Movies....

[Kumaki]

hummm...I tried AutoGK and this is what I got...

[4/14/2013 5:34:29 PM] AutoGK 2.55

[4/14/2013 5:34:29 PM] OS: Windows Vista (6.1.7601).2

[4/14/2013 5:34:29 PM] Job started.

*************************************

EXCEPTION: Cannot open file "C:\Users\Angela\Desktop\Rommie2\agk_tmp\VIDEO_TS.d2v". The system cannot find the file specified

*************************************

[4/14/2013 5:34:53 PM] Job finished. Total time: 23 seconds

so I'm confused.

 

[Wally]

I suggest using Handbrake over anything else. There's a good manual for it

http://handbrake.fr

 

[Asmo]

It's not entirely clear what you've got there (why have you got .d2v files, they appear to belong to a specific tool called dvd2avi?) - what have you ripped the dvd to your HD with? AutoGK (and afaik most other tools) won't work with .d2v files.

When you rip a DVD without any non-standard resulting files, you'll have the contents of it's VIDEO_TS folder on your HD. This will be made up of multiple .IFO and .VOB files.

The .IFO files are like a playlist/table of contents for the .VOBs.

You then identify which group of the files is the main movie (there will be multiple numbered .vob files, some will be the main movie, others will be trailers, menus etc).

You can play them just like any other media file on your pc.

The .IFO file that belongs to the group of vobs you identify as the movie is what you open in AutoGK (when you select it, you will see it throws up all the details like run time, audio tracks etc).

Once you have the right .IFO file selected, the destination file named, the desired size and quality set, you add that job and set it running. May take a few cups of coffee before it's done, depending on your PC.

 

[Kumaki]

hummm...

Right now I'm using DVD Decrypter, and I'm getting the kind of files that you say I should be getting...it still isn't done.

Once that is done...I'm supposed to then run THAT thru AutoGK to get a simmple .avi file that I want?

I'm playing around with this, just trying to see if I can work it out.

 

[Asmo]

EDIT:

when you say 'it still isn't done' - if you mean it's taking it's time, then yup, decrypting and then compressing video material will tend to be slow processes!

DVD decrypter (if it's not a knock-off using the name) should give you several options for the ripping process, including 'iso' (a single disc image) and 'file' (plain vanilla decrypted copy of the files in the VIDEO_TS folder) - maybe more options if this is a version I'm unaware of. Within those options should be a more standard resulting file set.

When you ripped the disc, what were the resulting files other than the .d2v one? There should have been all the .vob files for a straightforward rip that most tools can then use.

Yes, once the ripping tool has done it's job, you use AutoGK on the .IFO file that identifies the main movie (you'll see the obvious movie length in the details even if you didn't check beforehand). It will produce an .avi of the size and quality you tell it to.

 

[Asmo]

By way of example, a correctly ripped DVD in it's native format will typically look like this (from the VIDEO_TS folder of the dvd, these are the only files you're concerned with):

VIDEO_TS.BUP

VIDEO_TS.IFO

VIDEO_TS.VOB

VTS_01_0.BUP

VTS_01_0.IFO

VTS_01_0.VOB

VTS_01_1.VOB

VTS_01_2.VOB

VTS_01_3.VOB

VTS_01_4.VOB

VTS_01_5.VOB

VTS_02_0.BUP

VTS_02_0.IFO

VTS_02_0.VOB

VTS_02_1.VOB

There may be more, there may be fewer of these, but in general that's the sort of thing you'll have.

You can ignore the .bup files.

Looking at the above, you can deduce that the main movie content must be the files belonging to the VTS_01 set, as they are the larger portion of the disc. The VTS_02 set must be extras or trailers, so using AutoGK without any further examination you would open the VTS_01_0.IFO file and presto, you'll see the obvious movie length etc confirming this.

To be 100 percent sure, you could just open the first and last vob files in the set in something like VLC player to see if they are what you expect. Don't worry about the movie being split into multiple files like this, the .IFO file contains the details for your software to make it whole again.

They usually are straightforward, but you will sometimes come across fiendishly crafted discs that have multiple 'angles' and other bells and whistles embedded in the main content that may require some further gymnastics to process - but this is mercifully rare.

 

[Kumaki]

OK...I found the IFO that contains the VOB files that are the actual movie.

Now I can't tell what progress is being made or when it is done...there is no progress bar on AutoGK.

How do I know when it is finished?

Right now the log window tells me it is "demuxing and indexing" whatever that means.

this is what I have so far...

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] AutoGK 2.55

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] OS: Windows Vista (6.1.7601).2

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Job started.

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Input file: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Output file: C:\Users\Angela\Desktop\Rommie2\Eight Below.avi

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Output codec: XviD

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Audio 1: English AC3 6ch

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Subtitles: none

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Format: AVI

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Target size: 1400Mb

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Audio 1 settings: Auto

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Started encoding.

[4/14/2013 6:42:13 PM] Demuxing and indexing.

 

[Asmo]

Assuming you've set it off on it's merry way, AutoGK will display what it's currently thinking in the dialog window on the lower left, Initially it will be analysing the files, then compressing the audio, this could take a few minutes - then when it gets round to compressing the video, it should also indicate that in the dialog window and you'll most likely see a percentage progress meter on your taskbar at the bottom of the windows desktop.

If it's doing nothing at all, are you sure you added the job (the list of files you want to do is the window on bottom right - you can set it to do a load of films overnight if you want, for example) and then told it to start?

You have to:

1) open your ifo file, choose your save destination and filename

2) check your settings - the desired size at least,other than that set image width under 'advanced settings' to 720 to keep highest resolution, 512 or so if you're aiming for a lo-fi result and are going to choose a small file size in mb

Check the audio track settings - you only want the main english track, not any directors commentary track or foreign language audio track. It should be the first one, but you'll know where you went wrong if the resulting file turns out to be in French or Spanish somewhat unexpectedly.

3) THEN add the job to the list, and press START. Dialog window will start to go nuts, stuff will happen. Depending on your PC, a typical 2 hour movie could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour in total to process.

 

[Kumaki]

I believe I did all that. But it does not appear to be doing jack shit. sorry.

Aborted and started over.

I completely selected stuff. I picked my audio....I selected nothing in subtitles, since I don't want them.

I selected the file size and everything. I added the job and started.

Now this is what I'm getting...

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] AutoGK 2.55

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] OS: Windows Vista (6.1.7601).2

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Job started.

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Input file: C:\Users\Angela\Desktop\Rommie2\VTS_01_0.IFO

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Output file: C:\Users\Angela\Desktop\Rommie\Eight Below.avi

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Output codec: XviD

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Audio 1: English AC3 6ch

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Subtitles: none

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Format: AVI

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Target size: 2040Mb

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Audio 1 settings: Auto

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Started encoding.

[4/14/2013 7:02:59 PM] Demuxing and indexing.

Now...how long should it take to do an approximately 2 hour movie?

Sorry, but having no experience yet with this, I do not know what to expect - so I have no way of knowing if it is doing this right.

 

[kirkanoss]

well depending on your pc it can take a few hours i myself haven't ripped any dvd's in some time so can't really help much there but as for playback i have found that vlc and smplayer seem to like mp4 format with bitrate at around 1000 and 720x480 think thats the settings i was testing out when you asked for help with vlc tv-out 

ps could hit ctr,atl,del and see if maybe it froze on you

 

[Asmo]

That all looks correct - you've chosen a size of 2Gb (2000mb), you really don't need it that size, a 2hr movie will look fine at around 700mb (less if the pixel width is lowered) on your Pandora. And you'll fit more of them on your SD. Let it complete the run, then without changing anything else (except the filename so you don't overwrite) set the target size to 700mb and set it running again, you'll be able to compare the results and see how good a modest 700mb file can look in comparison.

It'll give you an indication of what it's up to at all times, some processes will take quite a while - on average, on an average PC, the whole job could take 30-45 minutes. More if it's a less than speedy PC.

The 'demuxing and indexing' stage it's at is mostly silent in the dialog window, once that's done it'll look more active, best to leave it be and go make a coffee. This won't be very quick, and I've never had AutoGK freeze - if it's running without spewing an error, then it's working.

NB: once it's done, you'll see a few redundant files in the folder where the avi was saved, an AutoGK log and a temporary folder it used during the process (which may still have some large audio files in it). You can dispose of those.

 

[Kumaki]

OK, thanks for that info.

The fact is...when I don't see a progress bar or something, I do not know if it is still working, lol.

So far, been sitting about 25 minutes.

 

[Asmo]

If you're really worried, just open a window in the location where the file is being created - you should see the destination file being constructed in there (when you refresh the window every so often, you'll see the file has grown steadily in size). Just don't try to open it or any of it's associated files while it's still running!

 

[Kumaki]

I'm not seeing a destination folder.

I got a folder in there called agk_tmp

In that folder are two files totaling less than 300,000 K and this is after an hour.

The big file file is called

Eight Below T80 3_2ch384Kbps DELAY 0ms

and it is an AC3 Audio file.

So now what?

Is it still working or not?

I jusdt aborted and decided to re-try using the lower total, that may have something to do with it for all I know. I sure as hell wish you had some kind of progress bar...I really hat eseeing no progress.

 

[gotwake424]

Maybe so, Binky.


Is there a program you need in order to rip them?


I know you need a program to rip CD's.


Likely enough I'd buy the CD's secondhand, rip them, and trade them back in for others...wash, rinse, repeat.


I did this with CD's for over a year until I had a song collection over 2000 titles.

Which is technically illegal, but no one really cares...

Also use handbrake for video encoding it's one of the best free conversion tools that doesn't take a lot of set up.

800X 480 for the screen settings and mp4 or avi will play nicely with the pandora

http://handbrake.fr/

 

[Kumaki]

I am trying Handbrake, I am still not having a whole ton of luck here.

 

[gotwake424]

I am trying Handbrake, I am still not having a whole ton of luck here.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fFkr5v_wsoc?feature=oembed
For a general overview of how to selected a file skip to about 32 seconds, I'm assuming you're on windows ( but then again assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups)

As far as settings for the pandora go

"Format" "MP4"

"Video Codec" " MPEG-4"

"Width&Height" "800X480" 

"Framerate" "either same as source" or " 29.97 (NTSC VIDEO)"

 

[Kumaki]

I'm still having no luck, the damn thing freezes and will go no further on me right around 83 percent.

I'm trying a different disk, just to see if that might be the problem, but jesus why do they have to make this stuff so damn difficult?

By the way, yes I am on Windows.

Damn thing won't work for me.

I don't know why everyone else seems to have such an easy time doing this.

 

[gotwake424]

I'm still having no luck, the damn thing freezes and will go no further on me right around 83 percent.


I'm trying a different disk, just to see if that might be the problem, but jesus why do they have to make this stuff so damn difficult?


By the way, yes I am on Windows.


Damn thing won't work for me.


I don't know why everyone else seems to have such an easy time doing this.

Wait you're trying to rip a dvd? Or are you trying to convert a video you already have on your computer? 

Idk, it's a trivial task 

 

[Franko]

I'm seeing a great step-by-step tutorial in the near future by our own dear ekianjo.  PandoraLive...I'm putting out the bat-signal.