Forum Archive Home -> User guides -> How to convert TV Series DVD episodes to DivX/XviD with ease using freeware
| How to convert TV Series DVD episodes to DivX/XviD with ease using freeware | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2006 May 19 19:37 | ||||
How to convert episodes from a TV Series DVD to DivX/XviD with ease using free software
Contents Quick Introduction - A few paragraphs before we start... Tools - A list of the tools you will need and may want to use. The Guide - The step-by-step process of converting a DVD to DivX/XviD. Notes - A combination of "Optional, but sometimes useful, tweaks" and "Overcoming common issues". Feedback - An invitation to leave feedback. Version History - Brief summary of the changes I have made to this guide over time. Quick Introduction So you want to convert the episodes on a "TV series" DVD into separate DivX or XviD files, eh? ...and you want to do it for free, you say? Well, my friend, you are in luck! Although very similar to converting movie DVDs to DivX/XviD (for which there are many great guides), there are some subtle differences when converting a "TV series" DVD into separate DivX/XviD files, which is why I've written this guide. Before we start I must say (well write) that the two themes of this guide are "with ease" and "for free". By "with ease" I mean that this guide should be nice and easy to follow. There is a lot of text in this guide, but don't let that put you off reading it. I just like to explain everything of relevance so that readers aren't left having to guess anything. I hate nothing more than when I try to follow some instructions and great chunks of information are left out. Therefore, this guide should* cover everything you need to know in order to convert your DVDs to DivX/XviD. *I've used the word "should" in the last sentence as there are bound to be some DVDs out there which have an odd structure and, hence, will create a few questions in your mind, but this guide should cover most DVDs. If you do come across a DVD with an odd structure and you can't figure out what you need to do to rip it, by all means post a question to this thread (with screenshots where applicable) and I (or someone else from this website) will try and help you out. ...you never know, it may even result in me making an amendment to this guide! :-) By "for free" I mean... eer... "for free". There are several software products out there which you can pay for (FairUse Wizard is just one) which will give you the same results, but I say "Why pay when you can do it for free?". Now that I've got that off my chest, let's get crackin'... Tools Essential Tools: You need these two tools in order to follow this guide, so if you don't have them already, go and download them: DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 DVD Decrypter is DVD ripping software. This one is free. There are other free ones, but DVD Decrypter is generally considered by most (myself included) to be the best. AutoGK 2.40 (or later) Auto Gordian Knot (or AutoGK as it's also known) is a modified version of the highly respected Gordian Knot software. AutoGK does the same as Gordian Knot, but the user interface has been simplified. Although AutoGK does have some options that you can configure, most are hidden (Ctrl & F9 will reveal them). Instead AutoGK rather cleverly, and with great success, guesses the settings you will need! If the output ever comes out a bit incorrectly, the AutoGK tutorial should be able to help you out. Optional Tools: These tools will not be covered specifically in this guide, so you are not obliged to download them in order to follow this guide, but they are worth a quick mention as they may help you: VLC media player 0.8.6 (or later) Once you have ripped a DVD using DVD Decrypter, you can use VLC to play the VOB file to make sure you have ripped the right parts of the DVD. VERY HANDY!!! VLC will play many file types. It's one of the best players I've ever come across. DVD Region+CSS Free (this is NOT freeware!) DVD Region+CSS Free is not required unless you plan to rip a DVD where region of the DVD does not match that of your DVD drive. Now, before anyone corrects me on that last sentence, it is possible to get DVD Decrypter to rip a DVD when its region does not match that of your drive, but this can be quite slow and DVD Region+CSS Free can help to speed things up. If you don't want to pay to make your drive multi-region it is possible, with some drives, to flash new firmware to it to make it multi-region. However this carries the risk of bricking your drive (I.E. it could be flashed badly and cause you DVD drive to stop functioning). Put simply, DVD Region+CSS Free is a safe way of making your DVD drives multi-region! Useful Scripts: Following some very useful information from Reginald476, jimmalenko and guwapo, I have written a few batch (.bat) files to accompany this guide. These files are completely free. I have written them for you following the very useful information provided by the aforementioned users. If you are only going to rip one or two DVDs then you probably wont need to use these (in which case you can skip straight to "The Guide"), but if you are going to be ripping lots of DVDs then these files may help to speed up the process. I suggest you run through this guide once or twice without using these scripts BEFORE deciding to use them so as to familiarise yourself with the process first. So, if this is the first time you have read this guide, feel free to skip straight to section entitled "The Guide" (which you'll find further down this page). Once you are comfortable with the process, you can come back to this section to find out how these scripts may help you. Here is a quick list of the scripts I have written (to download see below this quick list): I believe these scripts will only work on Windows 2000 and XP as they contain NT Shell commands (I have only tested them on 2000 though). I don't believe it will work on 95 or 98. DDMFRip.bat This is a batch file I have written which instructs DVD Decrypter to rip ALL episodes from a DVD, to save you ripping them from the DVD one-by-one. MDFrmTxt.bat This is a batch file I have written to support this guide. It's main function is to MAKE directories from a list that you specify in a text file. It will also COPY files from a directory to all the files listed in a text file. *** Use these scripts at your own risk!!! *** ---------------------------------------- DDMFRip.bat (.ZIP) Version 1.05 (17th Jan 2008) (Right-click and "Save As") The .ZIP file (above) contains both DDMFRip.bat v1.05 and DDMFRip.chm (Help file) v1.05.20080117. 
This script (DDMFRip.bat) is an amalgamation of DDRipPGC.bat and DDRipVTS.bat with a few extra features! DDRipPGC.bat and DDRipVTS.bat have been removed from this guide as DDMFRip.bat is much better. Firstly, you no longer have to edit the .bat file in a text editor before you use it! This script enhances DVD Decrypter by commanding it to rip a DVD that contains multiple features. E.g. a DVD that contains several episodes. DVD Decrypter is a great bit of software, but using it to rip a DVD that contains multiple features can be a tad repetative. That's where this script comes in! :-) As well as amalgamating DDRipPGC.bat and DDRipVTS.bat, this script has: * A Main Menu. * Per-session variables set via on-screen prompts. * A feature to CHECK/SET the 3 "set once" variables on screen (stored in .ini) * A feature that creates DIRs BEFORE a rip (UPPERCASE is no longer forced!) * The series name and series/episode numbers used in DIRs. * Ability to rip chapters! Auto and manual chapter number entry! * A feature that dumps summary data into a text file after a rip. * Colours added to some of the screens! * A Bitrate Calculator. * A Manual Mode, Text File Mode and .DDMFR File Mode! Note: Although I have tested this script, I have only been able to perform a limited amount of testing. This script expects you to enter the correct values, when prompted. It is quite easy to enter something incorrect and make the script screw up though. Due to the limitations of the NT shell, it's quite hard for me to write code to safeguard against all possible errors. I have included some error checks, but like I said, it's impossible to safeguard against everything so double-check everything you type into the script. This version: * Version 1.05 (17th Jan 2008) Added the following features: - Update checker. - All options can now be accessed from either Main or Other menus. - Copy of Project.ddmfr files saved to a folder in the same directory as DDMFRip.bat. - Rip directory is opened following rip. ---------------------------------------- MDFrmTxt.bat (.RAR) Version 1.01 (21st Jun 2006) 
The main function of this script is to MAKE directories from a list that you specify in a text file. It will also COPY files from a directory to all the directories listed in a text file. DDMFRip.bat (above) kind of supersedes this, but this script does still provide some useful functions. So from a list like this: 
...MDFrmTxt.bat would create this: 
You should be able to run this .bat script WITHOUT having to modify it. You will just have to modify the "MDFrmTxt.txt" file to contain the directories you want it to make for you. I strongly suggest you read the "ReadMe.txt" file BEFORE using the script. Version History: Version 1.01 (21st Jun 2006) (Current Version) - A few minor modifications (spelling corrections, etc.) following testing of previous version. Version 1.00 (30th May 2006) - This is the first version I ever created, but it was never released in the public domain. Mainly used to test features of the script and capability. During testing I used it to create directories from a file that contained a list of 10,000 directories and it was successful. The Guide Right... In this guide I am going to focus on converting the TV episodes to XviD (instead of DivX) as I personally feel it's a better codec. Not only that, XviD is currently the most popularly used video codec. DivX is the second most popular, but statistics suggest that XviD is about twice as popular (so XviD is quite clearly in the lead). However, it is easy to convert the files to DivX using this guide, if you prefer, by changing a simple setting within the "Advanced Options" of the software we are going to use (AutoGK). (...and for the slightly more inquisitive amongst you...) Further to this, statistics suggest that, despite being the oldest and most restrictive container format (file type), .AVI is the most popular container format and MP3 is the most popular audio codec. As such, this guide will focus on creating .AVI files which will contain XviD video and MP3 audio, as this will be what most people want. Now, on with the show... err... I mean guide... STEP 1 - Configuring DVD Decrypter. I have DVD Decrypter set to its default settings, apart from the "IFO Mode" settings, which I have tweaked a bit. Note: you should only need to do this once, unless you mess with the settings at a later date, of course! Open DVD Decrypter. Then click "Tools" > "Settings". This will open the Settings window. Next click on the "IFO Mode" tab. 
Under the "On Startup" section: - Disable "Select Main Movie PGC". When enabled this feature simply highlights (I.E. selects) the longest PGC by default, which can be annoying when ripping multiple DVDs! - Disable "Enable Stream Processing". When enabled this feature will allow you to rip audio or video streams from a DVD. You don't need this enabled for this guide as we want the audio and video to be in the same file. - Enable "Uncheck Suspect Cells". This is enabled by default. Under the "Options" section: - Set "File Splitting" to "None". This is important as it will keep the episodes in one file when ripped, as oppose to splitting them part way through the episode (which would cause problems later). The only time you may want to change this is when all the episodes are back to back in one PGC (this will become clearer once you've read the ripping section of this guide). If the episodes are all in one PGC and if, for example, the episodes are divided by "Chapters" then you may want to set this option to "Chapters". For now, though, don't worry about this and just leave it set to "None". - Enable all the other options in this section. This will reduce the risk of anything going wrong. If you experience any problems when ripping, you may need to change a few of these options. Under the "Create Additional Files" section: - Disable all the options. You do not need any of the additional files to be created for the purpose of this guide. Under the "File Names" section: - Enable the "Include PGC Number" option. - Disable the "Include Angle Number" option. Now DVD Decrypter is configured correctly, click "OK" so that DVD Decrypter accepts the changes you have made. Finally, click the following to make sure DVD Decrypter is running in "IFO Mode": Mode > IFO STEP 2 - Creating a Folder Structure. Before you start ripping a DVD, you should ensure you have enough free space on the hard drive to which you are going to rip the DVD. I recommend you have at least twice as much space free than the total size of the DVD. So if you have a 4.35GB DVD, you should have at least 9GB free. If you have an 8GB DVD you should have at least 16GB free. If you have more than one DVD to convert to DivX/XviD (as AutoGK can convert more than one DVD using it's "Job queue", which you'll see later) then you will need to check you have enough free space for more than one DVD. Just remember you need at least twice as much space free than the total size of each DVD. To see what the total size of a DVD is you must insert it into the DVD drive, then open "My Computer", right-click on the drive with the DVD in it and select "Properties". As you can see, this DVD is about 8GB: 
You can see how much space you have free on any given hard drive by opening "My Computer", right-clicking on the hard drive and selecting "Properties". As you can see I have over 46GB of free space on this hard drive: 
Once you have checked you have enough free space, you should create a folder for each episode on the DVD(s) you are going to rip: 
Note: It is important that you create a folder for each episode, as if you rip all the DVD files to the same folder (even if you give the ripped files different filenames) this will cause problems for AutoGK. This is because AutoGK creates a temporary folder (called "agk_tmp") for each file it converts and if all the source files are in the same directory the files in the temporary folder become all messed up resulting in the same episode being converted several times, instead of each episode being converted once. Just create separate folders for each episode... trust me! Finally, make sure the folders have a meaningful name as AutoGK will use this later. STEP 3 - Ripping the episodes with DVD Decrypter. Once the folders for each episode are created, start DVD Decrypter (if it isn't already running). Next, if the DVD you wish to convert isn't alreay in the DVD drive insert it into the DVD drive. Within the "Destination" section of DVD Decrypter there is an icon of a folder with a magnifying glass on it. This is known as the "Browse for a folder" button. Click it. When the "Browse For Folder" window appears, navigate to the folder you created for episode 1 and click "OK". 
Next, under the "Input" section of DVD Decrypter locate the first episode (this will usually be the first PGC of the correct length [E.g. 20 - 30 minutes]) and click it to highlight it. Usually all the PGCs (one for each episode) will be under the same VTS section: 
Sometimes they might be under different VTS sections though: 
...or sometimes you might just have one long PGC that contains the episodes: 
If you can only find one PGC that is 2 or 3 hours long, then this probably means that the episodes are back to back within the one PGC. Sometimes a DVD will have both seperate PGCs for each episode and one big PGC containing all the episodes (this is usually to allow the DVD viewer to watch one episode at a time or all the episodes back-to-back). In this instance you are only interested in the separate episode PGCs and you can ignore the PGC which is 2 or 3 hours long. If you are lucky, despite the episodes being in one PGC, the episodes may be separated by "Chapters". As you can see in the example screenshot above the 2 hour PGC is divided into 5 chapters. If I select just one of the episodes the duration (at the bottom) reads approximately 24 minutes, so in this instance I know that one chapter equals one episode. So for a DVD that looks like this, I can select the first chapter to rip (by deselecting the remaining chapters and only leaving the first chapter selected). Sometimes you will find several chapters make up an episode. In the example below I would have to select episodes 1 - 5 for the first episode (this DVD contains 7 episodes consisting of 35 chapters (5 chapters per episode)): 
Note: If the DVD only has one PGC that is 2 or 3 hours long (containing several episodes) and you cannot select the chapter(s) that make up the episode, you will have to select that whole PGC to rip. After you have converted it to DivX/XviD (using AutoGK) you will have to cut it into separate files for each episode (with VirtualDub or similar). There are already many guides on this website that cover DivX/XviD editing, which will teach you how to cut DivX/XviD files into sections, so I will not cover it in this guide. Once the first episode has been highlighted (and if necessary the relevant chapters are selected), click the "Decrypt" button: 
This will start the decryption process for the first episode, which on average takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete: 
Once this is complete, you should get a confirmation message, to which you can click "OK": 
If you were to look in the folder you created for the first episode you will see that DVD Decrypter has created a .VOB and .IFO file. The .VOB file contains the actual audio and video from the episode and the .IFO contains information about the .VOB file (I.E. the names of the audio languages, the location of the chapters, etc.). 
Now you need to repeat the same process for episode 2. So click the "Browse for a folder" button again. When the "Browse For Folder" window appears, navigate to the folder you created for episode 2 and click "OK". 
Next, under the "Input" section of DVD Decrypter locate the second episode, then click the "Decrypt" button. This will start the decrypting process again. Once this is complete, you should get a confirmation message, to which you can click "OK". Now repeat the process for episode 3, 4 and so on. Remember to set the correct destination folder for each episode and select the correct PGC before clicking the "Decrypt" button. Once you have done this for all the episodes, you can close DVD Decrypter and continue to the next step. STEP 4 - Converting the .VOB file (DVD Video) to DivX/XviD using Auto Gordian Knot. Once you have ripped all the episodes to their respective folders, start AutoGK: 
Firstly click the "Input file" browse icon (that's the little folder with the green arrow pointing towards it) and locate the .IFO (not .VOB!) for the first episode. This will be in the folder you ripped the first episode to. Once you have located the .IFO, highlight it and click "Open": 
This will load the file into AutoGK: 
Next click the "Output file" browse icon. This will prompt you to save the output in the same folder as the episode 1 .VOB and .IFO file. It should also name it something appropriate as it copies the folder name (remember I told you to have meaningful folder names?). Then click "Save": 
This will set the same location for the file: 
Check that the first audio track is set to your desired language (note: only languages that were available on the DVD will be available). Leave the second audio track set to "No Second Audio Track" and leave the subtitles track set to "No Subtitles". Next, under "Select output size" click on the "Custom size (MB)" option. Note: selecting this option will cause AutoGK to encode the video using a 2-pass method. This means it will read the episode from the DVD (I.E. the .VOB file) twice, to improve its final quality. Now you must enter a size (in MB) that you wish the final DivX/XviD file to be. You can enter anything here, but I tend to enter values that will let me get 2 or 3 episodes (or about 1 hour of video) on one 700MB CD-R. So if the episodes are around 20 minutes, I will try to get 3 episodes on one 700MB CD-R. In this instance I would set this value to about 230 or even 233 as 233 multiplied by 3 equals 699 (just enough to fit onto a 700MB CD-R). If the episodes are around 30 minutes, I will try to get 2 episodes on one 700MB CD-R. In this instance I would set this value to about 350 or maybe 349 as 349 multiplied by 2 equals 698 (just enough to fit onto a 700MB CD-R). After a while you will get an idea of the sort of number you want to enter here. If you are uncertain, you could always just convert one episode for now and see how it turns out before you convert the rest. As you can see in the previous screenshot (above) the "Source Information" bar reads: Video info: MPEG2 720x576 PAL 4:3 PGC 1. Length: 0:29:00:05 You should pay attention to the bit that reads "Length: ?:??:??:?" as this tells you how long the video is. My example is 0:29:00:05 (0 Hours : 29 Minutes : 00 Seconds : 05 Milliseconds" or, in other words 30 minutes! So, as these episodes are 30 minutes long I will want to try and get 2 episodes on one 700MB CD-R. So I am going to set the "Custom size (MB)" to 349: 
Note: you only have to set the "Custom size (MB)" for the first episode. The same values will be used for the other files you add. Next click the "Advanced Settings" button. 
Set the "Output resolution settings" to: Fixed width [640] Set the "Codec" to: XviD (unless you want to convert to DivX, then you'd select DivX) Set the "Output audio type" to: VBR MP3, kbps [128] Leave the Subtitle options both disabled. Once you have done this, you can click "OK". Note: Every time you use AutoGK from now on it should retain the Advanced Options. You will have select the "Custom size (MB)" option and set the value (on the main AutoGK screen) every time you start AutoGK, though. Finally click "Add Job" and this job will be added to the "Job queue". Next, you can either add the remaining episodes to the Job queue, or you can just click "Start" to convert the first file and see how it comes out. If you want to add the second episode, simply do the following: - Click the "Input file" browse icon, locate the .IFO for the next episode and click "Open". - Next click the "Output file" browse icon, ensure the file name is appropriate and click "Save". - Check that the first audio track is set to your desired language. - Leave the second audio track set to "No Second Audio Track". - Leave the subtitles track set to "No Subtitles". - Check the "Source Information" bar for the length of the episode and ensure the "Custom size (MB)" is set to an appropriate value. If this episode is of a similar length to the previous one, the same value should be fine. - Finally click "Add Job". Repeat this for the remaining episodes you wish to convert and then click the "Start" button. AutoGK will run a series of applications (which will appear on your task bar) to convert each episode to a XviD/DivX .AVI file. It will take between 30 minutes a 2 hours to convert each episode (depending on the specifications of your computer). The output will be located in the episode folders as per the "Output file" paths you specified earlier. Once the conversion is complete you can delete the "agk_tmp" folder (and its contents), the .LOG file, the .IFO file and the .VOB file within each episode folder, leaving just the XviD/DivX .AVI file for each episode: 
...and that's it! :-) Now you can just sit back/have a coffee/go to work/go to sleep (delete as appropiate) until AutoGK has completed the job queue. Note: whilst AutoGK is converting a series of episodes to DivX/XviD, you can rip the next DVD you want to convert (using DVD Decrypter) and load the ripped files into the AutoGK Job Queue. Once it has completed the first series of episodes, it will continue to convert any additional episodes you have added to the queue. If this is one of the first episodes you have converted to DivX/XviD by following this guide, you should probably check the output to ensure the quality meets your satisfaction. If it doesn't you should adjust the quality setting in AutoGK ("Custom size (MB)") and try again. Notes "Waiting for read thread" doesn't disappear in DVD Decrypter and DVD Decrypter hangs If, when ripping any given PGC, DVD Decrypter hangs with a "Waiting for read thread" message, try using an alternative DVD drive. If that fails, or if you don't have another DVD drive to try, then try using another DVD ripping application, such as SmartRipper. Also, if you are using DVD Region+CSS Free you may want to try using a newer version. "Too many pictures per GOP (>=500). DGIndex will terminate." error message in AutoGK If you see this DGIndex error message when AutoGK is trying to convert a .VOB: 
This means that DVD Decrypter didn't rip the episode properly. If you have another go, it should be ok. If you get the same error you could either try another DVD drive when ripping the DVD or you could use alternate DVD ripping software, such as, SmartRipper. "FastWriteStream: couldn't open "C:\???\???.avi": The operation completed successfully." -or- "FastWriteStream: couldn't open "C:\???\???.avi": The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process." -or- similar error message from VirtualDubMod It seems this error is related to having Symantec AntiVirus installed on your system. See this thread (on doom9.org) for full details. It seems you either need to replace the VirtualDubMod.exe with a fixed one, or possibly replace Symantec AntiVirus with another anti-virus package (such as AVG-Free). Audio problems (no audio -or- audio is 'jumpy') Firstly, you should check the .VOBs contained audio by playing them in a .VOB-compatible media player, such as VLC media player. If you cannot hear any audio when playing the .VOBs, you may need to install AC3Filter. If that doesn't work, try re-ripping the .VOBs after AC3Filter has been installed. If the .VOBs containined audio and your certain you chose a valid audio track in AutoGK, you should note that although this guide suggest you use VBR audio (as it's generally more efficient), some players cannot process VBR audio very well (if at all). So, if you experience any problems with the audio of your .AVI files, try setting the "Output audio type" to: CBR MP3, kbps [128] (under "Advanced Options" in AutoGK). Thanks to MaxBlack for the tip-off. Feedback Feedback is always welcome! Please be gentle with me though, as this is the first tutorial I have ever released into the public domain. I just hope it helps a few people. If feedback is encouraging, it may inspire me to write more guides. :-) Thanks for reading! Version History Version 2.13 (10th Feb 08) Added note about AC3 Filter. Version 2.12 (17th Jan 08) Added DDMFRip.bat Version 1.05. Version 2.11 (31st Dec 07) Added news of next version of DDMFRip.bat (Version 1.05). Version 2.10 (30th Dec 07) Minor cosmetic update. Version 2.09 (29th Dec 07) Added DDMFRip.bat Version 1.04. Version 2.08 (14th Jul 07) Small correction to previous update. Version 2.07 (13th Jul 07) Added note on audio problems. Version 2.06 (15th Jun 07) Added possible fixes to "FastWriteStream" (VirtualDubMod) error (See "Notes" section). Version 2.05 (18th May 07) Added DDMFRip.bat 1.03. Version 2.04 (8th Apr 07) Added DDMFRip.bat 1.02 FINAL. Version 2.03 (16th Mar 07) Added DDMFRip.bat Version 1.02 BETA (build 01). Version 2.02 (15th Mar 07) Added mention of VLC (in Optional Tools) Added details of (eagerly awaited?) upcoming DDMFRip.bat Version 1.02 BETA! Version 2.01 (2nd Jan 07) Added new version of DDMFRip.bat (1.01) and a Help File for DDMFRip.bat (Revision 1.01.20070102). Version 2.00 (29th Dec 06) Major overhaul of the contents of this guide. DDRipPGC.bat and DDRipVTS.bat have been replaced by DDMFRip.bat (1.00) and the guide now includes details of ripping DVDs that contain episodes as "Chapters". Version 1.07 (12th Jul 06) Corrected a few small grammatical errors and added a couple of sentences. Version 1.06 (4th Jul 06) Really small update to insert a minor detail that I'd forgotten to include. Version 1.05 (21st Jun 06) Added some batch scripts to speed up ripping process. Version 1.04 (27th May 06) Added a "Notes" section. Added a couple of sentences about ripping "chapters" and corrected a few small grammatical errors. Version 1.03 (25th May 06) Corrected a few small grammatical errors. Version 1.02 (23rd May 06) Added a couple of sentences and an additional screenshot. Version 1.01 (22nd May 06) Added a couple of sentences and corrected a few small grammatical errors. Version 1.00 (20th May 06) Initial version of this guide. It has taken me several hours to write and here it is... | ||||
| festmaster posted 2006 May 19 20:25 | ||||
| Well done. I do alot of Xvid conversion of episodic TV shows for my laptop and handheld as I do extensive travelling for my job. I have two different methods that I favor, both of which use different tools than you describe. I would not say better, just different. I like to rip with either DVDShrink or SmartRipper (an ancient ripper that has some nice features), and then I like to use avi.net over AutoGK for speed converting the files to Xvid.
Good job writing the guide. | ||||
| Reginald476 posted 2006 May 25 14:46 | ||||
| Thank you for this this was both simple and free! I just wanted to say to speed up the ripping proccess I created a batch file ( I am not sure how complicated this would be to explain) but I found that it was nice to put in a disk and walk away come back after 20 minsa and change disks
This is what I have:
You can add as many of these as you like and run it from the command line. All anyone would need to change is the "/SRC G:", to what ever drive leter yours is, and the "/DEST "C:\_Installs\Working\Smallville\Smallville S2e17"", to where your files are going to be stored. The other two things are the "/VTS" and "/PGC" these will depend on your DVD so if it is all the same series it should be the same but I would check the disk to see prior to ripping. If you would like to add any of this you are more than welcome to, your guide was helpful, it would be nice to have the info all in one place. -Reg | ||||
| Methanoid posted 2006 May 26 02:19 | ||||
| Great guide... Q: How does AutoGK cope with widescreen or full screen titles, trimming off bars from letterboxed material or badly sized stuff or with resizing anamorphic 720*576 into say 640*352 Xvid ? | ||||
| kschang posted 2006 May 26 10:18 | ||||
| From what I remember, AutoGK takes the first few seconds of the film and runs a black space analysis, and comes up with an auto-crop value, that'll trim the black bars. But you can customize that in the options, I think. | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2006 May 26 11:00 | ||||
Just to back up kschang's comment: AutoGK will maintain the aspect ratio, following the information it receives from DGIndex (which is one of the applications that comes bundled with, and is used by, AutoGK). If DGIndex, for some reason, detects an incorrect aspect ratio it is possible to override it using the "Aspect ratio" setting within the 'Hidden Options' (Press Ctrl & F9 in AutoGK to access). So, if the source is mis-detected as 4:3 or 16:9 then you have a choice of manually setting the correct aspect ratio. AutoGK also auto-crops the black space that you sometimes find in the margin of DVD video, but it still maintains the aspect ratio! :-) So, using this 4:3 example and using the same settings as in this guide: This 720x576 .VOB: 
...would become this 640x480 .AVI: 
It may appear to you, in this example, that AutoGK has cropped more from the top and the bottom than the left and the right, but this is correct as there was a lot of black on the left and right in this .VOB, so AutoGK has had to crop a similar amount from the top and bottom to maintain the aspect ratio, else the video have would become "squashed" (for want of a better term). It is possible to tune the auto-crop feature, by the way, from within the hidden options (which I mentioned just now), but personally I find the defaults work perfectly. | ||||
| jimmalenko posted 2006 May 27 21:03 | ||||
Maybe http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1373527#1373527 explains it more comprehensively ? | ||||
| Karen Navratil posted 2006 Jun 01 15:39 | ||||
| Karen Navratil here, What a great "HOW TO" you made!!! I wonder if someday you can
make up a "HOW TO" on converting VOB shows recorded from TV and commercials edited out to DivX/Xvid. I've tried DivX convertor, Dr. DivX and a few others and they all come out looking very poor, sound is not sync to picture by 2 to 8 seconds and for a 1 hr.30 minute movie I get file sizes from 300 MB to 1,500 MB. I'm new to all this encoding and pulling my hair out. - Tks Karen | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2006 Jun 01 17:34 | ||||
Hi Karen, I'm sorry to hear you are having issues. I gather you have already searched this site for a guide? There are some like this which may help: http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=904#904 Unfortunately I am going to be without internet access for the next few weeks. If you cannot find a guide on this site and if you haven't done so already, post to the "How To Request" thread (http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=97743) detailing in full what it is you want to be able to do (as in what files you want to convert, and what you want to convert them to - file type and/or codec). If nobody comes up with a guide (or points you in the direction of an existing one), drop me a line and I will have a look into this when I get my internet access back and see I'll see if I can help you out. You'll probably need to give the details of the hardware and software (if applicable) you are using to capture the TV shows, in case there are any known issues and/or work around for getting perfectly sync'd video and audio. Cheekie_Moonkie | ||||
| xenon1nonex1 posted 2006 Jun 20 21:32 | ||||
| It it possible to improve the quity to HD upscale with a program
so many of the older TV reruns could do with a improved picture | ||||
| crut posted 2006 Jul 03 17:17 | ||||
| For the life of me, I can't find 'Input' in DVD Decrypter. Is it not a part of 3.5.4.0? Or am I just an idiot..... | ||||
| jimmalenko posted 2006 Jul 04 05:02 | ||||
Go to Mode > IFO :wink: | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2006 Jul 04 12:46 | ||||
Apologies crut. I have updated the guide to include this minor, but important, detail! :-) Thanks again jimmalenko. | ||||
| samandangel posted 2006 Oct 12 23:00 | ||||
| Hi, I would like to thank you for all your help. I have been trying to convert a TV series by following your directions and everything is great except the audio. The picture quality is good but the sound is 1-2 seconds of and I have tried everything from setting the audio in advanced settings from what you have suggested to "Auto" and I always get the same results. Could you please tell me how to get the sound right? Thank you
Samandangel~ | ||||
| ninofrewat posted 2006 Nov 09 01:31 | ||||
| Subtitles Problem Hi, I followed your tutorial step-by-step, but without installing the batch files, and even though I can chose the subtitles option in autoGK and the preview button shows them, when the episode is converted and i watch it in media player classic or WMP or on my DVD player, the subtitles wont show. I check the subtitles files in agk_tmp and they're both there: an idx file and sub file. Subtitles used to work fine, before I changed the settings in DVD Decrypter to the ones you recommend here, do you think this is what's causing the problem? EDIT: Version 2.37b of AutoGK fixes it. I tried another episode from friends and the subtitles showed well. | ||||
| pooplefronk posted 2006 Nov 22 16:17 | ||||
| I have used the guide with great succes. Thank you for making it almost foolproof.
However, I have encountered something odd when I have converted files from DVD to xvid. Sometimes when I click on a file, it displays an error and crashes to the desktop closing all Windows windows. I have tried to re-convert the faulty file from scratch but the problem still remains. Have anyone heard or experienced anything like this and more importantly, do you know what to do? | ||||
| jimmalenko posted 2006 Nov 23 05:53 | ||||
| I believe that this may be a problem with the xvid codec itself, and/or the way WMP uses it. I have some xvid AVIs that do this also, yet others play fine. I can play the "faulty" files in VLC without a drama so it makes me lean more towards a WMP problem. I'm yet to work out exactly what causes it. | ||||
| guwapo posted 2006 Nov 29 12:44 | ||||
| thanks for your tut! auto-gk is really a good choice. it takes a load of work (comparing to gk itself) but without a loss of quality or usability.
still I felt in need of making my own batch which meet more my requirements: this is my tribute: http://in.thedoghouse.bz/downloads/batch/tsmda-0.2a.zip why? your batch had some probs: 1. not simple enough! 2. have to change to many things in the batch 3. lazy to type in >20 dirs. so what does my batch do? 1. it will ask for title (e.g. Buffy), season (e.g 01) and episode number (e.g. 20) [ typing "SKIP" as title will skip this procedure) 2. with a loop it will create dirs "TITLE".S"SEASON"xE"EPISODE(1toN)", for example: Buffy.S01xE01 Buffy.S01xE02 Buffy.S01xE03 etc... NOTE: it will place a 0 on episode numbers lower than 10 (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, etc...) 3. the batch will pause and you can start ripping the dvds into the dirs and start auto-gk 4. when auto-gk is finished, press any key in the batch, now the batch will rename the containing .avi in the dirs (made bei agk) to the foldername and will move each avi into the folder "all" (so if you want to burn all avi's you will have them all just in one folder). | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jan 02 10:56 | ||||
Hi samandangel, I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you as I haven't come across this specific issue. If I was you I'd try playing the .VOB in a player (like Power DVD) to see if the audio-sync issue occurs within the actual .VOB. If it does, the issue is likely to be with the DVD or DVD Decrypter. If it seems ok, then the issue is likely to be with AutoGK. You may find that there are 'Cells' in the DVD that DVD Decrypter may be ignoring, which is causeing the issue. If you think that might be the case, have a play with the "Uncheck Suspect Cells" setting. You could also try a different ripper. If all else fails, you could try to fix your .AVIs. After a quick search I've found the following guides (there may be more), which seem contain information on fixing audio-sync issues: How To Fix Audio Sync Problems 102 How to fix gradual loss of sync once and for all VirtualDub procedures (Doom9) (See "Manual synching" section) | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jan 02 11:05 | ||||
Hi pooplefronk, What are you using to play the files? Did you have any success with jimmalenko's suggestion of trying another player? I use WinAMP to play XviD. I don't tend to get any issues with it. If changing players doesn't help, what version of AutoGK are you using? Are you using the latest version (currently 2.40)? You could try converting files to DivX, although I personally prefer XviD. | ||||
| ATimson posted 2007 Jan 10 22:56 | ||||
| Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't look like the DVD Decrypter batch file can handle DVDs with non-sequential episodes? That is, one VTS with one PGC per episode, but they're, say, VTS 2 & 9. (Farscape region 1, BTW. These DVDs embraced Murphy's Law during the authoring process. :P) | ||||
| professor812 posted 2007 Jan 11 02:17 | ||||
| Hi all,
I followed your guide and downloaded DVD-Decrypter and AutoGuardian. I am trying to rip a DVD-R on which 6 eps have been burnt. Thing is, DVD Decrypter recognises the DVD-R (meaning that the tracks are shown) but the Decrypt button never gets highlighted. Should I be using some other software for ripping DVD-R's ? I cant play this CD in Windows Media Player but I can play it in Power DVD or any other standalone DVD player. I'd be really grateful for any help on the same...I tried Smart Ripper and it rips the actual VOB file for me but that again plays in Power Dvd - I'd ultimately like an AVI file. thanks again for your time, Manjusha | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jan 14 17:03 | ||||
Hi Andrew, If you are talking about DDMFRip.bat, then you're not wrong. As at the current version (1.01), DDMFRip.bat will only rip sequentially. If you'd like me to try and include a feature whereby you can specify specific VTS/PGCs that are not sequential, then I might be able to add a feature along those lines as, in essence, the functionality (I.E. the commands within the script) would be similar to those that allow you to manually enter chapter numbers (when the script is in chapter mode). So, just to get this straight... lets say you had: Episode 1 at: VTS "1", PGC "3", Chapters "all" Episode 2 at: VTS "3", PGC "1", Chapters "all" Episode 3 at: VTS "4", PGC "2", Chapters "all" You'd like to be able to specify the number of episodes on the disc (E.g. 3). Then the VTS for episode 1 (E.g. 1), the PGC for episode 1 (E.g. 3) and the chapters for episode 1 (E.g. "all"). Then the VTS for episode 2 (E.g. 3), the PGC for episode 2 (E.g. 1) and the chapters for episode 1 (E.g. "all"), etc. etc. Is that right? PM me to let me know if that's correct. When I get the time, I will try and add the functionality to the script. If I can get it to work (no promises), I'll PM you a copy to test.
Hi Manjusha, Assuming you have the options set correctly (as per the guide) and that you are running DVD Decrypter in "IFO Mode", you must highlight the PGC you want to rip, before the decrypt button becomes enabled. If you can't get that working, you can of course use SmartRipper instead (in "movie" mode). | ||||
| ncarty97 posted 2007 Jan 19 22:10 | ||||
| 2 Quick questions:
1) when I first started with this method, I had no problems (Sopranos Season 5 and 24 season 1). Now the last two discs I have tried (Band of Brothers and Sopranos Season 4 disc 1) are coming in with the audio being significantly lower. Any ideas what might be causing this? 2) Is it possible to extract the episodes from a DVD that you have already ripped to your hard drive by a similar method? Thanks | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jan 19 22:50 | ||||
| Hi-
1. What kind of audio is it? AC3? If AC3, the audio is unchanged from the source. If MP3, not sure why there would be differences between discs, unless an upgrade of AutoGK changed something in the way audio is converted. I have read claims, though, that the audio isn't being normalized. 2. PGCDemux can demux the episodes into audio/video/subs (SUP files), or into single vobs (by ticking "Create a PGC Vob"). | ||||
| ncarty97 posted 2007 Jan 19 22:57 | ||||
| manono,
Thanks for getting back so quick. 1) The problem seems to occur when I rip the disc, before I ever convert it to DivX, so I assume it is still in AC3. 2) Thanks, I'll give that a try. | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jan 19 23:20 | ||||
| Hi-
1. Ah, OK. Then I suspect the AC3Filter or whatever you have decoding the AC3 isn't as loud as you might like. The AC3 at that point is exactly the same as on the DVD. Anyway, I boost the volume by going into the AC3Filter Config and changing the default Preset to Loud. | ||||
| RedKev posted 2007 Jan 30 15:15 | ||||
| Hey,
This is a great guide, but I seem to be crapping out before it gets till the end. It pops up with a warning telling me another application is using my filename.avi file. Any ideas why this is happening? What info would you need me to post? Sorry for my ignorance on this, but it's all new to me. Cheers, Kev. | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Feb 04 08:31 | ||||
Hi Kev, Could you give the details of the point in the guide that you are at when this is happening? Also, what version of AutoGK are you using? | ||||
| HGC posted 2007 Feb 12 08:31 | ||||
| What a great guide. For the first time I have been able to successfully convert
a DVD episode to AVI. I do have one question/request pertaining to the DDMFRip.bat file though. As DVD Decrypter starts to rip each episode, I get a dialog box telling me "Possible RCE protection found!" and to select the appropriate region. This is even though there is only one region available for selection (1 USA) and it is preselected. So, is there any way to avoid having to respond to this question for each episode? I have tried it with "Remove RCE Protection" under Tools/Settings/IFO Mode both selected and not selected. Same result. Thanks | ||||
| HGC posted 2007 Feb 13 10:13 | ||||
| Followup to my posting of yesterday. I answered my question by digging deeper into
the DVD Decrypter options. I found the switch to suppress the window that was annoying me. Sorry for the bother. | ||||
| BigBadBob posted 2007 Feb 19 23:58 | ||||
| Thank you so very much for this guide. I've got several seasons of various tv shows, and movies. Lots of dvds.
And I wanted to convert them to .avi so I could fit a whole season (for a half hour show) on a single dvd. I've got a divx capable dvd player and am happy with it. Anyway, this is great. Simple, just copy it with dvd decrypt, and then just run it through autogk. One question though, I was reading somewhere about some of these free solutions are not as high quality as some higher end programs. I'm wondering if anyone thinks/knows that this way is as good? I get pretty good results. For instance I converted an episode of Frasier, 175mb. Looks pretty good. But not as sharp as some I've seen with the same file size and running length. Any tips on improving that? I may have confused you all, I'm a little fuzzy myself. | ||||
| usr316 posted 2007 Feb 20 00:05 | ||||
| I tried using this guide, and had some success, but not exactly what I wanted. I got 1 episode to convert right with AutoGK, but it was the 2CD 1400 mb version. It did work I canceled it & tested the video & it worked. But everytime I try it at a lower size, the 1/4 CD 175 mb or any others, I get the same error: "video compression error: the source image format is not acceptable. (error code -2)" I retried it on the 1400 mb again & got that error on those setting as well. Any idea why I'm getting this error? Did I rip it with DVD decryptor wrong or missing some setting somewhere? | ||||
| BigBadBob posted 2007 Feb 20 00:35 | ||||
| I actually got that error before.
I believe it was something to do with the width in the AutoGK settings. Just above the Add Job/Start/Abort box on the lower right, click Advanced Settings. Then on the output resolutions, try Auto. Or try Fixed and set it at 640, or 512 seems to work well for me. | ||||
| usr316 posted 2007 Feb 20 04:40 | ||||
| I tried auto, I tried the 640 fixed width that was in the guide, both had the error. I'll give 512 a shot. | ||||
| usr316 posted 2007 Feb 20 06:02 | ||||
| This seems to be a common in the error log: EXCEPTION: Open avi failed. Any idea why? I tried a different video on auto, it didn't come up with any error pop up, it just didn't work. I checked the log & that's the last thing in it. | ||||
| BigBadBob posted 2007 Feb 22 01:01 | ||||
| I had that problem as well. It happened when I went into the hidden menu in AutoGK (Ctrl+F9) and changed something, just to see what it did.
I'm afraid I don't know how to get the default settings back in that menu. Hopefully someone else here may know what the problem is. | ||||
| usr316 posted 2007 Feb 22 01:16 | ||||
| Well I never changed any settings that I know of. Don't think I ever got into the hidden menu | ||||
| BigBadBob posted 2007 Feb 22 01:31 | ||||
| you might try uninstalling autogk and reinstalling. I really don't know what the problem is. | ||||
| usr316 posted 2007 Feb 22 01:52 | ||||
| OK, I'll give it a shot. Is there somewhere here where I can find what all the correct settings should be? Is it possible that I've got a setting wrong with DVD decryptor? | ||||
| sowhatu posted 2007 Feb 26 15:53 | ||||
| thank you vey much for this tut.
alot of people are gonna be so happy i can fill their requests for my seasons of shows. | ||||
| RabidDog posted 2007 Feb 26 16:18 | ||||
| I would not recommend using VBR mp3, CBR mp3 is better or even better on episodic discs keep the original 2ch ac3 , Most times its at 196k so takes up very little extra space. 384k 5.1 ac3 is a lot bigger tho and should be downconverted. vbr mp3 is bad especially if you try to edit the avi's at some point, will probably end up with lip-synch errors. Ripped dvds (if ripped as iso ) can be mounted under daemon tools and re-processed. A bitrate of 1000kb is good, anything less and the quality starts to fall away. quality based encoding using agk will HALVE your encoding time 65 is reasonable qaulity 70 is good 76 is the canines sperm sacs. | ||||
| handtruck posted 2007 Mar 01 12:21 | ||||
| I absolutely LOVE your batch file. I use it with megui and it's great!
Here is my dilemma Your batch file allows for: P - Command DVD Decrypter to rip a DVD that has MULTIPLE PGCs per ONE VTS. V - Command DVD Decrypter to rip a DVD that has ONE PGC per MULTIPLE VTSs. Can you make it so that you can do MULTIPLE PGCs per MULTIPLE VTS? I'll explain. Many DVD's split the episodes with commentary onto a separate PGC (since the VOB needs two channels of audio). For example, the one I'm doing now has the first two epidsodes (with commentary) in VTS 1, the next two (no commentary) in VTS 2, and the last one (with commentary) in VTS 3. It would be great to do the "MMULTIPLE PGC / MULTIPLE VTS" so I don't have to run the batch file more than once. | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Mar 11 06:14 | ||||
Hi handtruck, Thanks for the compliment and suggestion. I'm glad that you find it useful! A "manual" mode, so to speak, is something I have been thinking about since Andrew posted his question back in Jan. A manual mode (whereby you can specify the VTS, PGC and chapters for EACH episode) should overcome both yours and Andrew's issue. As Andrew didn't get back to me though, I never pursued it. If a manual mode is the sort of thing you think would help, PM me and let me know and I will look into it. | ||||
| STL20J posted 2007 Mar 11 16:55 | ||||
| Hey there. This is the first time I've tried backing up my DVD's, and downloaded the tools you recomended. I think virtual dub worked fine. It ripped the .ifo and .vob files into the folders I created. But when I tried to open the .ifo file using the AUTOGK, in the "input" field it gives me this message: "WARNING Error parsing IFO file". I've looked through these back questions but haven't seen anything about this.
I'm COMPLETELY new to this, and have set my virtualdub settings to exactly how you recomend, so I don't know how I would go about "tweaking" any settings on my own yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! | ||||
| lacywest posted 2007 Mar 11 17:42 | ||||
| Good info ... thank you | ||||
| mpw777 posted 2007 Mar 14 05:24 | ||||
| I tried this approach on a series DVD, but it didn't have any PGC files. Everything was set up in an .ifo and .vob format on the disk. Since I don't know what these files are, I just went with the gorilla method and used the file names as mentioned in your article. Thus I just used the AGK portion of your tutorial and followed those directions. Was this the correct approach or should I have done something else?
At any rate I get a bunch of files, but they don't seem to be what I need and the .avi file is very small and doesn't have the name extension I would have expected. Any thoughts? | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Mar 15 11:29 | ||||
STL20J Did you use DVD Decrypter? VirtualDub isn't actually required for this guide, it's just recommended as something useful. | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Mar 15 11:35 | ||||
mpw777 DVDs don't actually have PGC files. DVDs have .VOB and .IFO files. A PGC is a virtual container within the file structure of the DVD. DVD Decrypter will show you the PGCs in the pane on the right-hand side. In most cases one PGC contains one episode on the DVD. Rather than go at it gorilla style (lol), if you get a copy of DVD decrypter and follow the guide word-for-word, you will end up with .VOB and .IFO files which you can feed into AutoGK. I hope that makes sense? | ||||
| Methanoid posted 2007 Mar 19 17:22 | ||||
| Nice guide and super DVD-DC script.. one of the bets nuggets I've found in recent months. Thanks, saved me employing child labour to decrypt the files one at a time on episodic disks! | ||||
| sraelish posted 2007 Apr 02 15:57 | ||||
| Wow! Thank you so much!
I've looked at SOOO many online forums for exactly what you have posted! I'm very much still in the learning process and let me tell you, your guide was so comprehensive and easy to understand! Very nicely done! My only trouble was that my DVD was a little tricky. It had numerous VTS folders, each with files of about 20 minutes in duration. The only trouble was that out of the 8 "could be" episodes, there are only 5 episodes per CD. So i guess ill just do a little process of elimination. Let me thank you again, you are awesome! | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Apr 08 06:22 | ||||
sraelish, In that case you are probably best off ripping all 8 VTS chains, then using VLC (freeware) to determine which you want to keep. | ||||
| Jeff7506 posted 2007 Apr 15 04:34 | ||||
| Hello All,
I create a small GUI, to create folder tree for series. Hope this help. Have a nice day. Jeff seriesdirectorymaker.rar | ||||
| nxcmp posted 2007 Apr 15 19:12 | ||||
| i have a problem when i select i want to use a selected bit rate whenever it goes to do the second pass for the avi it dosnt close the first "virtualbudmod" session and when it tries to start the second pass session it say something else is already accessing the avi file and stops... any ideas on how to fix this ??
-Thanks | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Apr 27 09:29 | ||||
Hi nxcmp, I'm sorry you are having problems. I've not come across this error before. I don't suppose this is the same error? http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=93554 If not, what is the exact error message you are getting? | ||||
| Gertsrule posted 2007 May 05 01:00 | ||||
| Hey everyone, maybe you guys can help me with some frustration I have been having. I really like this guide, easy to follow, everything can be done in batches etc but and this is a big BUT, every single tv episode I have encoded using this the audio is out of sync. I tried Grey's Anatomy season 1 and Lost season 2 so far and every episode is off.
Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated and will contribute to my sanity. I can obviously use nandub/vdub to go through trial and error to fix the sync but that takes way too long, also I have checked the vobs and they are in sync. thanks agian for your help | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jun 05 15:22 | ||||
Hi Gertsrule, I'm sorry to hear you are having this problem. I doubt there is a problem with the decryption process (DVD Decrypter), it's more likely to stem from AutoGK. However, there doesn't seem to be an option in AutoGK to correct audio-sync. Have you tried searching the forums for anyone having similar issues? You may also want to try the AutoGK site. If you get no joy, you might need to experiment to try and find the source of the issue, so to start with you may want to try using a different video codec. It's probably a good idea to test things with a small section of video (i.e. only rip a chapter or two with DVD Decrypter) so that you don't have to wait ages for the video to decode. So if you are trying to use XviD, try DivX (or vice versa). You may also want to try CBR instead of VBR (or vice versa). You could also try selecting the "Original" Output audio type option (if you don't mind using the original audio stream). Another thing to try would be single pass mode. To use that simply select "Target quality (in percentage)" on the main screen and use that option. The default quality rating will probably suffice for when you are experimenting. If you get absolutly no joy with AutoGK, you should try another VOB -> AVI converter (it's worth trying to get AutoGK to work first though as it often gives some of the best results). You should find a selection in the "Tools" section of this site. Alltoavi and SUPER are a couple I've come across, but I'm not sure if they support VOB -> AVI and they don't seem as slick as AutoGK. Good luck! | ||||
| jeflaw posted 2007 Jun 10 11:19 | ||||
| i have tried to follow this guide, successfully ripped the ifo and vob for each episode, and set up auto gk as indicated. however, at some point, virtual dub comes up with the following error:
FastWriteStream: couldn't open "C:\blabla\ep1.avi": The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. any ideas what may be happening here? thanks! | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jun 10 11:50 | ||||
| any ideas what may be happening here?
Running a Symantec AntiVirus? See if this helps solve the problem: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=93554 Or disable it when using AutoGK. | ||||
| vampelle posted 2007 Jun 10 12:57 | ||||
| sorry i not must of reader but can u explain if this method also works backwards.
convert tv series multipes avi files into one single dvd for playin on dvd player | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jun 10 13:12 | ||||
| No, AutoGK just converts to AVI. You'll need a different program (or programs) to create a DVD from AVIs. Maybe try DVD Flick or AVI2DVD. | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jun 10 14:04 | ||||
vampelle, AVI > DVD is usually fairly straight forward. This guide does not cover that, but there are many guides and tools on this site that do. See these tools and these guides. | ||||
| jeflaw posted 2007 Jun 10 15:32 | ||||
| i think my problem is the same as redkev & nxcmp from above - and it seems theirs never got resolved.
it occurs when a virtualdub window is open on the 2nd pass. i think i disabled symantic, but i still get the message... any further thoughts? | ||||
| jeflaw posted 2007 Jun 11 11:26 | ||||
| okay - i solved the problem. it was due to auto gk using an old version of virtualdubmod, which is incompatible with the anti-virus.
so i dnloaded the newest version of vdubmod, and replaced the old one with it. perhaps someone should re-do auto gk with the newest version of the software? | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jun 13 13:21 | ||||
...or you could stop using Symantic. :D | ||||
| matrixpreloaded posted 2007 Jun 26 06:42 | ||||
| This guide covers the decryption and ripping of TV episodes directly from a DVD. Is any way of doing the same thing, after a DVD has been decrypted and saved to hard drive? | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jun 26 19:27 | ||||
| If the episodes all have their own VTS, then open the IFO for that particular VTS in AutoGK and follow the guide from there. However, if the episodes are all contained within the same VTS, then AutoGK is going to mess up. If that's the case, use PGCDemux to break them up into their own episodes by opening the IFO, choosing the episode you want, setting up a folder for it, making sure to have "Create a PGC VOB" checked, and processing. Then open the resulting VOB in AutoGK. You'll lose any subs doing it that way, though. | ||||
| matrixpreloaded posted 2007 Jun 27 12:30 | ||||
| Thank you for responding manono. I searched thoroughly in DVDDecrypter, but couldn't find a way of reading a DVD ripped to hard drive. Yes, all the episodes are in the same VTS, so I'll give PGCDemux a try. | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jun 27 13:24 | ||||
Because there is none. Which is why I suggested the use of PGCDemux, if the episodes are all contained within the same VTS. You could go back and decrypt all over again, this time doing it right. Set up DVD Decrypter in IFO Mode (up at the top, Mode->IFO) rather than the default File Mode, and then you should see all the episodes in that VTS. Decrypt them one at a time, each to its own folder. | ||||
| MaxBlack posted 2007 Jul 13 11:08 | ||||
| I'm ripping a TV season for playback on my media players, and love the Multi-Feature Ripper batchfile, thanks CM!
A word of caution however regarding your AGK tutorial: I have found that media players using the Sigma Designs chipset don't like VBR audio (which is AGK's default IIRC). If I ever accidentally use VBR I have to change it to CBR (using VDubMod). You may want to change the guide or at least add this caution... Thanks for the .bat!!!!! Very nice!!! :D | ||||
| Cheekie_Moonkie posted 2007 Jul 13 11:28 | ||||
Thanks Max. I've put your suggestion in the "Notes" section with the other issues. | ||||
| MaxBlack posted 2007 Jul 13 17:09 | ||||
| Wow, you're on top of things here CM! Just to clarify my comment after reading your note, VBR audio can cause odd, unexpected playback issues on Sigma players, ie. jerkiness or stuttering in the video. But the audio does play... | ||||
| manono posted 2007 Jul 13 17:55 | ||||
Must be peculiar to your player, as it's not specific to all Sigma Designs chipset players. I had one (a Bravo player) and it had no problem at all with VBR MP3. It didn't like packed bitstream, though |