how to rip dvds

[teflon]

I have about 75 dvds worth around 215 hours of material (mostly tv shows). I just recently got my mb so i was thinking to go digital. What's the best way of ripping dvds? how much space would it approximately take? What's the resolution that i should make it as? Also, would i lose the menu and subtitles and such when i rip the dvd? I keep thinking that only the movie/show itself will remain and all the navigation/extras will disappear.
Also, there's a sale in future shop and a "LaCie 500GB USB 2.0 FA Porsche Design External Hard Drive" is on sale for 169 CAD. Should i get it? Or should i wait until the prices drop even more. Would 500 gb be enough or too much? I would prefer to get an external hd soon so i can take all my tv shows with me when i travel next week.
I know it's a lot of questions, and some of them are probably stupid, but thanks for reading! And a lot of thank you's in advance

 

[Cromulent]

Use a combination of Mac the Ripper and Handbrake.

 

[NickD]

I'm wondering something along the same lines. I want to rip my DVD collection, but I also want to keep the navigation menu, as well as the chapter separation for use in Front Row.

How would I do this? Is there a guide?

 

[heySparky]

http://ripdifferent.com/ is also worth a look. Check in their forum section.

http://www.videohelp.com has a Mac section in their forum

I like MacTheRipper myself for ripping DVD's to the HD for later viewing.

I'd would be nice to be able to encode them into the DivX format to save space.

 

[teflon]

heySparky, can you tell me the format/resolution that you rip your dvds as? I'm only going to watch them on my mb screen, so which format/resolution do you think is the best for me? And also, from your experience, how much space does a typical 1 hr video take? Thanks in advance.

 

[theLimit]

HandBrake lets you keep chapters and titles, but for the menus the best bet would be just ripping with MacTheRipper. Be aware that a full DVD with menus and special features will consume up to 8.5GB, whereas just the main feature can be compressed at DVD quality to under 2GB. You just need to make the decision on whether you will watch the special features more than once.

 

[heySparky]

heySparky, can you tell me the format/resolution that you rip your dvds as? I'm only going to watch them on my mb screen, so which format/resolution do you think is the best for me? And also, from your experience, how much space does a typical 1 hr video take? Thanks in advance.

I just use MTR and rip either the whole movie or just the main feature to my HD. I do this mostly for travel because I don't want to take the actual disc with me. I rip what ever the default is on MTR.

If you use DivX, you will get much smaller files, but encoding time is slow. I've only done it once using Toast and it was too slow for me.

 

[teflon]

Ok, cool . Thanks y'all!

 

[teflon]

Sorry, another question. Anyone know any nice, free DivX converter?

 

[heySparky]

Sorry, another question. Anyone know any nice, free DivX converter?

Only one I know of: http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/

BTW, I love visiting BC. The people have always been so friendly and the scuba diving it just fantastic.

 

[teflon]

hmmm just ripped a dvd in MTP... all the files turns out to be .VOB, .IFO or .BUP and unplayable . Here's a screenshot.
btw, i'd love to visit oregon. NO TAX!!

 

[Cromulent]

hmmm just ripped a dvd in MTP... all the files turns out to be .VOB, .IFO or .BUP and unplayable . Here's a screenshot.
btw, i'd love to visit oregon. NO TAX!!

Download VLC media player and all your problems will be sorted .

 

[jmgoldsmith]

Optimal settings for viewing on a MacBook

Tomorrow I'll be on a flight for 18 hours, and I'd like to rip some of my DVDs to my MacBook for viewing on the plane. I'm familiar with MacTheRipper and Handbrake, but I'm seeking some guidance on what settings to use in either of those applications to preserve the video quality and produce a relatively small file size (<2GB). Please advise. Thanks.

Best,
Joel

 

[barr08]

Tomorrow I'll be on a flight for 18 hours, and I'd like to rip some of my DVDs to my MacBook for viewing on the plane. I'm familiar with MacTheRipper and Handbrake, but I'm seeking some guidance on what settings to use to preserve the video quality and produce a relatively small file size (<2GB). Please advise. Thanks.

Best,
Joel

I am pretty sure dvd2one can do this, if I remember correctly. Either way, it is a powerful dvd tool and worth the download.

 

[jmgoldsmith]

I am pretty sure dvd2one can do this, if I remember correctly. Either way, it is a powerful dvd tool and worth the download.

Thanks for the prompt feedback. I'd prefer to use MTR or Handbrake, because I have limited time, and I'm already familiar with those programs. I need guidance on the settings to get the optimal results in terms of video quality and file size. Please advise. Thanks.

Best,
Joel

 

[fistful]

hmmm just ripped a dvd in MTP... all the files turns out to be .VOB, .IFO or .BUP and unplayable . Here's a screenshot.
btw, i'd love to visit oregon. NO TAX!!

MTR creates an exact copy from the DVD onto your HD. If you look at the contents of the DVD it will contain the same types of files.

open DVD Player < File <Open DVD Media < select the Video_TS Folder of the movie you'd like to watch.

If you would like to compress it I wouldn't even bother with Divx. Use Handbrake to compress it into .MP4 or H.264. Handbrake can do this straight from the DVD although I've found it doesn't take quite as long ripping the DVD to your HD first with MTR. It also has simple presets so there isn't a need for much fussing about settings.

 

[rhagen]

I am ripping a dvd as we speak with MTR, I did main feature extraction and it is still 5.27 GB I am ripping Office Space. WHy is it so big still, also should i use handbrake to compress it.

Another thing is which file is the main movie i see a lot of files.


Also a section of the movie is in a different language???

 

[teflon]

The main feature extraction is more useful on movie dvds as oppose to tv shows. On movies they have countless extra scenes, commentaries etc. You can compress it using handbrake after you finished ripping from what i gathered. As for the multiple files, they work together. When you open it using VLC or DVD Player, just open the whole folder instead of individual files.

MTR creates an exact copy from the DVD onto your HD. If you look at the contents of the DVD it will contain the same types of files.

open DVD Player < File <Open DVD Media < select the Video_TS Folder of the movie you'd like to watch.

If you would like to compress it I wouldn't even bother with Divx. Use Handbrake to compress it into .MP4 or H.264. Handbrake can do this straight from the DVD although I've found it doesn't take quite as long ripping the DVD to your HD first with MTR. It also has simple presets so there isn't a need for much fussing about settings.

Thanks!

 

[john2006wright]

thanks for all the info, this has helped me out also