Experiences with DVD to PocketPC?

[sracer]

I've seen plenty of one-step DVD-to-PPC applications. They invariably encode to DivX. But This one ( http://www.makayama.com/dvdtopocketpc.html ) encodes to wmv.

As a big fan of the WMV format, I was curious to see how well it worked. They have a demo available that limits encodes to a 5 minute clip.

I ran a few tests and the results are extremely impressive. It is indeed one-step, reading directly from the DVD and writing to a .wmv file on your desktop PC.

In addition, it easily supports anamorphic discs. The resulting files (at the lower quality setting) weigh in at about 75MB per hour. The quality is surprisingly good.

The time to encode is virtually only the wmv encoding step. I thought that there might be some overhead by frequent accesses to the DVD, so I ripped the disc to my harddrive and ran the program against the ripped image. There was no difference in encoding time.

What this means is that this program can convert a DVD in 30 minutes less time than using my guide.

I'm considering purchasing this tool, simply for the convenience of encoding to my preferred format. But before I shell out some hard cash, I wanted to know if anyone has the full program and how well it has worked for them. (and if it has, are there any Handango promo codes )

[imported_UHF]

I'm playing with the program, which I purchased a while ago, and cannot find a way to make a movie from the ISO image I burned to my desktop. How do you do that?

[imported_UHF]

I'm doing Matrix 3 in HQ mode. Says about 3.5 hours remaining at 14fps. I will let you know tonight, leaving town, how the video does. Most programs do a good job encoding, but the many I tested had audio/video sync problems after the first hour of so. I'd couldn't detect it within the first 10-20 minutes of a movie. Only after you are half done would the sync be noticable.

[RiPpeR]

I have used both this and DvD Studio... though DvD to PocketPC does an ok job... it is slow since it will decodes the DvD into an intermediate format before finally encoding it to wmv... I can't remember if it is avi or mpg.

DvD Studio will encode it directly to a DivX file... I prefer the DivX format... and like DvD Studio better for encoding DvD's for the PocketPC... it is quicker... and you can adjust the settings to your liking.

BetaPlayer does a good job with the playback.

There are settings to ensure syncing of video and audio in both programs...

[sracer]

Originally posted by RiPpeR
I have used both this and DvD Studio... though DvD to PocketPC does an ok job... it is slow since it will decodes the DvD into an intermediate format before finally encoding it to wmv... I can't remember if it is avi or mpg.

Hmmm, I ran some more tests... same source and ran the first 5 minutes throught DVD to PocketPC and then through my process. It took DVDtoPocketPC virtually the exact same time as it took for me to run the AVI through WME using my process. That tells me that DVDtoPocketPC is (A) NOT encoding to an intermediate format, or (B) is encoding to an intermediate format but encoding it in the same time it takes WME to do it.

[RiPpeR]

All I can tell you this... you can choose to believe it or not. I have encoded several movies using it... and the process stopped after the first part of the process.... I killed it to find a (avi or Mpg), I can't remember which... I then proceeded to use this file to encode it to DivX... (my file of choice) with VirtualDUB...

Otherwise I need for DvD to PocketPC to finish the cycle to give me a wmv file... I am sure that their is a intermediate segment to the process.

[sracer]

Originally posted by RiPpeR
All I can tell you this... you can choose to believe it or not. I have encoded several movies using it... and the process stopped after the first part of the process.... I killed it to find a (avi or Mpg), I can't remember which... I then proceeded to use this file to encode it to DivX... (my file of choice) with VirtualDUB...

Otherwise I need for DvD to PocketPC to finish the cycle to give me a wmv file... I am sure that their is a intermediate segment to the process.

Update: I ran another test... and there is a DVD.mpg file that is created in the C:\. I'm going to check further to see what the parameters are... but considering how quickly it works, I suspect that it is doing a transcoding and NOT a re-encode.

[imported_UHF]

I have just finished doing matrix 3, a 2 hour movie. It makes an intermediate file, mpg. It took 20 minutes to make the mpg, then about 4 hours to make the wmv. This was at 14fps. However, the conversion is PROBABLY dependent on your current PC speed. Mine is a 1.5g P4 with winxp. In low quality, the sync was good and the file was 160 mb. In high quality, the mpg was 1.2GB, but I dont remember the wmv file size. The quality was fine, don't expect perfect videos since you are compressing a 4.5 gig movie to 160mb! Quite watchable though. I'd reccomend the program. It is very simple.
However, the playback was on my pc, not a pda since I'm between pdas right now.

[imported_UHF]

I can send you the movie and you can decide, but its 160mb.

[RiPpeR]

I find that DvD Studio quicker job... it seems to do it in one pass... You have more control of the quality/size of the finished video and BetaPlayer does a nice job of playback.

Just my personal preferences...