ffmpeg: howto convert dvd/mkv to avi?

G00fy · 01-14-2009, 09:50 AM

Hi all,

How can I convert a dvd to an xvid (avi) with ffmpeg?
How can I do the same with an mkv file?

I would like to use normal vbr for the audio. And I would like to use 2 passes for the resulting avi.

How can I determine the video bitrate so I end up with a target size of about 800MB?

All tutorials I find online are for mencoder, but that program is awfully slow (read: same speed as the movie plays). So I would like to give ffmpeg a shot, but I don't know what commandline to use.

Thanks!

arckane · 01-14-2009, 11:17 AM

Hey Goofy, give avidemux a try. It's GUI or command line (with scripts) based but will do what you want.

FFmpeg gives you most of the information you require if you just do 'ffmpeg -h | less' (you'll need to pipe through less as there is a ton of info!).

Other than that, you'll want to research bitrate calculators to get the resulting file size to 800mb. As I said, try Avidemux as it has built in ffmpeg as well as lavc and a whole bunch of other encoders which should do exactly what you want.

H_TeXMeX_H · 01-14-2009, 11:25 AM

I would recommend OGMRip, it rips the DVD, and has many options on how to encode it including size restrictions. I have tried many other programs and they have failed me, so this is the only one so far that I can recommend. It also has threading options, so if you have a Dual or Quad core, it's somewhat faster.