What is the best way to rip a DVD to HD for use with the DSM-520 keeping Dolby Digital or DTS as the audio stream?

I just set up my DSM-520 last night and have DVD streaming from my media server just fine with Dolby Digital, but that is from DVD Shrink and it forces me to select one of the .VOB files. Then I have to select a new .VOB file after the first one is complete.

What I want to do is up convert the DVD to HD quality in the PC with as little compression as possible to still stream to the DSM-520, but also be able to keep the audio stream in tact. I do not necessarily need to have chapter navigation, but it would be nice if that was possible.

Oh, and finally, I want to do it with as little processing time as possbile, of course.

I'm sure this is a pretty easy question, but please give me some help if you can. I am relatively new to this type of stuff. Thanks.


System:
3.0 Ghz Pentium 4
ATI All-In-Wonder 9800
Soundblaster Audigy 2zs Platinum

AV Setup:
Denon 3805
Toshiba 52HMX94
Moxi Box

What is the best way to rip a DVD to HD for use with the DSM-520 keeping Dolby Digital or DTS as the audio stream?

I just set up my DSM-520 last night and have DVD streaming from my media server just fine with Dolby Digital, but that is from DVD Shrink and it forces me to select one of the .VOB files. Then I have to select a new .VOB file after the first one is complete.

What I want to do is up convert the DVD to HD quality in the PC with as little compression as possible to still stream to the DSM-520, but also be able to keep the audio stream in tact. I do not necessarily need to have chapter navigation, but it would be nice if that was possible.

Oh, and finally, I want to do it with as little processing time as possbile, of course.

I'm sure this is a pretty easy question, but please give me some help if you can. I am relatively new to this type of stuff. Thanks.


System:
3.0 Ghz Pentium 4
ATI All-In-Wonder 9800
Soundblaster Audigy 2zs Platinum

AV Setup:
Denon 3805
Toshiba 56HMX95
Moxi Box


Shrink is great. Why are you not opening the IFO instead of the VOB. If you don't want menus you can easily re-author with shrink and you can also create an ISO image if your player will play that.....

Sean

Will shrink let you upconvert to HD resolutions when ripping? Also, does the DSM-520 let you play the .IFO file? If so, that will work better. I don't mind taking the extra HDD space.

the D-link DSM-520 supports opening the .IFO file, which will give you full menu access. i would suggest DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD, or DVD Shrink to copy all of the files from your DVD over to your hard drive.

the way you rip it does not affect the up-converting feature, the D-Link up-converts all media you play on the fly... the source media does not affect the units ability to up-convert. if you're worried about the up-converting then obviously you should NOT compress the video using DVD Shrink. if you dont want to compress the video (lowering the quality to make it fit on a single layer DVDR) then simply open the menu to Edit / Preferences, and change the Target DVD Size to DVD-9.

=]

Is there a better way to rip movies to the harddrive that can give me the same resolution but save space without taking a long time? DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter seem to move pretty quickly, but does using another type of program to use less space mean I have to reauthor? If so and from the sounds of other posts here, the reauthoring takes a long time to do.

Hard Drive space isn't an issue now, but I can see it becoming an issue in the future.

Bottom line: this is a cost/benefit analysis for putting the DVDs in another, more compressed but yet still original quality, format versus using more space.

Is there a better way to rip movies to the harddrive that can give me the same resolution but save space without taking a long time? DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter seem to move pretty quickly, but does using another type of program to use less space mean I have to reauthor? If so and from the sounds of other posts here, the reauthoring takes a long time to do.

Hard Drive space isn't an issue now, but I can see it becoming an issue in the future.

Bottom line: this is a cost/benefit analysis for putting the DVDs in another, more compressed but yet still original quality, format versus using more space.

Shrink is the best thing going. There is no such thing as more compressed with equivalent quality. Even Xvid etc give up something... Up converting to HD resolution makes no sense as all you are doing is creating much larger files that have no real benefit. As for the capabilities of your box. try it. you own one not me.... If your box can't play DVD's with menus then re-author.... removing the menus with shrink....

Sean

Is there a better way to rip movies to the harddrive that can give me the same resolution but save space without taking a long time? DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter seem to move pretty quickly, but does using another type of program to use less space mean I have to reauthor? If so and from the sounds of other posts here, the reauthoring takes a long time to do.

Hard Drive space isn't an issue now, but I can see it becoming an issue in the future.

Bottom line: this is a cost/benefit analysis for putting the DVDs in another, more compressed but yet still original quality, format versus using more space.

its possible you are confusing reauthoring with compressing (aka reencoding / transcoding)...

COMPRESSING means you reencode the video stream on the dvd in order to make it smaller, so you can fit the movie on a single layer dvd (DVD-5). this takes a long time and obviously lowers the quality of the video. personally, i prefer DVD Rebuilder with CCE for this. cartoons (futurama / simpsons / etc) dont lose noticable quality, but filmed movies will. you can also compress to another format, such as XviD. a simple to use program is Auto GK (click for guide) (http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/autogk.htm). while XviD technically reduces the quality of the video, once you get good at using it you will not notice a difference in quality, but the files will be about 1/4 the size of the dvd

REAUTHORING means you are removing extras / menus / etc in order to preserve the original video track. DVD Shrink can do this, so can CloneDVD. CloneDVD allows you to keep the menus, but rip out extras or chop video tracks. in this step you can also compress the video... whereas DVD Shrink only allows you to rip out the video track.

overall, if you have space concerns BUT you want to maintain the original quality of the dvd, i would simply reauthor using DVD Shrink or CloneDVD and rip JUST THE MOVIE. here's a great guide on how to rip out the movie track using DVD Shrink (http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/dvdshrink31-mmo.htm)

its possible you are confusing reauthoring with compressing (aka reencoding / transcoding)...

COMPRESSING means you reencode the video stream on the dvd in order to make it smaller, so you can fit the movie on a single layer dvd (DVD-5). this takes a long time and obviously lowers the quality of the video. personally, i prefer DVD Rebuilder with CCE for this. cartoons (futurama / simpsons / etc) dont lose noticable quality, but filmed movies will. you can also compress to another format, such as XviD. a simple to use program is Auto GK (click for guide) (http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/autogk.htm). while XviD technically reduces the quality of the video, once you get good at using it you will not notice a difference in quality, but the files will be about 1/4 the size of the dvd

REAUTHORING means you are removing extras / menus / etc in order to preserve the original video track. DVD Shrink can do this, so can CloneDVD. CloneDVD allows you to keep the menus, but rip out extras or chop video tracks. in this step you can also compress the video... whereas DVD Shrink only allows you to rip out the video track.

overall, if you have space concerns BUT you want to maintain the original quality of the dvd, i would simply reauthor using DVD Shrink or CloneDVD and rip JUST THE MOVIE. here's a great guide on how to rip out the movie track using DVD Shrink (http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/dvdshrink31-mmo.htm)


On a normal TV a good AutoGK reduction is hard to notice. On the sammy 61" DLP its clear as night and day. I can spot it from 20 feet away... Definetly about the best low bit rate codec I have seen but you can tell the difference....

Sean

I also have a DSM 520 and I am curious about DTS, too. Will using Shrink or any of the others maintain 5.1/DTS? thanks

I also have a DSM 520 and I am curious about DTS, too. Will using Shrink or any of the others maintain 5.1/DTS? thanks


I have no problem with audio tracks in XBMC on discs I re-authored with Shrink. Both DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 work fine...

Sean

One thing in regards to upconverting if you are converting the file to mpeg 2 then upconverting will not work, mpeg 2 is encoded at 480i.

I am using the 360 as a media extender and am limited to playing mpeg 2 and WMV.

does anyone know ripping software that will convert to wmv lossless?

ok if i break them up into 1 gb chunks, is there a way to get rid of that black 2 sec pause between vob switches, also have you seen the video speed up for a second, and then the sound is off during the rest of the movie, or when it is in 1 gb chunks, when it switches vobs it changes to spanish or directors comments? thanks in advance

the D-link DSM-520 supports opening the .IFO file, which will give you full menu access. i would suggest DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD, or DVD Shrink to copy all of the files from your DVD over to your hard drive.

the way you rip it does not affect the up-converting feature, the D-Link up-converts all media you play on the fly... the source media does not affect the units ability to up-convert. if you're worried about the up-converting then obviously you should NOT compress the video using DVD Shrink. if you dont want to compress the video (lowering the quality to make it fit on a single layer DVDR) then simply open the menu to Edit / Preferences, and change the Target DVD Size to DVD-9.

=]

How do I open a ".IFO" file? The VOB files shows up in the directory but not the IFO files. I am using the standard Dlink mediaserver software (latest version). Should I try a third party server?

the D-link DSM-520 supports opening the .IFO file, which will give you full menu access. i would suggest DVD Decrypter, AnyDVD, or DVD Shrink to copy all of the files from your DVD over to your hard drive.

the way you rip it does not affect the up-converting feature, the D-Link up-converts all media you play on the fly... the source media does not affect the units ability to up-convert. if you're worried about the up-converting then obviously you should NOT compress the video using DVD Shrink. if you dont want to compress the video (lowering the quality to make it fit on a single layer DVDR) then simply open the menu to Edit / Preferences, and change the Target DVD Size to DVD-9.

=]


how do you open the .ifo file on the dsm-520? This would be perfect if it is possible.

I have a Pioneer Elite PRO-1540HD TV with a built in DLNA uPNP client. Basically I want to watch DVD's from a media server on my network. Unfortunetly, the quality has been subpar compared to watching a DVD from a connected player. I think the problem lies in the DVD backup that I am making. So my question is: what is the best software to make a quality backup? Also, my TV will stream the following video types: MPEG PS (mpg, mpeg, mpe, m2p), MPEG-2 TS/TTS, WMV (asf, wmv), MPEG4 (mp4). So which is the best format for a QUALITY backup and what would be the best software? I DO NOT CARE ABOUT DISK SPACE. Disk is cheap and getting cheaper every day.

So which is the best format for a QUALITY backup and what would be the best software?

Just use DVD Shrink with the compression turned off. That will give you 100% quality.

Thanks for answering my question about making a good backup. Unfortunetly my TV will not stream .vob files. My TV will stream the following video types: MPEG PS (mpg, mpeg, mpe, m2p), MPEG-2 TS/TTS, WMV (asf, wmv), MPEG4 (mp4). So I guess the question should be what is the best "conversion" method and which format would be the best to convert to. Thanks...

No need in converting a dvd to HD resolution, thats what an upconverting player does, and what most mediaplayers can already do.

I have an upconverting DVD palyer already. I think you guys might be missing the point. I want to stream it across my network. But I need to convert the .VOB to a format I can do that with.

my TV will stream the following video types: MPEG PS (mpg, mpeg, mpe, m2p), MPEG-2 TS/TTS, WMV (asf, wmv), MPEG4 (mp4). Which would be the best to convert from .vob too???

On a normal TV a good AutoGK reduction is hard to notice. On the sammy 61" DLP its clear as night and day. I can spot it from 20 feet away... Definetly about the best low bit rate codec I have seen but you can tell the difference....

Sean

I agree, though in my tests I have found that for a comparable file size, I can get better quality out of H.264 as compared to XviD. I use MeGUI for H.264 conversion. This is the main reason I returned the 520 and am waiting for the 750 as D-Link claims it will handle both H.264 and VC-1.

so the only way to play a dvd say with subtitles is to rip it to hard drive in ts-folder format?

i never see .ifo files in the ts folder. What am i missing?

Can the DSM-520 play ifo files to allow playing the menus etc? Instructions don't show playing IFO


I have been ripping the dvds to mpeg2 to play them using video recode works for me... but would like the menus

So I assume we know the DSM-520 will never have H.264 or X.264 support added?
I'm bummed about that.

I have quite a few I put into H.264, but recently I've been convering them to HD-WMV and honestly the quality and size remain exactly the same(if not slightly smaller) and play great on the DSM-520.

if you have an X or H.264 get the codecs installed on your PC, load the movie into windows movie maker and just save it as a 720P or 1080i HD-WMV, it's the only way I personally know to have a reasonably sized HD movie on the DSM-520.