DVDs to website

gprellwitz

gprellwitz

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 19, 2005
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Romeoville, IL
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Display name:
Grant Prellwitz
I have three DVDs I'd like to post on our website, and am trying to find the best way to rip them and post them. (And before you fret, they're recordings of a DPE giving talks at pilot seminars about how she gives the practical exam; they are not copyrighted; and I have her permission.)

That said, what format should I post them in and what software (free is good :)) should I use to get it to that format. I could use either Windows or Linux; I don't have ready access to any Macs.
 
I love the magic DVD ripper for creating mp4 files. I paid 30 bucks for mine and its fabulous - if you want to send me the DVD's I'll rip them and FTP them whereever you like

320x240 mp4 is about 300 MB/hr for sizing.
 
Which format would you use as the target? I'd have said AVI, WMV, maybe MOV. Is MP4 used exclusively by the video personal media players?
 
gprellwitz said:
Which format would you use as the target? I'd have said AVI, WMV, maybe MOV. Is MP4 used exclusively by the video personal media players?
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You don't want the others because they're not compressed. MP4 or DivX.

It's the difference between a 2GB file and a 90MB file.
 
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I tell ya what: I like DVD-TO-MPEG.

Simple, cheap, little shareware program that always works, with no muss and no fuss.

I usually then convert to Flash to save bandwidth and for cross-browser compatibility. You'll need lots and lots of storage and bandwidth otherwise.

The videos I deal with tend to be short advertisements and quality is not so terribly critical, so the ones on this page were compressed prior to Flash conversion. (The quality wasn't too great to begin with.) I usually do the SWF conversion on one of my servers, but I think I used Flash Professional for these.

Rich
 
Doubt you'll find anything for free. DVD-to-MP4 converters tend to be running about $30. If I was inclined to use such a thing, it might be Cucusoft, which seems to be easy yet powerful for conversion of DVD movies to load onto my iPhone, but the quality is good enough for a 19" screen if ripped at higher resolution settings. A lot of user-customizable parameters.

The nice thing about mpeg-4 (or .MP4) is that it is generally supported by every common software media player (Real, Windows, Quicktime, etc.) and offers good media quality for decent compression.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Doubt you'll find anything for free. DVD-to-MP4 converters tend to be running about $30.
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I think there are license issues, and thus costs, for the legal ones. The illegal ones (at least in this country) usually use the illegal (in this country) deCSS libraries that that teen-ager in Norway developed.

Rich
 
I've tried a few test conversions using XiliSoft DVD Ripper (trial) and have found that there's a synchronization problem between the audio and the video. This is going to either xVid or mp4. I'll try using another product too. I'm looking at probably about 4 to 5 hours of video, and, since she shows things like performance charts, sectionals, etc., I don't want to decrease the video quality too much.
 
gprellwitz said:
I've tried a few test conversions using XiliSoft DVD Ripper (trial) and have found that there's a synchronization problem between the audio and the video. This is going to either xVid or mp4. I'll try using another product too. I'm looking at probably about 4 to 5 hours of video, and, since she shows things like performance charts, sectionals, etc., I don't want to decrease the video quality too much.
Click to expand...

That's a common problem. I reviewed several before trying Cucusoft, with which I've had no synchronizing problems. They have a trial version.

That one will also record specific sessions instead of the entire DVD.
 
alaskaflyer said:
That's a common problem. I reviewed several before trying Cucusoft, with which I've had no synchronizing problems. They have a trial version.

That one will also record specific sessions instead of the entire DVD.
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Yeah, I just tried Cucusoft, because I'd found someone else who said something similar. Unfortunately, it kept saying that the DVD in the drive was blank, even though I could watch it with Media Player. :mad:
 
RJM62 said:
I think there are license issues, and thus costs, for the legal ones. The illegal ones (at least in this country) usually use the illegal (in this country) deCSS libraries that that teen-ager in Norway developed.

Rich
Click to expand...

There ARE no legal ones, at least in the U.S. The DCMA makes it illegal to circumvent the CSS encryption on DVDs. That means it would be illegal for a Daddy to copy the DVD he made of his baby, but that's America. We also pay a few pennies to the recording industry for every audio cassette we buy even if THAT is to record baby.

The MPAA put the one US company that made DVD backup software, DVD XCopy, out of business.
 
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I think DVD-TO-MPEG has a trial...

Of course, you'll have to transcode if you want to use some other format, which you probably will.

Rich
 
mikea said:
There ARE no legal ones, at least in the U.S. The DCMA makes it illegal to circumvent the CSS encryption on DVDs. That means it would be illegal for a Daddy to copy the DVD he made of his baby, but that's America. We also pay a few pennies to the recording industry for every audio cassette we buy even if THAT is to record baby.

The MPAA put the one US company that made DVD backup software, DVD XCopy, out of business.
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Let's face it. The MPAA is legalized extortion, of both the US consumer and the artists. I doubt Nick would disagree!:no::mad:
 
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gprellwitz said:
Let's face it. The MPAA is legalized extortion, of both the US consumer and the artists. I doubt Nick would disagree!:no::mad:
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That's the RIAA (Sony,Warner Music, etc), which is worse than the MPAA but they're two sides of the same coin.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Doubt you'll find anything for free. DVD-to-MP4 converters tend to be running about $30. If I was inclined to use such a thing, it might be Cucusoft, which seems to be easy yet powerful for conversion of DVD movies to load onto my iPhone, but the quality is good enough for a 19" screen if ripped at higher resolution settings. A lot of user-customizable parameters.

The nice thing about mpeg-4 (or .MP4) is that it is generally supported by every common software media player (Real, Windows, Quicktime, etc.) and offers good media quality for decent compression.
Click to expand...

RJM62 said:
I think there are license issues, and thus costs, for the legal ones. The illegal ones (at least in this country) usually use the illegal (in this country) deCSS libraries that that teen-ager in Norway developed.

Rich
Click to expand...

mikea said:
There ARE no legal ones, at least in the U.S. The DCMA makes it illegal to circumvent the CSS encryption on DVDs. That means it would be illegal for a Daddy to copy the DVD he made of his baby, but that's America. We also pay a few pennies to the recording industry for every audio cassette we buy even if THAT is to record baby.

The MPAA put the one US company that made DVD backup software, DVD XCopy, out of business.
Click to expand...


Oh ye of little faith. Of COURSE there are free ones. The best one that I've used is Handbrake. Which will output to H.264, MPEG4 or straight to Xvid. It just doesn't have the deCSS code built into it. Honestly, this shouldn't be a problem for Grant. I'd doubt that his DVD is CSS encrypted anyway.

Use one of the "Presets" which begin with suitable options for an end target (iPod, for instance), and tweak the settings to meet your needs.

IF one wanted to use Handbrake on an encrypted disk one might first create a disk image using something like DVD Shrink. Then they could use Handbrake to convert that image.
 
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FlyNE said:
Oh ye of little faith. Of COURSE there are free ones. The best one that I've used is Handbrake. Which will output to H.264, MPEG4 or straight to Xvid. It just doesn't have the deCSS code built into it. Honestly, this shouldn't be a problem for Grant. I'd doubt that his DVD is CSS encrypted anyway.

Use one of the "Presets" which begin with suitable options for an end target (iPod, for instance), and tweak the settings to meet your needs.

IF one wanted to use Handbrake on an encrypted disk one might first create a disk image using something like DVD Shrink. Then they could use Handbrake to convert that image.
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I didn't mean you couldn't get free software, just that they aren't legal under the DCMA.

I have Handbrake. I don't remember having to find the DeCSS separately. You're saying that once you make a disk image it's legal?

Nevermind. Just use Google to find the software that can't possibly be there.
 
mikea said:
There ARE no legal ones, at least in the U.S. The DCMA makes it illegal to circumvent the CSS encryption on DVDs. That means it would be illegal for a Daddy to copy the DVD he made of his baby, but that's America. We also pay a few pennies to the recording industry for every audio cassette we buy even if THAT is to record baby.

The MPAA put the one US company that made DVD backup software, DVD XCopy, out of business.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. While it's illegal to circumvent CSS, the DVD daddy made of his baby wouldn't have CSS, unless he paid a professional mastering firm to create the DVD and copy-protect it. In the case under discussion I'd be surprised if CSS was a factor.

Finally, the copyright holder can certainly grant permission for anyone to make copies of his work.
 
TMetzinger said:
Incorrect. While it's illegal to circumvent CSS, the DVD daddy made of his baby wouldn't have CSS, unless he paid a professional mastering firm to create the DVD and copy-protect it. In the case under discussion I'd be surprised if CSS was a factor.

Finally, the copyright holder can certainly grant permission for anyone to make copies of his work.
Click to expand...

And the irony is that CSS won't even prevent DVD copying. It just prevents unauthorized viewing/extraction. Anyone can (illegally) make an image copy of a DVD, and it will play just fine -- assuming that the player has the decryption available. (Just ask any of the dozen or so people walking down Main Street in Flushing at any given time, selling bootleg DVDs out of shopping carts.)

Rich
 
TMetzinger said:
Incorrect. While it's illegal to circumvent CSS, the DVD daddy made of his baby wouldn't have CSS, unless he paid a professional mastering firm to create the DVD and copy-protect it. In the case under discussion I'd be surprised if CSS was a factor.

Finally, the copyright holder can certainly grant permission for anyone to make copies of his work.
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OK. I thought that CSS was inherent in the DVD standard.

By the DMCA NOBODY can grant permission to circumvent a copy protection method. Not even the copyright holder.

Remember when the MPAA itself got called for duplicating and distributing "This Film Has No Rating?" They did answer that umm, well, they kinda hadda do it.
 
Well, the demo of YASA DVD Ripper Platinum (http://www.yasasoft.com/dvdripperplatinum/) seems to be working and keeping everything in sync, unlike a number of the other things I tried. Unfortunately, there are two issues.

First, the purchase isn't instantaneous; I've got to wait up to 48 hours for someone to process the order to email me the unlock code.

Second, the resultant MP4 files are still large, on the order of 3.7MB/minute at a resolution of only 176x144. That means that each 100 minute presentation is going to be about 370MB. And, to be honest, I'd really like a larger screen size.
 
That's about as good as it gets. Keep in mind that DVD-quality video (which is compressed) is about ten times or more the size.
 
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