A friend of mine made a video montage. I want to be able to rip it from the DVD and compress it down while keeping great quality. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I tried using Ulead videostudio 10. When I copied the VTS_VIDEO/VTS_AUDIO Folders to the hard drive and imported them it seemed to do ok. Rendering was ok but not what I was looking for.
If you guys can reccomend good software/formats/steps you go to accomplish this I would appreciate it.
Thanks
P.S. It does not have to be just Divx. If you got any suggestions they will be accepted. 
Try AutoGK (Auto-GordianKnot). It’s free and can convert dvd into AVI. Maybe you’d like to use Xvid as codec (it’s free too), because Divx is not free.
Then you can use virtualdub (again free) to edit the avi (i.e. remove unwanted scenes or other editings you like).
Thanks Geno 
There is also this thread a few posts down in the Newbie forum 
:
oops I forgot that thread 
I am looking for something that compresses to a good small file size while keeping great quality as well. Do these programs do this?
Why don’t you try our suggestions and see for yourself?
Some of what you are now seeking advice on is dependent on your own storage environment, viewing hardware, and personal perception (eg what do you call “small”, “great quality” etc).
You can get divx encoder free. It just wont be the latest and the best.
I got
p4 3.4
500gb storage + 75gb wd raptor as main
2gb ramm
ATI 9600(i think) PCI Express video card.
I used the recomended products and they worked good. My only prolem is stiching the video back together. The video came out in 3 sections of .VOB files. When I ran them threw AUTO GK they compressed great. When I tried putting them back together in Virtual DUB it kept telling me something about the sameple rates not being the same. What do I do here?
Unfortunately it will be better to combine the MPEG2 files (if that’s what they were) before conversion to MPEG4 (the .avi)
Are these three original titles separate to start with, or was it one long one that had 3 .vob files? You can try ripping again with DVD Decrypter in IFO mode (with ‘File Splitting’ set to ‘None’ in the Options -> IFO mode tab). This should give you one large MPEG2 file that you can run through AutoGK again.
why when I select to convert to Divx it says that I don’t have a working version of Divx? I installed Divx Pro.
DivX Pro is not a free software. Probably your evaulation period is expired, and you need to buy a license.
If you want to use free stuff, it’s available the Xvid codec.
I bought a license while back
I think that only Divx Support Team is able to answer to this question then.
Try to email to technical support
Another thing. Can anyone offer any advice on speeding up AUTO GK? Seems to take a long time. I’m sure it’s just something i’m gonna have to deal with. You never know thoughm I might get lucky. Thanks for all the help everyone. I really appreciate it.
P.S. Is there anywhere in this forum I could ask an After effects question?
Encoding speed is heavily related on the CPU power. To shorten encoding times, there are only three things tha you can do: buy a faster CPU, add more RAM memory, and buy a faster HDD. Too bad this is the only option. Changing some settings in divx codec maybe can improve (slightly) speed, but usually decrease quality.
If your answer wasn’t already answered somewhere in the forum you can open a new thread here
Are you familiar with After Effects? Just a simple question.
Sorry, I never used After Effects 
why does it sometimes go threw a single pass in Auto GK. Then other times it will do a first and second pass? hmmmmmm.
I think that it’s related on the output size you select. If you want a precise final size, then calculations are more accurate, and require a double pass to encode video with the best quality.
The main “defect” of autoGK is that it lacks of some flexibility. If you want more control on the encodig process, and then a less “automated” software, you need to use GordianKnot, also free.
I tried time ago GordianKnot, but I found it rather complex to use, not so intuitive like AutoGK. But I’m not a video expert