General BitTorrent / Video Questions

Frawdo · 08-30-2007, 02:26 PM

I have a few general questions regarding downloading torrents and video compression. I considered just PMing this to Vorph, as I imagine he will have some good answers, but there are probably people out there wondering some of the same things.

1) I've been downloading albums from BT for a couple years now, never done anything but download torrents from public sites and it's been great. Lately I've been more interested in downloading movies/tv shows. I see a lot more warnings abouts "protecting yourself" in the comments of these torrents using PeerGuardian or some similar program.

Are these comments warranted? Should I really be investigating some sort of protection program when I'm downloading from BT, or is the reality that I can continue to download normally and not worry?

2) I'm starting school again soon, and I have a fairly long commute on bus to get there (1.5 hours each way, enough to watch a couple episodes of a show). I'm interested in being able to compress the avi/xvid/dvix files that I download into something smaller so I can watch them on my phone as I ride the bus. Anyone know of a good program to do this.

My Phone: Nokia 6265i
Supports: 3GPP formats (H.263), MPEG-4
Storage: Up to 2gb with mini-SD card. Would like to be able to take around 6-8 episodes on a card, not sure if that's possible while mantaining quality.

The Phone is unlocked, so no DRM to worry about.

3) I would like to burn some movies onto DVD. I think this answer has been posted here before, but I can't remember. I just want to take the downloaded AVIs and burn them onto a normal DVD using the normal DVD format.

I have a DVD player that supports DVix/XVid in my room, but occasionally I want to be able to share a movie with my parents/girlfriend, both have DVD players that do not support it.

4) I have some DVDs that I would like to rip to my computer for my own personal archive. I am going to looking into setting up one of those computer entertainment setups (can't remember the proper term, Eomer has a sweet one I believe) in the next 2-3 years, I want to start archiving some DVDs now so that I have a decent collection when I get setup. Is there a program out there that will rip DVDs for me?

Keep in mind that I am not exactly an audiophile or videophile, having super-elite-top quality isn't extremely important to me. Having something that is medium-high quality and remains "watchable" is all I really need.

If you are going to recommend a program, would you mind noting whether it's a freeware sort of deal, or what kind of hoops I will need to jump through to "find" the software and make it work.

Thanks

Aulirophile · 08-30-2007, 07:41 PM

HTPC or "Home Theatre PC" is the acronym you are thinking of. Check out the Doom9 forums and the two threads in the Movie forum. One is titled "ripped DVDs to an iPod" or something similar and the other one is just "ripping DVDs" IIRC.

http://www.fohguild.org/forums/milli...d-ripping.html
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/milli...e-my-ipod.html

Found them for ya.

Grimmlokk · 08-30-2007, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frawdo

Storage: Up to 2gb with mini-SD card. Would like to be able to take around 6-8 episodes on a card, not sure if that's possible while mantaining quality.

A half hour "HD" recorded program seems to be around 165mb generally. 330ish for hour long shows. So wouldn't have to do much if anything size-wise I imagine. Can find ones encoded for ipods out there, dunno if that works or what.

prescient63 · 08-30-2007, 08:38 PM

I'm going to recommend, if you want to get an htpc to get a new graphics card if you don't have one. Doesn't even have to be expensive, an el cheapo ati 2400 pro will handle hi-def decoding (doesn't work correctly atm with .mkv files because that haali media splitter seems to be borked for uvd and pure video). I just tested it out with a 1080p movie and it barely eats any processor up.

I could swear i was using dvdfab for doing dvd9 to dvd9 copies. Worked great for me and stripped out the copy protection. I've since just invested in larger hard drives since I find that easier.

Slide · 08-31-2007, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prescient63

I'm going to recommend, if you want to get an htpc to get a new graphics card if you don't have one. Doesn't even have to be expensive, an el cheapo ati 2400 pro will handle hi-def decoding (doesn't work correctly atm with .mkv files because that haali media splitter seems to be borked for uvd and pure video). I just tested it out with a 1080p movie and it barely eats any processor up.

I could swear i was using dvdfab for doing dvd9 to dvd9 copies. Worked great for me and stripped out the copy protection. I've since just invested in larger hard drives since I find that easier.

I was going to say the same thing, the lower end ati 2400's have built in hardware decoding stuff that isn't present in the highend gaming cards (because they dont need it). It's cheap, quiet and small, designed specifically for HTPC stuff but gaming will be shit.

Frawdo · 09-04-2007, 09:01 PM

Thanks for the links, Aulirophile, I knew they were around here somewhere.

Anyone comment on the Peer Guardian shit? anyone use that or any reason not to use it? are there other better means of protection if it's needed?

Celebrindal · 09-04-2007, 09:37 PM

If they're really looking to get you, they will. I run PG2 anyway.

Lyrical · 09-11-2007, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frawdo

Thanks for the links, Aulirophile, I knew they were around here somewhere.

Anyone comment on the Peer Guardian shit? anyone use that or any reason not to use it? are there other better means of protection if it's needed?

I use PG2 and have never had problems. I have tested on files I know have trackers on them, and have not had any problems.

Kais[] · 09-11-2007, 02:15 PM

what exactly is Peer Guardian, what does it do for you. Very brief perusal of their site didn't say much (cept it doesn't support vista yet).

Lyrical · 09-11-2007, 03:05 PM

You can read the description on wiki. I believe the general description is that it tries to identify pc's that are tracking ip activity, and block them. So it is an ever-increasing number. My PG2 monitor tells me it is blocking close to one billion IP addresses. It also tells me the IP and location of every address it is blocking. It isn't 100% foolproof, but like I said, I have tested this with five media files I know the MPAA/RIAA are tracking to test it. While other people not using PG2 are getting caught, I have yet to get one warning email from Comcast. I know some people have said that they have used PG2 and been caught, but my download library is huge, and I have had zero incidents.

Malakriss · 09-11-2007, 03:18 PM

PG/PG2/Protowall are packet blockers. Packets are basically the groups of data being sent to and from your computer to other places. The programs utilize a list of IP addresses and block any packets to/from them.

The community tries to keep up on identifying all the "bad" IP addresses including torrent snoopers and data collectors. They'll still be able to view everyone's IP on the tracker, but if their IP is on your blocklist, they can't send/recieve any data from you and have no evidence.

Identifying new or undiscovered snooper IPs is the problem, as there's no guarantee you're blocking 100% of them.

Suineg · 09-11-2007, 04:03 PM

If you can afford it then it's worth it to get good newsgroup access.

I can't preach this enough.

08-30-2007, 02:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Frawdo Death By Sexy Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 1,667 +2 Internets	General BitTorrent / Video Questions I have a few general questions regarding downloading torrents and video compression. I considered just PMing this to Vorph, as I imagine he will have some good answers, but there are probably people out there wondering some of the same things. 1) I've been downloading albums from BT for a couple years now, never done anything but download torrents from public sites and it's been great. Lately I've been more interested in downloading movies/tv shows. I see a lot more warnings abouts "protecting yourself" in the comments of these torrents using PeerGuardian or some similar program. Are these comments warranted? Should I really be investigating some sort of protection program when I'm downloading from BT, or is the reality that I can continue to download normally and not worry? 2) I'm starting school again soon, and I have a fairly long commute on bus to get there (1.5 hours each way, enough to watch a couple episodes of a show). I'm interested in being able to compress the avi/xvid/dvix files that I download into something smaller so I can watch them on my phone as I ride the bus. Anyone know of a good program to do this. My Phone: Nokia 6265i Supports: 3GPP formats (H.263), MPEG-4 Storage: Up to 2gb with mini-SD card. Would like to be able to take around 6-8 episodes on a card, not sure if that's possible while mantaining quality. The Phone is unlocked, so no DRM to worry about. 3) I would like to burn some movies onto DVD. I think this answer has been posted here before, but I can't remember. I just want to take the downloaded AVIs and burn them onto a normal DVD using the normal DVD format. I have a DVD player that supports DVix/XVid in my room, but occasionally I want to be able to share a movie with my parents/girlfriend, both have DVD players that do not support it. 4) I have some DVDs that I would like to rip to my computer for my own personal archive. I am going to looking into setting up one of those computer entertainment setups (can't remember the proper term, Eomer has a sweet one I believe) in the next 2-3 years, I want to start archiving some DVDs now so that I have a decent collection when I get setup. Is there a program out there that will rip DVDs for me? Keep in mind that I am not exactly an audiophile or videophile, having super-elite-top quality isn't extremely important to me. Having something that is medium-high quality and remains "watchable" is all I really need. If you are going to recommend a program, would you mind noting whether it's a freeware sort of deal, or what kind of hoops I will need to jump through to "find" the software and make it work. Thanks __________________ It's okay. She can jump really high

08-30-2007, 07:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
Aulirophile Ultima Ratio Regum Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: California Posts: 1,591 -3 Internets	HTPC or "Home Theatre PC" is the acronym you are thinking of. Check out the Doom9 forums and the two threads in the Movie forum. One is titled "ripped DVDs to an iPod" or something similar and the other one is just "ripping DVDs" IIRC. http://www.fohguild.org/forums/milli...d-ripping.html http://www.fohguild.org/forums/milli...e-my-ipod.html Found them for ya. __________________ "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Last edited by Aulirophile : 08-30-2007 at 07:43 PM.

09-04-2007, 09:01 PM	#6 (permalink)
Frawdo Death By Sexy Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 1,667 +2 Internets	Thanks for the links, Aulirophile, I knew they were around here somewhere. Anyone comment on the Peer Guardian shit? anyone use that or any reason not to use it? are there other better means of protection if it's needed? __________________ It's okay. She can jump really high

09-04-2007, 09:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
Celebrindal Spoon! Join Date: May 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 1,362 +31 Internets	If they're really looking to get you, they will. I run PG2 anyway. __________________ Join the FoH Rosetta@Home team & check out the Science Video Thread.

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08-30-2007, 08:38 PM	#4 (permalink)
prescient63 You can't blame women for what they do wrong in the same way that you can't blame a dog for what it does wrong. Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,409 -6 Internets	I'm going to recommend, if you want to get an htpc to get a new graphics card if you don't have one. Doesn't even have to be expensive, an el cheapo ati 2400 pro will handle hi-def decoding (doesn't work correctly atm with .mkv files because that haali media splitter seems to be borked for uvd and pure video). I just tested it out with a 1080p movie and it barely eats any processor up. I could swear i was using dvdfab for doing dvd9 to dvd9 copies. Worked great for me and stripped out the copy protection. I've since just invested in larger hard drives since I find that easier.

09-11-2007, 02:15 PM	#9 (permalink)
Kais[] Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 362 -16 Internets	what exactly is Peer Guardian, what does it do for you. Very brief perusal of their site didn't say much (cept it doesn't support vista yet).

09-11-2007, 03:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
Malakriss Your lack of intelligence is an insult to humanity. Get a fucking clue Join Date: May 2002 Location: Obviousville Posts: 2,778	PG/PG2/Protowall are packet blockers. Packets are basically the groups of data being sent to and from your computer to other places. The programs utilize a list of IP addresses and block any packets to/from them. The community tries to keep up on identifying all the "bad" IP addresses including torrent snoopers and data collectors. They'll still be able to view everyone's IP on the tracker, but if their IP is on your blocklist, they can't send/recieve any data from you and have no evidence. Identifying new or undiscovered snooper IPs is the problem, as there's no guarantee you're blocking 100% of them.

09-11-2007, 04:03 PM	#12 (permalink)
Suineg Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,810 -8 Internets	If you can afford it then it's worth it to get good newsgroup access. I can't preach this enough.