Copying DVD's with a MBP

zacwolfzacwolf
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I plan on getting a 15" macbook pro pretty soon, i will also be going away to college in September. I plan on copying all my dvd's and bringing the copies with me so if they get stolen or lost it isnt the end of the world.



Is it possible to copy a DVD on a MBP (and if so how does one do it) or will I have to buy an external drive?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I did the exact same here. You can use a program called MediaFork to compress the video. I spent $2000+ on my DVD collection and there is no way in heck I will bring those disks on a college campus.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    tkellytkelly Posts: 50member
    Handbrake is a very easy (and free) program to copy DVD's as MP4s to your hardisk. You can set the quality you want it at in a variety of ways.



    Usually the files end up being 1 to 2 gb's per movie, so unless if you are only going to store around 100 movies (for a 250 gb hd) on your MBP, then that would be an ok idea.



    If you have even more, then an external would be a good idea. Or if you want backups of them...
  • Reply 3 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Um, just because it is confusing (for me too) Handbrake = MediaFork.



  • Reply 4 of 9
    zacwolfzacwolf Posts: 5member
    but what if i want to make copies of them and not rip them
  • Reply 5 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I would use MacTheRipper to copy them to your hard drive. But a whole collection would take a heck of a lot of room.



    If you want to burn them, you run into a problem. Rips are usually larger than DVD-R's. There is no easy, free way to re-compress them to fit.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    zacwolfzacwolf Posts: 5member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ebby View Post


    I would use MacTheRipper to copy them to your hard drive. But a whole collection would take a heck of a lot of room.



    If you want to burn them, you run into a problem. Rips are usually larger than DVD-R's. There is no easy, free way to re-compress them to fit.



    hmmmmmm



    how does a dvd work out when it is ripped to a computer?



    especially stuff like tv-shows
  • Reply 7 of 9
    k squaredk squared Posts: 608member
    Once ripped, you have to use a program such as Popcorn to re-encode the Video_TS file back to a DVD. Sounds like a lot of work for many DVDs....encoding to H.264 with an appleTV sounds like a better option to me.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    zacwolfzacwolf Posts: 5member
    would using an external dvd reader make this easier so i can copy directly?
  • Reply 9 of 9
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by k squared View Post


    Once ripped, you have to use a program such as Popcorn to re-encode the Video_TS file back to a DVD.



    Uh, no with a capital "N"? All MacTheRipper does is decrypt and copy the DVD to your hard drive. You get straight-off-the-DVD MPEG2 files and no loss in quality or functionality. In Apple DVD player, choose your VIDEO_TS folder and press play.



    A external DVD reader does the same thing as an internal one would so unless your internal drive is broken, it won't give you any new functionality.



    Or am I missing something here?
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