DVD to DivX (Xvid) Conversion Guide

• Microsoft Media Player - 6.4 is preferred over version 7.0 - needed for playing back DivX/XviD movies
• MP3 Codec - for audio compression
• Download and install one of the following codecs, depending on which one you want :
  
  

  Codec :	Pros :	Cons :
  DivX 3.11 Alpha + Scene Detect Patch	Good quality/file size Can exist along with DivX 4.x/5.x	Not open-source Not 100% legal No 2-pass encoding
  DivX 4.x	Completely legal Good quality	Not open-source File size may be issue No longer supported by DivX.com Can't exist along with DivX 5.x
  DivX Pro 5.x	Completely legal Good quality/file size Supports advanced MPEG-4 features such as B-Frames, Qpel, GMC	Not open-source Can't exist along with DivX 4.x
  DivX Pro 6.x	Completely legal Good quality/file size Supports advanced MPEG-4 features such as B-Frames, Qpel, GMC Advanced interactive features such as multiple audio, subtitles Same principles and technology as DivX 5, so a smooth upgrade path	Not open-source Advanced interactive features requires special player
  XviD	Completely legal and open-source Supports advanced MPEG-4 features such as B-Frames, Qpel, GMC Good quality/file size Allows you to set the final file size of the movie, as opposed to just a bitrate	Still under development Not as well known as DivX

1. Copying - Unencrypted DVDs should be copied to your hard-drive, and then converted from there. This is because the time it takes to convert a DVD may range from 3-5 hours to over 10 hours, and trust me, you do not want to have your DVD-ROM drive constantly accessed for 10 hours :)
   
   
2. Parsing - The next step involves reading the DVD files, or otherwise known as parsing. Basically, the conversion tool has to know how to "playback" the DVD file, before it can convert it. The information required to parse a DVD is stored in the .ifo files on the DVD. Things such as multiple subtitles, languages and angles, are all stored in these .ifo files, so it is important that you have copied them in the previous step.
   
   
3. Conversion tool setup - This is where you setup things like cropping (removing the black bars in a widescreen DVD movie, so that they are not converted along with the picture - these black bars will be put back automatically when you playback a widescreen AVI/DivX/XviD file), audio normalization (eg. to increase volume) and output file location.
   
   
4. Codec setup (first pass) - This is where you setup the actual settings for the codec (and any audio codec settings that may be needed), which determines the final quality of the movie. Note that some conversion tools integrate this step with the previous one (Conversion tool setup). If you want to use 2-pass encoding, here is where you setup the first pass settings.
   
   
5. Waiting - This is the most boring part of the whole process - you'll now have to wait for DVD to be converted. This could be 2-3 hours, or 10-20 hours, depending on your system specs. If you chose 2-pass encoding, the first pass will be encoded right here.
   
   
6. Optional - Codec setup (second pass) - If you want to use 2-pass encoding, here is where you setup the second pass settings.
   
   
7. Optional - Waiting - If you chose 2-pass encoding, the second pass will be encoded right here.
   
   
8. Post Processing - Depending on which conversion tool you use, there may be some things that you will need to do before that AVI file is perfect. Things like increasing audio volume, adding AVI tags, fixing audio synch problems are done here, although most are purely optional.
   
   

One pass encoding :

1. Open the DVD in your conversion tool
2. Setup the conversion tool
3. Setup the video and any other codecs
4. Wait for encoding
5. Post processing on the AVI file

Two pass encoding :

1. Open the DVD in your conversion tool
2. Setup the conversion tool
3. Setup the video codec for first pass
4. Wait for first pass encoding
5. Setup the video codec for second pass and any audio codecs
6. Wait for second pass encoding
7. Post processing on the AVI file