Encoding DVD Movies to 300Mb MKV Files

Ever seen those DVD movies that have been encoded to 300Mb MKV (Matroska) files with virtually no picture-quality loss & wondered how it's done? I just love the Mastroska format, and after a little experimentation, found a really easy method for doing it - with a great little freeware program called Handbrake - so just thought I'd share this for anyone interested.

Now, I realize there are other great compact formats (like Mp4 & WebM) - but these compact Matroska (MKV) files are fast becoming a defacto standard for storing/sharing movie files, and beat the XVid, DivX, AVI, (etc...) formats hands down. You can achieve the same picture quality as XVid but with just half the file-size.

So basically, this is a really simple method for encoding a full-size DVD movie into a 300Mb MKV (Matroska) video file - which is a really efficient way to back up your video collection.
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Procedure:
Grab Handbrake (v0.9.5) from here:
http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

First up, Handbrake can't handle protected DVDs, so if the movie you wish to encode is on a commercial disc, then you'll need to strip the disc-protection with something like DVDShrink, first. No need to shrink the movie at this stage - just make a 1:1 copy of it on your HDD (with the disc-protection removed).

Step-1: Fire up Handbrake.
Step-2: Import the DVD movie (or video file) you wish to encode. Handbrake will import just about any kind of video file.
Step-3: You can leave Handbrake set to all its default settings, except for one - this is the setting which allows us to achieve the magic 300Mb file size.

Note:
300Mb is our typical outputted filesize for a standard DVD movie of 90-minutes (without the extras). To get good picture quality, the basic formula to work from is to remember that 30-minutes of video-footage (regardless of the file-type you're inputting), should equate to 100Mb of outputted Matroska (.MKV) file.

eg. A 90-minute movie will output as a 300Mb Matroska file. A 45-minute TV program will output as a 150Mb Matroska file.

Obviously you can make the outputted file smaller or larger if you wish, but this formula creates an optimal balance between picture-quailty & file-size.

So, with Handbrake configured to its default-settings, make the following single adjustment (see image below):

• Click on the Video tab
• Select the radio-button titled, Target Size (MB)
• Enter the size in MB, using the formula outlined above in red. (ie. 300Mb if movie is 90-minutes long)
• Hit the Start button.

That's it! It's that simple.
But be patient with the encoding process. Actual processing time will vary according to the size of movie & on your own computer specs. But as an average, expect it to take at least an hour to encode a full-size movie.