Help Please. DVD to MP4 player

Hi all
I’m sure there is a simple solution so post anything you think will help.

Basically I want to put my favourite movie onto my mp4 player. I have used DVD shrink to back the DVD on to my harddrive -fine no problem. I’m trying to use MTV video converter to convert it to mp4. When I hit the imput video button and I go to the video on my hard drive I get two folders Audio_TS and Video_TS. The audio_ts folder is empty and the video_ts folder has a whole heap of files in it. It looks like I can only pick one file at a time to run thru the converter (would doing it this way even work??) and even when I do it get and error message and the program shuts down. I’m getting grumpy. Would Nero be of any use?
Anyhoo if you have a suggestion let fly.

Handbrake.

Unfortunately due to legal copyright infringement paranoia, we’re not allowed to give out any “how to” information about copying digital media on these boards.

However, this place has more info than you could ever want, if you can handle digging around for it:

To expand on beowulff’s answer:

Good luck!

Legally purchased DVD +
Legally purchased mp4 player = not allowed??? Please tell me you are kidding

If you’re a resident of the US, that’s the law. If you live elsewhere in the world, that may or may not be the case. Some DVDs now come with a digital copy on the disc designed for you to copy over to a portable device/PC, however, so there are a few companies who realize restricting people from watching a movie on their MP4 player or PC is stupid.

The DMCA is an absurdly stupid law, for many reasons. For example, to play a Blu-Ray DVD on a PC, the software on your PC will check to see if you have a monitor and monitor cable which supports DRM. If you do not have the correct cable and monitor, the software will refuse to play the disc, until you replace them. (And just having the right monitor or cable is not enough, both must be compliant.) Slysoft sells a program which allows you to get around this problem (and it is a problem, one shouldn’t have to throw out a perfectly good monitor and/or cable to watch something they’ve legally purchased), but its technically not legal in the US for you to buy or own the software. (The odds of you getting busted for buying and using it, however, are another matter.)

Right the law itself is stupid and inconsistent.

Essentially, you have the right to make backup copies, or to copy the media unto a different format (say from Cd to mp3, or tape to dvd, etc.). BUT the law, here in the US at least, also says that you can’t circumvent copy protection schemes, even to assert the rights listed above.

Personally, I have 0 moral problems doing what you want to do, and I do it routinely.

Now, if you copied the dvd with dvd shrink onto your PC, you have already done what needed to be done :wink:

Now it’s just a matter of taking those vobs and turning them into an mp4 file.

Others have already given you some great resources most of which use free tools.

My recommendation for a quick, easy and intuative piece of software for ALL of your encoding purposes is: TMPGEnc - Products: TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress - Product Overview TMPEG Xpress 4.

Edit: forgot to add why I’d recommend it. First, as long as you have a direct show codec pack installed it’ll take ANY format and output to DVD format, mpg2, mpg1, Divx and Divx DVD format, Mp4, several other Mp4 and .avi codecs, wmv, h.264, .mov and a number of Hd and other miscellanious formats.

It also has an import wizard which will allow you to quickly select the tracks to import from a DVD.

The only DMCA-infringing part is the encryption circumvention involved in ripping the DVD, and he’s not asking about that part, so I’m assuming that’s kosher.

Do you work for these guys or something? Your post sounds like an advertisement.

Anyway, as to the OP, here is one of many nice guides (including screenshots) that shows you how to pull this off using only free software.

e: whoops, I didn’t realize that this topic was almost two weeks old. I’m guessing that the OP already figured this out by now.

Thanks anyway neutron star.

Look on a website for iPhones like http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/dvd-to-iphone-and-ipod-touch/

Apple, a well-known DMCA nazi, encourages people to rip DVDs to the iPhone so I’m sure it’s okay, provided you own the DVD.

Tell that to the guys who run RealNetworks and tried to sell what they thought was a legal DVD ripper.