutoGK), so selecting tracks based on their play time is not possible from the SimpleDivX interface. Just make an estimate from the sizes of the VOB files in the DVD folder. If you want to convert all the titles and tracks from the DVD, make sure that you select ‘all’ from “Choose Title” drop-down box for every IFO file you select. [...]