So, having transferred my music collection to digital files, I’m considering doing the same with my DVD collection. Here, I am clueless. I would like to keep the quality good enough to watch on a wide screen TV. What’s the best way to do it? Are there any good quality freeware DVD rippers out there? What’s the deal(s)?
Bypassing the copy protection even to make a legally allowed backup of your DVD is technically still against the law.
I know, it makes no sense. The law says you are allowed to make a backup of media, or a transcoding of it to a different medium, BUT the law also says you are not allowed to brake copy protection DRM to do it. Effectively nullifying the first right for most media.
Therefore I won’t talk about the ripping to your hard drive and removing DRM part since it might violate board rules, but the answer is just a google away.
As for transcoding mpg 2 streams (usually .VOB containers in DVD’s) to other containers and codecs, you can try Videohelp.com. They’ve got a bunch of knowledgeable people on the forums, and an extensive list of ripping/transcoding guides.
I typically transcode to a .mkv container using h.264 codec and dolby digital multi-channel audio. For all video SD stuff like DVD’s or TV and HD I get a great compression ratio out of those codecs and a great quality to boot.
It’s come to a point where all my blu-rays and DVD’s are ripped to a central NAS server and accessible to me on my TV, iPad, netbook, etc on demand.
Software tools that can help you transcode (note these do NOT remove copy protection):
TMPEGEnc 4.0 Xpress
RipBot
Handbrake is a free application that produces some of the best results I’ve seen
As Kinthalis said, decrypting DVDs isn’t legal everywhere, so just google DVD decrypter
Can you link to any “how to” instructions? That sounds like something I’d be interested in.
Here in Canada, so far, the US content companies have not succeeded in buying a content protection law on par with the DMCA - so ripping copies of your own DVD’s is still legal. In some other jurisdictions it may be different. Do not do it where the process is not allowed.
The best process is to first copy the files to disk with a program like DVDfab Decrypter. (The free/trial version has the right to copy files with no expiry on the simple copy process.) This bypasses what I assume are or appear to be flaws on the disk that make it difficult to just copy the files.
With a folder set of the DVD content (AUDIO_TS, VIDEO_TS containing VOB and IFO files), you can use a copy of DVDshrink 3.2 (the actual version is hard to find nowadays; there are a lot of fake/crapware versions online) to crunch the files down so they fit on the much cheaper single-layer DVDs. Generally, even crunched down to 50% of original content size, this video is perfectly acceptable on an upconverting DVD player. The output is a 4.3GB ISO file, or disk image; which is ideal for adding to your terabyte video jukebox, if you have a DVD disk player program which will treat an ISO file as a DVD.Most programs, including WIndows 7, will burna DVD from an ISO image.
Alternatively, MagicDisk is a program that can mount your ISO image (movie or software DVD) to look like a loaded DVD so even not-so-smart softare can use it just like a physical DVD.
It’s a fun thing to have; at about 5GB/DVD, a 1TB disk will hold 200 DVD images, so for a significant library, you will need still several Teabytes of disk space. I don’t think the technology is quite there yet - maybe next year.
If you are looking for further squashing to fit on a jukebox, you will have to experiment with various programs that recode DVDs; to DIVX for smaller files at full DVD resolution, or look for “Videora” to recode to iPhone/iPad reolution so you can take your movies on the road with you - the real use for this software. A Videora recode of a full-length movie is a little less than 1GB (and can take overnihgt to encode), but the quality may be adequate for a 4-inch screen but not be home-theatre level. DIVX? Never really experimented. You would have to check for yourself.
A word of caution - have fun at home (provided you do not live down south in the USA) but do not share such files on the internet. Various people may post (anonymously) derogatory comments about the rip-off music and movie companies - but their lawyers are real and the law is on their side… and distributing copyright material, for money or just for fun, is lawsuit material whether it is a felony, misdemeanor, or not illegal.
Yeah, I don’t care about menus so I don’t generally bother the DVd/Blu-ray structure.
I always encode to .mkv whenever possible.
Encoding 1080p Blu-ray movies takes about as long as watching the movie. 1x. Movies vary in size between 4.5 to 12 gigabytes (depending on content) as I use quality quantizer instead of encoding at a particular bit rate. This is the way to go for archiving purposes, BTW. Only target a specific bit rate if you absolutely need the content to fit a particular size.
Encoding 720p content (most HDTV) is done at about 2-3x on my PC. So about 30min per hour of video. Takes up about 1-5 Gigs
Encoding SD content is done at about 4-6x on my PC. Video fist in under 1 Gig most of the time.
That kind of setup will net you a lot of movies per Terabyte.
I rip DVDs to play on my iPod Touch and iPad frequently. I use Handbrake with the H.264 codec, and a bitrate of 500 to 600 kb/sec. This bitrate is plenty for the small screen and results in a small file size (a typical movie will result in a file size of 400 to 500 MB).
When watching it on my 46" TV, I can detect a loss of sharpness, but it’s not annoying to me. If it were my primary intent to watch at that size, I’d bump the bit rate up some.
Forget the legal issues, no one is going to sue you for moving your legally owned material to another format – when it’s just for your use.
Questions centered around quality and longevity:
A) Why did you transfer an analog audio collection to digital? If you had LPs, hopefully you kept the originals. If you had audiophile LP equipment, it’s unlikely your transferred collection came close to matching the original.
B) Why are you transferring DVDs to anything else at all? That is the most economical format for them at this time.
C) DVDs are already optimized for the resolution they are recorded at. Moving to a different format does nothing to improve the resolution. Your widescreen (etc.) playback is just using software to give the illusion there’s extra resolution.
D) There’s a wide misconception that digital formats are more permanent than any other existing formats. In fact, the effective life of a hard drive or a CD or a DVD is sometimes just a few years. A device that you can record to is certainly going to be less permanent than a one of quality, non-writable, that is produced under good factory conditions.
I.e., if you just want to play around moving media from one format to another, go ahead. It won’t improve the quality or longevity of anything. And make sure your effort exceeds whatever benefit you perceive in the convenience.
Ripping DVDs is a technology/technique mostly oriented to those who want to steal copyrighted material. It has nothing to do with quality or longevity. I don’t know about you, but my level of caring about convenience to thieves is zero.
No, it really isn’t. DVDs need careful handling, and require the hassle of changing disks every time you need a different copy., and have to deal with very clunky players if you want to be portable. Storing them on a hard drive means better portability and less wear and tear.
You see, non-optical digital data and can effectively be more permanent: analog and optical are easily damaged, and that decreases the quality. Digital is either at perfect quality, or non-existent. As for hard drive failure: that’s why we have backups. I still have data from when I first started using computers.
As for the whole audiophile thing I didn’t quote, I have this to say: If you encoded with high “audiophile” quality equipment into a high quality file format and high bitrate, I don’t see how the human ear can tell the difference. Even if there is a difference, the small loss in quality still better than a record that gets scratched and worn every time you play it or a cassette tape that can get stretched and worn.
In short, digitizing your analog collection and ripping your digital one makes a lot of sense.
This site is a comprehensive and excellent source of info on this topic:
Also (ignoring the speculation for the time being that I’m a thief)
1: I never said anything about an analog music collection. 99% of my collection is on CDs. And I’m old enough and my ears aren’t as good as they used to be, so absolutely perfect quality isn’t a consideration for me anymore. My ears do just fine with a good quality 320kbs mp3 rip.
2: The other consideration why someone would want to store their collection digitally is size. My CD collection took up the space of two good bookshelves. And we’d rather have the books if there is an easy alternative to having so many CDs. Which there is. Our DVD collection takes up one good wall of our living room and growing. We just want to store some away, but still have the files handy And possibly, as has been suggested earlier, set up a home server system.
Thanks to everyone for their help and ideas!
DVDshrink is one of my favorites for ripping DVDs. Incredibly easy to use, and you can tell it how big a size you want the file to end up being. It’s legally free, so if you find a site selling it it’s fake or a scam.
Dear all,
No offense, but you’ve all been effectively sold marketing party lines, first by the advocates of CD/DVD format, then later by the iPod generation.
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Hearing loss is a valid reason not to be concerned about missing high frequencies in recording transfers. (Kind of tough for anybody else who happens to be listening.) On the other hand, transferring to digital usually means dumping high frequencies wholesale. For someone younger than 20 with typical hearing (or someone under 30 with better-than-average hearing), frequencies above 20Hz may be quite audible. If your idea of a good time is to blast Aerosmith, you’ll probably never notice. If you happen to know or play an acoustic sting instrument – you’ll notice right away.
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Size is a good reason to dump CDs and DVDs, for bookshelf space. I’ve given away or traded quite a few. Where CDs and DVDs are given or traded away, however, you ARE NOT legally allowed to make a copy. I.e., making a digital copy doesn’t help, unless you want to break the law. And if you’re going to do that, why not just do illegal downloads, and save yourself the effort?
One thing I do for less important disks is to throw away the packing case. Instant 75% reduction in space.
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Digital disk space. The “that’s what backups are for” comment comes from someone who was not a system administrator for any number of years. Backups are time-consuming, use expensive media, and quickly become a pain to keep track of. In my experience, after 5 years something like 20% of backups have a problem of some kind. I.e., abandoning the CD/DVD source (which itself is a backup, in the event of personal copying) isn’t a good idea, unless you want to take a 20% chance of losing the material entirely. BigT, I have files from my first computer that are readable, but some aren’t.
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Running a computer is not cost free. It’s a highly expensive device to buy and operate. And if yours craps out because it has 100s of hours of listening/viewing on it (as mine did a few months ago), it’s hardly a bargain. If the computer is used for any other purpose, you may find it’s one of the most expensive decisions you ever made.
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Your time. All the re-recording, sorting, backing up takes time. I don’t have the time or patience to re-record all my 100s of CDs/DVDs. I suspect most people with a full time job, a family, a house, or even an engrossing hobby would find better things to do with their time.
So what I said was exactly true. (Unless you are stealing,) transfering media to hard disk format is an expensive, time consuming process that degrades the sound quality. It’s mostly suitable for a few highly used items that you listen to regularly.
Ok,
Well, for me, the convenience of being able to watch my blu-rays, DVD’s and listen to my music anywhere, any time I damn well please is worth it.
Ripping several blu-rays is something you can do in one evening (plus overnight for the encoding). I’ve ripped my entire movie and music collection in a couple of weeks, spending no more than a couple of hours a day getting it done.
I don’t know anyone that can tell the difference between a ripped blu-ray or one on a disc, or anyone that can tell the difference between a 320kps mp3 or ACC vs a CD.
If you can, more power to you. It does not diminish the convenience and portability of digital entertainment.
The compression of a DVD video is pretty good already, just to make it fit on the disk. Thus anything you do to make the files smaller is necessarily going to be noticeably lossy.
The standard for audio CDs came to be before audio compression was well developed, thus the music CDs have no compression at all. This is what allows MP3 compression to offer much smaller files with very little loss of audio quality.
There were methods for modest compression of audio available at the time. The real issue is the complexity of the hardware to decompress it. The tech to do that at the time was just way too expensive. It would have significantly increased the cost of players which were quite pricey when they started to roll out in 1982.
Incorrect. Modern codecs can do a much better job than Mpg2.
There is a digitalization that is still happening. You need to represent that analog wave in bits after all.
Backups can be a pain for the home user, but they are absolutely necessary whether you are backing up physical media or not. So many photos, videos, music and software are digital only, so a backup system needs to be in place anyway. The DVDs and CDs shouldn’t be abandoned, but can be easily stored in a hard to reach place.
A backup system might take some education and cost to setup, but doesn’t need to be hard to maintain. My Windows Home Server backs up the laptops in the house every night, and if I need to restore, it is very simple to pick the most recent image and go. Getting individual files out of the backup is easy as well. A single drive in he server can fail without losing data, and get replaced with a larger one. I don’t need to monitor the server all of the time, it will let me know if there is a problem. I have a NAS set up in a detached garage that automatically gets copies of everything on the server that didn’t come from physical media. If I lived someplace where lightning is a concern, that NAS would be replaced with cloud storage.
The computer is getting cheaper. The server doesn’t need much horsepower, and my HTPC which gets the 100s of hours of viewing is a $300 net top that takes little power to run. The media comes from the hard drives on the server which are protected by redundancy. Keeping a bunch of hard drives running does have a cost in energy and replacement, but I already have to bear that cost because I own a digital camera and haven’t shot video on tape in years.
It can take a lot of time to rip a large collection, but not a lot of effort. Thanks to My Movies for WHS, all I had to do with the Home Sever was literally drop a disc in the tray, and then when the tray opened again, drop in the next disc. I don’t have to wait around for the recording, the computer does the sorting, and the backing up is automatic every night.
Does copying a CD with a lossless codec to a hard drive degrade the sound quality? If you have a large analog music collection, digitizing it would be a lot of trouble. However I’m not sure there are a lot of those around anymore. A big reason people want to rip is so their CD collections can join their growing collection of music that never was on CD. And CDs are increasingly unwelcome in cars, gyms, airplanes, etc. Do you use a portable CD player? If you want to use an mp3 player, will you repurchase your whole collection digitally rather than rip the CDs you already have?
I do have a large collection of Hi8 tapes that I want to start digitizing. That is a time consuming, difficult process but I need to do it soon because the tapes will degrade over time, and if the camcorder dies they will all be useless. Hard drives can fail and are expensive, but all the spinning drives in my house represent an ecosystem that will live and grow and stay up to date long after those tapes succumb to obsolescence and mechanical failure.