Overview

With this three-step guide you will get a perfect AVI video encoded from your DVD using DivX or XviD video compression, with the file size and quality you want.

For copying the DVD to the hard disk this guide uses DVD Decrypter, and for calculating the video and audio bit rates we use DivXLand Bitrate Calculator. This guide explains how to encode the DVD using the powerful freeware Vidomi Encoder.

  Required Software

 name and description

site

download

DVD Decrypter

Powerful DVD ripping utility

v3.5.4.0

DivXLand Bitrate Calculator

Advanced bitrate calculator tool

v2.8

Vidomi Encoder

VOB to AVI encoding program

v0.469

DivX or XviD codec*

Codec used for video compression

XviD 1.1.0

Fraunhofer MP3 codec*

Codec used for audio compression

* You cannot encode video with the codecs installed from codec packages, since these packs use to install decoders only.

To encode audio and video, install the required codecs separately with their original installers.

  Step 1: Rip the DVD

You have to copy the main movie files or the entire DVD to your hard disk first, this will require from 4 to 8 GB of disk space normally, depending on the DVD type. Make sure you also have the additional space required for the encode AVI movie file.

After you have installed DVD Decrypter, open it and it and select File from the Mode menu. Your main movie files from the DVD should be automatically detected and selected. You can copy only those files, or if you want to copy the some additional videos from the DVD you should simply select all the files.

Under Destination it's shown then location where the ripped files will be copied. You can change the location clicking the button.

Click the large button below to start copying the files and wait around 20 minutes, depending on the drive speed. If for some reason the ripping process fail, you may try with a different program from the software selection page. Also, make sure the DVD disc surface is clean and scratch-free.

  Step 2: Calculate audio and video bitrates

You need to calculate the video and audio bit rate in order to make the output file size match a specific size, depending on the audio settings. Open DivXLand Bitrate Calculator or the Web BitCalc. In the Movie Length field enter the duration of the movie. Below, enter or select the file size you want. Then select the audio format and bitrate to use.

If your calculated video bitrate is below 700 kbps, you should reduce the audio bitrate or set a higher file size in order to increase the video quality.

Take note of the final calculated video bitrate, and remember the one used for audio as well.

To use higher bitrates and burn up to 800 MB on a 700 MB CD-R, check out the XCD guide.

  Step 3: Encode the VOB files to AVI

Now that you have copied the DVD to your hard disk and calculated the audio and video bitrates, you have to encode the movie; which means converting the ripped VOB files to the AVI format using the audio and video codecs you want.

Open Vidomi and if it launches in the Player mode change to the Encoder by pressing .

Click the button to add the VOB files you have previously copied to the hard disk. At the bottom of the Open window select IFO Files type to view the IFO files only. These files make reference t the rest of the VOB files copied previously. Open the IFO corresponding to the movie you are about to encode (for example VTS_01_0.IFO).

You can press the button to clear the list in case you add undesired files.

In the Output Path and Filename box enter the path and filename of the output file(s), or select it with the button at the right. Note: The specified path must exist or Vidomi will not be able to proceed.

After adding the files to encode, click the button and select Video Options...

If the movie to encode is in Fullscreen format, disable the Hyper Crop checkbox. If it's in Widescreen mode, enable it to crop the top and bottom black borders of the video.

Enable the Hyper Scale checkbox and select Scale By Pixels. In Width enter 640 pixels.

Enable the Force Output Dimensions to be a Multiple of 16 checkbox. This is required to ensure compatibility with most video codecs.

Click the Select Video Codec Defaults button that will show the following codec selection dialog.

Choose the DivX or XviD codec, and click Configure to setup it as detailed here.

If neither DivX nor XviD codecs appear in the list, get them from here.

Back in Vidomi, click and select Audio Options.

Under Lame Min Bitrate enter the audio bitrate you've used to calculate with DivXLand Bitrate Calculator. At Use Audio Track select the audio track to encode, if the DVD has multiple tracks. The rest of the option should remain as shown in the above image.

Now > Output Size Options. In the popup window specify the maximum file size for each segment of the encoded video. We recommend to use 700 MB so it can fit a 80 Min / 700 MB CD-R.

Again > Select Source Range. Here use the buttons to specify the beginning and the end of the video section to encode. This is useful to delete advertisement or remove the credits from the end.

Finally > General Options.

The only things you should change here are the Output All Files with the Extension to .avi, and disable the Enable Enhanced AVI Features option. This option disables the chapters support and the subtitle track features. We don't use the Vidomi subtitles feature because it may be used only  with the Vidomi player, which is not a totally reliable player.

Once you have configured everything correctly, click the Start Encoding button to start the conversion process. This process could take several hours to complete, depending on your computer's speed.

At any moment you can press the following buttons to check out the status of the process.

The encoding process may take several hours to finish, therefore we recommend to do it at night or whenever the computer is not in use.

  Video Codec Configuration

Select the codec you are using to see a detailed configuration procedure.

• DivX codec

• XviD codec

The video bitrate can be obtained using either DivXLand Bitrate Calculator or the Web BitCalc, in order to control the output video quality and file size.

  Questions? Comments?

If you have any questions or need support regarding this guide or article, don't hesitate to ask at the DivXLand.org forum personally.

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