Average rip speeds to expect

[MWDF]

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I can't find any posts on any forums that summarize it. Just a bunch of mismatched information.

I have an Alienware laptop as follows:

Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz
2gb RAM
100gb 7200rpm SATA II HD
Optiarc AD-5540A DVD drive
Windows Vista Ultimate

I am trying to rip all my movies and TV show DVD's to store on my 2TB NAS to watch on AppleTV, so using Handbrake (and AnyDVD to get past copy protection) I am averaging 20fps. Sometimes it jumps to 23 or 24, even up to 28, but also goes back down to 18, 16, 14 or worse, the average is 20fps.

This is worse than a 1:1 ratio for ripping.

So a few questions:

1. Is this about what I should expect from this combination?

2. Would it benefit me to buy an external USB or FireWire DVD drive to speed things up, or would external be even slower?

3. What kind of ripping speeds are other people getting on average with laptop computers?

4. If I were to build a desktop PC specifically designed to rip DVD's for up to, say, $1000. What speed should I be able to aim for? 60fps? 100fps? 120fps? This is the question I can't seem to find answered anywhere.

I encode to the default AppleTV setting on Handbrake. So, standard DVD resolution, 2500kbps bitrate, AAC + AC3 audio, 160kbps audio bitrate.

I also have a MacBook Air with the external superdrive, but rip speeds are so pathetic I don't even bother. 8-14fps at best. I use my MBA as my main computer so sitting there waiting for a TV show DVD with 4 episodes to rip at 90+ minutes per episode sucks. I am wondering if this is a limitation of the superdrive or the 1.8GHz Core2Duo/2gb RAM/64gb SSD system. Using VisualHub to encode DivX to H264 is also painfully slow. I use my alienware laptop with Videora for that, even though I hate the interface.

Thanks

[Albert]

Welcome to CD Freaks.

It appears that ripping is not the issue here; it’s the re-encoding. You’re re-encoding your files to display with the AppleTV device. This re-encoding will be processor intensive, and, in some cases [like yours] will be less than real-time.

Ripping is only copying the DVD contents to hard disc, without re-encoding. This is different from re-encoding.

The only way you could speed it up would be to get a faster computer. The faster desktop would be a good idea, but I can’t say how much faster it would be than your laptop. In theory, if you could get a system with a 4-core processor operating at a faster speed than your laptop’s C2D, you might expect it to go twice as fast, at the least. The Handbrake FAQ says

How long will the encoding take?

• This depends on the Video encoder used(H.264, Mpeg 4, Xvid), the settings used and the hardware in the system being used.

• Mpeg 4 and Xvid encode video significantly faster than H.264 however H.264 can often lead to higher quality video for the same file size.

• Typical encode times can be anywhere between 30mins and 24 hours (sometimes more on a low end system) for a 2hour video.

Also, checking some of the settings [I don’t know which, as I have not used Handbrake] may improve the speed. To see what settings others use, see here: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?t=382 [I don’t see any mention of how long it takes, though].

[MWDF]

Thanks Albert, that helps a lot!

[ripit]

Do your encoding on your fastest computer, then transfer the files to the computer you want to use it on. Encoding is a processor intensive task, that can still take a while, even on the fastest of computers.

[MWDF]

In theory: would it be quicker to rip a DVD to hard drive using AnyDVD, then encode it to H264 in Handbrake from the HD? Or is the one-step process from Handbrake just as fast?

[MWDF]

I tried the copy first encode later technique, figuring at least I can see where the bottleneck is (in the DVD drive speed or the processor).

I encode a little faster, 25fps average (around 48 minutes instead of around 65 minutes encode time for a 45 minute TV show episode).

So, its a little bit faster to rip the DVD first (30 minutes for a 4 episode TV show DVD)… but the big convenience, is that I can queue up 3 or 4 DVD’s at a time, walk away, come back later in the day and its all done. Also, I can rip a DVD while Handbrake is encoding without impacting the encoding speed significantly.

I would still like to see 120fps encode times But, queueing up multiple DVD’s is good enough for now.

[ripit]

I have been doing something similar (reencoding dvd’s to h.264 for reduce size on my htpc). The best way I have found so far is just running multiple conversions at a time like you are. The most I have had going at once is 9 (4 on one computer and 5 on another). I just start them before I go to bed or leave for work and its about the best solution I have found.