UNOFFICIAL Rifftrax DVD Creating Step-by-Step Guide (Now With Rifftrax Lite)

[James of LinHood]

I ripped the boxed set version of The Matrix with DVDdecryptor and it seemed to work great (meaning the audio is fine and I got no error messages when I ripped it).  I'm in the very slow process of mixing the volume just right so it'll probably be a little while before I know if I come out with a great copy or not.  Hopefully I'll have this done by Friday night.

[MrTorso]

The only problems I had with the Matrix was the GOP time code was seriously screwed. There is a GOP fixer built into the video editor I use so I was able to fix that. When I dropped the original rip it gave a running time of 3 + hours. Once I fixed the GOP it was all good.

[King Rygar]

Ok, I hunkered down and went through SuperDragons guide and BAM! I now have Phantom Menace Rifftrax DVD!!! Superb! I am in love all over again! Thank your sir!

BUT, I have one issue. The movie is widescreen 2:35.1. I have a 16:9 HDTV. The Riff DVD is slightly streched vertically compared to the original. This isn't a big issue on my 16:9 set, but I have a bad feeling when I take this over to my friends to watch this weekend, it will be even worse on his 4:3 set.

Any tips?

Thanks again for the guide Super! 

[BathTub]

Did you get the huttese subtitles working?

[Grillslinger]

Thanks for these directions! They work great.
King Rygar,
I've noticed on some of the DVD's I've used, that they have two versions of the movie. One for widescreen tv's and one for normal tv's. If you use the one for a regular screen, It will play just fine on your friend's tv.

[King Rygar]

King Rygar,
I've noticed on some of the DVD's I've used, that they have two versions of the movie. One for widescreen tv's and one for normal tv's. If you use the one for a regular screen, It will play just fine on your friend's tv.

The Phantom Menace DVD I have only has the Widescreen version 

[Hank]

Did you get the huttese subtitles working?

For the record, only one line is referenced (riffed), said by Watto.


20
00:46:07,199 --> 00:46:10,635
Your friend
is a foolish one, methinks

[k1]

I ripped The Matrix without any problem using Mac The Ripper.  I could play it fine in VLC, but when I converted it to Mpeg4, the audio partially went out of sync.  (Very strange)

Right when the cop slaps the cuffs on Trinity is when it went screwy.  Her movements were in sync, but the gun shots weren't heard until she was on the phone.  (Almost like the surround sound channels were delayed, but the regular left & right were ok)  I tried a bunch of different ripping programs, and finally got it using Hand Brake.

[SpinyNorman]

Hi all  from another newbie.

Firstly, many thanks to SASDs guide - even a computer idiot like me can follow it and produce a usable version of STV. However I cannot transfer Halloween due to DVD stuttering - it only plays in 2-3 second bursts. Tried both +R and -R and burning at a slower speed. Nothing. I'm out of ideas. Any thoughts?   

[SecretAgentSuperDragon]

I am not a fan of scary movies, so I have no experience with Halloween. But what I have been seeing is that each dvd can produce different results. If anybody here has done Halloween successfully, hopefully you can help out SpinyNorman.

My question to you Spiny is what have you been playing the DVD on(i.e. computer, DVD player, xbox, etc...)

Also, how does your original copy of Halloween look like? Is it pretty scratched up? That might be a source of the problem as well.

[James of LinHood]

I've made a copy of Halloween and it worked great.  I used the 25th anniversary edition DVD.  Is that what you're using?  If so, did you follow SuperDragon's guide exactly?  If your answer is yes to both of those questions it should work out fine.

As SuperDragon said, it could be that your disc is scratched.  Have you ever burned any other Rifftax DVDs that have turned out okay?  If this is your very first one, there's a small chance it could be a problem with your computer.

[SpinyNorman]

I've made a copy of Halloween and it worked great.  I used the 25th anniversary edition DVD.  Is that what you're using?  If so, did you follow SuperDragon's guide exactly?  If your answer is yes to both of those questions it should work out fine.

As SuperDragon said, it could be that your disc is scratched.  Have you ever burned any other Rifftax DVDs that have turned out okay?  If this is your very first one, there's a small chance it could be a problem with your computer.

I'm not using the 25th anniversary edition, but an older one I picked up cheap recently. I guess it may be the DVD as I have burned STV and Fifth Element OK. Just tried and failed again...strange, DVD shrink shows the file length as 1hr 51 whereas the film is nearer 1.30 (?). Other than that, it all seems to go OK.

[James of LinHood]

I'm not using the 25th anniversary edition, but an older one I picked up cheap recently. I guess it may be the DVD as I have burned STV and Fifth Element OK. Just tried and failed again...strange, DVD shrink shows the file length as 1hr 51 whereas the film is nearer 1.30 (?). Other than that, it all seems to go OK.

It's probably that version of the DVD that's screwing it up.  Has anybody else here successfully made a copy of Halloween using a version other than the 25th Anniversary Edition?

[Hank]

I had an audio sync issue that I couldn't fix, but only when I demuxed the movie and imported it as an m2v file. When I used TMPGENG DVD Author and imported directly from the VIDEO_TS folder, the problem was solved. Plus, TDA converts the wav to ac3.

[DoctorZ]

I guess I'll throw in my method.

I use only 2 programs to make my Rifftrax DVD's, Nero 6 and DVD Decrypter.

First I pay for the DVD and the Rifftrax (I sell the DVD later)
I unzip the Rifftrax to the folder where I keep them.
I decrypt the movie to my hard drive into its own folder.

Next I start Nero 6 and use the program that converts DVD's to mpeg4.  Nero does an excellent job of identifying the main movie title, which is all you really want, filtering out menus, special features, other audio tracks. The program also reprograms the mpeg4 file to fit on a regular sized DVD.  This takes about as long as the movie plays.  I have never had a problem with the audio getting out of sync with the video using this program

Next I go to the "make movie" feature in Nero 6.  I import the unzipped Rifftrax and drop it down into the audio container.  I then play the rifftrax and pause the audio when Mike tells me to.  I then make a segment cut and delete the rifftrax intro. (Don't worry, the original rifftrax remains intact)

I then bring in the mpeg4 movie file and drop it into its container.  Using the grab feature I can adjust the audio rifftrax to sync up perfectly by shifting the audio track back and forth in its container if it is out of sync.  I adjust the movie volume to be just below the Rifftrax volume.  Nero does a good job of equalizing the volume so there are no loud or soft variations after you get the volumes to where you want them.

I then use Nero 6 to add chapters automatically, create a menu screen and then burn the DVD. 

It takes a little over 4 hours to do all this if its a 2 hour movie. I am very pleased with the results