Compress DVD video without losing quality. Light on the Internet Choosing a video converter


DVD video compression programs

Despite the fact that the volume of digital media is growing every day, the problem of shortage free space remains. The image of one DVD takes up at least 4 GB on the hard drive. Therefore, if you want to have your entire video collection at hand, then even the largest hard drive you may not have enough. In order to save space, you can compress the file using one of the codecs. In this case, the quality of the video will practically not suffer, but its size will be reduced.

There are many programs for compressing DVD video. Even though they all use the same compression algorithms, the results obtained may vary. The compression algorithm, according to which the picture is compressed, plays an important role in creating the output file, but at the same time, the approach to using this algorithm, so to speak, the effectiveness of its use, is also important. In addition, when choosing a ripping utility great importance have additional functions, for example, automatic selection best settings encoding, bypassing DVD protection, etc. Before you begin compressing a video disc, you need to understand what is on the DVD. All video discs contain several required files that store information that the player uses to play the disc. These auxiliary files have *.bup and *.ifo extensions and are located in the VIDEO_TS directory. In addition, the DVD media contains files with the *.vob extension. This is digital video. Most often, to open a DVD in any ripper, you just need to specify the location of the vob files or ifo file.

What format can you convert DVD video to?

Most ripper programs support three types of formats: SVCD, VCD and AVI. The video format name VCD stands for Video Compact Disc. This format allows you to fit up to 74/80 minutes of full-length video along with stereo sound on a 650 or 700 MB CD. VCD uses the MPEG-1 compression standard for video storage and recording. Discs recorded in this format can be played on all desktop DVD players, as well as DVD-ROM drives or CD-ROM. Watching movies on your computer is done using a special software player. The format name SVCD stands for Super VideoCD. Compared to VCD, it provides better image quality, but the video files of this standard are larger in size. Super VideoCD allows you to record approximately 35-60 minutes of high-quality, full-featured video on a standard-size 650 or 700 MB CD with two stereo audio tracks and up to four subtitles. SVCD can be viewed on desktop DVD players, as well as DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives. And finally, the last format that you can convert DVD video to is AVI. This format determines the structure of saving audio and video tracks in a file, but not the method of encoding them. Therefore, different codecs can be used for compression. The most popular codecs that are used to compress files in AVI format- M-JPEG and DivX.

Compression algorithms

The need for video compression arose simultaneously with the advent of digital video as such - in uncompressed form, a two-hour film can take up to 100 GB or more. It was invented a large number of compression algorithms, including MPEG-2, which is used today for recording DVDs. MPEG-2 format, originally developed for broadcasting digital television, allows you to remove up to 97% of redundant information and at the same time guarantees an image whose quality is almost identical to video without compression. The DivX format was preceded by MPEG-4, which was specifically designed for transmitting data over the Internet and mobile communications. The main difference between MPEG-4 and the compression formats existing at that time was the high degree of compression (compressed MPEG-4 video, which in MPEG-2 occupied more than 4 gigabytes, could fit on a regular disc CD-R capacity 650 or 700 MB). At the same time, the quality of the resulting image remained high. MPEG-4 was the impetus for the development of the codec Windows Media Video V3, which in turn became the basis for the creation of DivX. The latter had best characteristics and therefore quickly gained popularity. Today it is one of the best video compression formats. The presence of several versions allows you to select the necessary set of functions for users with different needs.

People who, one way or another, once deliberately plunged into the unplowed jungle of their own video archives, sometimes catch themselves thinking that it would be advisable to compress a significant part of their personal “centuries-old” media collection of incredible size to a decent level. The first candidates for “drying out” are video materials compressed according to the canons of the format DVD-VIDEO. This weighty “archetype” continues to steadily dominate, due to the primacy of its support at the level of household reproducing equipment. The capacity allocated to a film of average length is truly wasteful - 4.7Gb of full-fledged information. At the same time, I quote below verbatim:

"DVD movies are compressed using MPEG-2 for video and various (often multi-channel) formats for audio. Compressed video bitrates range from 2000 to 9800 Kbps, often variable (VBR). The standard PAL video frame size is 720 /576 points, NTSC standard - 720/480 points."

Essentially, using modern compression methods, as in the field of video encoders latest generation, and in the multi-channel audio sector we have the opportunity to achieve a threefold reduction in the size of compressed video content in relation to the original DVD-Video. In practice, this means recompressing MPEG-2 video with a bitrate of about 8 megabits/s into MPEG-4 AVC with an average bitrate of 1.5-2.5 megabits per second, as for the multi-channel audio track, there is a similar coding of the type AC3 (448 kbit/s) in OGG (up to 256 kbit/s). Subjectively, the audiovisual sequence obtained during compression of video content will differ slightly from the original, with an accompanying three-fold truncation of the size. For those of my readers who are embarking on this thorny path for the first time, I would advise you to first familiarize yourself with the already written material ("X264 encoding, setting up a codec, working with megui", "Ac3 compression in ogg vorbis"). relevant topics, which, if possible, will give a primary impetus to the study of the task at hand. So let's get started...

Stage one - preparing the video track

The source material for carrying out the entire range of events will be the VIDEO_TS folder, containing DVD-Video content. Since at the stage DVD compression we will use MeGUI+AviSynth, which does not know how to work directly with vob files...

then we will need to carry out the necessary preparation... for this we use the utility C:\Program Files\megui\tools\dgindex\DGIndex.exe

Adding all parts of the source DVD to the list

Disable audio track export

As a result, we will receive a full-size file of the form VTS_01_1.demuxed.m2v, in my case its size was 3 gigabytes, as well as an index file VTS_01_1.d2v, which should be loaded into MeGUI for subsequent compression into MPEG-4 AVC.

Stage two - recompression of a multi-channel audio track into the OGG Vorbis format

Let's move on to preparing a multi-channel audio track, or rather, extracting it. For these purposes, I have recently been trying to use .

the program informatively notifies us about the presence of several audio tracks and offers to select the one necessary for subsequent conversion

Having selected the original 1:15:56 video fragment (and not the 15 minute advertising block on the DVD), click next...

Upon completion of the process of compressing a multi-channel audio track, we obtain an ogg file weighing 165 megabytes.

Stage three - clampingvideo tracks

Having received the index file VTS_01_1.d2v at the first intermediate stage, we load it when creating a script in MeGUI...

The auto crop function simultaneously cuts off the black fields at the top and bottom of the image field, trying to maintain a multiple of 16, in my case the original vertical resolution was 576, the result was 576-80-80=416 (26*16). The preliminary bitrate can be calculated using the formula 720*416*0.3*25=2193 kbit/sec (where 25 is the frame rate per second for PAL, 0.3 is the approximate bit density per pixel). We use the resulting bitrate value for the video stream...

We set the basic encoding parameters and click Enqueue, then go to the Queue tab and click start! Once the process is complete, the video content will be encoded into MPEG-4 AVC format using a progressive X264 encoder. The resulting file weighs 1.06Gb and naturally does not contain sound.

Stage four - creating a matryoshka doll (packing video and sound into a mkv container file)

At the previous stages, we managed to obtain all the segments of the future creation, so all that remains is to bring them into complementary correspondence. Having launched the mkvmerge GUI known to us, we alternately add to it a compressed mp4 video segment and an ogg multi-channel audio track.

By the way, at the same time we carry out title execution, that is, we mercilessly cut off the credits following the film, for this we go to the Global tab...

In my case, the credits started at the time stamp of 01:14:17. As a result, of the two resulting files, ours! marked with index 001.

The final file was 1.22Gb in size, with complete visual coincidence with the original...

For this I say goodbye, there is nothing more to write about...

Do you want to watch movies on your phone or tablet, but the memory card is not rubber? Luckily, you can compress videos without losing quality! It is enough to install a convenient one and perform a few simple steps. Find out from the article how to make videos much easier without sacrificing a spectacular picture.

Basic compression methods

You can compress the clip different ways:

  • Compress video for websites
  • Reduce frame size
  • This method allows you to significantly compress the roller, but you will have to sacrifice the beauty and quality of the final picture.


  • Change format and codec.
  • Some extensions are more "economical" and the correct choice of codec will allow you to get significantly more compact video material.


  • Reduce bitrate(amount of data transmitted per unit of time)
  • Effective method, but should be used with caution.


  • Reduce frame rate shown per second
  • If you set this parameter too low, the smoothness of the display will suffer.

How does compression occur?

To compress a large video well, something will have to be sacrificed. Usually this is the bitrate and resolution - the number of pixels per unit area of ​​the image. But if you reduce these parameters, the quality will drop. How can VideoMASTER save it?

The higher the resolution, the more dots in the picture

In reality, everything is not so clear. Any film we watch has already gone through a compression procedure., otherwise an hour and a half film would weigh about a terabyte! In fact, video recording, even super HD, takes no more than 20-30 Gigabytes. The fact is that reducing the size of a video occurs due to many factors. For example, a decrease in color rendering that is invisible to the human eye, or the removal of motionless fragments in dynamic scenes. This allows you to significantly reduce the weight of the file.


To watch the video on mobile devices high resolution not required

Choosing a Video Converter

As you can see, it’s possible to get a “lighter” video while maintaining high clarity and brightness. To solve the problem, download VideoMASTER! This universal video converter will help you change the format of several videos at once in no time, while maintaining the quality at a high level. Its advantages over similar video compression programs are obvious, because VideoMASTER:

  • does not require special skills and is suitable even for beginners;
  • compatible with everyone Windows versions from XP and above;
  • undemanding to system resources;
  • supports all popular video formats;
  • makes it possible to adjust the bitrate of audio and video;
  • offers automatic and manual setting format.

The converter interface is made entirely in Russian. You won’t need to spend a long time figuring out what each button does – you can start full-fledged work immediately after installing and launching the program for the first time.

The converter supports videos in Full HD and 4K and is suitable for compressing the quality of MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV, FLV, VOB and other common formats. You can process several video files at once. Each recording is available for preview in the embedded player in the panel on the right.

You definitely can’t go wrong with the choice of format – VideoMASTER offers special settings For mobile devices and sites, and also allows . The software will help not only improve the quality of video recordings, but also adjust the audio.

6 steps to weightless video

Step 1. Download the software


Configure conversion options

There are many codecs with varying degrees of efficiency. Which one should you choose to compress your video as much as possible without losing quality?

  • DivX– a popular option that works with different media files. Allows you to save an attractive image after compression.
  • H.264– provides effective compression thanks to complex encoding mechanisms, leaving high-definition video.
  • XviD- a modern codec that produces quite beautiful video. Is in open access under GNU license.
  • WMV(not to be confused with the extension of the same name) is a popular option. Provides excellent compression with good images.

Of course, these are not all available codecs, only the most popular ones. The most advantageous in terms of size/quality ratio will be H.264 or XviD.

If the movie will be played on a PC, you should choose the MP4 or MKV format with the H264 codec, which will give maximum clarity with good compression.

Step 5. Convert

On the bottom panel, select a section "Folder to save" and write down the path to the future location of the finished video - for example, to a folder "Video". Click “Convert” and wait until the video compression process finishes


Wait for the conversion to finish

The converter will also help prepare the clip for various options viewing. If you need to burn a movie to a DVD, insert it into the drive and click "Burn DVD". Click “Post on site” to post to YouTube.


Select player type

Reducing video resolution

Compressing video material through resolution correction is popular, but also causes a lot of concern, since similar method entails a sharp deterioration in quality. However, you shouldn’t be afraid of him, and here’s why.

Let's imagine that you plan to watch a movie on the small screen of a tablet or smartphone. Yes, you can open some Ultra HD 8K with an aspect ratio of 7680x4320, but this will not make any sense. It is required specifically for a large screen so that the picture remains clear and has high detail. On a smartphone or tablet, you simply won't notice a visual difference between 1920x1080 and 640x480, and the volume will decrease quite noticeably when the frame width is reduced. Without losing quality, you get many advantages: you will save space on your device’s memory card and protect yourself from freezing while watching.

To adjust the frame width in the VideoMASTER program, click "Options". In the new window you will see the item. Select what you want from the drop-down list. You can safely reduce the indicator to the value that the device screen has. In this case, the weight will decrease without loss of quality.


Select frame size

Don't know what size your device screen is, but would like to compress your video file as much as possible? Refer to the program presets. Click the button "Devices" to access a list of devices and a list of brands. Select your model and the video will be adapted to it automatically.

Reducing video bitrate

If the previous method did not give the desired result, lower the bitrate. Do this carefully, as the image quality greatly depends on this parameter.

Bitrate is responsible for the amount of data transmitted per unit of time. Let’s say a video shows 24 frames per second, each weighing 2 MB. If you multiply this value by their total number (2*24), you get the amount of data that needs to be transferred per second to display the video.

To change the bitrate in the VideoMASTER program, you should go to the parameter settings window. At the bottom of the window you will see an item of the same name. In the drop-down list, click on that value bitrate which is required.


Set bitrate

To reduce the video as much as possible with a fairly good picture set the bitrate to 3-4 megabits per second. Not ready to sacrifice too much quality? An average file size and an excellent image gives a range of 5-7 Mbit/sec.

Reducing the frame rate

This parameter represents the number of pictures that will be shown per unit of time. The value should not be lower than 24 for any video. However modern cameras We learned how to do 60 frames/sec. This gives a stunningly realistic image, but also has a significant impact on the weight of the file. For such videos, you can reduce the frequency to reduce the size.

You can reduce the number of frames in the section "Options". There you will find the corresponding item and in the drop-down list you can set the desired value.


Adjust frame rate

Compress video for gadget

A video you downloaded from the Internet will most likely not play on your phone/tablet due to its size or incorrect format. VideoMASTER will help you compress the video so that it can be played on your gadget without any problems. To do this in the program - special treatment conservation.

Click on the button "Devices" at the bottom of the window. A window will appear in front of you with a list of gadgets: smartphones, tablets, players, etc. For convenience, the catalog provides navigation by platform and brand - you will find iOS and Android devices, products from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and other manufacturers. VideoMASTER supports both new and older models.


Find in the list required device

All parameters are already set - just find your device in the list. If it is not there, select any model of the same brand, the settings should be fine.

Compress video for websites

A video file weighing hundreds of megabytes will take a long time to upload to the Internet. If you are going to share a video on your favorite hosting or social networks, you cannot do without optimization. With an instant video compression program, you can easily prepare any video for publication on the Internet.

Click the button "Sites". VideoMASTER offers ready-made quality and resolution settings for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, VKontakte and other online services. If necessary, the converter will help you place the post on your own website. You will need to specify the player type - and the program will generate html code


You can prepare a video for publication on the Internet

Converter with editor capabilities

VideoMASTER is more than a program for compressing MP4 video or other formats. You can not only reduce file size, but also improve video footage.

  • cut off unnecessary fragments
  • glue videos together in a couple of mouse clicks
  • adjust colors in video
  • apply expressive effects
  • overlay text and graphics
  • adjust the volume of the audio stream
  • replace the original music with new one

VideoMASTER - perhaps the best choice for the novice user. With this software you can easily solve any problem related to viewing, storing and processing video. Most of the functions are performed in just a couple of mouse clicks - you definitely won’t experience any difficulties while working. Hurry up to download for free convenient program for fast and efficient video compression and get a universal assistant on your computer.

G. Markarov

Very, very quickly the DVD format became generally available: today there is no need, as it was several years ago, to buy expensive home theaters. It got to the point that DVD-ROMs “fell” almost to the cost of the usual CD-ROMs, and the discs themselves fell in price. And, best of all, their rental service is available in all large (and even not so large) cities. What to do if you really liked the next DVD movie, but there is no longer enough disk space on your hard drive? Compress!

Let's briefly remember what video is on a computer. The screen image is divided into 576 lines, and any line is divided into 720 (or 768) dots. For each of them, brightness, contrast and color data are recorded. These dots are so small that when viewed on a TV screen or PC monitor they are perceived as a solid image. Since the accepted frequency in cinema is 25 frames/sec., then every second it is necessary to record data about the number of points equal to 576x720x25. This is very, very large: the entire film will take several hundred gigabytes, which is unacceptable either for placement on disks or for storage on a hard drive. Therefore, the lossy compression format was invented: not all information is recorded, but only that which is necessary for the computer to recover the missing data.
One such format is MPEG-2, and its variant is DVD. As a matter of fact, DVD differs from classic MPEG-2 in that it supports recording of various menus and additional materials(biographies of artists, interviews, reviews, advertising, etc.). In addition, it provides the ability to have several versions of audio and subtitles in different languages ​​on one disc. This, by the way, distinguishes licensed DVDs from “left” ones - the latter, as a rule, contain only the film itself.
So what should you do if you want to save your favorite DVD movie on the hard drive, but it is irrational to allocate 4.7 GB for this (that’s how much an hour and a half video in MPEG-2 format takes) or 9 GB (this is what a two-part movie requires)? This question arises even when you have a modern 80 GB (or more) installed. HDD, and if you have a 20-40 GB hard drive that is not so capacious, popular just a year or two ago, then there is simply not enough space for such a volume of data.
There are many sophisticated programs that allow you to solve this problem and are used by professionals. However, for beginners it is better to use the simplest ones, which have a minimum of settings - so that you just need to press a button and you’re done. Such a product is, in particular, FlasKMPEG. Before installing it, it is also recommended to install the DivX412Codec codec (for higher video compression), as well as L3PROD_P (for audio compression). All these products are free and freely distributed and can be easily found on the Internet by simply typing the name into the search bar, for example, Yandex "a.
After installing all three applications, insert the DVD into the DVD-ROM and launch FlasKMPEG.
Open the File menu and run the Open media command.
Find the DVD-ROM with the movie, open the VIDEO_TS folder and select the file with the .ifo extension.
Please note that there are several ifo files in the package. Each of them corresponds to a small film on a DVD - a commercial, an interview or other related information. The ifo file we need belongs to the list with the largest number of digits. In our example, the list VTC_01 has greatest number files - from 0 to 7, and in others there are only two of them: 0 and 1 (VTC_02 and VTC_03). Click on the file and open the following bookmark. This list contains all the options for the film's soundtrack, as well as subtitles. Select Duration:2:25:24 (the duration of the movie in hours, minutes and seconds), Russian - AC3, and do not check the subtitle line. If you specify the string English - AC3, you will get an English audio track without translation into Russian.
Click on the Flask this DVD button - the movie window and its characteristics will appear.
The standard frame size for DVD is 720x576 pixels, frequency is 25 frames/sec., film volume is 6252 MB. Our task is to use the more highly compressive MPEG-4 codec to reduce the size of the film to at least 650 MB. It should be noted that there are more a new version codec - 5.03. But, firstly, it is paid, secondly, it contains so many settings that a beginner will simply get confused in them, and thirdly, it has certain disadvantages. So based on personal experience I advise beginners to use the relatively simple 4.12 codec.
Now you need to tell the FlasKMPEG program that you need to use 4.12 video and MP3 audio codecs. Open the Options menu, select the Select output format line and check the OpenDML item. Then select the Output format option line and click. In the video line, install DivX Codec 4.12. If it is already there, do not be lazy to select it again, after which the settings window will open.

To be continued.

Answers:

Shurovik:
If you want to compress DVD9 to DVD5, then use the DVDShrink program. But two DVD9 on one DVD5 is impossible. Or it will be of very terrible quality. Or transfer these films to DivX.

Gennady:
Of course, you can, for example, using DVD programs Shrink, DVDFab or Clone DVD, but the quality will be lost so much that watching “this” will be disgusting, much worse than DivX. Normally, without any noticeable loss of quality, compression looks like 15%, in extreme cases 20%, and in your case it will be 3.5 times compression! You can improve the quality somewhat by cutting off “unnecessary” audio tracks, animated menus, additional materials, subtitles... You can see how “this” will look by purchasing some kind of collection like 4 in 1, etc.

Neo:
Can. The program is called DVD Shrink, here is its address: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

Dmitriy:
Try this program: ratDVD 0.6.1119, http://www.izcity.com/lib/23062005.htm.

DJ-Andrey-sXe:
Personally, I really like the free ffdshow codec for capturing and ripping video from DVD. Especially recent builds demonstrate not only acceptable quality for viewing on a small computer monitor, but also good performance. IMHO it is better than DivX in everything. And the customizability, filters and information content deserve special respect. At a stream of 1000 Kbps or more, most films are tolerable for immortalization on DVD. This way you can fit up to 4, and in some cases up to 6 movies on 1 DVD (4.5G). For sound other than MP3 (from 128 kbit/s JointStereo or 192 kbps Stereo) I can’t recommend anything yet.

Fantom:
Personally, I use DVD Rebuilder, if I need to compress DVD9 into DVD5, it comes out almost losslessly, and if I compress DVD into AVI, I recommend AutoGK, a super program that is constantly updated.

Shkvarka:
As I understand it, the problem is to have “Two in one bottle” and preferably without loss of quality, if we are talking about films. So, this is a slightly non-standard approach to the question. Everyone knows about this, but for some reason they forget! A VERY simple way. Burn two simple DVDs with a capacity of 4.7 Gig onto one double-sided disc. Or the second method is to burn two simple DVDs onto one double-layer one. And if we rewrite the data, it will be the only ways!

Lukas:
I recommend CloneDVD! You set the size and on the scale you can see what quality the film will be. Of course you can remove everything extra menu, captions, etc.