ripping DVDs

[slipper]

What would be the best way to rip a DVD movie to my harddrive in HD widescreen format? I go on business trips very frequently and it would be convenient to have the movie on my harddrive instead of packing on more luggage. File size isnt a major concern because i will only rip a couple movies each trip.

 

[jimsowden]

you're a 6502. Time to learn about the search function.

 

[homerjward]

you leave the dvd next to the computer overnight, and when you come back it'll be on the hard drive because the dvd fairy ripped it for you

seriously, get handbrake for ripping

and VLC for watching the rippedness.

i recommend DiVX AVI with a target size of ~800-1000MB depending on the video you're ripping. most of the vids i download o) are ~700mb and the quality's not all there, but if i rip a dvd at about the aforementioned size it looks good. of course settings and everything else are up to you and your preferences about such things. oh, about the HD, it's a no-go since dvds aren't HD. the only way to watch a dvd in HD (sorta) is to buy one of those...forget the brand...dvd players that upconverts to 1080i


edit: the above was assuming you're using one of the macs in your pro. if you're on a pc, i have no idea except still use VLC.

 

[slipper]

you're a 6502. Time to learn about the search function.

search "rip dvd" and tell me how many results will pertain to my question about widescreen format and high def.

 

[slipper]

homerjward, thanks for your informative feedback. i want good quality in full screen mode so would something higher than 1000mb target size make a significant difference?

*edit*
arg, im trying to rip 13 Ghost right now and i noticed you can uply rip at 704x400 pixels. is that the movies actual resolution or is Handbrake causing the limitation?

 

[wrc fan]

um... there's nothing special about ripping a widescreen movie, but HD would be impossible to get out of a DVD that is SD (which every DVD I've seen is). HD DVDs probably won't be coming out for another couple of years until the blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format gets settled. So if you actually have one that's HD, I'd be intereseted to know what it is.

 

[erickg]

I use MactheRipper for the ripping and in my experience 3ivx is quite a lot better than divx in encoding video (see www.3ivx.com) and will encode to MPEG-4 format (movie extension will be .mov rather than .avi as well), they also have a bitrate calculator on their website (http://www.3ivx.com/support/calculator/) to calculate the target size... it's quite accurate too.

If you're on Tiger of course you could play around with H.264, with that codec you should be able to get great quality video but the encoding will take heaps more time.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Did a Google search and came up with http://home.comcast.net/~appleguru/dvdrip.html that gives you quite a good step by step tutorial. For more comprehensive information (with screenshots) I found http://shep.thefridgeowl.com/tutorial/files/roadmap.html

 

[homerjward]

arg, im trying to rip 13 Ghost right now and i noticed you can uply rip at 704x400 pixels. is that the movies actual resolution or is Handbrake causing the limitation?

if it's a NTSC dvd the actual resolution is 720x480 pixels, and if it's PAL i believve it's 720x576 although im not entirely sure about the PAL one.