Dvd Rip software

[Matsy]

Hey, I'm wanting to rip my physical DVD's to my hard drive, just so I have them as a digital file and I so I can forget about my dvd drive (makes a racket when a DVD is in it...)

What would be the best program to use to rip the DVD's one by one (for my own personal use and storage)

Googling it comes up with so many different answers....

 

Thanks.

[Samdb]

Handbrake is a brilliant tool to use.

[obsidian1200]

I like MakeMKV for ripping just the movie from the disk. It gives you a nice .mkv file to work with, and skips things like unskippible menus and that junk. DVD ripping functionality is free, but blu-ray requires a license (though the developer gives free license keys while the program is in beta).

 

However, this method gives you a 1:1 copy, which means the file sizes from this program are really high for the content quality. I usually re-encode the .mkv with handbrake, since you don't lose any perceivable quality.

[Matsy]

Thanks both of you.

So use MakeMKV to rip the DVD which will put it into a mkv file (with any subs/different audio tracks right?, for my anime collection )

And then use handbrake to "re-encode" the file to a smaller file size?

Or use handbrake? it looks like it does the same thing (downloaded them both and looking at what they do), whats better mp4 or mkv?

Could you give me a quick run-down on how to do that encoding without loosing quality?

[Str_Mape]

Handbrake is a brilliant tool to use.

It's great for hill starts.

[Samdb]

It's great for hill starts.

 

Footbrake master race.

[obsidian1200]

Thanks both of you.

So use MakeMKV to rip the DVD which will put it into a mkv file (with any subs/different audio tracks right?, for my anime collection )

And then use handbrake to "re-encode" the file to a smaller file size?

Or use handbrake? it looks like it does the same thing (downloaded them both and looking at what they do), whats better mp4 or mkv?

Could you give me a quick run-down on how to do that encoding without loosing quality?

Yes, MakeMKV will allow you to do that. You can even remove unwanted audio/subtitle tracks, which can marginally increase ripping times.

 

The thing about using JUST handbrake is that it usually takes longer to take the data off the disc than MakeMKV will, because MakeMKV just makes a 1:1 copy, while handbrake is encoding a new video file from the data on the disc. Plus, it's easier to run multiple files through handbrake overnight or through a day when they're already on the HDD, instead of swapping discs in between encodes.

 

That being said, you can definitely skip makeMKV if you wanted to and just use handbrake. Just make sure, with handbrake, to have the correct decryption libraries installed, otherwise you can't rip directly from discs.

[Classics]

Doesn't Windows Media Player do that? Or does it only do it for CD's?

[Matsy]

Yes, MakeMKV will allow you to do that. You can even remove unwanted audio/subtitle tracks, which can marginally increase ripping times.

 

The thing about using JUST handbrake is that it usually takes longer to take the data off the disc than MakeMKV will, because MakeMKV just makes a 1:1 copy, while handbrake is encoding a new video file from the data on the disc. Plus, it's easier to run multiple files through handbrake overnight or through a day when they're already on the HDD, instead of swapping discs in between encodes.

 

That being said, you can definitely skip makeMKV if you wanted to and just use handbrake. Just make sure, with handbrake, to have the correct decryption libraries installed, otherwise you can't rip directly from discs.

 

Ripping a dvd with makeMKV right now, seems to be going quick enough (also don't have to worry about copy protection) has a nice interface to get rid of title screens which is very nice!

How do I encode with handbrake without loosing quality? there are loads of options...and as I've never done any ripping, this is alien to me.

[dalekphalm]

+1 to MakeMKV + Handbrake. It gives you much greater control than JUST Handbrake, and it's better suited for batch processing, since it takes longer to encode than it does to rip. Just rip 10-20 DVD's using MakeMKV, then batch encode them all overnight.

[Bonsai99]

Doesn't Windows Media Player do that? Or does it only do it for CD's?

Only CDs.

[obsidian1200]

Ripping a dvd with makeMKV right now, seems to be going quick enough (also don't have to worry about copy protection)

How do I make the file size smaller with handbrake without loosing quality? there are loads of options...

Regardless of what you do, if you're working with DVDs of any kind, go to the Filters tab. Then set Decomb to default. This will reduce/eliminate interlacing lines, which will appear if you don't use this or the deinterlace filter (deinterlace is too harsh on the picture to recommend). Moving on...

 

Usually, what I recommend is to use the Apple TV 3 preset for easy, good results. I would check the audio settings, though, and remove the passthru track if you don't want it, as those can add almost 30% to the overall filesize in my experience (could be more or less depending on the audio track). This isn't the BEST option, but it's a good quick one for most people.

 

I used to use the advanced options for my own preset, but handbrake has gotten MUCH better for easy tuning with the last couple of versions that I don't see a need to anymore. What I do now is select the high profile preset, boost the constant quality up to 18 for DVDs and 19.5 for blu-ray, then under optimise video, I leave the x264 preset at medium, select the appropriate x264 tune for the content (so animation for anime/animated stuff, for example), then I turn the H.264 profile to High and set the level to 4.0 to keep a nice range of compatibility with my devices.

 

I can upload a screenshot if you'd like. As I said, my method probably isn't the best, but the quality is good enough for me.

[AMICLG]

Handbrake is a brilliant tool to use.

I second handbrake there's no need for extra programs no bloatware an it's open source.

[dalekphalm]

Regardless of what you do, if you're working with DVDs of any kind, go to the Filters tab. Then set Decomb to default. This will reduce/eliminate interlacing lines, which will appear if you don't use this or the deinterlace filter (deinterlace is too harsh on the picture to recommend). Moving on...

 

Usually, what I recommend is to use the Apple TV 3 preset for best results. I would check the audio settings, though, and remove the passthru track if you don't want it, as those can add almost 30% to the overall filesize in my experience (could be more or less depending on the audio track). This isn't the BEST option, but it's a good quick one for most people.

 

I used to use the advanced options for my own preset, but handbrake has gotten MUCH better for easy tuning with the last couple of versions that I don't see a need to anymore. What I do now is select the high profile preset, boost the constant quality up to 18 for DVDs and 19.5 for blu-ray, then under optimise video, I leave the x264 preset at medium, select the appropriate x264 tune for the content (so animation for anime/animated stuff, for example), then I turn the H.264 profile to High and set the level to 4.0 to keep a nice range of compatibility with my devices.

 

I can upload a screenshot if you'd like. As I said, my method probably isn't the best, but the quality is good enough for me.

This is good for new users. And your advanced setup is pretty good also.

[SteepGnomeKing]

I personally use MakeMKV for my blu-rays. Like obsidian said it's a 1:1 copy so I don't lose any picture quality. 

I don't encode them at all since I like the lossless audio and high video quality.

[dalekphalm]

I second handbrake there's no need for extra programs no bloatware an it's open source.

If you haven't used MakeMKV then you don't know what you're missing. Much better control when selecting subtitles and audio tracks and it's actually faster to use MakeMKV then Handbrake if you're doing more than 1 encode at a time. Batch encode that shiz! And MakeMKV is definitely the complete opposite of bloatware lol.

[Matsy]

Thankyou all

Going to be a hard day of ripping tomorrow

[AMICLG]

If you haven't used MakeMKV then you don't know what you're missing. Much better control when selecting subtitles and audio tracks and it's actually faster to use MakeMKV then Handbrake if you're doing more than 1 encode at a time. Batch encode that shiz! And MakeMKV is definitely the complete opposite of bloatware lol.

Well I'll have to download and try tonight thanks for the recommendation.

[dalekphalm]

Thankyou all

Going to be a hard day of ripping tomorrow

I used the aforementioned MakeMKV + Handbrake methods to rip all 5 seasons of Babylon 5 + 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1 + 5 seasons of Stargate Atlantis. Total time? about 3-4 days? My CPU is pretty great for encoding, and I just batched everything up in Handbrake and ran overnight.

So as you can imagine, ripping DVD's (2 hours each for a movie vs maybe 3-6 hours per disc of TV), you'll be able to rip many more movies in a day and have them all encode overnight (assuming you're using that i5 2500K to encode).

[Matsy]

I used the aforementioned MakeMKV + Handbrake methods to rip all 5 seasons of Babylon 5 + 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1 + 5 seasons of Stargate Atlantis. Total time? about 3-4 days? My CPU is pretty great for encoding, and I just batched everything up in Handbrake and ran overnight.

So as you can imagine, ripping DVD's (2 hours each for a movie vs maybe 3-6 hours per disc of TV), you'll be able to rip many more movies in a day and have them all encode overnight (assuming you're using that i5 2500K to encode).

 

Yeh I will be

Is the only benefit to encoding to reduce the file size somewhat?

Ordered a http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084LZJ1M/ref=nosim today to replace my current storage drive (its almost full and its very old and starting to make unpleasant noises....so its going to die soon....)

[obsidian1200]

Yeh I will be

Is the only benefit to encoding to reduce the file size somewhat?

Ordered a http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084LZJ1M/ref=nosim today to replace my current storage drive (its almost full and its very old and starting to make unpleasant noises....so its going to die soon....)

Pretty much, but saying the encoding only somewhat reduces the file size isn't really that accurate. It can easily make a DVD .mkv and take it down to about 1.5GB on average, usually less but occasionally more. With Blu-Ray, this difference is much more apparent, but for some people the loss in visual quality is too much to bear. Though, TBH, I can't notice a difference between an original blu-ray MKV and one that's been through my handbrake paces.

[Matsy]

Pretty much, but saying the encoding only somewhat reduces the file size isn't really that accurate. It can easily make a DVD .mkv and take it down to about 1.5GB on average, usually less but occasionally more. With Blu-Ray, this difference is much more apparent, but for some people the loss in visual quality is too much to bear. Though, TBH, I can't notice a difference between an original blu-ray MKV and one that's been through my handbrake paces.

 

Ah cool.

I'll test it out on a DVD and see if I notice anything.

Thanks for your help