How to save DVD video to Mac?

[F23]

I have an M1 Mac Mini and a SuperDrive. I want to save the videos from the DVD to my Mac.

Do I need special software? I am using disk utility to make a disk image but I'm not sure if that works.

I want to make a copy of the videos for later playback and keep them on my internal mac storage as the DVDs are old.

Thanks

 

[casperes1996]

This isn't just something you can do by simply cloning over the data because of DVD copyright protection.

It is possible to do with handbrake if you have the relevant dylib - namely libdvdcss which can create a regular video file with the copyright protection stripped

 

[adonis3k]

MakeMKV?

 

[pmiles]

Get an external drive for the videos. You will fill up disk space really fast. And like others have posted, you need to rip the dvd to your hard drive. MakeMKV and a whole host of other software will do the trick. This will allow you to watch the movies through VLC or similar DVD player app.

You don't need an SSD drive for video playback from an external drive. Mechanical drives are plenty fast enough and far cheaper.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Handbrake plus libdvdcss does well for most DVDs. With default conversion settings, the MP4 files from Handbrake are typically one to two gigabytes per movie.

There are a lot of videos and how-tos for ripping/converting DVDs with Handbrake on the Web, mostly focused on Windows, but I couldn't find one I thought was helpful enough overall to embed here. So, I'll do a very simple how-to and tips rundown.

1. Install the two items linked above.
2. Insert your DVD
3. Launch Handbrake
4. It should prompt to select Source but if it doesn't click Open Source and select the DVD volume
5. After Handbrake scans the disc, click the Title drop-down menu and select the item with the longest time or the item with the time closest to the movie's listed runtime.
<> The default preset of Fast 1080p is fine -- DVDs are only natively SD quality anyway.
<> However, there are a couple of things that I suggest checking
Noted here... (Scroll down to "Multiple Audio Tracks")

Handbrake tips for DVD transcoders

Handbrake is a great app. I've learned a few things after ripping hundreds of my DVDs you might want to know.

www.zdnet.com

As shown in the screenshot (in the article), you can go to the Audio tab and add any/all of the audio tracks, some are different languages, some are different types (2.1, 5.1, etc), some are commentary, and so on. by clicking on the "None" and selecting them. The same goes for Subtitles. Handbrake only selects what it believes is the main track.

 

[F23]

This isn't just something you can do by simply cloning over the data because of DVD copyright protection.

It is possible to do with handbrake if you have the relevant dylib - namely libdvdcss which can create a regular video file with the copyright protection stripped

thank you

 

[F23]

Get an external drive for the videos. You will fill up disk space really fast. And like others have posted, you need to rip the dvd to your hard drive. MakeMKV and a whole host of other software will do the trick. This will allow you to watch the movies through VLC or similar DVD player app.

You don't need an SSD drive for video playback from an external drive. Mechanical drives are plenty fast enough and far cheaper.

thanks!

 

[F23]

Handbrake plus libdvdcss does well for most DVDs. With default conversion settings, the MP4 files from Handbrake are typically one to two gigabytes per movie.

There are a lot of videos and how-tos for ripping/converting DVDs with Handbrake on the Web, mostly focused on Windows, but I couldn't find one I thought was helpful enough overall to embed here. So, I'll do a very simple how-to and tips rundown.

1. Install the two items listed, linked above.
2. Insert your DVD
3. Launch Handbrake
4. It should prompt to select Source but if it doesn't, click Open Source and select the DVD volume
5. After Handbrake scans the disk, click the Title drop-down menu and select the item with the longest time or the item with the time closest to the movie's listed runtime.
<> The default preset of Fast 1080p is fine -- DVDs are only natively SD quality anyway.
<> However, there are a couple of things that I suggest checking
Noted here... (Scroll down to "Multiple Audio Tracks")

Handbrake tips for DVD transcoders

Handbrake is a great app. I've learned a few things after ripping hundreds of my DVDs you might want to know.

www.zdnet.com

As shown in the screenshot (in the article), you can go the Audio tab and add any/all of the audio tracks, some are different languages, some are different types (2.1, 5.1, etc), some are commentary, and so on. by clicking on the "None" and selecting them. The same goes for Subtitles. Handbrake only selects what it believes is the main track.

thank you for taking the time to explain it all. It worked! i appreciate the help