Squeezed LOTR Disc 1 onto 128 CF!

[David Prahl]

I got a DVD-ROM recently, and spent several hours getting the compression and filtering just right so I can fit Lord of the Rings "The Two Towers" Disc 1 onto a 128 MB CF card.

My card has 120.85 MB of free space.
The movie was 120.0 MB. 8O

I'd never done this kind of thing before, and was amazed at the decent video and sound quality! From 4.7 GB to 120 MB. That's a size reduction of almost 39 times.

[norristm]

what program did you use and what settings?

Thanks

[David Prahl]

I didn't know where to start, so I searched these forums. A member made a GREAT website, which I pretty much stuck to.

http://www.bigdsvideo.com/bigdsvideoencodingguides/index.html

Just finished disk 2 tonight - had to lop off the first five minutes or so to make it fit :oops: .

Congrats on becoming a member! It's always fun to see a new "face".

[Jason Dunn]

Cool, way to go David! :werenotworthy:

[bigds63]

Thanks for the kind words David, Glad my Guides was a help to you... :D

[upplepop]

A few questions:

Did you use 320x240 or another resolution?

What audio compression did you use?

Are you talking about the Extended edition of TTT or the Theatrical Version?

How long are your videos?

[David Prahl]

Did you use 320x240 or another resolution?
Yes, 320 x 240.


What audio compression did you use?
The settings I found on the linked site above.


Are you talking about the Extended edition of TTT or the Theatrical Version?

How long are your videos?
Yes, this is the Extended Edition (from a 4 disc set). It's all of Disc One, which is about 1:20 or 1:40 or something.

[rustywallace]

So tell me this because I am new to this compression thing. Is it possible to take any DVD you own and compress it into an MP4 file or is there some trick to the process.

And, what is the compression rate? If I were using an MMC, how many minutes of MP4 video would you think I could get on a 128 MB card (I know it would vary on quality, but lets say decent quality).

[David Prahl]

I'm not an expert on this - this was my first foray into the world of encoding. I strongly suggest that you visit http://www.bigdsvideo.com/bigdsvideoencodingguides/index.html if you're interesting in doing the same thing I did.

As far as I know, any DVD can be ripped and encoded to an MPEG or AVI movie. I don't know how copyright protection plays into this, though.

I was able to fit between 60 and 90 minutes of GOOD video and audio onto my 128 MB card. There are so many variables - the best thing to do is to try it for yourself and see what file size you end up with.

[rustywallace]

Thanks. I will have check it out when work slows down. :treadmill:

[upplepop]

One suggestion I would make to BigD's guide and to David would be to use 2-pass encoding instead of 1-pass like the guide suggests. My own experience with 2-pass is that they look better and have smaller file sizes (~10%). The only drawback is that it takes 2-3 times longer to do a 2-pass encode.

Give it a try, David, you might be able to get those 5 minutes back in!

[David Prahl]

Give it a try, David, you might be able to get those 5 minutes back in!

Maybe I'll let it run while I'm at school tomorrow. I'd like to be able to have my PC encode or defrag at night, but I put lights in it and they keep me awake. :oops: :lol:

[Ripper014]

Ok.. it all seems about right. I was able to get Tomb Raider down to about 140mb (100 minutes of Video). I would be interested in your bitrate and audio settings. I have my bitrate at about 300kbps now and it seems to work fine. I do find that it is the audio settings that are really determining the size of my video more than any other factor.

Hmm I was going to encode Pirates of the Caribbean for my own use. Maybe I still will... it should fit on my 340 microdrive.. woohoo... with my new HP2210 I no longer need to skip the frames... and I can encode at 24fps... gooooooooooooooooooooooooo... DivX

[redifrogger]

David, I'm a huge fan of LOTR, and I didn't know if there was any way that you could post your work somewhere. I'm not trying to break any laws here - I've purchased both movies (and 3rd when available), but if I could benefit from your work, that would be great. Thanks. :?:

[David Prahl]

I was expecting (at least) a few people to ask for the finished file - but I don't plan on distributing it. Even though I trust you, I'd rather not be known as a source of illegal movies.

"41 more sued over music downloads"
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/12/04/downloading.music.ap/index.html

I'd rather not be number 42! :lol:

Shop around and find a cheap DVD-ROM. Mine was only about $45 USD, and that was at a local retail store. After that, just follow the settings on the webpage I listed in a previous post. A little tweaking and you've got it!

[David Prahl]

DVD-ROMS from www.pricewatch.com are as low as $20 USD (including shipping).

[bigds63]

Great job David, like you said A little tweaking and you've got it! The main goal of my guides are to get people familar with encoding and to keep it as simple as possible by not using dual pass encoding and other advanced settings that can be confusing to some people. But once someone starts with the basics of encoding they kinda pick up on those things as they go. Did you not learn from the experience ? I feel thats a big part of encoding. To be able to take that Big 'Ol DVD and compress it down to fit on these tiny little hand held gaggets...Lets face it, none of us are saying " Boy I cant wait to get this movie encoded, were I can watch it for the first time" we have already seen the movie...Its the joy and the Bragg ability that you can show your friends what you have done :D Well I'll shut up now, as you can tell I love encoding and Im glad my guides helped you out...

[maximus]

I'd rather not be number 42!

:rotfl:

Such a good joke for a bad monday morning :D How long it takes to encode a full length movie on you new PC ?

[[email protected]]

I used a piece of software called Dur Video for pocket PC. thw software works great, and is really fast. the only problem is it's in German. if you can get passed this, it will automatically rip and compress the video to the size you want. again, it's only in German, so good luck there. her is the link to the software: http://www.gdata.de/trade/productview/340/13. we have been talking about it in another post body.

[David Prahl]

From DVD to compressed MPEG it's about two and a half hours. But that's two or three processes.

I have an 4x DVD-ROM, 512 of DDR400, and a P4 2.6 HT.

[green_day21]

Yeah man BigD's website is great! I got 2 three minute music videos, and full episode of simpsons on a 64MB card!!!

Now this question is for bigd, because of your website I want to buy a new SD memory card
Which would you suggest for multimedia purposes? a 256MB card or a 512MB card?

[divajess]

Now, I am convinced that I did something wrong when I tried a 2-pass encoding on a DVD rip of X2. I set up everything just as in the guide, except chose the 2-pass. I set up each pass with the same settings and added them to the job control, then ran it. I ended up with a 289 MB file. Where did I go wrong?

[David Prahl]

No idea. You might try 1-pass and see what file size you end up with.

[bigds63]

Yeah man BigD's website is great! I got 2 three minute music videos, and full episode of simpsons on a 64MB card!!!

Now this question is for bigd, because of your website I want to buy a new SD memory card
Which would you suggest for multimedia purposes? a 256MB card or a 512MB card? Well I have a 256mb card and it will hold a 3hr movie easy. But if you want room for more movies and programs by all means go 512 :)

[Falstaff]

Which would you suggest for multimedia purposes? a 256MB card or a 512MB card?
What many people say in response to this is that you should buy as big a card as you can afford. It's pretty easy now to afford a 512MB card with all these $100 deals going around.

[[email protected]]

did anyone try the software? DA VIDEO fur Pocket PC

[Falstaff]

There are many threads discussing Da Video, just do a quick search (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/search.php) and you'll find plenty of them.

[Kaber]

I can't get any of my 4 extended Fellowship DVDs to even play in my DVD player on my PC. All my other DVDs play fine in it. They all play fine in my regular DVD player in the livingroom. I can't seem to figure it out.