Easiest program to convert DVD to MP4?

[Paul and Casey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

TMPGEnc SR5 may not be what you want here. Watch the OUTPUT screen. Does the video play at all? Any video that plays is being re-encoded. Anything that does NOT play is not. So ... what do you see?

My preference is a combo of DVD Decrypter + Womble. It works much better.

SR5 is mostly for streaming formats. It will do SD, but seemingly not without some warnings.

Hi Lord Smurf,

I am not sure if TMPGEnc (as I have used it) re-encodes or not. I'll do it again and in fact I will email the company to see what they say.

I tried Womble but it does not work correctly with Windows 10 and I don't currently have my XP system. When you say it works better than TMPGEnc do you mean it is more reliable or gives a better quality?

Regards,

Paul

[sanlyn]

TMPgenc and VideoReDo TV Suite are two choices that smart render the same way Womble does. Maybe you're confusing these apps with something else. I've seen posted video from Womble that made media players barf, and heard about discs rejected by set top players. TMPGEnc always reports what it will and will not smart render. which is never more than a couple of GOP's if working with to-spec video.

[lordsmurf]

@paul

Emailing TMPGEnc will not be helpful. Just watch the preview. What does it do exactly?

VideoReDo is a Womble competitor. Try it. Not my favorite, but it also works.

Womble may require install in another compat mode. It's not Womble's fault, but probably Windows 10. Again, that OS really sucks when it comes to video tasks. It was made with tablets in mind.

@sanlyn

Yes, "smart render" will re-encode cuts. But MPEG can encode fast on newer hardware, easy to not understand what's happening. So Paul needs to watch SR5 output, see if it's just showing brief flashes of video, or none at all, or all of it. SR4/5 previews the encoding live.

I've rarely had Womble issues. Early versions had some bugs, but that was well over 10 years ago. I do have one XP capture box where all versions (new or old) create non-playable streams, but I've never come across that otherwise. I wonder if you've come across something similiar?

I see you edited your post after posting. So some of my reply will seem out of left field to anybody else.

[sanlyn]

I've never had any version of TMSR 1/2/3/4/ or 5 allow me to output non-compliant video in any format that it works with. I've had it warn me that some oddball sources couldn't be smart rendered for some reason or other. When I used another app for those sources I had playback problems (skittish segments, pixelation at cut points, bad audio sync, etc.), and no warnings. Never had a problem with anything from a DVD recorder with TMPGenc editors, and I 've sent thousands (literally) of DVD's through TMPGenc editors. All versions have an analysis tool that displays graphically what gets re-encoded and what doesn't.

The full Womble set does have a few added features. I just have less trust with apps that don't hold to strict specs for standard formats or give any warnings.

[EDIT] I have to stop all this re-editing. Usually I'm trying to shorten a post. Most of the time it just gets longer. Duh!

[Paul and Casey]

I can see that even the experts disagree at times

Personally I consider that a good thing even if it can confuse a newby like myself.

I am going to reload my image of Windows 7 on this computer and then try all the programs you both listed to find which one works best for me.

I was considering doing it anyhow as Windows 10 isn't really my cup of tea anyhow.

Please give me a day or two :-)

Regards,

Paul

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul and Casey

I can see that even the experts disagree at times

True, but I'll be the first to concede that in most matters lordsmurf and many others are 'way ahead of me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul and Casey

Personally I consider that a good thing even if it can confuse a newby like myself.

With a little hands-on it gets less confusing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul and Casey

I am going to reload my image of Windows 7 on this computer and then try all the programs you both listed to find which one works best for me.

I was considering doing it anyhow as Windows 10 isn't really my cup of tea anyhow.

You'll soon find in video tech forums that plenty of users are sticking with XP and Win7. The last thing Micro$oft wants is to let Hollywood think they encourage video processing.

Trial versions reveal issues that aren't so obvious in the maker's ads. Take them with a grain of salt. Caution about Win7/Win10: Our household has 3 Win7's, a small PC and two laptops. Watch out for Micro$oft's forced and sneaky upgrade to Win10. Try this website's popular and simple utility, which I've used on several Win7 machines: https://www.grc.com/never10.htm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul and Casey

Please give me a day or two :-)

Take all the time you need.

[lordsmurf]

At some point, when both parties are knowledgeable, it gets down to preference and small differences in a workflow or sources. That's what you're seeing now. We're each listing good tools.

Explaining only goes so far. Indeed, at some point, hands-on required.

Windows 10 is wonderful for tablets. For desktops, when you're doing any serious niche task (not just internet/Word/email), it's not fun. Windows 7 supports most video software, while XP supports the hardware. That's just how it goes. If you migrate down to 7 from 10, be sure to have a backup image in case you want to later revert back to 10 again.

@sanlyn: The MS upgrades have expired, as far as I know. So no more attempted upgrades. I finally disabled Win7 updates altogether, as it ate 25% CPU (1 whole core) for hours on end. Now I enable and run manually, when needed, and fully disable again. MS update is a PITA.

I try to never be in a rush. That's how mistakes are made. The more complex (video!), the more mistakes.

@both: TMPGEnc MPEG Editor is something I've not tried in years. Perhaps it's worth another look? That may be more useful than the SR5.

[sanlyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

@sanlyn: The MS upgrades have expired, as far as I know.

Oops, forgot about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

@both: TMPGEnc MPEG Editor is something I've not tried in years. Perhaps it's worth another look? That may be more useful than the SR5.

The best was MPEG Editor v3. Along comes v4 and they made it complicated, accepting and outputting numerous formats and HD. There speed and simplicity with v3, but like everything else the powers that be have to complicate things and get bigger. But, then, I started working with HD and internet stuff so v4 and now v5 are mainstays, along with VideoReDo. For plain ol' MPEG I still crank up version 3. Too bad v3 isn't sold any more.

One missgiving about Smart Renderer: it's really picky about strict specs for the format you're dealing with. Some apps will let you slide on things like prescribed GOP structure and such (VideoReDo seems more forgiving), so watch out for that. VideoReDo handles a lot and is fast, but editing is clunky.