Hello, I just recently purchased a 2TB Western Digital Mybook. The Goal of doing this was to backup my 950DVD collection to the hard drive so that not only do I have a backup but so that I will have every movie on there in .AVI format so that I can just play movies straight off of it onto my TV through my PS3..thus eliminating the purpose for my DVD's. However, I have been out of the game for a very long time on the conversion process.. I have gotten many different conversion programs such as AutoGK, Xilisoft Video Converter, Aimersoft Video Converter Pro.. I have spent many many hours trying to figure out which one tends to work best/quickest of them all. I have tried AutoGK and Xilisoft. AutoGK I am not familiar with on what the settings should be but Xilisoft I have been using: General Video: AVI - Audio Video Interleaved is what I am selecting- with Video Size I been changing the default of Auto to 720x480, Video Quality Higher, Audio Quality Normal and a movie tends to come out to be 1.2-2GB depending on how big the movie is which seems right. However quite a few of my movies have been coming out a bit fuzzy.. I was just wondering what program with what settings will give me the best picture and lowest time to convert to AVI??? Also 2 side questions I have been wondering. Does the PS3 upconvert AVI files to highest quality possible like upconversion DVD players? And does what your video reflect on the computer after conversion reflect what you will see on your TV? Thanks very much in advance. Hope to find a solution!
I would suggest to convert to an MP4 for example, using H.264 compression. You will get better quality. As for "what you see on your computer, you see on TV?"- Only if your TV is the same size as your computer screen.
How is size of files of MP4 comparable to .AVI??? Are they significantly larger than AVI or about the same size with better quality? Also out of curiosity does the larger file size you choose in MB on AutoGK for what you want as the output have any influence on how well of picture/sound you get.. say the higher custom size you put in MB will your quality be better??? Or does putting a higher MB than needed just make a larger file size for no reason? Thanks Cyprus.. you have been helping me a ton lately. I appreciate it!
The size of the MP4s would be the same or smaller,with better quality. Yes, the larger file size you choose in AutoGK, the better the quality should be.
Is there a program similar to AutoGK that can convert to MP4 using H.264 compression that you can set up a que like AutoGK?? I like to get like 20+ movies ripped at a time and shrank and converting at night while im sleeping.. If I did 950 dvds one by one it would take me forever I would think haha. I just setup a list of movies for AutoGK and it does it automatically while im snoozing at night.
That would be Handbrake, it can batch convert. With the right settings, HandBrake should convert to an MP4 that plays on the PS3. Do you care about surround sound(do you have a surround sound setup),or 2Ch Stereo would be enough?
Surround sound is not a huge factor as I am just playing it out of my own personal tv in my room. However, is it much more complex/larger in size if I added surround sound capability incase I took my mybook other places to play?
Some difference, but not a huge difference in size, just the process a bit different/more steps. If you encode to 1-2GB file size, you will probably not see much of a difference in quality between MP4 with H.264 and the AVI/Divx files you make with Autogk. The difference is noticeable when the file seize smaller. The AVI option would be the easiest if you want to keep surround sound; to have surround sound with MP4, requires an extra step(unless with recent firmware updates the PS3 plays AC3 in an MP4 container)?
I'll have to give handbrake a try. I know I have used it before but it was a very long time ago and I think at that time the program had capability of converting to .AVI that is why I have been so unfamiliar with AGK and Avi.Net... i'll give the MP4 a try and see how it turns out and decide where I want to go from there. I appreciate it. I think I am starting to get this all down now. Although, I may have another question here soon when I hit band of brothers or one of my tv seasons on DVD.. I may need to include extra scenes and interviews of band of brothers in the AVI.. I have an idea how its done so ill give that a shot before I become a huge nuisance! Thanks so much!
In Handbrake, use the "Normal" or "High" profile, and from what I read, it is supposed to play on the PS3.
