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iaddict

macrumors 6502
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May 15, 2007
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Just purchased an Apple TV and I'd like to add some of the DVDs I have to iTunes so I can stream them to the Apple TV. I think I tried handbrake a few years ago and I don't think I was ever able to get the DVD into iTunes....something kept messing up - I cannot remember what, I just remember getting frustrated trying to do that and quit. Is there a simple way that won't take me hours to do this for each DVD?
 
Just purchased an Apple TV and I'd like to add some of the DVDs I have to iTunes so I can stream them to the Apple TV. I think I tried handbrake a few years ago and I don't think I was ever able to get the DVD into iTunes....something kept messing up - I cannot remember what, I just remember getting frustrated trying to do that and quit. Is there a simple way that won't take me hours to do this for each DVD?

Handbrake or iFlicks 2 is what I use. I know that you say you have not tried Handbrake in a few years, but it has been updated a few times over the years and has presets for the ATV. After finishing with Handbrake and the encode, I use iFlicks 2 for imputing metadata.

Maybe give it a try again.
 
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Handbrake takes forever to rip a DVD. The process that I find works better is to use MAKEMKV to rip the DVD, it will produce a file .MKV which is not playable in Itunes. However, you then run handbrake on the file and it converts it to an m4v file which will play in Itunes.

For some reason the double process is quicker than the single Handbrake rip. You can also do a series of MAKEMKV rips and then queue multiple conversions to run overnight using handbrake.
 
Thank you for your responses. I also had purchased in part of a package deal years ago, MacDVD rip Pro. Does anyone know if this would be a one step process for me? I am not very knowledgeable about how to do these sorts of things. I think I tried using it on a DVD once and maybe it was the sound part of the DVD that didn't come through?
 
Handbrake takes forever to rip a DVD.

How do you define "forever"? What kind of computer are you using? It depends on the settings and the source material. If I use the default "Normal" preset in Handbrake, I can rip most DVDs in around 15 minutes on my 2013 i7 MacBook Air. If I use the Apple TV preset, it takes longer, maybe a half hour. More often than not, I can't see much difference in quality on my Apple TV however.

I also have a 2008 2.4ghz Core2Duo MacBook Pro. Now it really does take forever to rip a DVD on that machine. The same DVD that rips in 15 minutes on the MacBook Air takes over an hour on the old MacBook Pro. Handbrake has evidently been optimized to use the turbo mode on the i-series CPUs.

I started ripping my large DVD collection about two years ago and am almost finished. I have about 600 movies and 500 TV shows, all ripped with Handbrake. I use IDentify to add the metadate.
 
How do you define "forever"? What kind of computer are you using? It depends on the settings and the source material. If I use the default "Normal" preset in Handbrake, I can rip most DVDs in around 15 minutes on my 2013 i7 MacBook Air. If I use the Apple TV preset, it takes longer, maybe a half hour. More often than not, I can't see much difference in quality on my Apple TV however.

I also have a 2008 2.4ghz Core2Duo MacBook Pro. Now it really does take forever to rip a DVD on that machine. The same DVD that rips in 15 minutes on the MacBook Air takes over an hour on the old MacBook Pro. Handbrake has evidently been optimized to use the turbo mode on the i-series CPUs.

I started ripping my large DVD collection about two years ago and am almost finished. I have about 600 movies and 500 TV shows, all ripped with Handbrake. I use IDentify to add the metadate.

I completely agree. Handbrake does a great job and does not take more than 15 minutes or so to rip a DVD. I use Identity (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33814/identify) to add/edit metadata.
 
You may have ripped your movies back then in MKV, which is not something iTunes can read. These days it only outputs M4V, so it shouldn't be an issue anymore.

Just pop in your DVD, select it in Handbrake, choose the longest track, select the AppleTV 3 setting, or the High Profile depending on your preferences, add subtitles (Default for soft, Burned in if you are that type) and go.

Quite easy really. Handbrake is *really* good, and free.
 
Handbrake takes forever to rip a DVD. The process that I find works better is to use MAKEMKV to rip the DVD, it will produce a file .MKV which is not playable in Itunes. However, you then run handbrake on the file and it converts it to an m4v file which will play in Itunes.

For some reason the double process is quicker than the single Handbrake rip. You can also do a series of MAKEMKV rips and then queue multiple conversions to run overnight using handbrake.

Handbrake is ripping + encoding, there really isn't a good way to see how long its rip process takes unless you are doing something different then designed. Its generally a faster process because instead of disc > MKV file > encode > MP4 file its disc > encode > MP4 file.

......

OP: For me I use Handbrake for DVD's and MakeMKV + Handbrake for Blurays.

As far as settings go you'll have to play around with them to find what best works for you. The main difference for me between Bluray and DVD is the encode speed. Slower for DVD's and veryslow for Blurays. Both are slower then their default settings but produce a good quality lower file size.
 
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One thing to factor in is Riplock firmware. Many DVD drives including Apple's external drive limit the speed at which data is recorded from a video DVD.

Using Ripit to rip a number of DVDs to queue up in Handbrake for overnight encoding is great but can be a pain if the drive is stuck with Riplock. My iMac will rip a DVD (not encode, just rip) in about 45 minutes. From my external DVD drive (some knock-off 3rd party cheapo drive) the process takes about 15 mins because the drive doesn't have Riplock.
 
I've used HandBrake for years and have had great experiences with it. I would rip using version 0.9.8 on my 2009 white MacBook and it was actually pretty fast.

UNTIL...

I bought a Mac Mini to use as a media server and upgraded it to Yosemite, I could not get HandBrake v1 to rip DVDs at all. I had to step back all the way to 0.9.5 to get to a version that either ripping or UI wasn't broken. Ripping is super fast but the built in presets are ancient.
 
Thanks everyone for the information. I ended up using MacDVD RIp Pro. It worked seamlessly. As soon as it was finished, I turned on my Apple TV, went to computer and there was the movie! Works great for me. I don't understand all the other things discussed above but the video worked out great just with the presets that the program had selected. I'm sure I can learn more as I go forward, but since I already had this software, I thought I should try it out.
 
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