Ripping DVD to my hard drive

[Luba]

I bought a box set of DVDs from the UK (region 2, PAL) because it wasn't available in the US. I can only change the region setting 4 times (or is it 5 times)?? Once I change to region 2 I can play the DVDs and rip to my HD, but will I be able to watch the shows directly from my HD? Probably yes, but just want to make sure. It's 9 DVDs so that'll only take 45 GB of HD space so not bad, I can afford to give up that up. :)

[lozanoj83]

Handbrake, MacTheRipper

[zachsilvey]

I recommend MacTheRipper -> Handbrake. If you encode the video in h.264 with a reasonably high bitrate you can vastly reduce the file size with little or no loss of quality.

[lighthouse_man]

If you have an eligible drive, then consider this:
http://www.macbook-fr.com/dossiers/dvd_region_free_en_article30.html
It does sound risky but I've done that on my old PowerBook without a problem. I'm currently stuck with the Matsushita UJ-875 but that's besides the point.
You'll also need RegionX to take on the software lock.

[aksmax]

I've done a lot of ripping of my pretty vast DVD collection, for backups of DVDs that were getting beat up, and to have on my HD when I travel. I've used a number of programs, but the bulk have been with MacTheRipper (free) and RipIt. I got RipIt as part of a bundle, so I'm not sure of it's price, but it's very good. When MTR fails, RipIt has worked. It's become my default since MTR has gone out of circulation and development.

I've ripped several DVDs, labeled region 2, that I bought in Germany. But they've also worked in my laptop, so they might actually be region-less.

When I ordered a region 2 set of DVDs from the UK, I was unable to play them without the superdrive region change, which I shy away from. I WAS able to rip them with both MTR and RipIt. However, despite all the region stripping settings, and lots of varied attempts, I was NEVER able to rip a copy that was playable without that hard region code change to the drive.

So, in my experience, even successful rips do not always get rip of region limits. I've done a lot of online research and not found any definitive solutions. If you're successful, I'd love to hear about it. I have a big appetite for DVDs from the UK, especially, but region limits put me off.

[jennihumbert]

I converted old VHS tapes to DVD's at the local camera store and now want to make copies for other people in my family and I don't know how to do that. I know you are probably laughing at me, but, seriously I need help and I have searched and everything seems over my head. I just need really basic help. I have downloaded Handbrake but don't know how it works. Please can someone help me?:confused:

[aksmax]

That's very simple for home movies on DVD.

The most straight forward way, with no extra software, is to use Apple's Disk Utility.

Put in your DVD
Open "Disk Utility" application
Select your DVD, on the left
Select File/New/Disk Image from <dvd name>
In the pop-up window, select destination and enter a new name
Change Type to DVD/CD Master - very important or you can't burn a playable DVD.

Once it's done you have a DVD disk image you can burn over and over to blank DVDs.

Pop in a blank DVD, right-click on your disk image and select Burn. Or select Burn from the Finder File menu. Easy.

[clarkgriswold]

aksmax - will this compress DVDs that are greater than 4.3GB down to fit single layer DVD+Rs? I recently converted to Mac (just got my MBP yesterday) and need an idiot proof guide on how to rip a DVD to the hard drive, and then burn it to a DVD+R ... also trying to figure out how to burn avi files to DVD ...

[sharkync]

That's very simple for home movies on DVD.

The most straight forward way, with no extra software, is to use Apple's Disk Utility.

Put in your DVD
Open "Disk Utility" application
Select your DVD, on the left
Select File/New/Disk Image from <dvd name>
In the pop-up window, select destination and enter a new name
Change Type to DVD/CD Master - very important or you can't burn a playable DVD.

Once it's done you have a DVD disk image you can burn over and over to blank DVDs.

Pop in a blank DVD, right-click on your disk image and select Burn. Or select Burn from the Finder File menu. Easy.

Thanks a million - works a treat! Especially with already ripped DVDs!!!

[Repet7777]

When I put a video in to watch on my computer I have a dialogue which comes up box titled "Drive Region". In it, it says "You need to select the region for your DVD drive" Then underneath it says " The region assigned to the disc doesn't match the region assigned to the DVD drive. To play this disc, you must change the drive's region. This is the last time you can change the drive region".

Underneath that there is a picture of the world divided up into regions. With Europe and parts of Africa in Region 2.

Underneath that it says "Drive's current Region (which is showing as 1)"

Underneath that it says "Change drive region to (Then a dialogue box with a number 2 in it.).

Then underneath that there is a picture of a padlock which says "click the lock to make changes" Then another dialogue box appears with your name , and requesting your password. You click on OK then the dialogue box with the change of region in it disappears. Can anyone help? I thank you in anticipation.