User info: Table of conversion speeds (incomplete, no CUDA)

[DiskJunky]

Hi all, I just wanted to post my experiences to date of gettign the most from the software with my not having an NVidia card to help speed things along. I want to post an (incomplete) table of figures for a small few file types that I've tried to convert from. Some of the convrsions take quite some time so it's hard to do meaningful experimentation. I hope others will post here with their tests.

To start, I have a mid-range PC with an ageing dual-core Xeon processor. I have already ripped a direct copy of a dvd onto my hard drive - recommended for anyone with a quad-core or better as the separate threads fight for access to the dvd drive otherwise. The conversions were done on the ripped copy already on disk.

For anyone wanting to know how to rip a dvd, I'd recommend SlySoft's AnyDvd (trial) which produces an ISO. As of writing (v1.0.26), unfortunately, Video Converter cannot open an ISO directly but you can use SlySoft's (freeware) CloneDrive to emulate a DVD drive from the generated ISO. Video Converter works fine from that.

The list is broken down as; "File Format", "Speed to convert relative to play speed (high bad, low good)", "Size relative to raw DVD format (high bad, low good)"

MKV - OggVorbis, 400%, 35%
MKV - DivX, 48%, 43%
MKV - Remux, 40%, 100%

If people can post their own conversion experiences, I'll try to keep the list here up to date for anyone looking for the "best" converter for archiving

[Cougar_II]

As of writing (v1.0.26), unfortunately, Video Converter cannot open an ISO directly but you can use SlySoft's (freeware) CloneDrive to emulate a DVD drive from the generated ISO. Video Converter works fine from that.

Well well, that is a great idea !

To have Converter be able to open .ISO files, I have tons of DVDs in .ISO format...

Let me pass off this idea to the VSO Developpers and see if they will implement this in the future...

[DiskJunky]

@Cougar, I can't tell if that's sarcasm, but the reason I mentioned using CloneDrive to emulate the ISO is because Video Converter crashes with a memory exception when I try to open one directly.

As for generating the ISOs, there is legitimate reason for creating them, namely to prevent several threads fighting for access directly to the dvd. A hard disk can react much more quickly than a cd drive after all.

As for converting to ISO at all...because it's probably the most common dvd/cd format and the easiest to find a program to convert to. Lowest common denominator and all that. Are there better solutions? Absolutely. For a beginner? Probably not without paying for something.

To all: this thread is meant to help those who are looking so feel free to post helpful info, tips or tools you've used to help you along - it can only help!

[Cougar_II]

Hello,

Sarcasm ? Not at all ...

I have tons of DVD in .ISO format and if I wish to convert them to my iPad I would need to mount the .ISO (I use Daemon Tools).

Having the ability to open the .ISO directly was a great idea (So I think...)

Let's see if VSO agrees and adds this feature in the future...