[Ham-Computers] Ripping dvds

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

There are a couple of ways to do this - ripping to DVD files or ripping to ISO.  I'll discuss the ISO method first.

CD's and DVD's are generally laid out in a standard format.  ISO files are in essense byte-by-byte copies of the DVD saved in a single file (it's not exactly a byte-by-byte copy, but think of it that way).  So, if you have a full 8.3GB dual-layer DVD movie, when you rip the movie, you'll end up with an 8.3GB .ISO file.  So how do you play the movie after creating the ISO file?  You use a program that creates a virtual DVD-ROM drive and "mount" the ISO just as if you put a real DVD in a real DVD-ROM drive.  You then use your DVD player software to play back from the virtual drive.

The advantage of .ISO files is that you have an actual duplicate of the DVD.  One of the more popular ISO ripping/burning tools is ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com).  Works great and it's free.  Popular apps to mount an ISO are DaemonTools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc) and Nero's Image Drive.  If you get DaemonTools, make sure to uncheck all the extra toolbar "stuff" during installation.


The other way of "moving" a DVD to HD is to rip the files off the DVD and save them to a folder on your HD.  Essentially, a DVD-Video is just a standard DVD-ROM disc with two (or 3) folders ("TS_Video" and "TS_Audio") that contain the DVD contents.  The contents can't be directly "drag-n-drop" copies from the DVD, but there are many free utilities that will do this for you.  The caveat is that the copied files won't play if protected by AACS copy protection.  There are tools to remove the AACS, but you'll have to look for those on your own (beyond the guidelines of this list).  Once you have the files copied off the DVD, all you need to do is put the original TS_Video (and TS_Audio) folder(s) in a parent folder and many DVD player apps should then be able to play them back as "DVD Files".

An advantage of the DVD "file" ripping is that you can also re-compress the video to take up less drive space.  Yes, the quality of video will decrease proportionally, but you'll be able to fit more content in the same amount of space.  Many people rip dual-layer DVD's (8.3GB), compress the files to fit a single layer DVD (4.7GB), and burn a "working" copy on single-layer DVD that they use for playback.  The original DVD goes to "archival storage" in case something happens to the "working" copy - then they just create another compressed copy.  I did the same with my old vinyl albums - copied them to tape and played the heck out of the tape rather than wearing out the vinyl.


Anyways, I think you have an idea of what do to.  In summary, yes it's possible to copy the DVD's to a hard drive folder, but you'll need to determine what format you want to do it in and then choose the appropriate tools.  (BTW, for rip to disk, DVD Decrypter comes to mind...)


73,

  - Aaron, NN6O




-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:32 AM
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Ripping dvds

I'm wanting to rip dvd movies and store them on my computer to play on
my TV. My question is what, if any program preserves the menu
selection features like when you would just normally insert the DVD?

I tried a free program called HandBrake I got it off www.filehippo.com
and it works, but I can't figure out how to keep menu selections.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,
Jonathan

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