Alright, I’ve finally found some free time and have started the spiral down towards making this guide.  There are a few things you’re going to need, and a few things that you should probably install.  I will spell out exactly what I use and what each program is for so that there isn’t too much confusion in the whole process.  The purpose of this guide is not to be easy.  Its purpose is to be accurate, easy to follow somewhat, and give a very good product.

This guide is not for the weak of heart.  I mention this because the second guide coming out later will be much easier and still get something good as the end result.  Many of the steps that are necessary to completely navigate this guide are done manually so beware!

Now for the disclaimer:

This guide is not to be used for the reproduction of videos and movies for distribution via P2P or other networks via the internet.  Also, if it is illegal in your country to follow the steps in this guide the immediately stop using it.  The purpose of this guide is to demonstrate how to backup DVDs that you currently own.

Now, down the path we go…

Here are a list of programs that you will need to follow along:

1. Microsoft Windows
2. Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0
3. MeGUI – “MeGUI is a video conversion application, which was primarily designed to be a DVD ripper, but is capable of all transcoding. It is essentially a frontend for many free tools, but also includes a number of utilities to enhance the conversion process. MeGUI is a free program which has many ties with doom9.org“
4. AviSynth 2.5 – “AviSynth is a powerful tool for video post-production. It provides ways of editing and processing videos. AviSynth works as a frameserver, providing instant editing without the need for temporary files.”
5. BeLight 0.22 RC1 – A great front-end for BeSweet that makes converting audio from one format to another so very much easier.  Also, when teamed up with a good HE-AAC codec, it means ‘great’.
6. DVD Decrypter – Unfortunately, I cannot post the link for this great program due to the fact that I would surely go to Hell or some other Very Bad Place(tm).  It is rumored that this program can decrypt DVDs and place sections of them on the hard drive to have your way with.
7. Matroska Muxer Tools (mkvtoolnix) – I am a big fan of this format.  I don’t have problems playing the videos in the Matroska container, and they do everything I need them to.  If you are looking to play these videos on your iPod, it will have to be redone and (to be honest) it would be easier just to skip this guide and run with HandBrake.

Now, install the .NET Framework first.  If you already have it on your system, then you can skip this step.  The download is approximately 20MB in size, and on a decent internet connection shouldn’t take too long to get off the intarweb.

Then, install AviSynth 2.5.  This should be pretty straight forward.

Now, install MeGUI.  This is also pretty straight forward.  The not-quite-as-straight forward part is updating MeGUI which downloads the rest of the software needed to use the program.

• If your operating system is Microsoft Windows XP, then simply run MeGUI and have it run its updates.  Make sure to grab all of the profiles when the pop-up boxes display themselves.
• If you’re stuck with Vista, then there is an additional step.  You need to run MeGUI as an Administrator!  If you don’t, the updates WILL NOT RUN and you will not be able to follow this guide or actually use MeGUI!  Once you have run MeGUI as an Administrator, then perform the updates that it asks for.  Also, again, be sure to grab all the profiles when the pop-up boxes display themselves.

Install BeLight.  Then open up the NeroDigital file that you downloaded and drop those files in the BeLight folder under Program Files on your hard drive.

Install DVD Decrypter.  It’s very straight forward.  I would suggest, however, not having it check online for updates due to the fact that it is not in production anymore and checking on the internet is merely a waste of time.

Install mkvtoolnix.

Okay, now everything should be working.  The process that we are going to use is simple, and it’s something that you need to know before we get into the gut of things.

1. Rip the video from the DVD. (DVD Decrypter)
2. Demux the video file into elementary streams. (DGIndex which is part of MeGUI)
3. Transcode the audio. (BeLight)
4. Transcode the video. (MeGUI with help of AviSynth)
5. Mux the audio and video together in a container. (mkvtoolnix)
6. Watch the video (I always recommend VLC player, but each their own.)

STEP 1. Rip The Video From The DVD

DVD Decrypter usually starts in “File” mode.  What you will need to do is go to the Mode menu and select IFO.  This should give you a menu that looks very similar to the image above this.

Now, under VTS_01 there are many PGCs listed.  These are program chains.  Each one is a logical progression of video and we are here to use that information to our advantage.  This DVD came from a season of television episodes which means we are looking for chains of around 23-24 minutes in length.  These are the individual episodes.  In the image, you will also notice one very long chain.  This is the “PLAY ALL” chain that allows you to watch all the episodes without having to select each one.  If you want one really loooong video with all the episodes on it, click on that one.  Otherwise, we’ll do the first episode on the list.

Notice: 30 minute television episodes usually come in around 21-24 minutes.  60 minute episodes usually come in around 43 minutes each.  Movies are usually much bigger unless their “Rambo”.

Once you have selected your program chain, lets pick a destination.  Click on the little folder icon in the destination box.  Place it on a drive that has atleast 10GB of space (for television episodes).  I have a spare 250GB hard drive used solely for the purpose of encoding video, but to each their own.  You could still use this program with less than 10GB of space for TV episodes, but things tend to slow down.

Now, click on the DVD to Hard Drive icon.  This should start the process and could take some time depending on the speed of your DVD drive, your computer, and the amount of bad karma you have accrued over the years.

STEP 2.  Demux The Video File Into Elementary Streams.

Okay, we now have a TV episode/movie on the hard drive waiting to be seperated into various elementary streams (audio/video/etc).  Now, we will have to use a program that comes with MeGUI, but we will run it by itself.  Go to My Computer -> C: -> Program Files -> megui -> tools -> dgIndex and Alt + Drag the DGIndex icon onto the desktop.

Now, simply double-click the shortcut for DGIndex and let’s get started.

DGIndex is the program that quickly and efficiently demultiplexes or disassembles the video file into audio and video streams.  It also tells you some information about the video you are demuxing.

Click on File -> Open and find the video file you created when you decrypted it in DVD Decrypter.  It should be something like VTS_01_1.VOB.  Remember, it may not be exactly the same.

Now, before we demux this file, lets have DGIndex take a look at the video file and give us some information about it that we can use later.  Click on File -> Preview and it will open up your video and a seperate window giving you all kinds of goodness about your video.  It should look like this:

My video is NTSC, plays at 29.97 frames per second, and is interlaced with the top field being first.  It also has one ausio track which is an AC3 stereo track at 192kbps.  The resolution of the video file is 720×480.  It also believes that the aspect ratio is 4:3 (SDTV).  This information will be of some use later on so write it down!

Now, click on File -> Stop, then we are going to double check some settings.  Click on Audio -> Output Method -> Demux All Tracks.  This will mean that if there is any extra audio tracks you’d like to add other than the default one, we can get them all in one fell swoop.

After you have verified this, then click on File -> Save Project.  This will open up a window for you to save your .d2v project file to.  Pick a suitable name, and click on Save.  DGIndex will now go through the VOB file and demux it.  It shouldn’t take too much time.  You should now have a few files in your directory and look something like mine.

Right now we have everything layed out to properly start work on encoding.  Next week I will start back in and show you how to encode the audio and video along with putting it back together so that you have a somewhat smaller file with very, very good audio and video quality.

Next week: Encoding the audio and video, and putting it back together.