Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Converting DVDs to WMVs

This blog exist mostly as a resource. I don't expect there to be a big community built up around folks who bought a clearanced media player.

I thought I'd give a quick overview of how I convert movies from DVD to my NPower Fusion Media Player. Now, while some people like prepackaged conversion utilities I've not had much luck with them. The quality is just not high enough for my liking. The tools I use are free and produce such a high quality result that you can read the words on signs in the final video, something I was unable to do when I tried to all-in-one packages.
  • First you have to decode your DVD to a file on your hard drive. I use DVD Decrypter (from Doom9.org, a great source for DVD and general video editing.)
  • I use AutoGK to convert the DVD information to an AVI. While AutoGK is technically out of date it still does the trick and does it with a single button.
  • Alternatively you can do it yourself with the Gordian Knot rippack (again, from Doom9) and do it yourself.
  • Don't make your video any bigger than 700mb since we've still got to down convert it after this.
  • Then I use Windows Media Encoder to convert the AVI to a WMV as described in an earlier post.
  • Then I split the resulting file into 5 minute segments with ASFbin as described in the same earlier post.
Now this may seem like a round about method, and maybe that's just because I like roundabout methods, but I think this method does a better job than anything you could pay for, and the difference in quality is noticeable.

I still use mine every day. When I'm not watching old movies or TV shows or listening to MP3s or AudoBooks I mostly play Bomberman or Arkanoid. Little tip for Arkanoid, be sure to go to the menu and exit out before you switch off the machine and it will save your current level so you can start there. I'm currently on level 71. The get tought after level 66.