Convert your DVD into Vcd Backup's
DVD
to DivX using FlasK MPEG Guide v2.0 |
DivX
Digest |
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Introduction
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There is now a new method to backup DVDs, but still
(nearly) retain the orginal video/audio quality. DivX (MPEG-4) movie offers much
better compression than earlier codecs, because of it is a variable bitrate
codec, and up to 2 hours of movie can fit onto a standard CD, and still have
great quality. Currently, this format is only playable on a PC with the proper
codecs (DivX and MP3) installed and not compatible with any playback hardware,
but that's a little price to pay for such high quality video.
Below is a short guide/tutorial on how to convert a DVD to DivX using FlasK
MPEG. This guide is aimed at the beginner, but you'll still need to be fairly
efficient with your computer (eg. know how to unzip and run programs). This
guide is also aimed towards converting movie trailers, rather than whole movies,
which are harder (because of audio synch problems).
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Last Updated - 18th March 2001
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Software Needed
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You need to have installed the following software and make
sure they work :
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INDEX
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Ripping the DVD
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DVDs are encrypted by CSS copy protection, which means they
cannot be converted without first ripping them to your hard-drive (there are
versions of FlasK MPEG which don't require ripping, but it doesn't always work).
Most of the instructions you need to rip the DVD can be found in the DVD
Ripping Guide - please follow the section about "Ripping the Entire
DVD" (ie. rip all the files on the DVD, including the IFO and BUP files, as
well as the VOB files) if you want to convert a whole movie, or the section on
"Ripping a section of a DVD" if you only plan to rip a part of the
movie (eg. the trailer).
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INDEX
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Conversion in FlasK MPEG
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Below are
instructions on how to convert DVD files to DivX in FlasK MPEG. You should have
all the required software (eg. DivX Codec, MP3 codec, FlasK MPEG) installed
prior to using the instructions below.
Audio synch may be a big problem if you are converting very long movies, and you
should at least browse this
guide prior to familiarise yourself with the audio synch problem.
Also note that FlasK MPEG cannot handle every different type of DVD file (eg.
NTSC Progressive DVD files at 29.97 FPS) very well, so you may want to try
another conversion tool, like MPEG2AVI
or DVD2AVI.
Here, you can select which audio track, subtitle (although it doesn't always
work) and which chapter you want to start ripping from.
a single VOB file - then you should use FlasK MPEG's "Open File"
option and open the VOB file.
Please remember the "Detected FPS" and "Video Structure"
settings - this will become important in the next few steps. Note that if your
"Detected FPS" is 29.97 and your "Video Structure" is
"Progressive", then you may have trouble converting the movie with
FlasK MPEG, and you should try another conversion tool, like MPEG2AVI
or DVD2AVI.
You should first change width/height to that of the original .VOB file or any
resolution that uses has the same ratio (width / height). Often, the best way to
determine the correct ratio is to play the movie in a software DVD player like PowerDVD
and then use FlasK MPEG's "Show output Pad" option (see below). The
output pad can also be used to crop the video (remove the black bars - this
makes the video much smaller) - for more information, see below.
Select the "Decode Audio" option and keep the "same as
input" option checked.
First, decrease the "Height" setting in the "Crop" section.
Then increase the "Top Offset" in the "Crop" section to
remove the top black bar - you may need to decrease the "Height"
setting in the "Crop" section again if you can't completely remove the
top bar. Then keep on decreasing the "Height" setting in the
"Crop" section until the bottom black bar is also removed. Press the
"Hide" button to remove the output pad.
Select the DivX MPEG-4 Fast-Motion or Low-Motion codec in the Video Compression
window and click on the "CONFIGURE" button. The Fast-motion codec
offers better quality in movies with a lot of action and if you use a lower
bitrate. In most other cases, the Low-Motion codec offers better quality, but
may increase the file size. The A new window should open, and here you can fine
tune the encoding parameters to suit your taste. Below is a list of what each of
these options mean :
Keyframes - Increases/decreases the time needed to seek to a "keyframe"
during forward/rewind operations - this option also influences quality. Leaving
it too high means seeking doesn't work correctly. Decreasing it usually helps. A
figure between 1 and 5 usually works. If you are using the Scene
Detect Patch (highly recommended - improved quality), set this to a high
value, like 999, to let the patch auto-detect where it is best to insert
keyframes (ie. at scene changes).
Smoothness/Crispness - Setting it to 100% means the movie will contain
very sharp/crisp pictures, but may cause skipping. Setting it to a lower
setting, eg. 10%, will mean the picture is more blurry, but won't skip.
Data Rate - This is kind of tricky, but leaving it at the default 910
seems to work for most conversions, while 1200 will give you near-DVD quality
(using the low-motion codec + scene detect patch). A lower value will yield a
lower file size, and decreased quality, but also may introduce skipping. Setting
it to high will mean that while your converted video is excellent, almost the
same as the original .VOB, the file size will be large too, almost the size of
the original .VOB file. You can use the various Bit-Rate
Calculators to determine which bitrate suits you best, but most only
work if you use the Low-Motion codec, as the Fast-Motion codec's bitrate is too
variable for the bitrate calculators to work properly.
When you're finished, press "OK" for both windows that are opened, and
the conversion should start now.
It will now ask for the type of audio you want to decode - choose "MPEG
Layer-3" and change the "attributes" to suit your taste (eg. 48
kHz, Stereo, 128 kBits/s should give you near CD quality).
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INDEX
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Normalizing the Audio
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Because DVD audio has a greater dynamic range (ie. higher
"highs" and lower "lows"), the resulting audio after
conversion may not be loud enough on your average set of computer speakers. This
is why we introduce the audio normalizing process ("evens" out the
lows and highs and then increase overall volume), which can dramatically improve
audio volume.
There are many audio tools that can normalize the audio for you, including CoolEdit
2000, Normalizer
and even the Creative WaveStudio program that comes bundled with SB-Live cards.
In fact, most semi-advanced audio tools should have an audio normalization
option. For this tutorial, we'll use AVIUtl
for METHOD 1
and Normalizer
and the Pers-o-FrontEnd
4 Normalize for METHOD 2.
METHOD 2
is better if in addition to audio normalization (which "evens" out the
audio levels and increases it) and also audio amplification (increase levels
throughout by a specific factor). This method gives much higher volume, but if
you increase the volume too high, audio distortions may become evident.
METHOD 1 :
METHOD 2 :
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INDEX
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DVD vs DivX Comparison
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This page,
hopefully, will give you some indication of what the differences between DVD
(MPEG-2) and DivX (MPEG-4) is and show you the results of a conversion (using
this guide), and the quality that it produces.
For this comparison, we are using the Independence Day theatrical trailer as an
example, found on the Independence Day DVD. You can download the DivX version of
the trailer, we used in this comparison, here.
You can download more DivX movie trailers in DivX
Digest's Movies section.
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DVD
(MPEG-2) |
DivX
(MPEG-4) |
Video Resolution |
720x480
(NTSC) |
560x240
(Cropped) |
DivX properties |
· Timebase :
23.976 FPS · iDCT :
IEEE-1180 Reference Quality · Reconstruct
Progressive Image : Yes · Deinterlace
Video : Yes, Threshold = 1 ·
Blend instead of Interpolate : Yes · Video Codec
: DivX Low-motion · Keyframe :
1 · Smoothness/Cripsness
: 50 · Bitrate :
1200 kBits/s |
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Audio Resolution |
Dolby
Digital (AC3), Stereo, 48kHz, 192.00 kbps |
MPEG
Layer-3, Stereo, 48kHz, 128 kBits/s |
Video Quality |
Click
here to see still capture comparison · These are
actual captures from their respective sources (DVD and DivX). DVD
stillcaptured using PowerDVD's capture facility; print-screen was used to
capture the DivX still. · Pictures
compressed using JPEG (at minimum compression), so full quality cannot be
truly reflected. Click
here to download a ZIP file containing uncompressed BMP files
which will give you a better indication of quality. · Both
pictures have been cropped to remove black borders surrounding the
captures |
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Length/Size |
2
minute 35 seconds ; 118 MB |
2
minute 35 seconds ; 22 MB |
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INDEX
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