Question about DVD reproduction on a Pocket PC

[Palmvert]

I have read a number of the guides to ripping a movie to a pocket pc on a memory card and have not tried the process yet.

My question has probably been answered before but...if I have a program that can produce backups of legally owned DVD's, would it make sense to go through the steps to put a dvd film onto an SD card with a backed up copy or with the original?

Basically, can you get a smaller, similar quality file out of a movie that has already been compressed once using a backup program, or do you need to start with an uncompressed original disc to get a file that can be properly viewed on a pocket PC.

I appreciate all of your replies.

Regards,

Palmvert

[ADBrown]

You could go either way. The difference between an original DVD and one that's been through something like DVD Shrink is negligible when you're condensing it down to a memory card.

[Don't Panic!]

If you're just interested in converting an entire movie and not just parts of it the free fairuse wizard light edition (http://www.fairusewizard.com/lang_en/index.html) makes it as simple as possible with either an original DVD or an ISO image. The biggest decisions you have to make are end file size, audio bitrate and resolution. You get a great result with this all in one software.

[Palmvert]

Thanks for the replies.

I have fairuse and have not had time to use it on a movie yet, but my question is whether it would create a smaller end result, allowing you to fit more in less space, if you run a dvd back up program to get a 4.7 gb copy of a 7.75gb film on a disk, then get the iso of the 4.7gb disk before running it through the fair use program.

AD Brown noted that he thinks it is only a negligible difference in space. When time permits, I may try the same movie both ways and post the results.

I am just curious. I have a 1 gb card and it would be nice to carry more while travelling. If anyone else has tried this, please post your thoughts.

Thanks,

Palmvert

[ADBrown]

Go ahead, but it won't make a real difference. You have to reencode either way, and size will be determined by the output settings, whether the source file is 1 GB or 10.

[Don't Panic!]

fairuse can take your original down to 350 MB and still give great results depending on your screen resolution Personally I stick with the 700MB limit of fairuse light for teo hour and longer movies. My screen resolution is usualyy 640X480 but if your not using a VGA device get as close to 320x240 as you can and you'll really like it. Try a two hours movie a 350MB in that case.

[Palmvert]

Go ahead, but it won't make a real difference. You have to reencode either way, and size will be determined by the output settings, whether the source file is 1 GB or 10.

I understand, but i was wondering if, since you are starting out with less information to begin with-4.7 as opposed to 7.x gb, that you could set the output settings even lower. It would be kind of neat to put three movies on a 1gb card, allotting 300 or so megs per movie and get good quality.

[wirelessbeachbum]

Go ahead, but it won't make a real difference. You have to reencode either way, and size will be determined by the output settings, whether the source file is 1 GB or 10.

I understand, but i was wondering if, since you are starting out with less information to begin with-4.7 as opposed to 7.x gb, that you could set the output settings even lower. It would be kind of neat to put three movies on a 1gb card, allotting 300 or so megs per movie and get good quality.

I use fairuse to convert to Divx, then use windows media encoder to convert that divx file to .wma I can then fit several movies on my SD card. Usually two movies, a cartoon for the kids and all my music and work documents.

[that dan guy]

any step by step tutorials I would like to fit 3-4 movies on my 1gig sd card. What works for you? I am making my first plunge into this and want to get it right so be specific.

thanks,

Danno

[that dan guy]

I really like this software the only problem I am having is that the audio on the ripped file is really low at full volume I canbarely here it how do I increase the audio volume of the file?

thanks,

Danno

[Don't Panic!]

If you're using betaplayer to view you can either go to the Options > Setting > Select Page > Equalizer and enable the Pre-amp moving the slider to the right. Or Options > Settings > Select Page > Advanced and check the Use system volume box.

HTH