I am looking for the best DVD to AVI encoder I can find. I know there are some out there like "dvd-to-avi", sorenson squeeze, and the like, but I have no idea which will give me the best quality results, as well as controls over the encoding functions (i.e. 2 pass, etc.) Please feel free to chime in one and all.

I think you are mixing things up. Most AVI codecs do not have
multiple pass. Do you want to get from your movie ([DV] AVI)
to a DVD or do you want to rip a DVD to an AVI? It sounds like
the latter but it feels like the former.

From AVI to DVD the best encoders in my mind are:

1. Canopus ProCoder
2. Cinemacraft Encoder (CCE)
3. TMPGEnc
4. MainConcept (ie Vegas / Premiere)

Or if you want to go from DVD to AVI the program DVD2AVI as
you mentioned is pretty good. It normally encodes to xvid or
divx with an AC3 or mpeg1 layer 2 audio stream. You will need
these codecs installed to have those options.

You can get it all from the Gordian Knot Codec Pack (http://gordianknot.sourceforge.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=3)

Rob, thanks for the heads up. I am also looking for a good ac3 codec. If you know of any that are free or inexpensive I would be much obliged.

Thanks

I don't think there are free AC3 codec out there (since royalty
must be payed if I remember correctly). However, Sony Vegas
comes with one (Edward: only with Vegas + DVDA or also on
the standalone?) and I believe Premiere Pro does as well.

A lot of authoring applications can compress WAV/PCM to AC3
as well. But if you rip a DVD the DVD2AVI program (for example)
should just copy the AC3 track that is already there to your AVI.

Well, I only ask because I have heard that there are a few that are freeware out there. As for DVD, my primary concern now is learning how to build one from the ground up. A task I used to farm out. Which means getting to know the different components and codecs a little better.

You still haven't said what you are trying to do exactly. Go from
AVI to DVD or the other way around. It is still a bit confusing I
think. I haven't seen any freeware AC3 encoders, there are some
decoders indeed (freeware, like lame).