I see a lot of people have their dvd libraries stored in MP4 format.  What settings do you use to encode regular DVDs (while preserving about the same quality)?  Specifically, I have Tmpgenc 4.0 Xpress and this is what I've experimented with so far (below).  I'm new at this, do you have any suggestions?

2 Pass VBR
Avg Bitrate: 1200
Max bitrate: 10000
Motion search range: 256
GOP length: 250
B frame count: 3
Reference frame count: 4
Quantization:
I: 24
P: 25
B: 27
Entropy coding mode: CABAC
Motion Estimate: Quarter pixel

I see no one replied to this. I wanted to find out the same answer too. I have allot of TV Series I have recorded and I want to crunch them down to way less than a Gb each and save them on a DVD disc. I have not been able to successfully crunch them down. I loose the quality every time. I have noticed some people crunch there's down to 350 Mb without loosing quality. As for how they do it???????
I use:
1.Nero 8 Ultimate
2. TVSuite/VideoRedo
I have not used  TMPG as of yet. I will probably try that out on my next days off from work.

I use DVR-MS Toolbox & mencoder to shrink recorded TV down to h.264/avi. I then use mp4box to change the avi to an mp4, then the file will play fine through the Xbox 360 dashboard as well. An hours recording goes down to around 500Mb.

My mencoder settings are:

[x264-No-Resize-pass1-360]
profile-desc="H.264 - 1st Pass - Xbox360"
lavdopts=threads=2
noskip=yes
vf=pp=md,softskip,harddup
ovc=x264=yes
x264encopts=pass=1:bitrate=1000:turbo=2:me=umh:me_range=24:nodct_decimate:8x8dct:nofast_pskip:trellis=1:partitions=p8x8,b8x8,i8x8,i4x4:mixed_refs:bime:keyint=250:keyint_min=25:frameref=3:bframes=6:b_adapt:b_pyramid:weight_b:direct_pred=auto:subq=6:brdo:chroma_me:cabac:deblock:nossim:nopsnr:vbv_maxrate=10000:vbv_bufsize=5000:level_idc=41:threads=auto
oac=faac=yes
faacopts=br=192:object=2:mpeg=4
#DtbExtension=avi
#dtbhres="-vf pp=md,softskip,harddup"

[x264-No-Resize-pass2-360]
profile-desc="H.264 - 2nd Pass - Xbox360"
lavdopts=threads=2
noskip=yes
vf=pp=md,softskip,harddup
ovc=x264=yes
x264encopts=pass=2:bitrate=1000:me=umh:me_range=24:nodct_decimate:8x8dct:nofast_pskip:trellis=1:partitions=p8x8,b8x8,i8x8,i4x4:mixed_refs:keyint=250:keyint_min=25:frameref=3:bframes=6:bime:b_adapt:b_pyramid:weight_b:direct_pred=auto:subq=6:brdo:chroma_me:cabac:deblock:nossim:nopsnr:vbv_maxrate=10000:vbv_bufsize=5000:level_idc=41:threads=auto
oac=faac=yes
faacopts=br=192:object=2:mpeg=4
#DtbExtension=avi
#dtbhres="-vf pp=md,softskip,harddup"

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I just used nero recode for my dvds. its a bit quick and dirty...
category: Nero recode AVC
profile: Standard AVC
do not fit to target
and set the bitrate to >1.31 and use 2 passes

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http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL

As I write this I am using Nero on a 1hr 15 minute movie.

Nero Digital AVC

Standard - AVC

Video 720 x 576 pixel (Fast Encoding (1-Pass) 1746 kbit/s)

Audio: 6 channels

Output "*.mp4"

ETA 1 hour 50 minutes.

I want quality versus shrinkage.

Now that sucks.

Still looking for something that will shrink and convert to H.264/Divx compliant file with excellant quality and a size of 700 Mbs or less and do it fast..

There has to be a special trick our resident guru's on these web sites are using that make this easy.

@macblob: what hardware are you using?

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http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL

I've been playing around. Actually, TMPGEnc uses mainconcept's encoder which does a pretty good job and is fast.  Depending on the show, I can get an hour down to 500MB with great quality.  Do a google search for Mainconcept H.264/AVC encoder settings, it's documented somewhere.

Setttings I use (I'm not an expert though, I just searched around and tried to put different pieces together):

Profile: High
Level: Automatic
(if applicable) Framerate: 23.976 (Progressive)
Note: To get this framerate, in the Clip editor filter settings, you should deinterlace with Inverse Pulldown & 24fps Prioritize motion.  See this site: http://www.tvxb.com/doc/TMPGenc%20Instructions.htm

Rate Control Mode: 1 Pass Constant Quantization
Motion Search Range: 256
GOP length: 250
B Frame count: 3
Reference frame count: 5
I Picture: 23
P Picture: 24
B Picture: 26
Entropy coding mode: CABAC
Motion Estimation: Quarter Pixel

I think you decrease the I,P,B values for better quality (bigger file), increase them for lower quality (smaller file).  Can play around with that. Also, only use Low Complexity for the Object Type on the audio tab.  Linksys extenders only support low complexity.  Other gotcha is that right now, TMPGEnc can only output stereo audio.  Someone figures out a way around this let me know.  If someone has other suggestions, please please educate me!

I dont think that I'd live without my 5.1 audio.
Luckily I can usually que a few jobs overnight on my work PC and collect them the next day hehe.

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http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL

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