Problem encoding DVDs

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stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Problem encoding DVDs

Post by stevo-m »

Hi, newbie here. Just started using HandBrake and I was pretty exited about the fact that I could rip my DVDs and put them on my PSP and iPod, but unfortunately I seem to be doing something wrong.

I tried to rip one movie and it came out at only 26 minutes long, which clearly isn't right as it's supposed to be an hour and a half! The second one I tried came out the correct length but the audio was terrible and the video was all 'blocky' and distorted - completely unviewable.

Both these DVDs are 'copy-protected', but I have read that HandBrake can successfully rip these kind of DVDs. I imagine most of my recent DVDs are copy-protected. Is there a way to successfully rip these into a good quality file I can transfer to my PSP or iPod?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.
baggss
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Post by baggss »

Follow the appropriate link from my signature for a guide for the iPod. I can't really help you with the PSP though.

Actually, if your using HandBrake 0.7.1, click HERE for the HB guide.
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Thanks for your reply. Is MediaFork different to HandBrake?
baggss
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Post by baggss »

MediaFork is next version of HandBrake. It will be renamed HandBrake again soon.
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Unfortunately I still seem to be having problems. I've tried using both HandBrake and MediaFork (although I'm not even sure of the difference, to be honest) and I had the same problem with the exceptionally poor audio and distorted picture. There are green and yellow-ish pixel blocks all over the video, all the way through it. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
baggss
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Post by baggss »

What DVDs are you ripping? Are you using the tutorial links I listed?
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

It's the Zoolander and Anchorman DVDs I've tried so far, and both are copy-protected, but as I said I had read elsewhere that this program should be able to handle that. They both play perfectly both on my Macbook Pro and on my DVD player, so I'm not sure why it won't rip. Do you think it would be likely to be because of copy-protection?

I've used the tutorial you wrote for iPod encoding, yes. It's actually a Creative Zen I use now (and I'm just used to saying 'iPod', lol) but I believe they read the same video formats, and so far I have only tried to view the outputted files on my computer, not the MP3 player, so they're definitely not working.
baggss
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Post by baggss »

Well, it sounds like the one that came out at only 26 min may have the zero cell issue, but I am not sure. You may want to go poke around the MacTheRipper forums (which appear to be down right now) to see if anyone has had any issues with these DVDs.

If they do have the zero cell issue, you'll need MTR and DVD2OneX to get them to work properly.

EDIT: MTR Forums are back up now.
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Thanks for the tips. I do actually have Mac the Ripper and DVD2OneX, which I've used previously to burn extra copies (for my own use! :D) of DVDs... can these be used to convert to MPEG4?
baggss
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Post by baggss »

You need to rip the Video_TS folder to your Hard Drive with MTR and then look at it with DVD2OneX. Your looking for zero cells. If you find any, uncheck them and then rip/save a new Video_TS folder from that in DVD2OneX. After that, use MF/HB to rip the MP4 files from that.

If you rip the Video_TS folder with MTR and there are zero cells, it may take a long while to rip and MTR will likely tell you there were errors.

If there are no zero cells, then I am not sure what to tell you.
stevo-m
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Thanks a lot for your help. I'll give that a go if I don't have any luck - I'm trying it with MediaFork one more time. It seems to be taking a lot longer this time. The first two times I did it, it took about 20 minutes.. but it's already been going for about half an hour and it says it has 35 minutes left. Should it be taking this long? Maybe this time it's doing it properly..
baggss
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Post by baggss »

Another work around is to go to the MTR site, donate and get the latest build of the as of yet unreleased MTR 3. The new version (r14) supposedly works around the zero cell issue and makes DVD2OneX unnecessary.

I have not tried it yet though.
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Managed to get one of the DVDs to rip in full without any problems in the first half or so of the file, but around half-way through the audio stops completely. Am I doing something wrong? I followed baggss' tutorial exactly, and my files won't even play correctly in Quicktime, nevermind on my MP3 player.
baggss
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Post by baggss »

What version of MTR are you using? If you're not using r14 then you need to use DTOX to remove the zero cells. I'm trying r14 right now btw.
stevo-m
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Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

Post by stevo-m »

Hi again. I wasn't actually using Mac the Ripper (although I do have it, and it's version 2.6.6, as far as I can see..?) - I was still using MediaFork. My original issues with blocky pixels, poor audio and only part of the movie being ripped seemed to have completely disappeared, but then half way through the ripped MPEG4 file, the audio completely stops and doesn't return at all.
gargunkle
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Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:25 am

Post by gargunkle »

steveo-m, can you possibly give any specific details on what settings you are using in handbrake / mediafork that are working at least partway (if I am reading this right)? I am using the UNIX CLI version and no matter what I try, my PSP will not recognize the media files I create.

Thanks much for any tips.
grant0830
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Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:36 pm

Post by grant0830 »

can anyone please let me know why it would be that only a portion of the audio rips when ripping a dvd in MediaFork? is there a sure fire way to have all the audio when ripping for apple tv???
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