Converting DVD to MPEG4 for PS3 - For Free
There are a number of ways to convert DVDs to different file types suitable for playback on the Sony PS3. Having tried several different methods, and different pieces of both commercial and free software, this is the one I have found to be the easiest and most effective.
There is one main piece of software you will need, though this will require three other pieces of support software. I will list all of those here, before detailing the best software settings for converting your DVDs.
I would also recommend that you store your video files on a large external hard drive, as the PS3s internal hard disk will fill up very rapidly if you store them there. I use a Western Digital "My Book" 750gig USB2 drive, which works very well.
You will need:
1. DVD43 . This will bypass the copy protection on your DVDs (which obviously you own, otherwise you would be breaking the law). When you install this, you can set it to run at every bootup, so you can then simply forget about it.
2. .Net framework Version 2.0 . You may already have this. It is required by the conversion software which I will list in a moment. You can simply install this and then forget about it.
3. AC3 Filter . This is required by the conversion software to deal with audio conversion. Again, you can just install this and then forget about it.
4. Handbrake . This is the video conversion software.
Using Handbrake and optimum settings for PS3
1. Ensure that you have DVD43 running.
2. Load/run Handbrake.
3. Insert your DVD into the DVD drive on your PC and then wait a moment while DVD43 disables the copy protection. You'll know when it has done this as the little face icon in your tool tray will turn green.
4. Looking now at Handbrake, completely ignore all of the presets on the right, especially the PS3 preset.
I have found that the PS3 preset defaults to settings that simply don't work on my PS3, such as using H.264 encoding. Now maybe there is something wrong with my PC that is causing this, but since the point of this article is to describe a method that I know *does* work... you get the idea.
5. In the Source section near the top, click the "Browse" button on the right, select your DVD drive, and then select the VIDEO_TS subfolder.
In the Title box, select the longest/largest file... this is usually the first one.
To the right of this, you can select the chapter(s) to encode... by default, they are all selected. If you wish to copy the entire film, leave this setting as it is.
6. In the Destination section, click the "Browse" button, and tell Handbrake where you wish to save your video file.
7. In the Output Settings section, select mpeg 4 in the encoder box, and AAC in the Audio Encoder box.
8. In the lower section, select the Picture Settings tab.
In the Crop box, select No Crop.
In the Size boxes, set Width to 720 and Height to 480. Do not make the mistake I did, and believe that higher settings will make your videos look better. When played back on your PC, they will indeed look great, but they will not play on the PS3 at a higher resolution than this.
Leave the Anamorphic boxes unticked.
Leave Detelecine and VFR unticked.
Tick Deblock.
Set Deinterlace and Denoise to None.
9. Select the Video tab.
In the Advanced Encoding Settings , Tick the 2 Pass Encoding box.
Leave the 64bit MP4 and Grayscale Encoding boxes unticked.
In the Quality section, set AVG Bitrate to 1440. Having set this, you can ignore the Target Size or Constant Quality, unless you have specific settings for these in mind.
Personally, I have found that 1440 gives a decent compromise of quality vs file size, resulting in around 1.3 gig files for a 2 hour movie, without too much blockiness to the picture.
For Framerate, set this to Automatic. Setting a different framerate for your video file, to that of your DVD, can result in the audio being out of sync. (I had this problem when using DIVX Converter, which defaulted to 29fps, when the DVD was 25fps. Very annoying, as I couldn't alter the setting.)
10. Select the Audio and Subtitles tab.
In Audio Tracks, (Track 1) either leave it set to Automatic, or select the first language section that is your language, ie. 1 English (AC3) (5.1 ch) in my case.
Leave Track 2 set as None, as this tends to be directors commentary, and suchlike.
Set Track 1 Mix to whatever setting suits you. I choose stereo, as I assume this will give a more compact file size, and I don't have any fancy audio hardware plugged into my PS3.
In Audio Quality, set 48 and 48. This gives good quality without an insane file size.
Set Dynamic Range Compression to Loud. This will be louder than standard DVD audio, which tends to be stupidly quiet, without causing any noticeable distortion.
In Subtitles, either leave it set to None, or if it is a film that includes some subtitles, such as Lord Of The Rings, when they're speaking Elvish, select your language, and tick Forced Subtitles Only.
Of course, if it's a film in a foreign language, you would then select subtitles in your own language, and leave Forced Subtitles Only unticked.
There it is... that's all you need to know. There are other tabs in that lower section, but I've never found a need for them. Obviously, if they're of interest to you, you could tinker with them... I just can't be bothered to myself.
The Benway Empire |
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