converting DVD to MP3 or AVI easy?

I am new here and planning to order the M6. I currently only have an ipod shuffle that was given to me. I have a few questions.

1 Is it easy to convert DVD files to avi or mp3 audio without being a technogeek? If so, what is the best FREE option for software?

2 Will I be able to use the files already in my itunes library and drag drop to the Meizu?

Thanks

I can't wait to get this. It looks great.

Convert DVD files to avi, use BatMan (use search to find it in this forum). Convert avi to mp3, use MediaCoder (again, use search to find it in this forum).

to rip the sound track out of an avi, just use VirtualDub to demux the audio (which is mp3 most of the time anyway). That way you don't need to transcode and lose quality.
Uh, wait. "DVD to mp3 or avi ..." - I guess you didnt want to rip a DVD to mp3 sound only, right ?
Just use BatMan to convert a DVD into AVI (which includes mp3 sound).

And if your music files are in Apple's AAC format they won't work on the M6, they'd need ripping from CD again, or if you don't have the files on CD re-encoding to MP3/OGG/FLAC format. Thing is I believe this is what's known as 'transcoding' - going from one lossy format to another, so there could be some degridation in sound quality if you do this. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

to rip the sound track out of an avi, just use VirtualDub to demux the audio (which is mp3 most of the time anyway). That way you don't need to transcode and lose quality.
Uh, wait. "DVD to mp3 or avi ..." - I guess you didnt want to rip a DVD to mp3 sound only, right ?
Just use BatMan to convert a DVD into AVI (which includes mp3 sound).

Actually I was interested in both (if going from DVD to mp3) isn't difficult for a not techie. I have some good live DVD that i would like on MP3 for M6 and CD for car listening.

How tedious/time consuming is either of these processes? I guess .avi won't be too bad or these things would not sell.

Thanks for the replies.

Oh yeah. I ordered from JTC electronics...Marc was very helpful and fast. I can't wait for it to get here! I went for the 8GB..4GB is down to $89w/free shipping at Newegg for anyone on the fence.

converting a DVD to AVI takes 2-4 hours on a standard system. Extracting the mp3 from an AVI with VirtualDub takes only a couple of minutes.

If going DVD > MP3 using Batman one could also, to speed up the process:

Chose special option: switch
And input: -novideo

BobbyQ, is it possible to overide the default -oac or -lameopts in BatMan to have more control over the audio (VBR, bitrate, etc.) That could also help, as the default bitrate in BatMan is pretty low (as it's for video) and it's only CBR.

If it's possible, at this to the switch aswell:

-oac mp3lame -lameopts vbr:q=x:mode=0 (Change x from 0 to 9, lower is better quality)

Originally Posted by mfb

And input: -novideo

that does not work. BatMan is not designed to be an audio-only converter (I might add that feature in future versions though). Use VirtualDub to demux an audio stream from a movie.

Originally Posted by mfb

BobbyQ, is it possible to overide the default -oac or -lameopts in BatMan to have more control over the audio (VBR, bitrate, etc.) That could also help, as the default bitrate in BatMan is pretty low (as it's for video) and it's only CBR.

No, it's libavc-audio VBR. lame is not supported anymore because it was causing problems. To use a bitrate of 192 kbps for the audio, enter the following switch :
-lavcopts abitrate=192

Originally Posted by BobbyQ

that does not work. BatMan is not designed to be an audio-only converter (I might add that feature in future versions though). Use VirtualDub to demux an audio stream from a movie.

Wouldn't -novideo just encode as would it be with missing video stream? It does here at least, it should be able to encode to an avi containing only audio.

To bad to hear you abondened LAME, I can't see why it should be giving problems.