It all comes down to personal preferences, I myself use the following on Handbrake (btw, for a client, I would recommend handbrake as it's very simplistic and easy to figure out. Handbrake is a DVD ripper, however you can select the source as a movie file, with no probs - best of all, you can queue up all the jobs you want it to do, so you can just leave your PC on while it sits there coverting all the movies, without further intervention).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<array>
<dict>
<key>AudioList</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>AudioBitrate</key>
<string>192</string>
<key>AudioEncoder</key>
<string>AAC (faac)</string>
<key>AudioEncoderActual</key>
<string>faac</string>
<key>AudioMixdown</key>
<string>Stereo</string>
<key>AudioSamplerate</key>
<string>Same as source</string>
<key>AudioTrack</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>AudioTrackDRCSlider</key>
<real>0</real>
<key>AudioTrackDescription</key>
<string>English (AC3) (2.0 ch)</string>
</dict>
</array>
<key>ChapterMarkers</key>
<false />
<key>Default</key>
<false />
<key>FileFormat</key>
<string>MP4 file</string>
<key>Folder</key>
<false />
<key>Mp4HttpOptimize</key>
<false />
<key>Mp4LargeFile</key>
<false />
<key>Mp4iPodCompatible</key>
<false />
<key>PictureAutoCrop</key>
<true />
<key>PictureBottomCrop</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureDeblock</key>
<integer>4</integer>
<key>PictureDecomb</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureDecombCustom</key>
<string></string>
<key>PictureDecombDeinterlace</key>
<true />
<key>PictureDeinterlace</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureDeinterlaceCustom</key>
<string></string>
<key>PictureDenoise</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureDenoiseCustom</key>
<string></string>
<key>PictureDetelecine</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureDetelecineCustom</key>
<string></string>
<key>PictureHeight</key>
<integer>414</integer>
<key>PictureKeepRatio</key>
<true />
<key>PictureLeftCrop</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureLooseCrop</key>
<true />
<key>PictureModulus</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>PicturePAR</key>
<string>1</string>
<key>PicturePARHeight</key>
<integer>45</integer>
<key>PicturePARWidth</key>
<integer>64</integer>
<key>PictureRightCrop</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureTopCrop</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>PictureWidth</key>
<integer>540</integer>
<key>PresetBuildNumber</key>
<integer>2011010300</integer>
<key>PresetDescription</key>
<string>HandBrake's normal, default settings.</string>
<key>PresetName</key>
<string>test</string>
<key>SubtitleList</key>
<array>
</array>
<key>Type</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>UsesPictureFilters</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>UsesPictureSettings</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>VideoAvgBitrate</key>
<integer>312</integer>
<key>VideoEncoder</key>
<string>H.264 (x264)</string>
<key>VideoFramerate</key>
<string>Same as source</string>
<key>VideoFrameratePFR</key>
<true />
<key>VideoGrayScale</key>
<false />
<key>VideoQualitySlider</key>
<real>25</real>
<key>VideoQualityType</key>
<integer>2</integer>
<key>VideoTargetSize</key>
<integer>200</integer>
<key>VideoTurboTwoPass</key>
<false />
<key>VideoTwoPass</key>
<false />
<key>anamorphic</key>
<true />
<key>par_height</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>par_width</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>x264Option</key>
<string>bframes=2:mixed-refs=0:weightb=0:trellis=0:ref=2:weightp=0:b-adapt=2:partitions=all:deblock=2,2:me=umh</string>
</dict>
</array>
</plist>
There are 3 main parts to a video.
* Container format
* Video format
* Audio format
For container format, handbrake allows ".mp4" or ".mkv" (they dropped AVI support some time ago). The AVI file format is only really any good if you're planning to edit the movie file, as you're not, you're probably best going with ".mp4" or ".mkv". As to choosing between these, it more comes down to personal preference. ".mp4" is very mainstream, so should play pretty much everywhere. ".mkv" is a newer file format, which is open source in it's implementation and allows support for a variety of different video/audio/etc formats within it, but due to it's new age, isn't as supported as .mp4 (example: a
PS3 doesn't support it).
Video format: Down to personal preference again, I choose h264 as it's the most common format for HD videos. Handbrake supports h264 or mpeg-4 format. "h264" is an open standard (although, apparently encumbered by patent issues, so not as good as .ogg in that respect).
Audio format: Down to personal preference again. I chose AAC for best compression.