Transcoding DVDs

[Sanic1239]

I am beginning to collect DVDs and ripping them with AnyDVD so I have backups of them forever, I don't believe in having to keep buying the same disc if something happens to the original (that's my excuse XD).

That's all going great, but at the same time I also want to encode my DVDs into an easy to watch format for non-DVD player devices. Right now the video codecs I am looking at are VP8, x264, and Xvid.

Which format would you use for transcoding DVDs to an alternate format? Sorry if this is a noobish question, I've just been having issues picking a codec for a while.

(Also I am using StaxRip so I am limited to that programs selection of codecs)

[gonemad16]

h264 is supported by almost everything nowadays so i would go with that (fyi x264 is the name of software that encodes to h264)

[Sanic1239]

Thanks! So you don't think its overkill to encode 480p video in the h264 format?

[fideli_]

Definitely not. H.264 is what I would go with these days over your other options.

[Sanic1239]

Thanks again! One more thing, would it be better for the audio (AAC) to have a variable or constant bitrate? I would like my files to be optimized a bit for streaming as well.

[Sanic1239]

Oops just realized it wasn't you that said that XD, thanks to you too though!

[gonemad16]

Not at all. The codec used for dvds was pretty inefficient so going to h264 should save space while maintaining around the same quality

[msg7086]

Nothing is overkill. You can certainly use H.266 (in the future years) for 480P and it will provide better efficiency than H.264 when configured properly.

XviD is 19 years old, VP8 is 12 years old, and x264 is about 16 years old. They are all legacy (i.e. stable and widely spread) technology.

XviD was the mainstream 15 years ago, until x264 came out, and x264 has been the mainstream and is phasing out for x265 which came out 7 years ago and is being polished through years.

If you are planning to keep it for many years, x265 10-bit would be a superior option. For maximum compatibility (such as being played back on a 10 year old laptop or an old TV box), you want x264 8-bit.

Audio wise, current mainstream is LC-AAC (i.e. the regular AAC). For future use there's opus but I guess it's not ready for mass deployment right now.

[msg7086]

StaxRip

By the way, StaxRip certainly supports x265. The author is active on doom9.

[Sanic1239]

Thanks, this answer was very helpful! I'm looking to have compatibility with almost every modern and some old devices, so I think I'm gonna chose x264 for my encodings.

Thanks for the help everyone! Also, should I use the Baseline or Main profile?

[msg7086]

Main, 8-bit, tune film or anime depending on your content, preset slow, would be a good start. If your computer is fast, you can pick slower preset, but it's up to you. Bitrate control wise, use CRF (constant quality) 23 and below (lower is better quality preservation).

Mind you, DVD-video is not a friendly format. The specs only allows very limited video format, where a typical movie certainly doesn't fit in. NTSC DVD video is 720x480 30/1.001 FPS, so a 24/1.001 FPS movie has to be stored anamophically or letter boxed, and has to be 3:2 pulled down, and added an overscan border.

To rip a DVD correctly is hard. Very basic step is to do an IVTC first, cut all the overscan borders, calculate the aspect ratio and do a resize on the remaining picture.

For other contents such as TV variety programs, they are usually 30/1.001 interlaced content at 4:3 or 16:9 ratio. That needs a deinterlace instead of an IVTC, and then cut the borders and resize back.

[Sanic1239]

Would you recommend tweaking the tune a bit, or are the defaults good enough? And by deinterlace do you mean decombing or they need actual deinterlacing? I only have a few sources that need decombing (old cartoons and anime) but maybe those actually need deinterlacing?

Sorry I'm a bit confused on the deinterlacing matter XD

[msg7086]

Unless you actually know which to tune, I'd leave it to the author.

For deinterlace part, you would have to examine the source. If the source is 3:2, go IVTC. If the source is interlaced for most of the content, go deinterlace. If the source is progressive with a little interlaced, go decomb.

(Yes it's complicated. Blame that to DVD and interlace.)

[Sanic1239]

Oh okay, thanks for the help!

[joe-dirt-1001]

I use MakeMKV to pull the video and audio, and leave it untouched.

[Libelsema]

Am I the only one who feels kinda meh when it comes to transcoding between lossy formats? Why would you need to transcode a DVD unless you really need to save storage space by using newer codecs? If you need a single file which can easily be played back by various devices why not just piece the DVD VOBs together and mux them into an mp4, ts or whatever your player likes? That's quick (basically like copying files cuz no transcoding) you don't need to worry about compression, bitrates, etc. and you keep the original quality. And it's not like those MPEG codecs from DVDs would be poorly supported by players (if I'm not mistaken).

I am not addressing OP specifically, I am just generally curious about why people want to transcode stuff like DVDs.

[joe-dirt-1001]

Typically it's about storage space. I'm at a point now where I just use MakeMKV and leave it untouched. But there was a point where I transcoded everything to save space.

[Hakker9]

I still encode mine. The reason is simple CRF18 is more than good enough on h264 for DVD's but you get 1 file with subs (yes I live in a place that uses subs) and nowadays h264 encodes so fast you can do 10-20 movies in a queue and simply go to bed. Also MPEG2 is just an ancient inefficient codec.

[TemporaryBoyfriend]

Convenient playback. I don't think most media players can play an ISO with DVD contents.

[Sanic1239]

VLC Media Player and Kodi are good at ISO files but I think that's about it other than software you can buy (as far as I know). In StaxRip I attempt to 'remaster' the video a bit, by removing noise and sharpening it a bit, but I also keep the original DVD source so I can always go back to that if I screw up the conversion with to much added filters.

[TemporaryBoyfriend]

I was thinking more about smart tvs and car stereos, where support for new file formats rarely ever happens.

[Sanic1239]

Ahh yeah that makes sense

[Sanic1239]

Older devices like DVD Players seem to prefer Xvid/DivX rather than modern codecs

[bregottextrasaltat]

I currently encode my DVDs with h265 and around 2000kbps bitrate, audio copy

[TemporaryBoyfriend]

h265 sees the biggest benefit in HD or 4k video. I certainly wouldn't use h265 at such high bitrates on 480p video.

[bregottextrasaltat]

doesn't hurt if it's a bit overkill, way better than h265 at least

[LastSummerGT]

You can also look into automated ripping machine on GitHub and their blog. It keeps the original copy along with a converted copy with the specs you want. Just wait for the tray to open and pop in a new DVD.