Rip DVDs into Mac? How? Why? Quality? Functionality?

[tiiger]

Like most people with kids, we've had our share of DVDs that have been handled less than gently... I'd love to be able to import the DVDs into my mac, and use it to play the library of movies.

I don't want to do anything illegal, just save my DVD collection (and player) from scratches and gooey fingerprints...

I'm assuming a third-party piece of software would be required to rip the DVD.

Coiuld Front Row then be used to play the movie? (I don't have front row, so I've never used it...)

Would the quality be the same as the DVD? Close?

Could a person import ONLY the movie (and not the extra features, multiple aspect ratios, interviews, etc...)?

Any suggessions?

[TheBattler]

D) Yes to all the above. You can do this with more than enough programs though the most popular seem to be Handbrake and MacTheRipper. Google the names for the links, oh and thy're free by the way.
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1.83ghz Macbook, Stock, Dell 2007wfp


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60gb 5th gen iPod

[tiiger]

Thanks... that's sort of what it looks like from the feature sets of these programs, but it's as though nobody comes out and actually says it because of the appearance of impropriety.

Now, quick question:

How much space does the average two-hour DVD movie take up? 1GB? 2GB? 5GB? How about compressing it? Is there a format (like Apple Lossless for audio) that compresses with no decrease in quality?

Thanks!

[Ghost]

I imported a movie the other day with mactheripper (i think it was about 90min long), the quality was about the same as the original and it was 3.8GB for the movie only. You can make it smaller if you use handbrake I think.
I think that its legal for you to rip dvd's that you own.

Hope that helps
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1.42 Mini | 512mb RAM | Superdrive
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20gb G4 iPod

[poisonfist]

[tiiger]

Good info...

If kept in its original, uncompressed state, would a movie's audio format remain? (5.1, etc...)

Does the mini even have the capability to output 5.1 audio? I'm doubting through its mini-jack... is there a USB audio option (Creative makes one for Windows...)

EDIT... um, nix the last question; I found another post that discusses just that.

[ack_mac]

Your other option (this is what I am doing) is to use Mac the Ripper and a program like Toast to actually backup your original DVD's to a backup DVD. That saves the space on your hard drive and saves the wear and tear of the original.

Of course you have to have a Superdrive, or an external DVD drive, but this is not a very expensive option if you end up needing to buy a large external hard drive to hold all your movies...
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[Bandit Bill]

[poisonfist]

[SOCOMRAIDER]

I mainly use MacTheRipper to get my DVDs onto my HD. Then I use Handbrake to compress them, so they take up less space on my Mini's HD, plus so I can watch them on my iPod also. I also do it this way because Handbrake can take a while on the mini, this way I can keep ripping DVDs while Handbrake is working. I included some links for screen grabs of some of the movies.

From what I've heard, there is a point where it is legal to rip movies onto your computer for your own use, if you own the movies. But if you remove any of the Regional coding or the DRM on the disc, that is illegal. I'm not sure about it, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.



http://my.1up.com/media?id=2613123&type=lg
http://my.1up.com/media?id=2613132&type=lg
http://my.1up.com/media?id=2613131&type=lg
http://my.1up.com/media?id=2613134&type=lg

[devo]

[ack_mac]

I believe it is similar with regards to music. If you own a copy of the DVD and are strictly copying it for backup purposes you should be fine..

Now if you are copying the DVD and then either giving them to people or selling them it is illegal..
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Vote for me, and your wildest dreams will come true.. - Pedro Sanchez, "Napoleon Dynamite"

[phatbhuda]

The problem with using hand brake, is that you're now changing the movie from a VIDEO_TS file to a Quicktime file.

Has anyone found a way to get 5.1 out? As far as I knew, Quicktime can only play discrete surround, and not Dolby Digital or DTS. So if you have an audio card with 6 audio out jacks, then you can get surround out of quicktime.

I'm currently using one of M-Audio's usb to toslink adapters. Apple's DVD player dutifully passes through the digital audio signal with AC3 intact.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to compress the video and keep the surround audio.

Eventually, I think I'm just going to just keep my backups to the feature film to save space. I have a 250gb Firewire HD hooked up, and a 250gb NAS, and I'm watching my space dwindle.

[JDP]

One thing people seem to miss here is that DVDs are already compressed. It uses MPEG-2 compression with a video resolution of 720x480. The reason "encoding" and "reencoding" a DVD takes so long is that the computer must recalculate the entire video and compress it to the specified quality. The video has already lost some qualtiy from the original video used to master the DVD, so unless you use a large amount of reduction in the final size of the DVD, I wouldn't worry too much about squeezing it just a bit smaller.
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[ecking]