Convert your DVD into Vcd Backup's  !

DVD to DivX using FlasK MPEG Guide v2.0

DivX Digest

 zackromeo33@yahoo.com any questions !

 

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Introduction

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).

 

Last Updated - 18th March 2001

 

Software Needed

You need to have installed the following software and make sure they work :

 

 

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Ripping the DVD

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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Conversion in FlasK MPEG

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.

FlasK MPEG DVD Selector




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.

FlasK MPEG Player



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.

FlasK MPEG Video option



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.

FlasK MPEG Audio option



Select the "Decode Audio" option and keep the "same as input" option checked.

FlasK MPEG Cropping options



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.

FlasK MPEG AVI Plugin



FlasK MPEG Video Codec



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.

FlasK MPEG Audio Codec



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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Normalizing the Audio

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 :

 

AVIUtl

 




METHOD 2 :

 

 

VirtualDub's Audio Menu

 

VirtualDub's Audio Compression Menu

 



 

Normalize

 



 

VirtualDub's Video Menu

 

VirtualDub's Audio Menu

 



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DVD vs DivX Comparison

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.


 

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

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

Length/Size

2 minute 35 seconds ; 118 MB

2 minute 35 seconds ; 22 MB



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