DVD Ripping

well...

hardware wise - any old DVD Rom drive should rip ok

Software wise - Gordian Knot in combo with DVDDecrypter - that way you can also use Robot4Rip to do most of the work for you

check out Doom9 for most of your software needs along with some really good guides

get the Gordian Knot Rip Pack which contains almost all the software you'll need - including dvddecrypter and robot4rip

for codecs - I prefer the K-Lite codec pack over the Gordian Knot Codec Pack

things get a bit trickier if you want selectable subtitles (which you can turn on and off using vobsub - which comes with the gordian knot rip pack)
I prefer using an mkv container file over ogm
so you'll also want mkvtoolnix

I'll post my nasty instructions later - but they don't cover Robot4rip - they are more manual - so I might do a re-write first - have a good read at Doom 9 - it's well worth the time

ok - here are my nasty instructions (without a re-write) - be warned they assume mindless operation
I have tested them on several different anime dvd's and had no problems

these instructions are based on creating an mkv from an episode on dvd where the episode is a single title

### Software Required ###

DVDDecrypter 3210 or later
Gordian Knot 28.8 or later
Mkvtoolnix 1.0 or later
Klite Full Codec Pack 2.35 or later

rip dvd to hdd using dvddecrypter - file mode (knowledge assumed sorry)

run guadian knot

click on DVD2AVI

press F3 and select appropriate Vob - it shoul auto select the rest in that series
add as necessary

press F5 and let run for a bit then press ESC
note the aspect ratio and video type / framerate

press F4 and give name - Save
(this may take some time)

close dvd2avi window

now to encode the audio - if you want to use mp3 instead of ac3

select encoder tab

1 click - add job
2 click select and pick the ac3 stream you wish to encode to mp3
3 set to CBR
4 deselect final mux
5 press add audio encode to queue
6 press NO to encode now
repeat 1-6 for any other audio streams
press start encoding

### Subtitles ###
now lets extract the subtitles

select the subtitles tab
press the configure button
press open
drop down the files of type and select ifo's and vobs
select the ifo to match the vob you selected earlier
browse and create a suitable folder
it shold hopefully auto pick the subtitles - press OK
this may take some time
press ok when ready then tweak if you dare - possibly shorten fade in/out timings and transparency
press ok

### Video ###
now lets compress the video

select bitrate tab
set codec to XviD
under interleaving and AVI-overhead
set audio as appropriate - eg 2x ac3/cbr p3
tick calculate frame-overhead
adjust filesize to suit -eg - 250MB - it will auto adjust the KB field
select the audo sources you encoded earlier (or the ac3 files)

press open in bottom left corner and select the .d2v file you saved earlier using dvd2avi
select view - resized
select resolution tab in gordian
ensure that type (pal/ntsc) and aspect ratio match thosenoted earlier
press auto crop
you can adjust resolution to suit using slider bar - 640*480 is typical
in the frame window press save&encode
to hard encode subtitles into picture press select vobsub files and choose the *.idx in the folder you created earlier
otherwise leave blank - adjust nothing else for now
press save&encode
then save

ensure all audio procesing is disabled
select xvid tab
press first pass then ok
press second pass then ok
press add job to encoding que
press YES to start
this WILL take some time

### Muxing ###
run mkvtoolnix - mkvmerge gui
add all the streams - video, audio, subtitles
label audio languages and subs
set an audio stream to default track
when ready - start muxing
Done


hope these help...

good luck - feel free to give me feedback so I can improve them...

I thought Nero version express2 did all the ripping for ya?

I just say -waiting for Sensei Pyrana's comment- :

LOL

Pika-Boo

Well done Fysh!

Instead of being that sweet-eyed Ayumi u could post some more suggestions about Ripping, in case u have some
Btw i found the point about the problem with subs...i can finally encode (or not) them, and i guess i could use the mkvtoolnix quiet fine to mux all the stuff but what i wanted wasnt a double audio track, but a double SUBTITLE which is not possible to mux in any case, with any software...so the switchable sub was referrin to just one language, wasnt it?
I definetly hate the other italians always bothering when they say "i want it with italian subs".
Jeez, dont they think it's time to learn English?

mkv is the container thats most like a dvd, multiple sub streams and multiple audio streams ARE possible. how, now thats a different story, i hope to rip Fist of The North Star rather soon, but that will be basic 2 audio streams, jap and eng, plus the eng subs. the zX rip of the new platinum Editions of Neon Genesis Evangelion have 2 audio streams and 3 subs streams, so i guess anything is possible