Ripping DVD's and BD's

audiobliss

Now that I've got my 1TB HD setup with my music and a backup system in place, I'd like to forge ahead with movies, too. I used DVDFab in the past and mainly ripped to .ISO, but I've come to realize the inefficiency of that method. My goal really is to have a digital copy of my DVD's on my computer with no loss of quality, but in a compressed format to maximize HD space. I also don't care about menus but only want the main movie. However, I'm not sure about the soundtrack. Right now I would be playing back on my computer with computer speakers, so 2.1. But I imagine it would be nice to include a 5.1 track (or whatever it is) for future playback at some point in a HT system. Basically my immediate use would be just playback on the computer where video quality (on my 21.6" monitor) and sound (through 2.1 computer speakers) aren't critical, but I only want to rip them once, so I would like my method to be adequate for any potential future uses (streaming to PS3 or XBox360 or HTPC in a HT system).

I've heard reference to .ISO, .mod, .mkv, .divx, .avi, .mpa (or .mp4?), etc as possible formats to rip to. I'm really ignorant as to which would be best suited for what application. Hopefully tomorrow sometime I'll have the chance to read up a little bit.

I've read good things about AnyDVD defeating practically any and all encryption, and that AnyDVD HD will also allow one to rip BluRay, which would be awesome. Past that, I'm not sure what to use for the actual ripping, or if AnyDVD is even a good choice for the decryption. I've read some about DVD Shrink, Handbrake, etc, but really have no knowledge-base upon which to draw for making a decision.

Thank you for any advice you could provide!

kawizx9r

Nothing to really add here regarding software but if you intend to rip Blurays, you'll need alot more space than just 1tb.

I'm nearing 2+tb's, and less than half of those movies are 720p.

audiobliss

I'm definitely anticipating increasing storage space. But for now I certainly have enough to start filling up. Thanks for the heads up though. How much space does a 1080P BD take up on HD?

kawizx9r

audiobliss wrote: »

I'm definitely anticipating increasing storage space. But for now I certainly have enough to start filling up. Thanks for the heads up though. How much space does a 1080P BD take up on HD?

I've averaged about 7.8gb to 13gb for a single 1080P BD movie.

Some of my 720P BD's take anywhere from 2.6gb to 4.4gb (depending on the length of the movie of course).

EDIT:

Also, it depends on the format of the video and how it was ripped.

Example:

Monsters - 720P, Runtime 1hr33mins, Size 1.25gb AVI

Tropic Thunder - 720P, Runtime 2hr1min, Size 4.33gb MKV

Personally, the MKV's I own have much better picture quality than the AVI's. I've got a 24" Acer monitor that supports up to 1080P, but from time to time I'll stream these movies onto my 42" plasma and they look superb!

audiobliss

Ok, not too terrible. Thanks!

audiobliss

Interesting comparison between those two movie files you posted. Does the Monsters AVI suffer no PQ degradation compared to the mammothly large (by comparison) Tropic Thunder MKV? Since they're both 720P I'd hope not, but that is a huge difference in file size. I understand MKV is a container file that allows lots of other formats to be stored within it, though I'm honestly not really sure what that means practically speaking. I have noticed that most of the really great quality video files I've watched are usually MKV.

Anybody else have any experience with this to share?

greg2350

this is what i use but i dont think it does BD
http://www.magicdvdripper.com/

toucanet

I learn something new everyday on this forum. I did not know that there was software that could allow one to make a backup of a DVD or BD.

Here is a website I found that rates the current software:

http://dvd-copy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

I wish I had known about this (software) several months ago when I had to replace about two dozen DVDs that my daughter wrote her name on with a ball point pen. Needless to say, she ruined the DVDs.

Oh well, now I know what to do.

Thanks.

doggie750

toucanet wrote: »

I learn something new everyday on this forum. I did not know that there was software that could allow one to make a backup of a DVD or BD.

Here is a website I found that rates the current software:

http://dvd-copy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

I wish I had known about this (software) several months ago when I had to replace about two dozen DVDs that my daughter wrote her name on with a ball point pen. Needless to say, she ruined the DVDs.

Oh well, now I know what to do.

Thanks.

You are not alone...........I'm on your boat as well......got 3 destroyers here.

doggie750

is there a free reliable ripper out there in the web space?

Janne

I have used AnyDVD HD for my entire collection. Unfortunately I backed up my DVD's too late. 10% was lost to DVD rot. Storage is so cheap now that I don't see any reason for compressing the movies. You can set AnyDVD to remove trailers, ads and region codes. My Home server is 7TB with full backup of music and movies. For playback of DVD and BD I use PowerDVD Ultra. The convenience of having all DVD's on a server is just amazing.