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Digitizing Dvd's??

M

mcforman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 24, 2010
5
1
So here's a two part question:

1) I own around 600 DVD's and want to digitize them to load onto iTunes and play on my ATV. I have Handbrake which can rip the DVD's into m4v content. However, as you can imagine, this is a very labor intensive process. So, is there any service out there that will transfer all your DVD content to digital for you? Clearly, for a price.

2) Handbrake works great. But, my big issue with it is that the audio volume is on the low side after digitized. Clearly I can increase the colume on my TV. However, this presents a bigger problem when you want to play it back on your iPad or iTouch or iPhone and you are in a noisy environment (like a long plane ride from LA to NY). There is just so loud you can take the volume and I've found it's not nearly enough. In the audio section, I have tried increasing track 1 to 320kbs and track 2 is on AC3 pass thru. However, it doesn't help.

Any suggestions for #1 or #2?

Thanks!
 
mcforman said:
So here's a two part question:

1) I own around 600 DVD's and want to digitize them to load onto iTunes and play on my ATV. I have Handbrake which can rip the DVD's into m4v content. However, as you can imagine, this is a very labor intensive process. So, is there any service out there that will transfer all your DVD content to digital for you? Clearly, for a price.

2) Handbrake works great. But, my big issue with it is that the audio volume is on the low side after digitized. Clearly I can increase the colume on my TV. However, this presents a bigger problem when you want to play it back on your iPad or iTouch or iPhone and you are in a noisy environment (like a long plane ride from LA to NY). There is just so loud you can take the volume and I've found it's not nearly enough. In the audio section, I have tried increasing track 1 to 320kbs and track 2 is on AC3 pass thru. However, it doesn't help.

Any suggestions for #1 or #2?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

These guys: http://www.moondogdigital.com/ripping.html
seem to offer a DVD ripping service. But seems expensive.:eek:

I wonder if you could just download the movies off of torrent sites, since you do legally own the original dvd's? :confused:
 
redbotsoftware said:
I wonder if you could just download the movies off of torrent sites, since you do legally own the original dvd's? :confused:
Click to expand...

Don't do this. It's clearly illegal. Ripping your own DVDs is illegal too under the DMCA (in the US), but I doubt anyone gets prosecuted for it. After all, there's no way for authorities to know who is doing it and when. Furthermore, the motion picture industry really hasn't raised a stink about it. However, downloading off the torrent sites can definitely land you in legal trouble. Just ask all those people being served subpoenas for torrenting "The Hurt Locker."

Ripping DVDs is a long process, but one that is ultimately worth it. As for the Handbrake volume issue, I've noticed it too but I just deal with it. Maybe someone over on the Handbrake forums can help, or maybe it's already been answered.
 
This thread outlines the process for automating as much as possible.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/805573/


It allows ease of naming and pulling of info and movie posters, and ability to schedule the encoding to run overnight. Really easy.

I would say it takes an equivalent length of time to do this compared to downloading a torrent.

I can rip and encode an average of 6 movies each day...and my iMac isn't the fastest.

A service will cost a ton! Just start plowing and you'll be done soon enough.
 
Thanks so far

To both Redbot and Spice. I left a message for Moondog to see what their cost would be.

Spice - I hear you. I'm generally a guy to go the legal path as well (I purchase all my software, music, dvd's, etc.) This is such a mess these days. It seems as though since I own the DVD, the studios should offer some kind of website/software where you can load your DVD into your player to confirm you own it, then transfer you digital content of the DVD. Clearly the film makers intended their films to be viewed in a specific way (sound, video quality)

I'm frustrated with Handbrake because I have already transferred around 180 movies in my collection already and didn't realize the audio issue until I took a flight last moth with my iPad. Even with Bose noise canceling headphones, it STILL was hard to hear. I was miserable!

Regardless, thanks for the input.
 
Lol..

Uh..maybe you can find someone that will do it for you but there's no legitimate service that will since its illegal. The crappy part is that its fair use to make a backup copy but copyright circumvention is illegal, and you have to circumvent the protection (handbrake) to make the backup. Its a load of BS really.
 
Waiting on feedback from Handbrake forum

I'm hoping there's a better setting I'm just not aware of. I hate the thought of starting from scratch but so be it if I can't find a better alternative.
 
mcforman said:
Clearly the film makers intended their films to be viewed in a specific way (sound, video quality)

Regardless, thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

Youre giving them way too much credit. They only care about the $$$. If they allowed everyone to make backups, then no one would have a problem with scratched media and they would lose out on re-purchases. They also know that it can then be easily shared.
 
Upgrade your mac to one of the new iMac's with a quad core processor. They can churn out an encode in 30 minutes. With 600 DVD's at 2 hours each, you are talking about 1200 hours to encode on a c2d processor, vs. 300 hours on an i5. You will save about 900 hours...
 
In the "motor world" there is an old saying: "there is no replacement for cubic displacement" ;) . Cpu is everything when converting video.
 
Definitely play around with some handbrake settings before you encode even more of your dvd's. I found it best to rip them onto your computer and then queue them up in handbrake to run overnight or while you're on vacation. The hardest part now is going to be tagging them all now that MetaX isn't working properly...

Oh, and don't forget storage and backup space. You don't want to have to encode 600 dvd's twice because of a dead hard drive.
 
mcforman said:
this presents a bigger problem when you want to play it back on your iPad or iTouch or iPhone and you are in a noisy environment (like a long plane ride from LA to NY). There is just so loud you can take the volume and I've found it's not nearly enough.
Click to expand...

Try investing in some good noise-blocking headphones, the ones that apple ships are crap. and if it's that loud for you, chances are everyone within 10 feet also heard it.

i had a pair of ultimate ears, with tips that looked like foam ear plugs , i would be on the subway in NYC, think, "hey this song is a bit loud", and reach down and turn down the volume one click on my iPhone, and the sound would go out, because i was on the first click of volume. It's amazing how quiet you can listen to stuff when you block out the outside world. which can be a really good thing on the subway.

If you look, you can find really nice earphones, with the ipod button and the microphone built in. although finding volume controls on the cord is a bit harder.

not to mention the savings on your hearing from listening at lower volumes.
 
sammich said:
I know I'm being a stickler, but no one pointed out the fact that DVDs are already digital?
Click to expand...

That's because we all understood that when OP said "digitize" he really meant "transcode."

Waw74 makes a good point about good headphones for listening to music or watching video in noisy places like an airplane. I use a pair of Shure in-ear headphones that block a lot of excess noise. When I try to sleep on the plane I pop them in my ears even if I'm not listening to music, just to block out the engine and cabin noise.
 
I would say just do it yourself. Yes, it will take time, but you'll be able to convert them the way you want and can test and fiddle around with the settings until you get a vid to your liking.

I did it the old fashioned way: rip to PC, queue them up in Handbrake, and let it convert while I'm asleep, at work, etc. Tag them when I get a chance, and then continue. I've converted all of my movies and TV shows, and am now down to just a few random sports discs that I haven't ripped because there's so many features that sorting would be a pain.
 
Tag ?

All -

How do you tag the output file w/ meta data? In other words, if I want to import the a movie to iTunes and have it "look" like I bought it, how do I do so?

Thanks.
 
Things are changing finally. I started doing my own.... yeah it takes a long time and big commitment to complete an entire collection, i got about 50 dvds done, hundreds left before i needed a break and started metadating... what a job! Have to be honest guys, i cheated and found a firm called www.DigiRAW.com they did them all in around 11 days and embedded metadata including ratings which iTunes loves. Using airplay and iTunes sharing my kids can watch whatever they like on their poo pads - easy life for me :D
 
I did my own (100+ DVDs) over the course of several months. Generally I just did a few overnight, most nights - I'd set it up in Handbrake and then go to bed.

I found it beneficial to first generate images of the DVDs using RipIt (which cost $20, or did when I bought it anyway). That process only takes 20 minutes or so per disk. By doing it that way, I could queue up several movies and let Handbrake chug through them sequentially. Also it means your DVD drive isn't spinning for hours on end while Handbrake does its thing.

Of course you need a fair bit of disk space for the DVD images...
 
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