MKV to MP4 increasing size A LOT !!

[cdgm]

With the sidenote to that that VLC displays the bitrate at that moment in the file. Many files are encoded with variable bitrate that scales with the required storage to maintain the same level of quality. Meaning a title screen, talking head or a slow moving image will then drastically drop the bitrate during that sequence. Likewise a hectic scene, especially with fuzziness like fog or smoke, the bitrate can peak tremendously. Both cases potentially giving an incorrect impression.

With a tool like MediaInfo that I recommended earlier you can also see the average bitrate with regard to the entire file and if it’s using either constant or variable bitrate.

Yes I noticed in the past that the stats jump all over when the video is playing but I never understood why. I always thought the numbers should be static.

[Lord Reith]

53gb is for something shot in true HD with hirez audio, like a Peter Jackson epic. There's no reason why an audience recording should be that big.

For dvd files the best way to downsize them is still DVD Shrink, which transcodes only the frames with a higher bitrate meaning it doesn't take nearly as long as a full re-encode. I don't know if there's an equivalent for blurays though. Any blurays I've bought I just turn them into separate mkv files with MakeMKV, throwing away the pointless foreign languages and commentaries and alternate audio formats and extras. That usually leads to a substantial reduction in size.

[Egg Man John]

I don't know if this is the right topic to ask this, but...
I want to start ripping movies from my DVDs and converting them to MP4 so I can edit them and watch them whenever I want.
Can anyone help me by giving me a tip on how I can do this, and which program to use, please?
Thanks in advance.

[GP10Ellison]

I don't know if this is the right topic to ask this, but...
I want to start ripping movies from my DVDs and converting them to MP4 so I can edit them and watch them whenever I want.
Can anyone help me by giving me a tip on how I can do this, and which program to use, please?
Thanks in advance.

I use MakeMKV but have also used handbrake in the past.
MakeMKV basically remuxes the contents into MKV files. No encoding done.
You can deselect files, audio languages, and subtitles etc. I tend to rip with a list from a site online that shows the contents of my disc (review, release page, bluray.com page, etc.) so I can compare the time/length to make sure I get all the right files off the discs.
pretty much load the program, insert dvd, rip disc to folder. you will have to rename the files or use something like filebot to get them named properly for personal use.

Handbrake has more of a learning curve and can be tweaked to be specific in how you rip/encode things.
You can chose to passthrough audio or re-encode to your preferred audio codec.
You can crop the image, change the resolution, etc. etc.
There are a lot of presets built in so newbies can get going fast. although handbrake does have issues with discs from time to time.
Not all DVDs are encoded the same way, so it can only work with what it was programmed to work with.
As an example, I ripped the Dark Shadows DVD set for my plex and handbrake had issues with several of the discs where the video was just a mess.
Found a workaround for that and other issues outside of handbrake.

If it were me starting out again I'd start with makemkv. it can rip blu-ray, DVD, and UHD if your drive can read them.

[Egg Man John]

I don't know if this is the right topic to ask this, but...
I want to start ripping movies from my DVDs and converting them to MP4 so I can edit them and watch them whenever I want.
Can anyone help me by giving me a tip on how I can do this, and which program to use, please?
Thanks in advance.

I use MakeMKV but have also used handbrake in the past.
MakeMKV basically remuxes the contents into MKV files. No encoding done.
You can deselect files, audio languages, and subtitles etc. I tend to rip with a list from a site online that shows the contents of my disc (review, release page, bluray.com page, etc.) so I can compare the time/length to make sure I get all the right files off the discs.
pretty much load the program, insert dvd, rip disc to folder. you will have to rename the files or use something like filebot to get them named properly for personal use.

Handbrake has more of a learning curve and can be tweaked to be specific in how you rip/encode things.
You can chose to passthrough audio or re-encode to your preferred audio codec.
You can crop the image, change the resolution, etc. etc.
There are a lot of presets built in so newbies can get going fast. although handbrake does have issues with discs from time to time.
Not all DVDs are encoded the same way, so it can only work with what it was programmed to work with.
As an example, I ripped the Dark Shadows DVD set for my plex and handbrake had issues with several of the discs where the video was just a mess.
Found a workaround for that and other issues outside of handbrake.

If it were me starting out again I'd start with makemkv. it can rip blu-ray, DVD, and UHD if your drive can read them.

Hello GP10Ellison,
Thank you very much for the tips you gave me, they will help me a lot.

[Lord Reith]

This is my guide to doing exactly what you ask, without any re-encoding:

viewtopic.php?p=3938&hilit=xmedia+recode#p3938

[Egg Man John]

This is my guide to doing exactly what you ask, without any re-encoding:

viewtopic.php?p=3938&hilit=xmedia+recode#p3938

Thank you very much Lord Reith, this will also help me a lot, it will be very useful.

[Lord Reith]

I never watch dvds. Menus are a pet hate of mine. It's much nicer to have everything as separate mkvs.