Need Help Digitizing a large DVD Library

[Mad Man 666]

I have a large DVD Library of over 400 DVDs that I am wanting to digitize and put on my home server.(these are all store bought)

I am wanting to rip all the DVDs at their native resolution and store them on my home server which is in turn connected to all my TVs in my house. My plan is to basically make my own "Movie On Demand". I have a program called "Movie Collector" that lets me catalog and keep track of my movies. This application has a MCE that works with Windows Media Center that lets me link the catalog to movie files that I can call up from Media Center.

I know this will take up a large amount of space and I already have 3x 1TB drives in a Raid3 configuration to optimize performance and redundancy. So if for some reason a drive fails while I am watching a movie it is not interrupted and no data lose.

Where I need the help is in the encoding I have never messed with ripping a DVD before so im not sure of the best application for this. It does not have to be Newbie friendly just the best.

So far the best codec I can find to use that Windows 7 Media Center and view with out plugins or mods(not sure if they will work with the MCE I an using) is Divx.

Because of the large amount of space these files will be taking up I am wanting to compress the files as much as possible with out seeing any pixelization.

Thanks


Added:
Also if you know of a better codec then Divx that the Windows 7 Media Center can read with out plugins or mods please let me know

[UncasMS]

I'd create an MKV file as you could use x264 + aac as video and audioformat, which are way better than dixv/xvid + mp3

"Handbrake" may be worth a closer look for this task

[Mad Man 666]

Ill give that a try.

Does Media Center support MKV?


Added: it might be because of it still being a beta but out of 20 DVDs it only finds 2 of them and with both of those it locks up before they are at 50% encoded

[Budreaux]

I've been converting my 1200+ DVD collection to MP4 using FairUse Wizard 2.
I create 1.5 to 2gb files and I do exactly what you are setting your media center up to do already.
I love the setup, only difference is I'm using mine on Vista, not Windows 7.
I use metabrowser, instead of Movie Collector, along with MediaBrowser in Media Center.
Here's a link to a forum explaining the setup.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/938625-mediabrowser-running-customised-vmc.html

The results are wonderful and the hard drive space requirements are much smaller.