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Best "all-in-one" DVD to AVI tool?
[Introduction turned to be bit long, try to bear with me or skip to the bottom..]
I remember that when I first heard an MP3, around '97 IIRC, I wasn't really impressed since the sound quality was rather poor. However, I had a slight suspection that MP3 could be something in the future, so I started to do some research. I encoded my own MP3s (with a 150MHz Pentium - it took a while!), downloaded some from the 'Net (hmm, can't recall where, I guess audiogalaxy was not yet there?). Anyway, one MP3 would be encoded so that I barely could hear it, other so loud that I had to adjust volume down, third would just sound poor and contain buzz. Clearly, the technology was just evolving. Finally, for a past few years, almost all MP3s found from the 'Net are of high and steady quality and encoding tools are easy to use: start the program, insert your audio CD, hit the button and voilá, you'll always have a dozen high-quality MP3 (or OGG or WMA) files on your hard disk ready for your listening enjoyment. One tool for encoding (for me it's "Easy CD Ripper") and one for listening ("Winamp" is my choice).
When I first heard about MPEG4 and DivX (around '00), I, like many many others, realized that it could possibly be "the MP3 of video" and really wanted to check what was going on. But, alas, the situation closely resembled me what had been going on in the MP3 world a couple of years earlier - DivX files were not very high quality, there were ten low grade files for each high quality ones, the tools were awkward to use, etc. I concluded that it will take a couple of years for the encoders and tools to mature. And yes, it truly has happened, sometimes I'm having a hard time to differentiate the original DVD from a DivX rip made out of it. Encoders seem to be in great shape, but sadly the tools are maybe still needing some final polishing.
Now, finally to my question.. What's _the_ "all-in-one" tool for creating AVI (DivX/Xvid) files from your DVD? Is there one? A tool which would only require me to insert my DVD, select the correct video track (and possible subtitles) and that's it, the tool would always produce high quality AVI files. In MP3 world this is nothing especial anymore. Should I still wait a year two before I can expect same from video tools or have I simply missed some celebrated, easy-to-use, all-in-one tool? No need to use one tool for ripping the VOB files to HDD, one to do something else, etc. Just "hit the button" and there you'll have, always high quality AVI.
I've browsed thru divx-digest and other places and I haven't found a clear answer. I've found excellent guides howto create an AVI file by using a half a dozen tools. And when I've tested those, the quality hasn't met my high expectations (somebody knows how to do it right, I've found many excellent AVIs from the 'Net). With modern MP3 rippers, they do it right all the time. Yes, I understand that video is much harder problem than audio, but I'm optimistic and believe that one day we'll have a all-in-one tool. I'm just wondering, are we there yet?
I remember that when I first heard an MP3, around '97 IIRC, I wasn't really impressed since the sound quality was rather poor. However, I had a slight suspection that MP3 could be something in the future, so I started to do some research. I encoded my own MP3s (with a 150MHz Pentium - it took a while!), downloaded some from the 'Net (hmm, can't recall where, I guess audiogalaxy was not yet there?). Anyway, one MP3 would be encoded so that I barely could hear it, other so loud that I had to adjust volume down, third would just sound poor and contain buzz. Clearly, the technology was just evolving. Finally, for a past few years, almost all MP3s found from the 'Net are of high and steady quality and encoding tools are easy to use: start the program, insert your audio CD, hit the button and voilá, you'll always have a dozen high-quality MP3 (or OGG or WMA) files on your hard disk ready for your listening enjoyment. One tool for encoding (for me it's "Easy CD Ripper") and one for listening ("Winamp" is my choice).
When I first heard about MPEG4 and DivX (around '00), I, like many many others, realized that it could possibly be "the MP3 of video" and really wanted to check what was going on. But, alas, the situation closely resembled me what had been going on in the MP3 world a couple of years earlier - DivX files were not very high quality, there were ten low grade files for each high quality ones, the tools were awkward to use, etc. I concluded that it will take a couple of years for the encoders and tools to mature. And yes, it truly has happened, sometimes I'm having a hard time to differentiate the original DVD from a DivX rip made out of it. Encoders seem to be in great shape, but sadly the tools are maybe still needing some final polishing.
Now, finally to my question.. What's _the_ "all-in-one" tool for creating AVI (DivX/Xvid) files from your DVD? Is there one? A tool which would only require me to insert my DVD, select the correct video track (and possible subtitles) and that's it, the tool would always produce high quality AVI files. In MP3 world this is nothing especial anymore. Should I still wait a year two before I can expect same from video tools or have I simply missed some celebrated, easy-to-use, all-in-one tool? No need to use one tool for ripping the VOB files to HDD, one to do something else, etc. Just "hit the button" and there you'll have, always high quality AVI.
I've browsed thru divx-digest and other places and I haven't found a clear answer. I've found excellent guides howto create an AVI file by using a half a dozen tools. And when I've tested those, the quality hasn't met my high expectations (somebody knows how to do it right, I've found many excellent AVIs from the 'Net). With modern MP3 rippers, they do it right all the time. Yes, I understand that video is much harder problem than audio, but I'm optimistic and believe that one day we'll have a all-in-one tool. I'm just wondering, are we there yet?
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