ATV2 DVD ripping/encoding question

[xxbrankxx]

Hi everyone I'm new to the world of AppleTV and had some questions before I would buy one. I have around 500 DVDs and wanted to know if using Handbrake to rip/encode each one individually would be the best way to get all the movies in iTunes? I ripped 1 DVD using Handbrake with the AppleTV preset and it took around an hour and the file was 1.57 GB for a 2 hour .m4v movie file. Is that the standard file size typically? Would I have to get a 3TB HDD to store most of my movies? It would be cool to have all my movies & music together in iTunes and use AppleTV so I can watch it on a HDTV, but it's gonna take a ton of time to rip/encode everything right? Is there an easier/quicker way to do this? Thanks!

 

[I3eXa]

I don't do a whole lot of ripping but I do everything the same way your are so I don't think there is a faster way unfortunately.

 

[b-rad g]

Hi everyone I'm new to the world of AppleTV and had some questions before I would buy one. I have around 500 DVDs and wanted to know if using Handbrake to rip/encode each one individually would be the best way to get all the movies in iTunes? I ripped 1 DVD using Handbrake with the AppleTV preset and it took around an hour and the file was 1.57 GB for a 2 hour .m4v movie file. Is that the standard file size typically? Would I have to get a 3TB HDD to store most of my movies? It would be cool to have all my movies & music together in iTunes and use AppleTV so I can watch it on a HDTV, but it's gonna take a ton of time to rip/encode everything right? Is there an easier/quicker way to do this? Thanks!

Your best bet would be to go ahead and get a DVD ripping program to purely rip the movies off the discs and then use Handbrake to encode them.

Here's what I did.....I used RipIt which can be set up to automatically rip the dvd as soon as you put it in and then spit it out when it's done. That way you dont have to watch for it to finish, just go about your business and check on the computer every once in a while to see if the disc is spit out and then throw in another one. Also RipIt rips the dvd's much faster than HB so it will be less strain on your dvd drive (recommend an external dvd drive).

Once you have a "batch" ripped they can be added to Handbrake in it's queue and let the encoding run all night. Doing it this way will GREATLY decrease the time it will take you to do your entire library. Don't forget to delete the ripped files after Handbrake encodes them because thise files will be about 6-8GB each.

I use Identify (in Mac App Store) to tag all movies and then put them in iTunes so I can use FrontRow for viewing.

 

[NoTime]

b-rad g:

Do you need the VLC downloaded to use Handbrake or since RipIt got past the copy protection can I use only Handbrake?

Also, will Handbrake put the file is the same folder as the ripped movies or can you specify a different folder.

I love RipIt but I need to start converting to an iTunes format as I just got an ATV2.

Thanks.

 

[b-rad g]

b-rad g:

Do you need the VLC downloaded to use Handbrake or since RipIt got past the copy protection can I use only Handbrake?

Also, will Handbrake put the file is the same folder as the ripped movies or can you specify a different folder.

I love RipIt but I need to start converting to an iTunes format as I just got an ATV2.

Thanks.

If you use RipIt to extrect the movie from the DVD, then I don't think Handbrake uses VLC for the encode.

You can tell Handbrake to put the finished file wherever you want. I have a separate folder for "Ripped" and "Encoded".

I also have Identify throw the file into iTunes for me after it tags it.