Best Mac DVD ripping?

Can't you just use Handbrake from the beginning?

Handbrake can't do the decryption on it's own but if you install VLC, you can encode straight from the DVD source file. I don't usually go this route because you're limited to one encoding job at a time as it obviously requires the physical DVD.

The two most mentioned tools I've seen here are Mac the Ripper and RipIt. Personally, I use RipIt to rip the DVD and it's only let me down a couple times (Disney/Pixar movies are often the culprits) and in those cases, I just use VLC/Handbrake to encode straight from disk. I haven't checked recently but if I recall correctly, it costs about $20 and offers a trail period (10 rips, maybe?). Using RipIt, I can rip a bunch of my disks and then queue up all of the encodes to run overnight in Handbrake. I'm finished with my DVD collection and am now encoding my blu-ray disks using MakeMKV to rip and Handbrake to encode--believe MakeMKV also works on DVDs but never tried.

You can also look into Fairmount.

Could someone please explain to me this HandBrake/VLC method for ripping Disney movies?

Check out MacX DVD Ripper.

I dunno how great it is for ripping from DVD, but i've just tried it out for converting some AVI's to mp4's for ATV2. Did a good job and was fast. I did it on the lower quality settings because some of the AVI's were of old movies that weren't good quality anyways.

It's free till Nov. 15
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/08/macx-video-converter-pro-available-free-until-november-15/

tbayrgs said:

believe MakeMKV also works on DVDs but never tried.

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i just ripped the matrix with it

RipIt works great for me, for backing up my small DVD collection. The resulting file can play in Mac OS X DVD player app. Then I use Handbrake/VLC to convert to format for my first generation AppleTV, or for other iOS devices.

benhollberg said:

Could someone please explain to me this HandBrake/VLC method for ripping Disney movies?

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It's very simple. Just install VLC and install Handbrake. Use the Apple TV preset in Handbrake to rip the DVD. You don't even have to open VLC. It's basically a one step process. One thing to remember though is the version of VLC and Handbrake you download and use should either be both 64 bit or both 32 bit. You can't mix and match them.

For just DVDs, Handbrake is dead simple.

newagemac said:

It's very simple. Just install VLC and install Handbrake. Use the Apple TV preset in Handbrake to rip the DVD. You don't even have to open VLC. It's basically a one step process. One thing to remember though is the version of VLC and Handbrake you download and use should either be both 64 bit or both 32 bit. You can't mix and match them.

For just DVDs, Handbrake is dead simple.

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I have noticed that most Disney DVDs don't rip with handbrake. My guess is they use a different type of encoding.

This may have changed, but when I used to use Handbrake, it would spin up and spin down the drive for the duration for the rip, which I thought might be causing excessive wear on the drive.

So now I use RipIt to rip the disc and Handbrake to do the encoding. RipIt has been extremely solid for me, versus something like MacTheRipper and their cockamamie scheme to get "donations" for their software.

There is Mac The Ripper 4.0 which in my experience can rip anything one way or another. There are hoops to get and install it, and some review to figure out the various settings that I'll leave others to figure out for themselves.

I recently got a new iMac, though, and MTR 4.0 is on my old machine. However, on the new machine I find I can use Handbrake 64 bit with VLC 64 bit and rip/convert a movie from my external DVD burner (USB) in about 20 minutes. It took 25 minutes for Toy Story 3. That is quick enough that I may not rip disks beforehand to cue them up for Handbrake. Note that the VLC 64 bit is not the latest version of VLC and you have to hunt around to find it, and you need the VLC 64 bit to go with the Handbrake 64-bit. It is my SOP is to use the title specific mode on Handbrake, and this procedure is necessary on difficult titles. In my experience, title specific mode in Handbrake never fails, even on the latest and toughest like Toy Story 3. In brief summary, to use title specific mode, figure out what title you want (start watching the feature on the computer with DVD player and click on title in the DVD player window) when you first launch handbrake and it asks for source, click cancel, then go to the top under file (?-this is from memory and may not be 100% correct), then select tile specific mode (?), then open, then enter the correct title when it asks.

sportster said:

I have noticed that most Disney DVDs don't rip with handbrake. My guess is they use a different type of encoding.

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It is because of all the false titles and other junk they stick on the DVD. Use title-specific mode as I explained in post above. You may want to Google Handbrake title specific or something to find a better description of the process. But it is easy and it always works, or rather, if the DVD is playable on your computer then it will work.

With those tricky DVD's the counter trick is to only open the right title on the disk. Here is how: Open the DVD in DVD Player get through the menus and start playing the actual movie, under the GO menu look under the TITLE sub menu -- there will be a check next to the right title, make a note of the title number, quit DVD Player, open Handbrake, it will ask you to select a source, select CANCLE, under the FILE menu select OPEN SOURCE (TITLE SPECIFIC), enter the title number you learned from DVD Player.

It will then only open the right title and you are set to go.

esaleris said:

This may have changed, but when I used to use Handbrake, it would spin up and spin down the drive for the duration for the rip, which I thought might be causing excessive wear on the drive.

So now I use RipIt to rip the disc and Handbrake to do the encoding. RipIt has been extremely solid for me, versus something like MacTheRipper and their cockamamie scheme to get "donations" for their software.

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+ 1 for RipIt.

I was also a big fan of MTR but i just used the trial version of Ripit and and it buzzed threw the 10 DVD's with no issues. I think i am going to purchase this and it will become my go to ripper.

It does not have all of the bells and whistels of MTR but for what i am doing (Rip-HB main feature for ATV) it works very well.

I use RipIt and Mac the Ripper 4.0. RipIt works probably 95% of the time (have ripped maybe 600 DVDs on an iMac and an MBP), but when it fails, Mac the Ripper has successfully ripped it so if you're buying one, I'd be inclined to recommend MtR.

dbwie said:

RipIt works great for me, for backing up my small DVD collection. The resulting file can play in Mac OS X DVD player app. Then I use Handbrake/VLC to convert to format for my first generation AppleTV, or for other iOS devices.

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dbwie,

i've been using handbrake to encode straight from the dvd to get some movies on my 1st gen Apple TV. I'm wondering if you or anyone would be willing to share their settings for RipIt or MtR and Handbreak. I'm getting a lot of black crush and other issues on my encodes. I have a lot of surfing videos and often the waves become pixelated as they move.

I'm willing to deal with files of around 2-3gb for 90min movies.

I found this encoding string on another thread and have been using it:
bframes=6:ref=6:mixed-refs=1:subq=6:me=umh:no-fast-pskip=1:trellis=2:bime=1:brdo=1:direct=auto:vbv-maxrate=4900:vbv-bufsize=3500

Mac DVDRipper Pro is the best DVD ripper for OS X.

http://macdvdripperpro.com/

BlackMangoTree said:

Mac DVDRipper Pro is the best DVD ripper for OS X.

http://macdvdripperpro.com/

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I heartily endorse this.