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k33k00 · 2011-09-27, 20:07

What do you guys prefer and why?

would i get better quality from an ISO (direct rip of a DVD) or say a recording converted to AVi?

also what happens with the scrapers if its a tv show, as a tv show season 1 would pottentially be like 3 discs?

Thanks for your opinions in advance

**Starstream** · 2011-09-27, 20:39

Well an ISO image is the original media so that's the best quality you can get.

AVI is a container but I presume you mean converting the video into XviD, that will cause a hit to the image quality as you are compressing the video stream.

x264 is much better at retaining image quality than XviD but takes longer to encode and many do not see much of a difference between the x264 version and the original media at the right settings of course.

But if you have the space and don't care for menus/extras (ISO) then just use MakeMKV on the movie or TV show DVD, this will extract the video stream to a single MKV file with no conversion of original codecs as MKV is a universal container so it can hold almost any combo of video/audio.

It's particularly useful on TV show DVD's as the episodes get spit out as a single MKV file which makes it a lot easier for XBMC to identify once properly named. Filebot and TheRenamer are tools which can automate the renaming of media based on partial names or folders.

k33k00 · 2011-09-27, 21:35

cheers i'll give that mkv stuff a shot

Eyefro69 · 2011-09-27, 22:03

I agree... MKV's are the best format to shoot for. TheRenamer is a great lite piece of software to clean up your collection.

The_Dogg · 2011-09-28, 17:22

avi (xvid) for SD files

mkv (x264) for HD files

I wouldn't touch an ISO file for video even with your hands Tongue

**DJVege** · 2011-09-29, 03:05

The_Dogg Wrote:avi (xvid) for SD files

mkv (x264) for HD files

+1

I don't want DVD/Bluray menus, so the above is perfect for me.

**gabbott** · 2011-09-29, 03:08

The_Dogg Wrote:avi (xvid) for SD files

mkv (x264) for HD files

I wouldn't touch an ISO file for video even with your hands

Why use the avi container for SD files? mkv can be used for xvid files and is a more modern container.

**DJVege** · 2011-09-29, 03:34

I use both. A lot of rips are still in AVI for tv eps if it's less than 720p. If I get the 720p tv ep, then it's usually an mkv.

bluray · (This post was last modified: 2011-09-29, 18:44 by bluray.)

+1 for iso because if you want to preserve the entire bd contents with the original quality, there is nothing better than iso.

ibixat · 2011-09-29, 07:04

DJVege Wrote:I use both. A lot of rips are still in AVI for tv eps if it's less than 720p. If I get the 720p tv ep, then it's usually an mkv.

if you are ripping your own content there is really no reason to choose divx over x264 at any resolution, same goes for avi over mkv. Even at SD resolution from the same bitrates x264 picture quality will be better than xvid. Also if you are ripping your own TV show dvd's and converting to a different format you'll still probably want mkv to retain subtitles from those episodes.

**DJVege** · 2011-09-29, 07:30

Thanks for the info/suggestion. Will do that for all rips now.

muRte · 2011-09-29, 17:56

mkv is the best Wink

Thanks for the link for theRenamer Smile

The_Dogg · 2011-09-29, 20:00

gabbott Wrote:Why use the avi container for SD files? mkv can be used for xvid files and is a more modern container.

I generally don't bother making my own rips. so that is why.

Also I like to follow the scene rules when doing my own rips, so all my stuff follows the same standards.

if it ain't broke, don't fix it Tongue

**N3MIS15** · 2011-10-01, 10:04

I like keeping the whole disc in tact so i prefer isos. All my dvds are ripped to iso but ive ripped my blurays with makemkv and very happy with the results. Only thing i cant seem to get is forced subs as default sub track. Ive been remuxing with mkvmerge to achieve that.

BamBam1963 · 2011-10-07, 15:23

k33k00 Wrote:What do you guys prefer and why?

would i get better quality from an ISO (direct rip of a DVD) or say a recording converted to AVi?

also what happens with the scrapers if its a tv show, as a tv show season 1 would pottentially be like 3 discs?

Thanks for your opinions in advance

MKV is my preference. I do not favour the quality of .avi (XVid). I suppose XVid may seem more appropriate for mobile devices, due in part to the smaller screens, but I have XBMC to enjoy my movie collection in full blown HD at the highest quality compressed format possible.
It can be a matter of personal taste.