Not Another Encode360 Guide (Free Video+DVD Converter)

[zebus]

Hi folks, I know this forum already has a bunch of Encode360 guides, but I noticed a lot of people are still having trouble with this great program, so I thought I would try and contribute.


Step 1:
Remove all codecs and codec packs currently installed on your system

This is where most people are having trouble with encode360, they are installing multiple or bad codecs causing conflicts and/or errors when they try to encode a movie.

Go to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

When you get there go through your entire list of installed programs and uninstall anything codec related (xvid, ffdshow, divx, anything with the word codec ). I can't stress enough how important it is to make sure you get all the codecs off your system, not having a fresh install is what causes most of the problems with encode360


Step 2:
Installing your codec pack

For the sake of compatibility, I'm going to explain how to install K-Lite Codec Pack Full. So far this is the one pack I have found that works with pretty much every movie format. However, if any of you have had experience with another codec pack that works, I would love to hear about it, I'll try to keep an updated list of working codec packs.

K-Lite Codec Pack 2.81 Full can be downloaded here:
http://freesoft.ru/files/mm-mm/klcodec282f.exe

When you run the install, just keep hitting next until you get to the part that says "Select Components" at the top. You are going to want to make a few changes here. It's up to you whether you want to install Media Player Classic or not, its just a movie player, personally I skipped this.

The next change you will want to make is when you get to the section labeled "MPEG-1/MPEG-2/DVD"

By default Cyberlink will be the selected option here; however, this decoder has been known to cause problems, so I recommend changing to one of the other four options, I've tested them and they all work (I ended up going with DScaler5).



That basically all you need to do for the K-Lite install, if you want you can make a few tweaks under the additional options like selecting you desired speaker setup, but its all optional. After you finish installing the codec pack restart your computer.

There is one last change you need to make to the K-Lite configuration before you are done.
Go to Start > K-Lite Codec Pack > Configuration > AC3 Filter



The volume level of ripped DVD movies is usually quite a bit lower than a regular movie. I found myself having to turn my zune up to volume level 18-20 just to hear the words in what I was watching. However, there is a fix to this problem, under the AC3 Filter properties change the gain to +10 either by dragging the master slider with your mouse or typing 10 in the box and pressing enter.



With +10 your dvd rips should be on par with your other vids when it comes to volume. No more busting your eardrums when you go from watching videos to listening to music just because you forgot to turn your volume back down


Step 3:
Installing Encode360

Installing Encode360 is pretty easy as long as you follow the author's guide on his site.

***
You need to have .NET Framework 2.0 installed. Get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en

You need to have Windows Media Player 11 installed. Get it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/default.aspx

And most importantly, you need Windows Media Encoder 9, from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx
***

I recommend restarting your computer between each install, just to be on the safe side.

When you are done installing the prerequisites, download and install Encode360 from here:
http://dcunningham.net/Download/Encode360_2.0b5a.Zip

Just extract the zip file anywhere on your computer, then go to where you extracted the file and make a shortcut to it on your desktop:




Step 4:
Extracting a DVD

There are two ways I will talk about in this guide about how to extract a DVD to your computer. One is more convenient but involves using a shareware program (means it costs $$$), the other is free but is more of a pain in the arse.

Both methods have one thing in common, they both use DVDShrink, get it here:
http://www.riphelp.com/downloads/files/dvdshrink32setup.zip


The Shareware Method

This method uses DVDShrink in conjunction with Anydvd:
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html

This program costs money, but it is well worth it. You can download a fully functional 21 day trial if you want to give it a try or just have 21 days of convenience before you start using the freeware method.

This program requires no setup, just install and let it do its thing. It always runs in your computers background, and whenever you insert a DVD or CD, it automatically detects and removes any protection they may have.



***

Open up DVDShrink, and before you start any ripping, there is one change you need to make to the settings. Go to Edit > Preferences... then open up the Output Files tab and uncheck the box that says "Split VOB files into 1GB chunks."

Now, with your DVD inserted, go to open disk, select the drive with your movie inserted, and press OK.

As soon as disk analysis finishes, hit Re-author at the top of the screen. From there scroll down on the list till you get to Main Movie, right click on the desired title and click Add.



Now open up the Compression Settings tab at the top and make the following changes:

• Change video to the "No Compression" setting
• Under audio, uncheck all audio streams except for the ONE stream that you want.
• Uncheck every subtitle stream

The final result should look similar to this:



Now you want to hit the Backup button

Select "Hard Disk Folder" as your backup destination, and type in a folder to store the VOB file in, I usually just put C:\[name of movie], like this:



Now, just hit OK, let DVDShrink finish encoding, and you are done.


The Freeware Method

DVDShrink can be used alone on most DVDs, even without Anydvd, and still work, however there are a few DVDs (Such as Sony and Disney) that have newer protections that DVDShrink can't deal with. For those DVDs you will need to use a program called RipIt4Me:
http://www.ripit4me.org/RipIt4Me%20Installer.exe

You will also need to grab DVD Decrypter:
http://www.riphelp.com/downloads/files/SetupDVDDecrypter_3.5.4.0.exe

When you are done installing, open up RipIt4ME, go to Logs/Settings > Prefrences and uncheck the boxes labled "Always run FixVTS on full DVD."



Now you are ready to rip, put in your DVD and select "1-Click Mode" and let it do its thing.

When it is done, it will automatically open up DVDShrink, follow the same steps as I stated in the above section about using this program (The encode will be a lot faster since its reading the files off your hard drive, usually only 5-10 min).


Step 5:
Converting DVD to WMV

Now its time for Encode360 to do its thing. First of all, open up the advanced settings and make a couple of changes. On the drop down box labeled "Set bitrate automatically for viewing on:" and select the option "Zune." This should automatically make most of the needed changes for you, but another change I recommend making is the mode, you basically have three options you could choose for the Zune:

• CBR (1-pass) will give you a very fast encoding time, but the quality of your video will suffer, the biggest side effect is pixelation during scenes with a bunch of movement
• BitRate Based VBR (2-pass) will result in a very nice looking video, but can take a long time to encode (usually about twice the length of the movie itself)
• Peak Based VBR (2-pass) is basically the same thing as BitRate based except it won't exceed the peak bitrate no matter what, which is good because if that bitrate is too high then the Zune software will have to encode the movie again when you sync up to your zune (I use this option)

Your setting box should turn out looking like this:



Now you have your setting how they should be, time to add your movie and encode it, all you have to do is hit the "+" button, go to where your DVD's .VOB file is saved to, and add it. Now all that's left to do is hit encode and go take a nap or something

Just make sure you pick a folder that is monitored by your Zune library like My Videos for the "Create encoded files here:" box and leave the "Move source files here:" box empty, like so:



When it is done, it should show up in your video library on the Zune software, just plug in your Zune and sync away.