Good Software to convert DVD's to AVI for SMS

[urmele]

I visited a friend lately who had a HDD device connected to his TV.

To save space, he just converted his original DVD movies into AVI format and stored them on the HDD.
I just converted some of my DVD's to my PS2 with the software and tried it out with SMS.

Everything was running flawlessly with DTS 6 channel surround sound and
a good picture (i thought it will be crappy after you compress it from a
DVD to about 1200MB), but it's ok and it also copies the original sound track
without any compression of the audio file.
You even can include two different sound tracks (languages) into the AVI file,
which are both accessible by SMS.

I have tested it on a v5 board with the latest SMS and also with
SMS v2.3 Rev2 (but i didn't test it with v2.3 Rev2 on a v3 or v4 board, so
i can't tell if it will work on them).

The tool is here and it's freeware:
http://www.autogk.me.uk/index.php?na...download&cid=1

You also need this one (maybe you already have the codecs):
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/divx_free.htm

To make it compatible you also might need the latest anydvd
depending on the source.

There is a help file included, where you can get some info how to adjust it.

Anyways, it might take some hours to convert, because the software also makes a second pass.
But the outcome is very good

[TnA]

Jepp, "Auto GordianKnot" is easy to use and brings good results (even thought there are a few applications, where you can fine-tune some settings a bit better + some even have a better visual quality ripped with another programm, but exactly the same divx-enc-settings.).

[vsub]

Or Format Factory...supports a lot formats(audio,video and pictures),have a lot of options and extras and it's free.

[widewings]

How about Handbrake or Super? It is very to use because there is already a preset setting for each conversion you want.

[peterdcrees]

For converting DVD's to avi files that you want to 'keep', AutoGK is a great choice, one of the best, I've been using it since Nov-2003.

However... It seems that I download more and more video clips that are not in DVD or SMS compatible format that I want to watch with SMS.

My main requirement for these conversions is speed, not ultimate quality, as I will only watch them once.

For these conversions I use avidemux in 'fast' mode.

[urmele]

Thanks a lot for the new input
I also have some media files which are not working with SMS.
I'll try the software you mentioned.

Today i had some problems with AutoGK.
I tried to convert two of my original DVD's (Tenchi Muyo "Tenchi The Monie 2
The Daughter of Darkness" and "Tenchi Universe on Earth III").
The first one had a problem only during the first 6 or 8 minutes, the picture
was going dark for a second, then it comes back in a cycle.
The other one had the problem that the sound was delayed to the picture.

I wonder what happened, maybe i used the wrong adjustments for the Anime movies.
Did somebody know how to fix it with AutoGK?

[widewings]

That is why I give up on AutoGK, I'm having a lot of problem also.

If I were you I will try handbrake, anyway it is a freeware. It is very seldom that handbrake can not convert a movie file, in that case that's when I use Super.

[urmele]

That is why I give up on AutoGK, I'm having a lot of problem also.

If I were you I will try handbrake, anyway it is a freeware. It is very seldom that handbrake can not convert a movie file, in that case that's when I use Super.

I downloaded Handbrake, but it also needs Microsoft Frameworks which i don't
wanna install.

Right now i try out FormatFactory.
It appears, that it is a real resource eater (on an old 2.4GHz PC with 512MB RAM it is running since about 20 hours and it is still only on 80%).

Next i try Super, hope that one works better.

Anyways, FormatFactory works pretty good for some small files together with
SMS and it also converts a lot of formats.

[vsub]

I downloaded Handbrake, but it also needs Microsoft Frameworks which i don't
wanna install.

Right now i try out FormatFactory.
It appears, that it is a real resource eater (on an old 2.4GHz PC with 512MB RAM it is running since about 20 hours and it is still only on 80%).

Next i try Super, hope that one works better.

Anyways, FormatFactory works pretty good for some small files together with
SMS and it also converts a lot of formats.

Super is even more resource eater.The converting speed depends of your CPU and the settings for the output format(and a little on the input format)

I've converted ~40 videos(FLV to AVI...~25 min. each)using Format Factory for couple of hours(I don't remember exactly how long but I'm sure that it wasn't more than 6 hours)

The other converter I mainly use for my MP4 Player is XMedia Recode.

[Northbear]

I think if you know a little about how compression works you should use avidemux (latest stable version).

It gives you files that are comptible to SMS and DIVX/XVID compatible DVD-Player and is quite fast depending on your hardware and as a plus it needs no additional codecs or frameworks to be installed.

In most cases it will convert an 80 minute movie in ~30 min to 4 hours depending on hardware (the 4 hours would be on an 500 mhz pc).

The best option for avidemux 2.5.0 is MPEG-4 ASP (lavc) as video and AC3 (aften) or AC3 (lavc) as audio.

It will give almost original quality.


Best regards
Northbear