Best free(or cheap) video encoding programmes??

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I want to encode my DVDs onto my hard disk so it will be easier to access them. I would preferably like to be able to do this on the fly without have to copy the DVD onto the hard disk first.

What is the best application to do this ATM?? I would like to do decent quality encodes - does anyone know the best encoding codecs too?? I would like to keep the encodes to less than 2GB if possible for a film and I want image quality as near as possible to the source.

With regards to the hardware - I have a Core i3 2100 with an HD5670 and a Q6600 with an HD5850.

[aidanjt]

Handbrake is able to transcode DVDs on the fly. I just use the default settings, which is to use x264. The quality is pretty good.

[Terbinator]

+1 for Handbrake as well. It's also pretty efficient core/thread wise depending on settings used.

[Champman99]

Second vote for Hanbrake, its very good and user friendly.

I also like WinFF for quick and dirty conversions of files (its just a simple windows front end for FFMpeg).

"Super" isn't too bad either.

I would say for DVDs Handbrake is your best bet though. I've been recently using the nightly build to do Blu-Rays (although this requires AnyDVD HD to be running)

[MSIC]

Handbrake will basically do the job, although be very clear that it is primarily aimed at ripping movie DVDs (ie a disc with one primary file on, which it will select by default).
For stuff like TV shows, with multiple files on, or indeed movies with special features on that you want to keep, bear in mind that Handbrake will do the job, but you have to select and title each file individually (potentially time consuming).

I hear good things about MakeMKV, but havent gotten around to trying it yet.
As usual, caveats apply about the legality of doing all this kind of stuff, so try it on home made holiday DVDs before anything else.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like HandBrake seems is still the application of choice in many cases!

A few more questions:
1.)How is X264 when compared to XVID or DIVX??
2.)Is their any way of keeping thinks such as the sub-titles and different languages?? IIRC,I think there is a way of doing this and accessing them using a right click.

[aidanjt]

1) x264 can jam more pixels with less artefacts than the other two given the same amount of space.
2) MKV and MP4 containers (which handbrake supports) can store many subtitles and audio tracks. Although not all players handle this properly.

[Domestic_Ginger]

DVDFab was really good for me.

Quite fast depending on your hardware.

[b0redom]

I use MakeMKV, but I want completely lossless. Bit pointless buying Bluray/DVDs and then reducing the quality of the pics.....

...by which I mean buying blank DVD-Rs, and BluRay-Rs, recording your own home movies in HD, mastering them, and then converting them back to digital format.

[badass]

I use Mediacoder http://www.mediacoderhq.com/
It's just a GUI for the huge number of really good command line encoders/decoders out there.