Advice on ripping my DVD collection...

othelloothello
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I'm planning out my home media set-up (mini or iTV or a combination or... well that is a whole different thread!) and have a question I hope AI can help with.



I use frontrow and I want to have my DVD collection (or at least my favourite ones) available under the movies section so I don't have to keep inserting a DVD.



What is the best way to rip the DVDs so they are in a lossless format that will be picked up by frontrow? Any advice on software etc would be much appreciated!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by othello


    What is the best way to rip the DVDs so they are in a lossless format that will be picked up by frontrow? Any advice on software etc would be much appreciated!



    I'd say to try using this:



    http://mysite.verizon.net/resohjb1/Projects.html



    Rip the DVDs using MacTheRipper to get the video ts folders.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    kishankishan Posts: 732member
    Getting the Video_ts folder off the DVD is not the problem. The problem then is how to get Front Row to recognize and play these folders. Big big big oversight on Apple's part and the only thing that is keeping me from getting a mac mini to serve as my TV-Computer liason.



    To use front row, you will need to encode the Video_TS folders using something like Handbrake or Popcorn. You will lose quality, but if you don't set the compression too high, you probably won't notice a difference.



    Another option is to use Equinux's MediaCentral which does play raw Video_TS folders.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    I use Handbrake to convert my video_ts folders into quicktime playable movies.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    othelloothello Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacCrazy


    I use Handbrake to convert my video_ts folders into quicktime playable movies.



    thanks i'll take a look.



    certainly seems a big oversight on apple's part. otherwise the movies option in front row is only for home movies (from iMovie) or download movies from iTunes. Good, but limited.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Apple have to be careful - they don't want to piss of the movie studios but including a program that will RIP bought DVDs too easily.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    othelloothello Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacCrazy


    I use Handbrake to convert my video_ts folders into quicktime playable movies.



    i've had a read about handbrake on http://www.freesmug.org/tutorial/han...term=handbrake



    MacCrazy (or anyone else that uses handbrake) -- what video settings do you use when converting? MP4 or AVI? HD?
  • Reply 7 of 8
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,326moderator
    Be careful with Handbrake. It can cut out the audio during a movie. I didn't notice and had to rip 6 movies again using other software. What I'd probably do is get YadeX to extract a vob file from the DVD and then use isquint to compress that to mp4. H264 gives better quality but takes a bit longer to encode.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by othello


    MacCrazy (or anyone else that uses handbrake) -- what video settings do you use when converting? MP4 or AVI? HD?



    I tend to use AVI and an average bitrate of 1000 kbps which makes sure the video isn't too compressed. Using these settings Seven ended up being 1.9 GB. I use FFmpeg as the encoder.
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