How large should the DVD rips be, uncompressed?

[huzaifa_ahmed]

I have ~1/2 gig mkv's out of the DVD's. When run through Any Video Converter, at "max" A/V bitrate, each episode is 10+ gigabytes. 49 in particular is 13.8 gigabytes.

What settings should I have it at? Clearly, 1 billion bytes is far too much for a 25-minute episode.

[SupremeSSJ]

I think each episode is a gig or two.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

I think each episode is a gig or two.

Does that include a lossless audio track?

[Ajay]

Rip your DVDs using MakeMKV. It'll spit out the episodes without reencoding. If you do want to reencode. Take those files and throw them into Handbrake. As for what you do in there, that'll require research and a lot of playing around. The results should never be bigger than the source file.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

The MKV is your lossless master source, you should only be converting down. As Ajay said, if your converted file is larger than your source file, you are over-encoding for nothing. What is your "Max" setting outputting? I use MKV Merge to split the later Dragon Boxes, since they are encoded as single super files.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

Rip your DVDs using MakeMKV. It'll spit out the episodes without reencoding. If you do want to reencode. Take those files and throw them into Handbrake. As for what you do in there, that'll require research and a lot of playing around. The results should never be bigger than the source file.

I played my MKV files on WMV for better quality than VLC. No play speed option. So I en-coded in Handbrake (with one language track) and hard subtitles) as a lossless MP4, to get 1.5-3 GB files, which played a blank screen on WMV. The file also does not specify as an MP4 file...So I re-encoded in AV. I have only had good results with AVC before.

Re-encoding in Any Video Converter at 99999 audio and video bitrates, 48k sample rate, 1440x1080 for every bute I could squeeze out, it's clearly wrong when the output is 12 GB!

[huzaifa_ahmed]

Rip your DVDs using MakeMKV. It'll spit out the episodes without reencoding. If you do want to reencode. Take those files and throw them into Handbrake. As for what you do in there, that'll require research and a lot of playing around. The results should never be bigger than the source file.

I played my MKV files on WMV for better quality than VLC. No play speed option. So I en-coded in Handbrake (with one language track) and hard subtitles) as a lossless MP4, to get 1.5-3 GB files, which played a blank screen on WMV. The file also does not specify as an MP4 file...So I re-encoded in AV. I have only had good results with AVC before.

Re-encoding in Any Video Converter at 99999 audio and video bitrates, 48k sample rate, 1440x1080 for every bute I could squeeze out, it's clearly wrong when the output is 12 GB!

I assumed the difference of types would make the MKV and MP4 size different

[thejeremymenace]

MKV and MP4 are 'containers,' the way the video is encoded is essentially independent of the filetype -- so the size difference has nothing to do with the filetype.

Is there a reason you're encoding at 1440x1080 from an SD source? In addition, a bitrate of 99999 is absolutely overkill. Not sure which DVD release you're ripping from but your source video is probably 5000 at most. For DVD audio, you should only re-encode if you re~ally want to or if it's DTS -- which I don't think exists on any DB release.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

MKV and MP4 are 'containers,' the way the video is encoded is essentially independent of the filetype -- so the size difference has nothing to do with the filetype.

Is there a reason you're encoding at 1440x1080 from an SD source? In addition, a bitrate of 99999 is absolutely overkill. Not sure which DVD release you're ripping from but your source video is probably 5000 at most. For DVD audio, you should only re-encode if you re~ally want to or if it's DTS -- which I don't think exists on any DB release.

I assumed that by setting the bar as high as possible, I would get the greatest quality available out of the file. I can only believe now that the extra data is junk. Would you explain?

[SuicidalZerg]

Rip your DVDs using MakeMKV. It'll spit out the episodes without reencoding. If you do want to reencode. Take those files and throw them into Handbrake. As for what you do in there, that'll require research and a lot of playing around. The results should never be bigger than the source file.

I played my MKV files on WMV for better quality than VLC. No play speed option. So I en-coded in Handbrake (with one language track) and hard subtitles) as a lossless MP4, to get 1.5-3 GB files, which played a blank screen on WMV. The file also does not specify as an MP4 file...So I re-encoded in AV. I have only had good results with AVC before.

Re-encoding in Any Video Converter at 99999 audio and video bitrates, 48k sample rate, 1440x1080 for every bute I could squeeze out, it's clearly wrong when the output is 12 GB!

There is literally no point in ripping a DVD and then encoding it at anything other than 720x480. All you're doing at this point is artifically stretching the image... the bitrate on the disc should be what is used as well, otherwise you're capturing the exact same information more times than is necessary and is a waste. For episodes ripped from a Funimation Dragon Box, it should be just under 1 GB, possibly slightly over... episodes ripped from a Funimation Blue Brick, it should be just over 1 GB... that's my experience with using MakeMKV, anyways.

[thejeremymenace]

I assumed that by setting the bar as high as possible, I would get the greatest quality available out of the file. I can only believe now that the extra data is junk. Would you explain?

You're not exactly wrong, but it's not an efficient use of disk space. Using a great deal more bitrate, like you've done, will minimize quality loss from the transcode, but it's diminishing returns at that point. It would be a much better use of space for you to encode with a more reasonable bitrate. There are lots of guides & resources online for encoding DVD rips to H.264 that will get you good quality at a relatively small filesize.

If you want the best quality -- don't transcode at all. Just throw the MPEG-2 and AC3 streams from the source into an MKV and call it a day.

There is literally no point in ripping a DVD and then encoding it at anything other than 720x480.

To be fair, this isn't necessarily true. If you're transcoding, you may want to apply the anamorphic stretching during the encode. You're pretty much right though.

[Dagon]

If you use the software "MakeMKV," it will rip the contents of the DVD or Blu-Ray as-is into a format that video players on PC can read(if you have the codecs for them). I ripped my DBZKai blu-rays and each episode was about 2.8-3ish gigabytes in size for 1920x1080p. Doing the same for DVD and cropping off any vertical black bars to make it 4:3 should cut down on file size when you re-encode it.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

I assumed that by setting the bar as high as possible, I would get the greatest quality available out of the file. I can only believe now that the extra data is junk. Would you explain?

You're not exactly wrong, but it's not an efficient use of disk space. Using a great deal more bitrate, like you've done, will minimize quality loss from the transcode, but it's diminishing returns at that point. It would be a much better use of space for you to encode with a more reasonable bitrate. There are lots of guides & resources online for encoding DVD rips to H.264 that will get you good quality at a relatively small filesize.

If you want the best quality -- don't transcode at all. Just throw the MPEG-2 and AC3 streams from the source into an MKV and call it a day.

There is literally no point in ripping a DVD and then encoding it at anything other than 720x480.

To be fair, this isn't necessarily true. If you're transcoding, you may want to apply the anamorphic stretching during the encode. You're pretty much right though.

"MKV" can be replaced with "MP4", right? Because the VLC Player, while versatile, isn't of the greatest quality.I have always noticed the lower resolution on VLC player, while simultaneously lamenting WMP's inability to manipulate playback speed.

[thejeremymenace]

MP4 is usable, but has poor subtitle support. MKV will most likely be your container of choice. It is possible to play MKV in Windows Media Player with the proper codecs installed, but I recommend using Media Player Classic if you prefer not to use VLC. There are lots of resources online to help you get set up with either.

[huzaifa_ahmed]

MP4 is usable, but has poor subtitle support. MKV will most likely be your container of choice. It is possible to play MKV in Windows Media Player with the proper codecs installed, but I recommend using Media Player Classic if you prefer not to use VLC. There are lots of resources online to help you get set up with either.

I'm using WMP for playback speed. Playback speed manipulation changes pitch in MPC, and WMP barely plays MKVs in the first place.

[Ajay]

Windows Media Player is pretty awful. You're much better off using Media Player Classic with the correct filters installed. Check out the Kawaii codec pack, it'll install everything for you. Little configuration required.

[rereboy]

Windows Media Player is pretty awful. You're much better off using Media Player Classic with the correct filters installed. Check out the Kawaii codec pack, it'll install everything for you. Little configuration required.

Just use VLC. No need to install anything (codecs or other), it just plays practically anything in very good quality.

[Ajay]

Just use VLC. No need to install anything (codecs or other), it just plays practically anything in very good quality.

Uh, no. He's already expressed dissatisfaction with VLC. Media Player Classic with MadVR, ReClock, and LAV is significantly better than anything else out there. The pack I listed will throw all that in there without having to configure anything.

[rereboy]

I just expressed my opinion on the matter. VLC is good enough to make it not really worth bothering with other players and installation packs. I used to have media player classic plus a installation pack installed on my computer like you suggested but more recently, after formatting the computer, I've been just using VLC and I haven't really missed anything in terms of quality for my tastes and it just plays everything smoothly. If he doesn't agree or doesn't want to use VLC, that's fine, I just stated my opinion.

[Luso Saiyan]

Because the VLC Player, while versatile, isn't of the greatest quality.I have always noticed the lower resolution on VLC player,

What do you mean? Low resolution is noticeable in any player.

It is possible to play MKV in Windows Media Player with the proper codecs installed,

In Windows 10, WMP natively supports MKV.