* To Clarify *

[dw817]

What MakeMKV is (to clear up future concerns and complaints for new users)


It takes a DVD (and they are all stored in an MPEG-2 format) and saves it DIRECTLY to MKV, losing no single pixel whatsoever as the MKV format is a direct copy of the MPEG-2 video, verbatim. Thus it is a =VERY= fast conversion.

What it CANNOT do:

. Compress audio
. Compress video

Thus, IMHO you gain nothing by it's conversion, especially if you already have the DVD on your HD.
You are still going to have a 3GB movie when you are done, MKV or not. Very little savings in space.

I await the day when this program can convert to MPEG-4 with optional compression to audio, video, resize screen, frame-rate, volume control, range (choose begin & end of video), and Task List, where you can stack multiple tasks and DVDs to work on overnight.

dw817

[firionicable]

I think most of us already know that, but thanks still for bringing it up to all our attention. Newbies should read this.

[lpcmissues]

When I copy my movies I remove the special features and all subtitles (except for films like Kill Bill that have foreign speech) as well as all audio with the exception of English (usually use DTS on DVDs when available)

I end up with a decent sized file thats the same quality as my DVD, I have no complaints and enough space to store all my movies.

Only two issues I've encountered with MakeMKV is LPCM doesn't play back (which I believe is actually the MKV container, not MakeMKVs fault) and certain PAL dvds have a weird issue with aspect ratio (I found a fix for that so it's all good)

[BlackDragon24]

What MakeMKV is (to clear up future concerns and complaints for new users)


It takes a DVD (and they are all stored in an MPEG-2 format) and saves it DIRECTLY to MKV, losing no single pixel whatsoever as the MKV format is a direct copy of the MPEG-2 video, verbatim. Thus it is a =VERY= fast conversion.

What it CANNOT do:

. Compress audio
. Compress video

Thus, IMHO you gain nothing by it's conversion, especially if you already have the DVD on your HD.
You are still going to have a 3GB movie when you are done, MKV or not. Very little savings in space.

I await the day when this program can convert to MPEG-4 with optional compression to audio, video, resize screen, frame-rate, volume control, range (choose begin & end of video), and Task List, where you can stack multiple tasks and DVDs to work on overnight.

dw817

Fair enough, but I don't think Makemkv was ever intended to be any of those things.

It's a way to get decrypted movie/audio files from encrypted media onto your PC. And it does a damn good job of it. I haven't tried the streaming features so I can't comment on those.

[robpdotcom]

Thus, IMHO you gain nothing by it's conversion, especially if you already have the DVD on your HD.

Personally, I much prefer having my movies in a single file that I only have to click to play.

You are still going to have a 3GB movie when you are done, MKV or not. Very little savings in space.

That depends on the movie. If there are a lot of special features and extra tracks you don't care to keep (director's commentary, for example), then you can save a significant amount of space. I've eliminated a few GB's from DVD's before, and special features/extra tracks on BluRay discs can take up much more space. On many BluRay discs, you can save several GB's just by omitting extra languages.

[dw817]

RobPDot:

* Well, you can save your DVDs in a directory. To play them in any media player, just select the VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO file, play that and it plays just like a normal DVD, complete with previews and menus and stuff.

Regarding compression, well, granted, if you use DVDShrink you can make a smaller DVD thattaways, but the audio ? I'm quite content with 22050hz at 32kbps on my main speakers, and that's a far cry from the default 448kbps encoded on the DVD.

What I really like is MPEG-4 video, dual-pass, set at 256kbps, 512x384 pixels, original frame-rate, audio at 32kbps, 22050hz, mono. I can get this with a different commercial utility, but MAN is it slow !

Just so you know, DVD videos are saved at the average of 3300kbps ! And at 720x480 pixels, 448kbps audio for the 5.1.


lpcmissues:

* Yeah, but I'd still like a shot at compressing that audio. The treble and bass are not so important to me. It's the verbal dialogue and music in movies and I want to be able to hear that clearly. 22050hz is just fine for that.

Regarding the inability of the MKV to play correctly, I would definitely address the author on this.


firionicable:

* Yep ! MakeMKV converts very quickly and I think this will explain why. I also know there is a spot in the program for 'registration,' however, with the other Freeware already out there to do deeper and more complex conversions, I don't know if this such a great move by the author and he may lose an audience if it's enforced.

[paulster]

however, with the other Freeware already out there to do deeper and more complex conversions, I don't know if this such a great move by the author and he may lose an audience if it's enforced.

The 'deeper and more complex' conversions all compromise the original source material in one way or another. Whilst you personally may not see or hear the difference, or indeed care, I want all of my DVDs, HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays to be stored in a format where there is absolutely no additional loss whatsoever. The formats are lossy enough in the first place without making them even worse by degrading them further.

That is the whole point of MakeMKV.

If you want smaller files, bandwidth-limited audio and suchlike then you are really using the wrong product and it sounds like Handbrake would be a much better fit for your particular needs.

[Romansh]

256 Kbps video and 32 Kbps audio? And when you upgrade to Blu-ray, you'll convert them to Youtube quality?

[Chetwood]

Funny, Bluray is only mentioned so late in this thread cause this is THE reason to use MakeMKV (why make MKVs of DVDs when you have ISOs?).

Just so you know, DVD videos are saved at the average of 3300kbps ! And at 720x480 pixels, 448kbps audio for the 5.1.

Just so you know, PAL ist 720x576 and before the studios deliberately worsened DVD quality to sell more Blu-Rays the average quality was higher than your number.