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Is there an Apple "approved" method of adding DVDs to my iPad?

T

ThoseBackPages

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 9, 2010
118
0
New York
Looking for a way to watch some of my DVDs on my iPad.

The DVDs i want to watch are not available in the iTunes store,
so that's not an option.

Any feenback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric
 
There's no "approved" way, because ripping DVDs is a legal grey area. Meaning, you can get away with it fine, but you'll notice there's hardly any commercial software from large vendors for ripping DVDs, and no major application like iTunes supports the feature, again for this legality reason. As noted above, Handbrake is one of the most popular tools people use, and it should serve you well.
 
adammull said:
Handbrake.
Click to expand...

Handbrake is not 'approved' by apple.

Some DVD's have a digital copy which can be loaded into iTunes and synced to an iPad. However they are standard def files and might look a little pixelly.

I believe the first 'Family Guy' movie had just such a copy. Check the back of the DVD cover to see if it's supported by itunes or windows media player, or both.
 
MikeDTyke said:
Handbrake is not 'approved' by apple.
Click to expand...
Er, I don't think Apple cares one way or the other about Handbrake... The issue is the US government, or more accurately the movie studios who are paying for their election campaigns.

There's no legal way in the US to get a DVD on to your iPod, short of buying a new digital copy, unless it came with a digital copy as mentioned previously. I suppose that plugging a DVD player into a capture card and recording it would probably be considered legal, under fair use laws.

There's nothing illegal about the actual copying of the DVD for your own use/backup. The legality ends with removing the copy protection from the disc to do so, though. Under the DMCA removing copy protection of any sort, for any reason, is illegal. Laws in other countries vary.

Anywho, just use Handbrake on movies you own and feel secure in the knowledge that you are abiding by copyright and fair use laws, but violating a really terrible law that has been used to stifle innovation and compitition as well as your fair use rights!
 
Handbrake...

Is there any other programs besides Handbrake..??

Maybe it's me (ok..it is me :rolleyes:) but Handbrake seems to throw me for a loop. I might be trying too hard...anywho...I heard about one called "Mac the Ripper" ??? Something like that.

I also have a fairly powerful PC workstation I use at work...What about on the darkside? Nero products? I have seen some non-brand name video programs at idiot-land..er..Best Buy...anyone know anything?

I am new to the ripping scene so I have no knowledge at all. I have purchased movies off iTunes and have a couple of DVD's that came with digital copies (which were redemption codes for iTunes)...but that's it.

Thanks!
 
ThoseBackPages said:
Looking for a way to watch some of my DVDs on my iPad.

The DVDs i want to watch are not available in the iTunes store,
so that's not an option.

Any feenback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric
Click to expand...
Yes it's called iTunes where you pay a premium for movies that are 3 years old and can be bought for $3 on amazon.com or half.com. But regardless, handbreak is the solution that's not official but works great! That's how Ive loaded my movies on my Mac and iPad.
 
undrpsi said:
Is there any other programs besides Handbrake..??

Maybe it's me (ok..it is me :rolleyes:) but Handbrake seems to throw me for a loop. I might be trying too hard...anywho...I heard about one called "Mac the Ripper" ??? Something like that.

I also have a fairly powerful PC workstation I use at work...What about on the darkside? Nero products? I have seen some non-brand name video programs at idiot-land..er..Best Buy...anyone know anything?

I am new to the ripping scene so I have no knowledge at all. I have purchased movies off iTunes and have a couple of DVD's that came with digital copies (which were redemption codes for iTunes)...but that's it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I use mactheripper as well however, from my limited knowledge and I am not expert in the matter so someone correct me if I am wrong, but Ive used mactheripper for copying a full DVD. It's not for converting iPad friendly movies. I've used it for example for copying a DVD that I want to be a perfect copy.
 
drumma022 said:
What settings do you recommend for the iPad?
Click to expand...

Me? Well I've used the universal setting and that has worked fine. Ive used the apple tv setting for storing them but to convert them to iPad friendly format, I use the univeral setting. I hope the handbrake developer makes an iPad setting soon! I'm trying to strike a balance between quality and file size and the universal setting at least to me has been the closest compromise.
 
i've ripped dvds before using handbrake on my mac, but the most recent dvd I ripped came out scrambled!

I rented "Up In the Air" and ripped it using handbrake - the chapters were all mixed up.

Any ideas?
 
Apple's official answer might be to buy the same movie via iTunes ...

But yeah. Handbrake.

Some other software can do it - for example, Toast rips non-protected DVDs, not sure about protected ones.
 
Use handbreak to convert your video, no you won't get in trouble, and the quality (which you can configure) is better than what Apple offers in their store.
 
Thank You for all the input people, i will try out some of the suggestions.

As i mentioned, iTunes does not have movies i want to watch available to purchase.
 
I will also add that Handbrake is definitely the way to go, both for PC & Mac. I use the Universal settings and leave the rest alone.

Of interest to some, I did a test where I ripped a Standard DVD of UP and then converted to iTunes via Handbrake. I then ripped my Blu-Ray of UP, muxed the streams with ripbot264 and converted that to iTunes via Handbrake.

The standard def DVD was ripped to it's original 720x480 resolution. The BluRay was reduced to match the iPad width 1024x576.

I put them both on the iPad and I am hard-pressed to tell the difference! Now maybe if I played with the settings for the BluRay I could get better quality (and a larger file) but really, they both look terrific! That is good news as the DVD->iPad route takes maybe and hour and a half whereas the BluRay->DVD path takes about a day and a half!

Now your mileage may vary but from where I am sitting, standard def DVD looks great on the iPad. :D
 
undrpsi said:
Is there any other programs besides Handbrake..??

Maybe it's me (ok..it is me :rolleyes:) but Handbrake seems to throw me for a loop. I might be trying too hard...anywho...I heard about one called "Mac the Ripper" ??? Something like that.

I also have a fairly powerful PC workstation I use at work...What about on the darkside? Nero products? I have seen some non-brand name video programs at idiot-land..er..Best Buy...anyone know anything?

I am new to the ripping scene so I have no knowledge at all. I have purchased movies off iTunes and have a couple of DVD's that came with digital copies (which were redemption codes for iTunes)...but that's it.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

For PC, take a look at Slysoft's AnyDvd HD & Ripbot.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Er, I don't think Apple cares one way or the other about Handbrake... The issue is the US government, or more accurately the movie studios who are paying for their election campaigns.

There's no legal way in the US to get a DVD on to your iPod, short of buying a new digital copy, unless it came with a digital copy as mentioned previously. I suppose that plugging a DVD player into a capture card and recording it would probably be considered legal, under fair use laws.

There's nothing illegal about the actual copying of the DVD for your own use/backup. The legality ends with removing the copy protection from the disc to do so, though. Under the DMCA removing copy protection of any sort, for any reason, is illegal. Laws in other countries vary.

Anywho, just use Handbrake on movies you own and feel secure in the knowledge that you are abiding by copyright and fair use laws, but violating a really terrible law that has been used to stifle innovation and compitition as well as your fair use rights!
Click to expand...

You can't really blame the studios. If everyone were honest, the law wouldn't exist. Copy protection would probably not even exist. Blame it on the pirates.
 
brn2ski00 said:
i've ripped dvds before using handbrake on my mac, but the most recent dvd I ripped came out scrambled!

I rented "Up In the Air" and ripped it using handbrake - the chapters were all mixed up.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Yes. Don't steal content. Just because you rented a DVD doesn't give you the right to copy it onto your hard drive and is illegal no matter how you look at it. Only DVDs you actually own are in the grey area.
 
aura DVD ripper pro here. it uses less space than handbrake and much better quality.
and it has settings for iPad.

if you use handbrake here is the best settings
frame size 1280x720
v bitrate 1800
v framerate 30
v codec x264
 
What about movies I have on my MBP that I got with using "RipIt?"

It was the only way at the time I knew of how to get dvd content to my Mac and used RipIt, though the file is a ".dvdmedia" file which doesnt seem i can do much about; much less be able to upload to youtube to email to family.
 
Not an ipad friendly option and therefore slightly off topic - but just some friendly advice -

Getting hold of make mkv whilst it's still free is a great idea ;)

Feel free to flame! x
 
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