Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ataylor]

I just got a Kindle Fire and want to put a couple of movies on it before my next flight.  There are a TON of DVD ripping software out there and I'm having a hard time figuring out which one to purchase. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

[TOM_SZG]

Try http://www.dvdfab.com

Regards Thomas

[rjm]

Nero Recode 3

It's old and they have not improved it much over the last few years but is still the best that I am aware of.

Key features include:
- excellent codecs
- visual crop
- auto bit rate recommendation for chosen resolution
- multiple audio tracks
- multiple imbedded subtitles
- named chapters
- optimal amount of quality tweaks exposed

If anyone has found something better than Nero Recode for mp4 rips, and has done tests to confirm, I would love to hear about it.

p.s. Kind of an important topic because it seems x264 is finally replacing XviD, and because mp4 has won the battle with mkv in the pro ripper world.

[InflatableMouse]

I guess it comes down to preference, but for me its Handbrake, hands down.

And its free, with an awesome wiki to boot too.

[rjm]

This thread motivated me to do my annual tests on mp4 x264 ripping software to see if I should switch tools. A little googling suggested that the most popular candidates today are:

Handbrake
DVDFab
Xilisoft DVD ripper
MeGUI
Nero Recode

I updated the software to the latest versions and ripped a 25 minute episode from a dvd using (as much as possible) the same rip settings. Here are my results.

Handbrake
- no visual crop
- auto crop is not accurate
- no ability to view chapter start to confirm correct chapter names
- no display of chapter start time to enable confirmation of correct chapter name with external viewer
- no auto-detect of de-interlace
- unable to test rip quality because Handbrake would only rip the first chapter of the episode and then quit
- quality of the sample looked good so this tool is promising if they fix the bugs and deficiencies

DVDFab
- auto bit rate recommendation for selected resolution are much too conservative (3x too high)
- no named or unnamed chapter support
- subtitles must be hard coded or extracted to idx/sub and cannot be embedded
- auto crop is not accurate, has nice manual visual crop
- rip quality not quite as good a Nero Recode 3
- conclusion: getting better, check again in a year

Xilisoft DVD Ripper
- high quality software
- no chapter support (but can rip a specific chapter)
- no embedded subtitles
- crop adjustments are very confusing
- documentation is very thin – advanced features are not documented
- rip quality much lower than Nero Recode 3
- conclusion: check again in a year

MeGUI
- very confusing, even for experienced ripper
- could not figure out how to conduct rip test after reasonable amount of time and effort
- conclusion: probably a good tool for a video geek with patience, but not for me

Nero Recode 11
- review of user forum comments suggests Nero has removed key features from the latest version of Recode (crop and trim), and many customers are experiencing stability problems
- I decided not to update
- conclusion: Nero Recode 3 is still the best choice available

It's kind of sad. Nero has not improved Recode for years and is in fact making it worse. Recode is only 1 of 2 apps (out of a large suite) from Nero that offers any unique value. Nero's management does not understand what they sell. As far as I can tell the original competent developers are long gone from Recode. I will continue to look for a suitable replacement but Nero Recode 3 is still the best mp4 x264 ripper.

[InflatableMouse]

Handbrake
- no visual crop
- auto crop is not accurate
- no ability to view chapter start to confirm correct chapter names
- no display of chapter start time to enable confirmation of correct chapter name with external viewer
- no auto-detect of de-interlace
- unable to test rip quality because Handbrake would only rip the first chapter of the episode and then quit
- quality of the sample looked good so this tool is promising if they fix the bugs and deficiencies

If your'e up for it and you are convinced your findings are correct you could make a post on their forums with your suggestions. They are responsive but a little warning seems fitting, they tend to have zero tolerance towards folks that come on with problems/issues without doing their homework lol. Make sure you've read their wiki on the issues you experience.

It's been a while since I've used handbrake but I thought there was a preview for chapter starts and the crop function. Also Im not sure what you mean by "unable to test rip quality because Handbrake would only rip the first chapter of the episode and then quit", because I've always been able to rip 10 seconds of any part of any chapter, HB would simply return to the main screen. I would look at the sample and alt-tabbed back to HB to make some adjustments etc.

The main reason for me to use HB is its encoding quality and speed, its second to none and to a lesser extend the custom x264 command line under advanced. If you need to deinterlace, make sure you read their wiki page on decomb.

[rjm]

If your'e up for it and you are convinced your findings are correct you could make a post on their forums with your suggestions. They are responsive but a little warning seems fitting, they tend to have zero tolerance towards folks that come on with problems/issues without doing their homework lol. Make sure you've read their wiki on the issues you experience.

It's been a while since I've used handbrake but I thought there was a preview for chapter starts and the crop function. Also Im not sure what you mean by "unable to test rip quality because Handbrake would only rip the first chapter of the episode and then quit", because I've always been able to rip 10 seconds of any part of any chapter, HB would simply return to the main screen. I would look at the sample and alt-tabbed back to HB to make some adjustments etc.

The main reason for me to use HB is its encoding quality and speed, its second to none and to a lesser extend the custom x264 command line under advanced. If you need to deinterlace, make sure you read their wiki page on decomb.

I find most video tools to be complex with lots of subtleties, so no, I am not convinced my findings are correct. But I reported what I observed after a brief few hours of testing.

I could not get Handbrake to rip more than one chapter of my test sample. I'm sure this is not a common problem because it seems to work well for many people. But I tried multiple times to fix the problem and was unsuccessful so I reported what I saw.

I suspect my requirements are not the norm since I rip a lot of lower quality documentaries and courses where advanced cropping and chapter support are critical.

[Castius]

I decrypt the dvd with dvd decrypter

Then if i'm not using my own scripts. I use xMedia recoder
http://www.xmedia-recode.de/index.html

I liked handbrake a lot. But it didn't give me enough control or update fast enough.
I like to use licence free codecs; like Theora and VP8(webm). Handbrake was not moving as fast as xmedia is.
Xmedia is always being updated with new builds of ffmpeg

[MM_switcher]

I also can recommend Xmedia Recode; in addition I use Vidcoder, based on handbrake,but with better GUI and more options: http://vidcoder.codeplex.com/

[rjm]

Thanks for the great tips!

Both xMedia Recode and VidCoder look very promising. I plan to test thoroughly.

[Sauzee]

Interesting topic.

I like X Media Recode too. Shame there isn't any English help.

Freemake Video converter is good for simple stuff, eg. where you don't need chapters, multiple audio tracks.

Haven't tried VidCoder, but it looks good.

[rjm]

Here are my test results for VidCoder.

On the positive side, VidCoder has all the features I want, I like the user interface, the documentation is good, and development is active.

On the negative side, despite setting VidCoder to use quality oriented settings and a 20% higher bit rate at the same resolution, I prefer the quality of a Nero Recode rip. There is nothing wrong with the VidCoder rip quality, but compared side by side the Nero Recode rip is a little sharper and the colors are a little more saturated.

This confirms what I have suspected for quite some time. Nero has a uniquely competitive product, but few people know it, including Nero who is letting it languish.

Nevertheless I may switch to VidCoder because it is being improved in a positive direction.

[rjm]

Here are my test results for XMedia Recode.

On the positive side, seems to be high quality software under active development and is perfect for someone who likes to tweak codecs  because everything is exposed.

On the negative side, no English documentation, resolution and aspect ratio settings are very confusing, very inconvenient to name chapters, too much codec complexity exposed for my taste.

Rip quality is not as good as VidCoder or Nero Recode.

[Castius]

I'm curious what video are you using to test i'd like to run some tests as well.

[rjm]

I'm curious what video are you using to test i'd like to run some tests as well.

My tests were done with a standard definition, non-transcoded dvd. A key to comparing encoding tools is to create the rips with as close to identical settings as possible. Then I launch each of the 2 rips I am comparing in separate instances of VLC and adjust so that they are playing the same frames in sync. Then I put both VLC's in full screen mode and rapidly alt-tab between them until I lose track of which screen is which rip. Then I view the videos, slowly switching back and forth between them, until I decide which rip I prefer. Then I take VLC out of full screen mode to unveil the winner.

[Sauzee]

This Nero Recode 3 sounds interesting. How does one get a copy of it? Are later versions really worse?

[rjm]

This Nero Recode 3 sounds interesting. How does one get a copy of it? Are later versions really worse?

Recode 3 was bundled with Nero 8 (suite). Recode 4 with Nero 10. Recode 5 with Nero 11.

I personally tested Recode 4 and confirmed it was worse (and no better) than Recode 3. I have not tested Recode 5 because user forum comments were strongly negative on features that are important to me.

I do not know if Nero 8 is still sold by Nero, but I doubt it. Suggest you check their web site. If you can't find it, PM me and I will try to find you a copy.

Be aware that Recode 3 is not perfect. No video tool is, I think because their inherent complexity is so high. Given what I know now, my advice would be to use VidCoder. This will give you BluRay support and mkv support which Recode 3 does not have. VidCoder's chapter naming is not quite as convenient but I am talking to the developer in the hope he will improve this. Plus VidCoder is free.

[Sauzee]

Thanks for all the info RJM. VidCoder does seem the best bet for me. Didn't realise that Nero Recode 3 had no mkv support.

[glynor]

I haven't read all of this thoroughly, but...

If you're serious about it, Telestream Episode is amazing, and they just added x264 support (instead of using their own H264 encoder).  That's what I generally use, but it is a pretty penny.

There is a cool and simple-to-use CLI front end to handbrake on the Sage forums which I've used with MC's Send To -> External options.

[Castius]

A warning about all of these tools. They tend to get the frame rate, resolution and aspect ratio wrong.  This can be because the IFO files can be wrong. Or for what ever reason. So i almost always check myself and set these manually. Never let it choose "same as source".

[rjm]

If you're serious about it, Telestream Episode is amazing, and they just added x264 support (instead of using their own H264 encoder).  That's what I generally use, but it is a pretty penny.

Thanks for the tip. I just installed and tried Episode 6.2.2. My objective was to rip a dvd to x264 mp4 at constant quality 25 with manual crop selected visually, custom chapter names with source preview to confirm correct chapter start times, multiple audio tracks, and multiple embedded subtitles. I was unable to achieve a single one of these requirements. In addition, I see no support for mkv which may be important to some people.

[MM_switcher]

I haven't read all of this thoroughly, but...

If you're serious about it, Telestream Episode is amazing, and they just added x264 support (instead of using their own H264 encoder).  That's what I generally use, but it is a pretty penny.

Wanted to try this, but ....

• Needs the installation of Quicktime and Bonjour
• Doesn't work w/o internet connection
• Price is $495

? Then I'll rather not be serious.

[glynor]

My objective was to rip a dvd to x264 mp4 at constant quality 25 with manual crop selected visually, custom chapter names with source preview to confirm correct chapter start times, multiple audio tracks, and multiple embedded subtitles. I was unable to achieve a single one of these requirements. In addition, I see no support for mkv which may be important to some people.

It is not a DVD ripper.  It is an industrial-class transcoding suite.

It certainly handles chapter names, manual crops (visually or not), source and destination previews, multiple audio tracks (including Dolby Digital encoding and DTS if you have the right version) and all of that jazz.  It does not handle DVD source formats, you have to extract a video file first, because it isn't a DVD Ripper.  And it has a very high-quality set of filters and adjustments that can be made to the video (including things like stamping timecode and a channel mixer for audio).

It does not support MKV, which annoys me, but it really isn't targeted at that market with that kind of price.  It supports practically any other common format, and I'm sure they'd add MKV if they got requests from professional users.  MKV really isn't used outside of the "pirate" and "home users" arena, unfortunately.

I was most playing around mentioning it, as it is way above what most/any home users would need.  But, since I have it, that's what I use to make any MP4 I need, because it is quite powerful.  It has a robust "watched folders" engine, and can gang multiple copies on separate machines into a transcoding behemoth cluster.

[rjm]

Thanks.

[rjm]

In case you missed it there has been a very significant trend in the movie and TV ripping world over the last year. X264 mp4 has emerged as the new standard replacing both xvid avi and x264 mkv. In addition, many rippers are now pushing the x264 codec to produce hi-def rips at very small sizes. For example, a 90 minute video with 544-720 lines of resolution is commonly ripped to 600-700 MB with really nice quality. Purists may object but to my eyes the quality is plenty good enough.

Despite having considerable ripping experience, I have often wondered how they achieve such nice results with low bit rates and high resolutions. I have been experimenting with VidCoder and it seems the secret sauce is actually quite simple. You simply need a high quality source to which you apply the Constant Quality feature of the x264 codec to really squeeze things. I am getting amazing results at CQ 25 and may do some more experiments to push it further.

If anyone out there has any rules of thumb for Constant Quality I would love to hear them.

[InflatableMouse]

As far as I am concerned ..

MP4 will never replace MKV in the underground scene because it supports only a limited number of audio codecs, none of the surround codecs (DTS, DD or their new variants) and MP4's support for subtitles is extremely limited.

Technically speaking you can include a DTS audio stream in an MP4 but it is unsupported and chances are that 99.9% of all devices supporting Mp4 won't play it.

As far as I'm concerned Mp4 is the promoted/supported container format for content providers due to legal reasons and support from large manufacturers like Apple and Sony, MKV is the popular choice among the "pirates" as it it virtually boundless in flexibility and supported by virtually every "other" mediaplayer device that Hollywood hasn't blessed.

- MP4 audio formats: Advanced Audio Coding (AAC FAQ): Quicktime/iTunes, Nero, Psytel, FAAC (binary)... (rjamorim's quality comparisons: 1 2) and (E)AC3 (free specifications), MP3, MP2, MP1, CELP (speech), TwinVQ (very low bitrates), SAOL (midi), ALS (lossless)
- MP4 subtitle/text format: MPEG-4 Timed Text (see question 7)

[rjm]

MP4 will never replace MKV in the underground scene....

I am not arguing that mp4 is superior to mkv. I am reporting trends that I am observing (the 2 most popular (and other) movie rippers switched from mkv to mp4 last year), and what I am reading.

From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_%28warez%29#x264_for_television_sources

x264 for television sources
February 20, 2012, more than a year after the appearance of the first draft,[ruleset 16] the SD x264 TV Release Standards document aims to bring quality control back to the SD releases. According to the document, x264 has become the most advanced H264 video encoder and compared to Xvid it is able to provide higher quality and compression at greater SD resolutions. It also allows better control and transparency over encoding settings. With CRF it can be ensured that a diverse array of material will get the most appropriate bitrate and not arbitrary fixed file sizes. The video container must be MP4 and AAC is used for the audio. Thirteen groups: ASAP, BAJSKORV, C4TV, D2V, DiVERGE, FTP, KYR, LMAO, LOL, MOMENTUM, SYS, TLA and YesTV signed the document and began releasing TV shows in the new format. [ruleset 12][3][17]

FQM and 2HD indicated they will keep releasing Xvid.[18] FQM says it's pointless losing a lot of standalone compatibility for slightly higher quality when there's already even better quality available. 2HD agrees and a vocal minority of the torrent community is quite upset because the MP4 container isn't compatible with many DVD players and other devices, but most scene groups don't really care about BitTorrent.[19][20][21] Softpedia writer Lucian Parfeni called this interesting phenomenon the angry pirate and wrote that a lot of BitTorrent users are very disappointed about the move, though quite a few have no idea why it happened.[20][22][23] A second reason FQM provided was that partial files can't be played back but LOL wrote the next day that the streaming issues were solved. On March 29, an updated version of the rules were released. This time 22 groups supported the document. MP4Box became the recommended muxer because it has support for file streaming and playing from RARs. FFmpeg and FAAC encoders are banned.[ruleset 17]

[InflatableMouse]

I didn't think you were arguing mp4 was better than mkv .

But it just now dawned on me you're talking about SD releases. SD is on its way out, only a matter of time.