I use DVDFab to rip my DVD movies for Plex. I’ve been happily using version 8 (with a custom profile) for many years and the video size is relatively small (usually under 2GB) while the image quality has been great for 480p …even on a large screen. It is encoded as MPEG4 in a AVI container.
DVDFab recently came out with a new version 10 and I wanted to see how it compared to my “rusted-but-trusted” method above. I ripped a movie with customized settings that match the other profile as close as I could and the image quality is also great, but it took longer to encode. The new version is encoded as H264 in a MP4 container.
My question is this… while ripping from the same source, the MP4 file comes out about 3 times larger than the AVI for what appears to be the same image quality when played side-by-side. Is there a cause for this discrepancy? Is there a compelling reason to use one over the other?
DVDFab is good for ripping but terrible at encoding. This is because it gives you no real control, specially when it come to compression. I would suggest using Handbrake to do the encoding. A 480p DVD H264 encode should only be between 400mb and 700mb, 1080p BD would be around 1g to 1.5g. There are a lot of good tutorials for Handbrake. If you want more specific info PM me.
Have to say that encoding in h264 as mp4 or mkv almost 100% of the time gives me a smaller file size with equal or better quality (to my eyes) than MPEG4/AVI .
I know nothing about DVDFab, but I would try a different encoder. My Blu-Ray rips are at least twice to three times the size the previous poster reported, and DVD’s end up around 1 GB , but that all depends on the settings you use.
To be honest, everyone seems to have their own magical settings they swear are the best, so I would probably start with default and tweak slowly until you find your own “best setting”
On Handbrake’s video tab, the slider beside h264 preset determines the compression (slower encode=smaller file size) And if you don’t need fancy 7.1 a lower audio bitrate will also decrease file size.
An example: I encoded my DVD copy of Silver Bullet as a x264/MP4 with audio bitrate of 96kbs, it’s file size is 503mb, side by side with original on several different screens show no noticeable difference. The encode took about 3hrs to do.
And yes play around with Handbrake’s settings, do some test encodes. Took me a while to get the settings where I liked them.
