AutoGK Tutorial

Hello, and welcome to Auto Gordian Knot (from here on known as AutoGK). We hope you'll enjoy using it, and that you'll learn to back up your DVDs easily and with good quality, to be played in your DVD/MPEG4 player, or on your computer, or perhaps from your computer to your TV set through a TV out on your graphics card.

Before getting started, there are some things you should know. First and foremost is that the laws of different countries vary when it comes to backing up your personally owned DVDs. But almost none allow the backing up of borrowed or rented DVDs. So please familiarise yourself with the laws of your own country regarding the backing up of DVDs. Once more to make this perfectly clear; this guide will take you through the process of backing up your personally owned DVD disks and it was not written to be used for piracy. The author assumes that you own the DVD and that you will be using the copy for your own personal use. It is illegal to even give away copies of movies with copyrighted material. The author does not take any responsibility for the illegal use of this guide or of AutoGK.

Enough of that unpleasantness. We'll keep this as simple as possible, and assume that you've never done this before. Next we'll tackle the hardware and software requirements.

You'll need a computer with either a DVD-ROM or a DVD burner. CD-ROMs can't read DVDs. In addition, you'll need lots of hard drive space, up to as much as 10 GBs per movie. This will vary, depending on the total size of the VOB files (the files that make up the DVD), the number of CDs you're going for, whether or not you're converting the audio to MP3, and a few other things. But nothing is worse than spending all that time to do the encoding, and then running out of space when the final .avi is being written.

So, how powerful of a computer will you need? As powerful as possible. It's possible to do this with a 500 MHZ processor, but the total time involved may be as much as 24 hours, depending on a number of factors. A 1 GHZ processor may take up to 12 hours. An Intel 2.4 GHZ processor may take a total of 6-7 hours or so, and the fastest of today's processors may take 4-5 hours. But there are other variables involved, including the length of the movie, the resolution at which you're encoding, how your system is set up, so these are by no means hard and fast rules. In addition, the quality and amount of RAM is an important factor. Make sure that your computer is as stable as possible. Overclockers, especially, should be aware of this. The fact that you can play Counter-Strike all day with no problems means nothing when it comes to video encoding. There is very little that you can do on a computer that stresses it as much as video encoding. One sign of an unstable computer is if the audio or video encoding causes the computer to crash at random places; that is, at different places during subsequent attempts. These crashes may take the form of a complete freeze up, a blue screen, or a reboot. The cause is often heat buildup, but it may also be brought about by CPU or memory problems, or something more obscure. These problems don't just happen to those people that build their own computers. Many "store-bought" computers may also have these problems. It's not really our responsibility to diagnose and fix computer hardware instabilities. If you suspect CPU problems, you might run Prime95 to test the CPU. If you suspect memory problems, then you might run MemTest86 to test the memory. If you suspect overheating, then take the case cover off of your computer and run a table fan blowing towards the CPU while encoding. If you can get through the encoding when doing that, but couldn't before, then heat buildup is probably the problem. The solutions might include checking to see if the CPU is seated properly, putting on some fresh heatsink paste, installing more fans, or, if overclocked, turning down the OC or the RAM settings. Both Intel and AMD processors work well for video encoding. Apple computers can't be used with AutoGK. In sum, use the fastest CPU that you can afford, have high quality memory, and lots of it. Lockups and crashes, if they occur, are almost certainly the fault of your computer. AutoGK and the programs it uses have been tested thoroughly and used, in many cases for years, by many thousands of people. These warnings aren't meant to scare you away from video encoding, but just so you'll understand if something does happen. The chances are excellent that you'll sail through this.

A note for those with standalone DVD/MPEG4 players with ESS chipsets: they don't work with the matrices that AutoGK uses with the XviD Codec (you don't have to understand what a matrix is, just follow the instructions). In the AutoGK installer is an option to turn on support for ESS chipsets. Please choose that option. Perhaps the problem will be fixed with a firmware upgrade, and perhaps not. But you won't be losing anything, or getting a movie inferior in any way by choosing that option. If you have such a standalone player, and your XviD videos play with corruption and/or smearing, and you're not sure that you chose that option when installing, or you have an older version of AutoGK, please do a full install of Ver. 1.25 (not just the update), and then try again.

AutoGK comes with almost all that you'll need to create excellent quality backups of your DVDs. One program it doesn't come with is DVDDecrypter. This program puts the VOB files onto your hard drive, and in the process breaks the encryption and Macrovision protection which DVDs have, and which is illegal to disable in many countries. You'll have to get it and install it yourself (link at the bottom of this page). If you choose to use the DivX 5.1.1 Codec, you'll have to get and install that as well (link at bottom). But the AutoGK Installer will install everything else that you need. Just designate a folder for the installation, and everything will be taken care of. Optional programs include the XviD Coder/Decoder, AviSynth, and VobSub. If you already have the most recent versions of them, then you don't need to install them again. If you don't already have them, aren't sure if you have them, or have no idea what they are, then go ahead and install them. You'll need them for your encoding.

1. Start DVDDecrypter, and if using it for the first time, there are 3 things you must do. First, make sure that you have the latest version (3.2.2 at the moment). Second, at the top, set the Mode to IFO. And third, in Tools->Settings->IFO Mode->Create Additional Files, make sure that "Stream Information" is checked, and also check both PGC and Angle number. These settings will be remembered for later uses, so you only have to set them up once. Over on the right side of DVDDecrypter, you'll see that the main movie has been chosen. It always chooses the longest PGC (Program Chain). Ordinarily this will be what you want. If there are a number of episodes or shows on the DVD, it'll choose the longest one. Look around in there and you'll see the others (they're usually of a similar length). Then choose a Destination folder, and start the decryption process. This may take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour for a full length movie, depending on the read speed of your DVD-ROM mostly. To insure that you get the fastest speeds, make sure you're in DMA Mode, and not PIO Mode (if your computer supports DMA Mode). To check this, in Windows XP, go Start->Settings->Control Panel->System->Device Manager->IDE ATI/ATAPI Controllers->Secondary IDE Channel (if that's where your DVD-ROM is located)->Advanced Settings->DMA if available. When done, you'll have the VOB files, the Stream Information file, and the IFO.

Here's where you set DVDDecrypter to IFO Mode. Make sure that you're using DVDDecrypter, and ONLY DVDDecrypter. Auto GK sometimes doesn't work with SmartRipper or any of the other ripping software.

Make sure that Stream Information is checked. At the bottom, be sure to check the PGC and Angle number boxes. You can leave the rest alone.

This is how most movies will look in DVDDecrypter. Nothing unusual here. The longest PGC is selected by default. You choose the Destination folder by clicking on the little Folder Icon (I'll set one up in advance), make sure you have enough hard drive space,and hit the DVD disk picture to start the decryption process. The other VTS/PGCs may contain such things as the Menu Screens, the FBI Warning, Trailers, Music Videos, Making Of Documentaries, Deleted Scenes, etc..

Here's an anime DVD with 4 different Episodes in 4 PGCs. The longest one is chosen by default, but you will want to open the other VTS's to track down the other Episodes (as shown here), and perhaps decrypt them in a different order. You should set up a different folder for each Episode.

Here's a DVD with Multiple Angles. The different angles may contain different things, but for Disney/Miramax, the movie is exactly the same, but the Credits are in different languages. In the case of Region 1 DVDs, the first angle is the English version, but if you open the Stream Processing Tab (see the next pic), you'll see what the other ones are.

Here are the Audio Streams available for the previous movie. There are 4 different English Audio Streams, including the DTS track, which we can't use. And there are also French and Spanish Audio Tracks. Further down (which we can't see) are the English, French, and Spanish Subtitle Streams. Don't enable Stream Processing. We'll take care of getting the Audio and Subs elsewhere. This is just to show what's on the DVD. This information will also show up in the Stream Information.txt file that DVDDecrypter will put on your hard drive. To repeat again; do NOT enable Stream Processing, and do NOT extract the Audio or Subtitles that you want. If you get the audio and/or subs at this stage, because of the way that AutoGK works, you will wind up with neither audio nor subs.

Here's an unusual one. It's from the Region 1 Finding Nemo DVD. DVDDecrypter selected the longest PGC as it always does. But this PGC has not only the movie, but also includes places where the movie is halted from time to time to show some video commentary by various people, and explanations of how various scenes were created. In this example, the main movie alone is in PGC 1, and if you want that one, highlight it instead. When strange things that you don't understand pop up, consult the back of the DVD case, the pamphlet often included with the DVD, or online resources such as IMDB.com or Amazon.com to help you sort it out.

In cases where there are both the Director's Cut or Special Edition, with extra footage , and the Theatrical Edition on the same DVD (as in this example), then the longer Director's Cut will be chosen. In this case you'll probably want to stick with the longer and default PGC. If not, then just click on PGC 1 to get the shorter, original Theatrical Edition of the movie. But don't hesitate to look around inside the various VTS's to get an idea of what they contain. As before, the back of the DVD case, or the insert, may also have information that will help.

2. The AutoGK screen. After decrypting the DVD to your hard drive, open AutoGK and select the Input Directory where you just ripped the VOB files. Select the Output File where you want the intermediate files and final .avi to go. It's usually the same as the Input file. For the Audio track, select the one you want. Frequently, you'll have audio tracks in different languages on the DVD. There may also be a 6 channel AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1), a 2 channel AC3 (DD 2.0), for older, classic films a 1 channel AC3 (DD 1.0) and/or a Director's Commentary track. AutoGK can't handle DTS tracks, so ignore that if there is one. If you plan on using MP3 audio, it might be better to choose the 2 track DD 2.0 if there is one. If you're going for 2 CDs and want the best quality audio, then choose the 6 track DD 5.1 if available. If you want subtitles with your .avi, then choose one of the available languages. These will be "burnt in" by default, unless you choose external subtitles in the Advanced Settings. That is, they'll be encoded onto the video. About the Output size; the default is for 2 CDs and the AC3 audio (DD 5.1, or 2.0 if no 5.1 is available). If you want to try and put the movie onto 1 CD (with lower resolution and therefore somewhat lower quality), then choose 1 CD, and MP3 audio will be chosen by default. Some movies are long and/or difficult to compress. So (rarely) you may wish to go for 3 CDs. Be warned though; it's sometimes not possible to fill 3 CDs, even at the highest quality and resolution.

Step 1: Choose the Input directory and Output file name. You can write them just about anyway you want, unless you are choosing two languages of External Subtitles (explained later). In that case, you'll have to name them both with no spaces between them. So for this example, you might choose to name them as KDS.

Step 2: Again, when going for 2 or 3 CDs, the first Audio track is chosen, but feel free to choose another of the AC3 audio tracks, and it will be included unchanged (not converted to MP3) with the video. Pressing Ctrl followed by F10 will bring up the option of adding a second audio track. This might be the Director's Commentary, or a second language. In this example I've chosen to include one audio track in the original Japanese language for myself, and a secondary track in English for the young children in my life, for this wonderful anime for children of all ages. This second audio track will be encoded as ABR MP3 at 128 KBps. In the Advanced Settings, if you elect to change from the AC3 audio on the main screen (choose to have it encoded as MP3), and you also have a second audio track, then that second audio track will have the same MP3 settings as the first audio track. If you are making a 1 CD backup of the DVD, then by default the audio will be encoded as ABR MP3 at 128 KBps.

If you want burnt in subtitles, then choose your subtitle track. The default setting is for burned in or subtitles embedded into the video. If you would prefer to have external subs, then check that box in Advanced Settings.

Step 3: Here we see the Output Size Box. The default is for 2 CDs. If you have a TV series, or anime episodes, or some such, on the DVD, you may want to choose to use 1/4, 1/3 or 1/2 CD for each. Although the default is for a 2 CD rip, you may want to put the movie onto 1 CD or 3 CDs. If you plan to put your movie onto a DVD-R, then you might want to choose the 2 GB option, or fit several movies on one DVD-R by choosing one of the fractions of a DVD-R. If you want to have the very best quality, at 720 Horizontal Resolution without regard to size, then you can choose Maximum Quality. If you make a 2 or 3 CD rip, then it will also be split into 700 MB pieces for you. 2 GB and Maximum Quality rips won't be split. In this Aliens SE example, I'm going for the 6 channel AC3 together with a Director's Commentary track. At over two and a half hours long with lots of action, it deserves 3 CDs.

When you're done setting up each movie, hit the Add Job button. If you're doing only one movie, then hit Start next, and AutoGK will begin to go to work. If you want to encode more than one job (movie or episode) during this encoding session, then go back and start the process over again. Then when all done, hit Start, and the movies/episodes will be encoded one after the other. If you have more than one movie set up to be encoded, it's also possible to rearrange their order in the queue, or to delete one or more entirely.

By the way; if you have set up some jobs and are all done, then go ahead and start the encoding. If you just set them up, and then close AutoGK, intending to come back later to begin the encoding, you'll lose all your jobs. AutoGK will start the next time with default settings on the Main Screen and no jobs in the queue.

Step 3 (continued): There are other Output Size options besides the Predefined Size options. Maybe you have CDs of a different size than the standard 700 MB ones. Maybe you're going to keep the movie on the hard drive or put it on a DVD-R. In such cases you might want to choose a Custom Size. So tick Custom Size, and either fill in or use the up/down arrows to select a Custom Size. A Custom Size won't be split. If you happen to choose a Custom Size of 1400 or 2100 MB, then it will be split, like a 2 or 3 CD rip will be split. If you want a Custom Size for those sizes, then make them for a slightly different size, such as 1401 or 2101 MB.

Another Output Size possibility is Target Quality (in Percentage). If, for example, you keep your movies on your hard drive, or run an HTPC, or plan to burn them to DVD-R and not to CD-R, then the final file size may not be important to you. A Quality encode will give you even quality throughout the movie at your designated percentage. The default is 75%, which will give you very good quality. Good quality percentages begin at about 67% (Quantizer 3). I don't think there's much point in going above about 80% because then you'll lose some of the benefits of MPEG4's compression abilities. That's up to you, though. But remember, if you use a Percentage output, you'll lose control over file size. A Quality Percentage rip won't be split. The horizontal width will always be 704, unless you set a fixed width in the Advanced Settings.

There have been quite a few questions and problems concerning Quality Mode, so let me try and cover some of them. It's true that you'll lose complete control of file size. The final size can sometimes even become larger than the original vob files (the original DVD). This can occur when the material is hard to compress. The most common hard-to-compress materials are noisy/grainy material, and full-screen material filmed with handheld cameras. Concert DVDs are often like that, and can often result in huge file sizes. Cheaply made films using low-grade film stock are hard to compress. In such cases you might want to lower the percentage to around 50% and/or encode at a lower resolution than the default.

Step 2 (continued): Let's go into more detail about Subtitles. As mentioned before, the default is for burned in, or hard coded or embedded subs. You can only have one language of subs at the default setting. If you prefer to have external or separate subs to be displayed through DirectVobSub, choose your subtitle language in the main screen, and then tick "Use External Subtitles" in Advanced Settings (see the pic just below). At the moment, External Subtitles cannot be displayed by standalone DVD/MPEG4 players, although that's in the process of changing. After selecting External Subs, it's then possible to have subtitles in 2 languages. Select External Subtitles in Advanced Settings, press Ctrl and F10, and the option to choose another language of subs will present itself back on the main screen.

Another Subtitle Option in the Advanced Settings is Forced Subs. Ticking that box does NOT force AutoGK to put the subs into the movie. It's for a special class of subtitles that you'll want, even if you don't want the regular subtitles in your language. Examples of Forced Subs may include the Elvish spoken in the LOTR movies, the Alien languages of the Star Wars movies, the Spanish spoken in Traffic, or sometimes signs in a different language. Forced Subtitles can be real tricky to find. Sometimes (usually) they are part of the main subtitle stream. In such cases, tick the Subtitle Stream in your language on the main screen, and then check "Display only Forced Subtitles" in Advanced Settings. Sometimes they have their own separate Sub Stream. So, you will choose a different Subtitle Stream on the main screen, and then do NOT choose Forced Subs in the Advanced Settings. Sometimes Subtitle Streams, regular or forced subs, are mislabelled and will be in a different language than what it says. The best advice that I can give is to run the Preview before doing the encoding to make sure that you have the right subs. There's nothing worse than spending all the time to encode the movie, and then finding out that you have to do it all over again because the subs don't show up. When looking for Forced Subs, try different combinations of languages on the main screen plus Forced Subs in Advanced Settings, or languages on the main screen only. Yeah, I know it's difficult and time consuming. But at least there aren't many movies with Forced Subs.

3. Advanced Settings. If this is one of your first tries at this, then you will get an excellent quality backup using the defaults. Once you're feeling a bit more confident, you might want to venture into the Advanced Settings. :-) The Resolution settings will allow you to set a horizontal resolution (Fixed width) or a minimum horizontal resolution. Minimum width means that the movie will not be encoded at a horizontal width lower than what you set. It will try the higher resolutions, but if the compression test results are too low, it will try lower resolutions until it gets to your minimum width, stop there, and encode it at that width (and corresponding height), no matter what the compress test results might suggest. Although AutoGK can make certain adjustments if the quality won't be good for your chosen horizontal resolution and file size, it's very possible that the quality will suffer if you choose a high resolution fixed width and go for 1 CD. The chances of this happening are less if you choose a Minimum width, but it can still happen. With time you'll learn the relative compressibility of different movies, but if you change from the default Auto width, you might pay attention to the Compression Test results when they show up in the Log Window. Ordinarily you'll want a result of between 60-80%, and if you get below 50% or so, the quality will suffer noticeably. In that case you may wish to abort the process and start over with a different Horizontal width, or use an extra CD.

Here's the Advanced Options screen. Auto Width is usually the best choice. Auto Audio will give you MP3 at 128 ABR (Average Bit Rate, a kind of VBR or Variable Bit Rate) for one CD, unless you change it to higher or lower quality (lower is not recommended). A two or three CD movie will automatically get the best quality AC3 (Dolby Digital) 5.1 or 2.0, depending on what's on the DVD. All of the default choices can be overridden, but make sure you know what you're doing if you do override them. It is, for example, almost impossible to get good video quality for a one CD rip, if you've chosen AC3 Audio, because the AC3 takes up so much room. And if your movie is long, and difficult to compress, even when doing a 2 CD rip, you may want to choose MP3 Audio, rather than the default AC3.

Next is the Codec choice. You have 2 choices, with XviD being the default. There's a link to Doom9's Codec Shootout (comparison) at the bottom of the page, which may or may not help you to decide which to use. XviD 1.0 Final is included with the main AutoGK Install package. You'll have to get DivX 5.1.1 from the DivX.com website (link at bottom). If you're still not sure which to use, if it's any help to you, both the developer of AutoGK and the writer of this guide prefer XviD. Both will give good quality results. Both DivX 5.11 and XviD movies will play well on standalone DVD/MPEG4 players. For those of you with an ESS chipset based DVD/MPEG4 player, there's a note earlier in the guide, in the Hardware Requirements section, about a special installation procedure for you if you ever plan to use the XviD Codec.

Important: The Advanced Settings will remain after you close and reopen AutoGK, in case you always make your movies with the same Custom Settings. If you use the Custom Settings for one movie, but then intend to do the next one with the Defaults on the main screen (which are reset every time), DO NOT FORGET to also reset the Custom Settings to Auto. You may be unpleasantly surprised , if you next wanted to make a high resolution .avi, to have it come out with a lower resolution because of a setting from a previous movie.

4. Preview. This will take a few minutes to set up (7-15 maybe, for a full movie, and a few minutes longer if you want subtitles). It has to create a project file using DVD2AVI, and maybe Subtitles using VobSub. It will then play the movie. This isn't really a necessary step, unless you just want to see what it does, or check to see if the Subtitles are displaying correctly. If you are testing out different Sub choices, the indexing happens only once, and after that it's quick and easy to switch Subs. When checking out the subtitles, don't be alarmed to see them being displayed twice as "double subs". One is the subs as they'll be burned into the movie, and the other is the subs being displayed externally by Direct VobSub. After the encoding is complete, they'll be fine.

The Preview will play the cropped and resized movie at 640*xxx resolution (in the example on the left, 640x272) in WMP 6.4 for you. It should look fairly similar to the way your completed .avi (encoded movie) will appear. If you keep the default Auto Width, the Horizontal Resolution may or may not be different from what the Preview displays. You can scroll around and have a look, and even play it Full Screen. If you have elected to include subtitles, it will also display them, but it won't play any audio.

It is recommended that if you are going to have subtitles in your movie, that you test them with the Preview before encoding. If you choose to display different Subtitle Streams with the Preview, the movie won't be reindexed again, which will save some time. If you get the wrong Subs, or particulary if you're hunting for Forced Subs, go back and try another one, and so on, until you find what you're looking for. When choosing the default burned in subs, and then testing them in the Preview, you'll see "double subs". You can ignore that, and be sure that the subs will be embedded in the movie correctly.

If you have defined a Horizontal Resolution, then it will be played at that Resolution (512x384 for the one on the left). The movie above is Wide Screen, and the one on the left is Full Screen. The movie above will play on a monitor or standard sized 4:3 Television with black bars added above and below. It will play on a Wide Screen 16:9 Television with less black bars above and below. The cartoon on the left will fill the screen on a computer monitor or standard 4:3 Television set, but is meant to play on a Wide Screen 16:9 Television with black bars on the left and right sides.

5. Hidden Options. There are some other hidden options in AutoGK which can be difficult to setup and use, but therealjoeblow from the Doom9 Forums has saved us some trouble by coming up with a handy utility that automates much of the work. Thanks Joe! You can find a link to where you can download it at the bottom of this document. But it works only for the XviD 1.0 versions (like the XviD 1.0 Final included with AutoGK). It doesn't work with the older versions of XviD (like Koepi's 6/24/2003). Nor does it work with DivX. To use it, just open it from wherever you have it stored, point to where the movie files are located, fill in what you want, Create the Control File(s), and the rest will be done automatically by AutoGK.

Force Normal IVTC is something you'd better understand before using. Beginners can ignore it. Sometimes (rarely) AutoGK's Analysis step flubs on diagnosing the video content, and you might get better results overriding the decision that it's a hybrid, and go for a normal IVTC instead.

If you're a classic film fan, then Mono MP3 Audio is very useful. The original audio for old films was mono, but often DVDs of old films will come with a dual mono AC3, and when converted to MP3, it'll retain the two channels. By converting the audio to one channel mono you can free up lots of space (sometimes 50 MB or more) to help improve the quality of the video. Even if the AC3 is single channel, if you convert it to MP3, the default will be two channels of audio, and, again, you'll want to choose the Mono MP3 option. If you do go for Mono audio (NOT recommended when the movie was originally 2 or more channels), then be sure to lower the Audio Bitrate in Advanced Settings.

XviD's Cartoon Mode, in the words of XviD developer and compiler Koepi, "enables some mechanism in the motion estimation which drops (instead of encoding them) more macroblocks. The result is a more stable, a little less detailed image. Exactly what you need for cartoons like futurama or the simpsons." That is to say, it can improve the quality of American style cartoons. I don't think that I'd recommend it for the more detailed Japanese anime.

End Credit Compression is perhaps the most useful of the bunch. If you can cut the size of the end credits, you can use those freed-up bits to improve the quality of the movie itself. So, you check the box and fill in the time the credits start (inside the Frame Calc. box) or fill in the frame number at which they start, and set the quality percentage. This is most useful when you have fixed or scrolling white on black end credits (in which case you also check the Greyscale mode box). One way to find the frame number at which they start is to run the Preview. Then after AutoGK has created a .d2v file, open that in Gordian Knot and scroll the picture to where the end credits start, and then type that frame number into the box. A 20% figure will allow you to read the end credits, but they will be kind of messed up, with trailing milky white stuff coming from the white-on-black scrolling credits. If that doesn't bother you, then 20% is a good percentage. If you want the size reduced, but without much quality degradation, then you might select 40 or 50%. If the credits are the kind with video (like the bloopers at the end of Jackie Chan's movies), or even the kind with some pictures as the credits roll, then you may not wish to use End Credits Compression at all. But with movies with long credits, it's not uncommon to save 40 or 50 MB by using the compression feature. That will allow considerable improvement (including a higher resolution) to the movie.

Hit 'Frame Calc' in the Hidden Options Utility, fill in the time that the end credits start, tick NTSC or PAL, hit 'Calculate', and the correct frame number for the credits start will be filled in. One way to get that time is to play the DVD in your computer, and skip to the chapter where the end credits start.

6 . Encoding. After you've added your movie (s) to the Job queue, just hit the Start button and wait. With slower computers it's a long process, and you may want to set it up to work overnight or while you're at work or in class. Again, if you want the computer to shut down automatically when done, check the box. Hitting the Abort Button will cause the program to ask if you really want to halt the process, and then aborts the rest of the job. But if you do so, you'll have to start all over again later (except for the decrypting step). While the encoding is going on you might want to do some other work on the computer, and you'll probably find that your computer has slowed to a crawl. As a temporary fix you can do a Ctrl-Alt-Delete and lower the Priority of Virtual Dub.exe. For a permanent fix, open VDubMod and then go Options (at the top)->Preferences->VDubMod Tab->Process Priority. I set mine to "Even Lower" and find that it works well. If you want to something really CPU intensive, like some gaming, you might even set it to "Idle", but that could slow the encoding way down.

Inside the About button are useful links, including one to this Guide, a way to donate to the creator of AutoGK, and some other information.

Nothing to note here.

As AutoGK goes about its work, lines are added in the Log Window. These same lines are added to the MovieName_gk.log. But there's a lot of other information in the log file that doesn't interest us, so I've saved the contents of a Log Window and numbered them for reference. Let's go through it to try and understand what the different lines mean.

If you are new to video encoding, there will be some lines that may not make much sense to you. But that's OK. Trust AutoGK to know what it's doing. ;) There are links at the bottom if you want to read up and understand better what's going on.

1. and 2. The first two lines show where you've set the Input and Output directories. The movie is Terminator 2 Extreme. At 153 minutes, it's quite long. And the DD 5.1 Audio that I want is nearly 500 MB in size. I'm going to see if I can make a good backup on 2 CDs. I'll keep everything at default. I've already decrypted the DVD VOB files to the hard drive. They total about 6.25 GB. Together with the Audio (489 MB), the Comptest video (152 MB), the Muxed .avi (1.38 GB), the Split .avi (699 MB each), as well as a few other files, this means that for this movie, I need over 9 GB of hard drive space. There aren't too many movies that will require more space than this one.
3., 4., and 5. Here we see the other settings I've made. Actually, I didn't do anything with this one, as they're all the default settings.
6. AutoGK begins.
7. Demuxing is short for Demultiplexing, or separating the audio from the video. This will give me the AC3 DD 5.1 Audio track and is done using DVD2AVI. Indexing refers to the creation of a Project File using DVD2AVI, which together with the AviSynth script file that AutoGK creates, will feed the frames into the encoder as they are needed.
8. AutoGK will run a number of tests to determine what's on the DVD and how to treat it. This is a particularly easy case, and not much has to be done to determine that it's been encoded as Progressive. and is pure FILM. Most movies from the major studios are equally easy. In other cases you may see it run one or 2 additional tests on PAL or NTSC material to determine if it's Interlaced, can be IVTC'd, is Hybrid, has the common PAL Field Shifted problem, etc. Ordinarily you'd have to figure these things out for yourself, but AutoGK saves you from having to do that. If none of this means much to you, and you wish to learn more about the subject, then please see the Doom9 IVTC Tutorial linked at the bottom of the page.
9. The total number of frames in the movie.
10. The size of the audio. To get it in MB, divide by 1024 twice. I'm using the AC3, so no transcoding to MP3 took place.
11. Overhead is the amount of data required to interleave the audio back into the video when done.
12. This is the amount of space we have leftover on the 2 CDs for the video, after accounting for the Audio and the Overhead.
13. A Compression test encodes 5% of the movie (15 frames of every 300 frames, so it samples the entire movie) to get an idea of how well it will compress, and to give us an idea if the default parameters (resolution and file size mainly) will give us a good quality movie. The Compress Test is run at a Horizontal Resolution of 640.
14. and 15., 22. and 23., and 26. and 27. After each encoding stage AutoGK will report the time it took and the frames per second you achieved. This can be useful for benchmarking your computer. But the times may differ significantly between different movies, for a number of reasons. So if you want, for example, to compare your encoding speeds with those of a friend, make sure you're comparing the same movie done with the same settings.
16. Oops! Only 33.17%. If 100% is perfect quality, we're aiming for 60-75%. Below 50-55% the quality will suffer noticeably. AutoGK will try and help by adjusting some things.
17. A Matrix will help define the detail or sharpness of the image. We start with a sharp, but less compressible Matrix, but because the result of the Compress Test was so bad, it switches to a softer Matrix.
18. The default resizer is a sharp one, and just as in the previous line with the Matrix being changed to aid the compressibility, so this line tells us that a softer Resizer will be used.
19. And again, because the Compress Test results were so bad, AutoGK changes from 640x272 to 512x208.
20. After making these changes, AutoGK calculates that the quality has improved up to 63.14%. The initial Compress Test result is only an approximation, but a good one to within +/- 5% or so. But by making the 3 changes of Matrix, Resizer, and Resolution, the errors may get compounded along the way. So that 63.14% may be an even less accurate guess as to the quality of the final movie.
21. Encoding is a 2 pass or 2 step process. The first pass gathers the information needed to render the .avi during the second pass. The main thing the first pass wants to know is the complexity of each frame, so it can know how to distribute the available bits during the second pass. Complex scenes will include crowd scenes, explosions, smoke and water scenes, brightly lit scenes, or even just leaves blowing in the wind. When there is movement across the entire screen, then that's a complex scene. T2 is full of complex scenes, and that's one reason it's difficult to compress (that, and because it's so long). An older film with lots of film grain or noise is also difficult to compress. Even many modern films, where grain or noise is added purposely, such as Saving Private Ryan, can be difficult to encode for that reason alone. Movies with lots of static scenes of people talking, or with lots of dark scenes, are much easier to compress, and can often be put on 1 CD with good results.
24. Now we get the true and accurate idea of the quality of the final .avi. And in this example, 61.57% is pretty close to the predicted value. AutoGK did a good job in adjusting the settings.
25. Now the second pass will write the final video.
28. and 29. The encoding has completed, and the whole movie, complete with audio, is sitting on the hard drive. Now the completed .avi is being split into the 2 CDs I asked for.
30. Done. So how does this 61.57% movie at 512x208 movie look? Well, fine, sort of. It looks a bit soft or undefined. In closeups, the texture of the faces isn't quite as clear or detailed as it might have been had a higher resolution with a sharper Matrix and Resizer been used. You'll have to be the judge of the level of quality with which you'll be satisfied. There are a couple of things you can do to improve the visual quality. One is to use the MP3 audio, instead of the AC3. So you might go into the Advanced Settings before starting and switch over to MP3. The AC3 took up 489 MB of the movie, but the MP3 takes only 132 MB (I transcoded the audio to MP3 to find out). That 357 MB difference could go towards improving the video quality by giving it a higher resolution. Or you could keep the AC3 audio and go for a third CD and gain 700 MB. Since the AC3 is so good for that movie, I decided to keep it and do it over again for 3 CDs, and it looks great.

If you've never burned videos to CD-R, then pay attention. Unless you use a Custom Size, when done, AutoGK will give you the movie done for 1 CD (700 MB), 2 CDs (1400 MB) or 3 CDs (2100 MB) already split and ready to put on CD-R. For that you'll need 700 MB or 80 minute CD-Rs. If you have larger or smaller sized blank CD-Rs, then you'll probably want to use a Custom Size, and you may have to split them yourself, since AutoGK doesn't split Custom Sized movies. If you've only burned music CDs before, then there are some different things you'll have to learn. Avi's are Data and not Audio. So you'll have to set your program for that. If you go by the size that Windows Explorer shows, then you might think you've been handed an oversized .avi that won't fit onto your blank CD-R. But if it says 717,000 KB in Windows, that's really a 700 MB file. To convert KB to MB, divide by 1024. 717,000/1024=700.195 MB, and it'll fit just fine. There are many burning programs, and although many people's computers come with Easy CD Creator, most people much prefer to use Nero to burn movies (link at bottom). So we'll teach you to use Nero.

Here in this first screen make sure that CD-ROM (ISO) on the left is highlighted. Tick No Multisession, unless you want to add more videos later (like if you're burning an episode, and intend to add one or two more later on). Over on the right side, hit New.

Then a new screen will pop up. Drag the movie from over on the right side into the window on the left side. The arrow is pointing to the picture of the CD with a lit match under it. Hit that button to go to the next stage. Different versions of Nero have different pictures for the next stage, but if you hold your mouse over it, it should say "Burns the current compilation", or "Opens the CD Write dialog" or something like that. The versions I've seen all have some fire in the picture.

Unless you're doing this for the first time and want to test your CD-RW before burning, make sure that just Write and Finalize CD are checked. If you have a fast burner(48x or 52x), you may wish to set it for 32x or 40x to insure a better burn. I have had problems sometimes burning at max speed with my 48x burner. You can set it to Disc-at-once , then hit Burn and wait a few minutes.

CONCLUSION

With any luck, after a while (maybe too long, if you're anxious to see how your rip looks) you'll be able to see the results of your efforts. You can play the movies on your computer, or pop the CDs into your DVD/MPEG4 player and enjoy them. This way you can keep your prized DVDs in mint condition, or keep the kids' grubby little paws off of them. :-) If for some reason the audio and/or video doesn't play on your computer, or doesn't play well, then go to the Links section below and get the filters you need. You may find the whole process addictive and want to do more and more backups. You may find yourself springing for the most powerful computer available, just so you can get it done faster. You should be aware that not every DVD can be backed up with good quality with this program. Sometimes the source DVDs aren't very good. Garbage in/garbage out, as they say. Other movies, particularly older ones, are grainy and very difficult to compress to 1, or even 2 CDs. With AutoGK you don't have access to the full range of filters that may help compress them better. Even more modern movies, such as Saving Private Ryan or The Abyss, are notoriously difficult to compress. In addition, there are many badly mastered DVDs out there which may give the program problems. But if you stick with DVDs from the major studios, you should be OK. If you do wish to back up some of the more difficult DVDs around, or just want more freedom to experiment and tweak, then you might want to try the full, more configurable, but much more complex, Gordian Knot program (link at bottom). AutoGK has purposely been kept as simple as possible so that beginners can have success right from the start, without the frustrations that go along with having to learn a number of complex processes that accompany other programs, whether all-in-one front end solutions, or the individual programs themselves. It's simple to use, but very powerful under the hood, so to speak. It contains a number of programming breakthroughs and innovations not found in any other program to date. In addition, if you have any questions or problems, you can visit the Gordian Knot Development Forum at www.doom9.org (link at bottom). But you'll have to wait 5 days from the time you register until the time you can post a question. You can use that time to good advantage, by reading the guides, browsing the forums, and exploring the wealth of information available on that site. If you do have a question about a particular encoding you did, be sure and save and post the log file (MovieName_gk.log) along with your question. We hope you'll enjoy using Auto Gordian Knot. Thanks for giving it a try. Best wishes, and happy encoding.

Acknowledgements go to TheWEF for the countless man-hours he put into the development of the original Gordian Knot. Also we thank len0x for continuing the work of TheWEF, keeping GordianKnot the best all-in-one front end for .avi encoding, and for the development of AutoGK. And last, but by no means least, we'd like to thank Doom9 for his wonderful site, for his support of the continuing development of GKnot and AutoGK, and for providing forums for their discussion and guides for their use.

Congratulations go out to Tuning from the Doom9 Forums for coming up with the name of Auto Gordian Knot, and for winning the "Name That Program" poll. It's a short, catchy and accurate name that reflects what AutoGK does, and how it's different in concept from the original Gordian Knot.

Thanks go to therealjoeblow from the Doom9 Forums for coding the nifty little Hidden Options utility that allows us to tweak AutoGK a bit more.

Duplication of content without authors' authorization is prohibited. (c) manono & len0x. -= 2003-2004 =-