This is not really a README file but a collection of developers' emails' snippets. In the best tradition of open sores that is! ;) x264transcode works in _completely unattended mode_ and is designed to run in the background. It rips ALL subtitles and ALL audio tracks and transcodes video to x264, profile 3.1, crf mode, with b-frames. Video stream is cropped (cropping uses twenty 200-frame samples across the entire length of the main feature). Chapters work. The container is MKV. Quickstart: Unpack, edit config (DEFAULT_OUTPUT and DEFAULT_FINAL_DESTINATION), save config to ~/.autoripper.conf (note the dots), run: sh x264transcode.sh file.iso To create an iso from a disk you own, edit DEFAULT_ISO_STORAGE and DEFAULT_DVD_RIPPING_DEVICE in the config and run: ripper.sh Detailed info: There are multiple commands, each performing a separate task, the workflow is: inittab\ or +-> autorip.py +-> ripper.sh --> iso files --> picked up by monitor.sh crontab/ \-> crippler.sh --> mp3 files monitor.sh --> x264transcode.sh --> mkv file(s) in autorip.py: Note that "/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_SONY____CD_RW__CRX320E" string is specific to MY computer, you can get the correct value by running: dbus-monitor --system and inserting a disk in the drive. Substitute whatever comes out of your dbus-monitor into both locations in the python script. You (may) need dbus-1-python (or dbus-python) and python-gobject2 (or python-gobject) dependencies for autorip.py to work. Other information: Script output goes to STDOUT, tools (mencoder etc) output go to STDERR. If you build and install the optional "crswallow" ( http://code.google.com/p/crswallow/ ) command somewhere in your $PATH, it will swallow excess console output separated by carriage return -- it will be filtered to one segment per requested period. Automated CRF adjustment works by reading the MPEG2 stream bitrate. For maximum bitrate (9800 kBps) it leaves the CRF as it is and with each drop of 1700 kBps it increases CRF by one. Worst case scenario it will crank CRF up to 26. Please make sure you're happy with that sort of quality. To switch this feature on, adjust autoripper.conf variable DEFAULT_SOURCE_BASED_CRF to "1" or SOURCE_BASED_CRF from command line. Be careful, this adjustment is made _on top_ of the quality setting (HIGH/MED/LOW). Runtime bash variables: NOCLEANUP=1 won't remove already extracted tracks on abort/error. NOPROGRESS=1 surpresses commands' output (-quiet). SAMPLING_DIVIDER allows using a fraction of title length to sample cropping. Useful for dd_rescue'd isos. TITLES=ALL would pull all titles longer than one minute (i.e. TV series) Known bugs: - No funny characters in file names. That means no spaces, no brackets, no garden gnomes. Bash hates that. All code is licensed under GNU GPL version 3 or later. FAQ: Q1: Why write another copy of handbrake? A1: x264transcode is NOT handbrake. Sure, they both archieve similar effect (a dvd rip), but this script is to be run unattended. You can have it fully automated if you wish to do so, or you can run it with the iso image as it's only argument. Furthermore, it's specifically targetted towards embedded media players (Popcorn Hour/TViX/WD HD). The encoding settings are profile-strict and no experimental x264 options are used. Q2: How do I resume transcodes? A2: You must manually invoke a resume. If you had initially started without parameter 2 (the output name), you can resume later. When resuming, simply specify the prefix that was automatically chosen previously. If all data has been dumped already, you can even even specify a "dummy value" for the input device. ./x264transcode.sh /dev/sr0 [abort transcoding] ls => you learn prefix was disc_id_28374 RESUME="1" ./x264transcode.sh DUMMY disc_id_28374 Q3: Encode dies with: Option x264encopts: Unknown suboption profile Option x264encopts: Bad argument nob_pyramid=(null) A3: Adjust DEFAULT_NO_B_PYRAMID in your config file. "b_pyramid=strict" is now a safe setting. Q4: Subtitles are getting 'burned in' A4: your mencoder ignores -noautosub (report it to mplayer developers!) Add DEFAULT_MENCODER_SUBTITLE_QUIRK="-sid 4096" to your config file.