I am sure there are many new linux (Ubuntu?) users out there looking for a nice 'Windows' solution for transferring your legal videos over to your 8800 and Pearl. I am basing this off of the 8800 resolution since this is what I have. Here is a quick reference that I grabbed from another post:
Supported Video Formats
* MPEG-4 Part 2 (Simple Profile and bvop, including DivX 4)
File formats - .avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov
Video - Up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 30 frames per second
* H.263 (Profile 0 & Profile 3)
File formats - .avi, .3gp, .mp4, .mov
Video - up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 30 frames per second
* Windows Media Video (Simple Profile)
File formats - .wmv
Video - Up to 320 x 240, up to 800 kbps, up to 24 frames per second
Note: Windows Media Video is supported in BlackBerry Device Software 4.2.1 only.
I have used AcidRip successfully. If you are using Ubuntu, do a search in synaptic package manager for acidrip. Once installed, it is located under applications -> sound & video -> AcidRip. Fire it up! Here are some screen shots for settings that worked for family guy. I have noticed that you have to play with the resolution to get it right. The first tab that comes up is pretty self explanatory Notice the load DVD on the right. This is where you can select the track, usually the largest one. In this case there are multiple shows on one DVD, so I selected the second track:
***Disregard the file size for now, and look at the options for audio. Notice the br=64. This is your sound quality. You can set this to 128 and higher, but I am trying to keep my movies under 300m.
Next click the Video tab, here are some settings that worked for me:
Make sure your codec is lavc. Your options should be default, this is what I had:
vcodec=mpeg4:vhq:v4mv:vqmin=2
Next click lock Bits/Px which will allow you to change the bitrate. 230 is good for my purposes ((although it shows 226)). Next click Scale and click lock aspect. Bring your width down to a maximum 320. Finally click start.
I ripped Stripes which was 1:46 in time and it came out to 199.2m with a resolution of 320x160. Fills the whole viewable screen on my 8800 default viewer.
I have noticed when I played with the resolution incorrectly I would get a green bar along the top, just need to keep the aspect ratios. AcidRip will begin creating your .avi after it rips the dvd. Once the avi creation begins you can view the video while it's ripping ((just click on it in your file browser)) to make sure everything is going ok. IE: wrong language, green bar, etc..
Enjoy!