Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Wicked1

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
3,283
14
New Jersey
Ok, so I have a bunch of DVD's and some movies that are in avi format I want to rip and put on my Apple TV.

What is the best apps and setting for ripping DVD's to fit them on iTunes, and keep good quality

What is the best app for converting some AVI files from my old PC and getting them converted to work on my iTunes library.

I am more concerned with number one because I have nearly 400 DVD's and I would like to rip some to use on ATV but I want to get the best quality, size is not critical.
 
While that process may be good, I am jut looking for the best method of Ripping a DVD into my iTunes library, and keeping the best quality I can.

I have Mac The Ripper, Handbrake, and I would be willing to use any other tool in order to help me do this.

The process that is in this thread is very time consuming and I do not have that much time to do this.
 
While that process may be good, I am jut looking for the best method of Ripping a DVD into my iTunes library, and keeping the best quality I can.

I have Mac The Ripper, Handbrake, and I would be willing to use any other tool in order to help me do this.

The process that is in this thread is very time consuming and I do not have that much time to do this.

It's not time consuming at all. You should be ready to go in 15, maybe 20 minutes including download times and creating the 4 new folders the scripts need.

You will pop in a DVD, choose the title, rip, then pop in another DVD about 15 minutes later. Then, you will run a Service to encode automatically, all of those rips. Generally, people schedule them to encode overnight. The process can even automatically place these in iTunes for you....labelled, with artwork and all tagging done for you.

The quality is much better than what my DVD player outputs to my HDTV, if you can believe it. (HDMI connection, versus componant cables). I think it is basically, just the AppleTV preset in Handbrake...if you really want to not use the process and just get the best quality encodes.

I urge you to try it though, with this process, depending on your computer speed, you can easily encode 10-15 DVDs in one 24-hour period. Over a weekend, you can do 30-40. And remember when the encode is done, it's ready to pop into iTunes with artwork and all the labelling...or it can be automatically sent to your iTunes library without you having to think about it.

Don't knock it until you try it. It is a HUGE timesaver. I (and many others) feel that it IS the best method of ripping a DVD into iTunes, and keeping it at the best quality level.
 
It is true that the process looks complicated, but the reality is, it isn't. Just take the time to read through things and you'll see that it doesn't take long to learn and it will save you lots of time in the long run.
 
Here's how I did my DVD library......

Use RipIt to rip 1:1 copy of dvd onto hardrive. Set it up so that as soon as you pop in a disc it starts to rip, and as soon as it's done it will eject it. So anytime I walked by the Mini and saw a disc out I would throw another one in.

Then when I had 15 or so ripped I used Handbrake for the encoding process with the ATV2 preset. Handbrake lets you throw a batch of movies into it's queue and will run until all are complete.

(Optional)Then I used MetaX to tag all of the movie info and posters and after it was finished it put them all in iTunes.
 
It is true that the process looks complicated, but the reality is, it isn't. Just take the time to read through things and you'll see that it doesn't take long to learn and it will save you lots of time in the long run.

Tons of time...(even in your case b-rad g).


Once you have the proper files downloaded and the folders in place the procedure is:

1- Insert DVD
2- Choose if it is a movie or TV show DVD
3- Match title of the disc to online database (for tagging purposes)

(Disc rips and spits out when done...you can even get a Growl notification via your cell phone when it's done :) )

repeat steps 1-3 for as many discs as you want or as many as your computer can hold...

Optional: 4- Run a Service to encode rips (or have it scheduled to run automatically)

Optional: 5- Drag finished encodes to iTunes with all accompanying tags and artwork included (or have it automatically done for you via Hazel...I believe?)
 
Tons of time...(even in your case b-rad g).


Once you have the proper files downloaded and the folders in place the procedure is:

1- Insert DVD
2- Choose if it is a movie or TV show DVD
3- Match title of the disc to online database (for tagging purposes)

(Disc rips and spits out when done...you can even get a Growl notification via your cell phone when it's done :) )

repeat steps 1-3 for as many discs as you want or as many as your computer can hold...

Optional: 4- Run a Service to encode rips (or have it scheduled to run automatically)

Optional: 5- Drag finished encodes to iTunes with all accompanying tags and artwork included (or have it automatically done for you via Hazel...I believe?)

No doubt it takes TONS of time! I was just giving the OP another option if he didn't want to go the way of scripts and automation.
 
No doubt it takes TONS of time! I was just giving the OP another option if he didn't want to go the way of scripts and automation.

No is SAVES tons of time. I was responding to this final line of the previous post: "...and it will save you lots of time in the long run."

But your point is taken. :eek:
 
I've set up this workflow and it's great. It down to a few steps (from inserting the DVD I own) to finding the disc to executing the decoding and then the re-encoding. Does a great job including all the metadata. All the files I've encoded work fine in iTunes, AirPlay and ATV2.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.