Fairmount, Mac the Ripper, Handbrake & RipIt.
How does the
Fairmount / VLC combination compare to MTR in terms of effectiveness?
I, too, have had just an AWFUL time trying to find backup software that would work. I have an extensive DVD collection and I also seem to be "blessed" with family members that
(a) have yet to figure out that DVDs are not, as believed, scratch-proof and/or indestructible and
(b) like to loan out discs to people who also believe in the invincibility of the CD/DVD format - soooo... I needed to come up with a way to keep the original disc in tact whilst using the backups for day-to-day playback (and avoid having to re-purchase my entire DVD collection once every six months).
Here is what *I* have found:
Fairmount: Is okay. It works on some things and doesn't work on others. it's a very good *idea*, but in practice, to say that it's slow would be an understatement. On a routine rip/backup I am relatively certain that I have enough time to handwrite a translation "War and Peace" into Korean. What it *DOES* work *well* when it does work, but generally, when it fails, it likes to wait until the VERY LAST of the rip to do so (something I like to think of as "inconvenient." Fairmount, like Handbrake (for decoding anyway) uses VLC Player (which, obviously, can play DVDs) to decode the DVD "on the fly" after mounting it. It's the video equivalent of recording digital radio - copying the playback (*NOT* a fast process). Fairmount, *itself*, is free, but if you wish to DO something with the video (and don't want to use Handbrake or something like it), they have a commercial product that allows you to "redesign" or "remaster" the disc in any one of a plethora of ways, called "DVD Remaster" and it runs about $40 ****s for the "standard" version or $50 for the "pro" version, depending on what you need or want to do. Myself... I think that DVD Remaster could use some time to mature and I am sure it's a very good product, but I don't have the patience to deal with such software (35 years with computers and in my old age I have decided that "if something doesn't work right, it gets the hammer," ahaha! If I want to edit it, I will use professional editing software as I don't have the time, the training or, frankly, the inclination to fight with a piece of software - it's more likely than not to get the hammer.
Mac the Ripper: Probably one of the longest "lived" pieces of ripping software around and, subsequently, one of the best. It can rip *most* discs with the exception being only some of the newer and more complicated copy-protection scheming (such as "Dark Knight"). When it doesn't work, it simply dies. Just shuts down and OSX tells you that it has encountered a problem and shut down. It also has the advantage of, generally, being one of the more simple applications as well without sacrificing some of the more advanced options such as "Full Movie Extraction," "Title Set Extraction," region specifying, selecting languages on subtitles and audio tracks and more. As of today (I have not checked in a while), the forums site (wherein you would be able to get any and, pretty much, *ALL* of the information on it takes you to the "Anti-Phishing Crimeware 'Prevention'" site. Presumably this is yet ANOTHER attack on them by Macrovision or someone else who doesn't like the fact that a 10mb (all inclusive) piece of software takes about 30 minutes to subvert about $30 million dollars worth of copy protection development. Also, where as Mac the Ripper *used* to be freely distributed, they now ask that you make a monetary gift to them (but not, *technically*, a payment for ripping software as I think this has to do with their legal conflicts with Macrovision and their cronies).
RipIt: After much experimentation (including using Windows - collective GASP!- with an older piece of software, DVD Decrypter *and* the Chinese DVD-Fab), I've found "the one" that *I* thinks works better than any other piece of ripping software on the Mac *whatsoever*. It seems simplistic, but as I've previously stated, if I want to edit the the rip (which I've no reason to given that I am simply backing the suckers up), I would use editing software. RipIt is fast, easy and, more importantly, has yet to fail on any movie but one (an early French DVD about Derek Jarman and I think it has more to do with the format of the DVD because it will play in some players and not in others and it seems to have *absolutely* NOTHING to do with region, but that is another story entirely). I have been able to rip any movie up to and including the latest releases as of 01/20/2009 "New Release Tuesday." It's not free, mind you (which is my favorite price), but it seems to have the most *reasonable* price (about $20 bucks - $18.99 specifically) *AND* it seems to have a lot of helpful and, god forbid, experienced programming personnel behind it. Thus far, they have not had to cloak themselves in total secrecy because the "No, you can't actually back it up because it's not really yours, it's still ours even though you paid for it" Copyright Goons (ie; the MPAA, Macrovision, Satan, etc) haven't sued them *yet* (it's never *IF* when it comes to entertainment media, it's always *WHEN**, sadly). Download the demo, check it out and see if you think I'm right or not.
Well...
This is just MY humble opinion and I hope it's of SOME help (at least you now have GOBS of information on the subject - whether you *wanted* it or not is another story, LOL).
There are other pieces of software out there such as iSkySoft's "DVD Ripper" (inspired title - someone, I am sure, even got *paid* for coming up with that name), but I am not familiar with them in any way.
Let me know how it goes.
Khorsia
