Ripping DVDs

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BigGreg85

Gawd
Joined
Jun 19, 2003
Messages
910
OK so I have 1TB of HDD space, and I am on a mission to RIP my DVD library to my computer so I can set up my HTPC and use WMC to watch all of my movies...

what is the best way of going about this?

ripping DVDs to .avi format? or what would be better?
 
I use DVD Decrypter to rip my movies, but it rips the DVD files and doesn't export as a .avi or .iso. I've also used Handbrake, but most for H.264 ripping, which works well with quicktime. I'm not sure if WMC will play H.264 encoded files. Handbrake also supports XviD. The main site is down, but there are mirrors of the file running loose on the 'net. You should be able to find it relatively easily.
 
I always use DVD Decrypter and AutoGK to rip to .avi at any size I want. Really, you could just .iso your DVD's and maintain all the menus and all if you wanted to, then you would just have to have Daemon tools since you have so much space. Although you could only put about 125 movies on a tb.....
 
Hey dalton, what settings do you use on AutoGK? I'm used to programs that let me pick the video bitrate, and can't find that option. I was wondering if you use a set size or quality percentage and how that works for you.

Thanks :)
 
maddude0025 said:
Hey dalton, what settings do you use on AutoGK? I'm used to programs that let me pick the video bitrate, and can't find that option. I was wondering if you use a set size or quality percentage and how that works for you.

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I tend to use the 700 MB to keep the size down as I don't have a huge amount of storage right now, but it doesn't seem to really lower the quality a huge amount. Really depends on what you're looking for. Have you checked the hidden settings using CTRL + F9? I can't remember what all is in there, but they have a lot of stuff you can tweak.
 
great set of apps, and they're all free, here's what I use:

RipIt4Me = freeware that uses DVDDecrypter to rip the files to HDD from disc, removes VOB blanking, and erroneous menu structures from files ripped
DVDDecrypter = rips the files from disc to HDD
DVD Shrink = converts ripped and scrubbed DVD files on HDD to ISO, and compresses them according to what media you will eventually burn to
AutoGK = great free utility to convert the DVD files on HDD (after ripping) to other formats. I use this to get the files into smaller sizes, and correct resolutions for playback vis VCD, SVCD, AVI, MPEG, or to play on my fiance's Zen Vision:M 30GB
IMGBurn = burns a few types of image files, does not do drive emulation (Virtal CDROM/DVD) to disc
Alcohol = everyone knows it, most love it. Burns almost every image file type, and provides for virtual optical drives as well. Great program.
 
I was thinking of going this route at one point. But I have over 1000 dvds which would need roughly around 8TB of storage to cover all of the movies. It didn't make sense to me. I would just stick with having to load your DVDs and just cataloging your DVDs using some sort of program on the media center. That's what I'm in the process of doing.
 
1000's dvds I would just rip what I watch the most, god knows i have traded in tons of movies because i will never rewatch them again....
 
DVD Decrypter too rip, and a combination off Handbrake and Dr DivX too encode.
 
ya, since you have that many, x264 would be your best for compression vs quality ratio.
 
i dont like compressing so i rip 1:1 but i have 139 dvd's on two wd500 and i am almost full. now that the 1tb wd is well under $300 two are on the way. i bought anydvd and it works great.
 
I compress movies that are 2h or less with xvid to 1GB and those closer to 3h to 1.5GB and the quality is excellent. Even as cheap as hard drive space is currently, archiving uncompressed DVD's is still a waste to me since it should be RAIDed anyways. For 2x500GB RAIDed drives you're only gonna hold like 60 movies and the quality difference going to 1-1.5GB Xvid is very acceptable to me.
 
If you don't plan to compress them then just grab AnyDVD and just copy them directly off the dvd to the hard drive as you only need the VIDEO_TS directory which most dvd software or VLC can play with ease.
 
decrypter has problems with new DVDs. (Ratatouille)

I use Magic DVD Ripper. Works well for what I need. Simple. Fast.

---

Cost to rent movie on DVD about $.64 - Netflix.
Cost of hard drive space to store movie $.80 - WD 500GB $100 for 125 movies.
Cost of labor to rip movie and store on DVD - $25.

It is really hard to make an economic argument for ripping movies.
 
GeorgeHR said:
decrypter has problems with new DVDs. (Ratatouille)

I use Magic DVD Ripper. Works well for what I need. Simple. Fast.

---

Cost to rent movie on DVD about $.64 - Netflix.
Cost of hard drive space to store movie $.80 - WD 500GB $100 for 125 movies.
Cost of labor to rip movie and store on DVD - $25.

It is really hard to make an economic argument for ripping movies.
Click to expand...

No. it really isnt...... it could be complex if you want it to be though

Cost of your ISP - divided somehow by how many movies you downloaded (filter out alll other traffic and usage)

you can get hd's as low as 24 cents/g now, 320g range

cost of your computer divided somehow for only the usage of DVD ripping / conversion

Hydro and such as well include into that


where do you get the cost of labor? based on your own job and what you make? that number could be flawed since most of the time, your doing nothing, it is your computer doing it.

Also netflix - dont they screw you around with delivering the dvd on disk? not sure how theywork cause all i have heard is bad news about their services, slow download rates and slow shipping methods to screw you over.

think of it this way

price to BUY a DVD $9-$35US pending on movie new....... iw ant to own the DVD, not rent it, i like to watch many movies again and again over the years....


Now with netflix, the same applies, so it is more then $.64

1. cost of ISP
2. cost of computer
3. hydro costs
4. Labor costs for your time signing up on their site and locating movie to rent / download and any other steps.
 
DVD Decrypter to rip to .iso, then
Handbrake to transcode the movie to XviD (Handbrake also does H.264)

(Alternatively, you can use DVD Decrypter to rip in IFO mode and AutoGK to transcode it).Typically I go 700MB for a 90-minute movie and 1GB for a 120-minute movie. It's not flawless image quality, but it's certainly good enough for us.

What's nice about Handbrake (and AutoGK as well) is that you can first rip/decrypt a whole bunch of movies (which doesn't take a great deal of time), and then queue up all the transcoding (the much longer part) and let 'er rip. You can then leave the computer for however long it takes (typically 3-4 hours per pass per movie on my Socket A Sempron 2800). Assuming your rig has a bit more oomph than mine, you can start it before going to bed and return in the morning to a nice pile of .avi's.

I keep both the full-disc ISO (5-9GB) and the transcoded movie (700MB) on my hard drive, so that I can burn the full movie on a CD-R if needed, or so that I can burn a new copy of the DVD if the original disc gets scratched. (In the near future, my current rig will become our HTPC, and then we won't have to worry about using the original discs at all, since I'll have our whole library on the HDD) Since our movie library isn't huge, it fits on my 400GB hard drive. For now.
 
I just rip the dvds to the hard drive using DVDFab and use the Vista MCE to watch them off the hard drive, no compressing, no changing formats...why? Dont want the image quality decreasing just to fit more DVDs on (~2 TBs just for me DVDs ;))

Anyway this is how I did it:

1. Open Registry Editor (Start, Run, REGEDIT) and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\DvdSettings

2. Double-click the key ShowGallery and change the value from “Play” to “Gallery”.

Now you will have a DVD library of your ripped DVDs. If you put a DVD in the HD it will automaticlly play so no need to worry about that. All you gotta do is go and add DVDs to your DVD Library.


Click on DVD Library > right click and "add movies" Find the folder or HD that all your wonder DVDs are and check the folder(s) and now all your DVDs will show up in your DVD Library and sit back and relax and enjoy!

Oh and if you want the cover to show for all your DVDs, find an image of the movie online and in each DVD folder (where each movie had the TS video and TS audio) put the image in there and naming it “Folder.jpg” for each instance. Baam! you got pics!
 
That's a great tutorial Frag. I'll try that with the few dvds that I still have un-ripped. Mostly season DVDs like The Muppets, Dirty Jobs, Platet Earth.
 
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