What size DVD rip for iPad?

[barefeats]

I use Wondershare DVD Ripper which has an iPad preset. It creates an H.264, 1280x720, AAC audio, 2 channels, 48000Hz, 4157 kbps movie.

I was using HandBrake but lately it has been acting up -- insisting that I need VLC -- even though it is installed.

There is also an article on MacWorld.com called "DVD-ripper roundup" where they rate four of them.

 

[Zazoh]

first, chill.

second, I stand corrected. I just tested the Apple TV pre-set on Handbrake and it does work with my iPhone 3GS.

You were half right before and now. ;-)

Wife has 3G S works fine, I have 3G doesn't work with the Apple TV pre-set.

 

[sracer]

Rips are usually in the 700-750MB range. I use handbrake.

This is a rare and reasonable answer. For some reason DVD ripping and encoding topics are personally charged. I don't know why, maybe it is because of the time invested to get just the right mix.

Videos in that size (assuming typical settings in Handbrake) look fine on the iPad.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The DVD to iPad Converter is the easiest to use DVD to iPad converter software available.It's a powerful DVD to iPad converter with very fast conversion speed.

http://www.dvdipadconverter.org

Will be interesting to see if we see any more posts from this poster.

I use Wondershare DVD Ripper which has an iPad preset. It creates an H.264, 1280x720, AAC audio, 2 channels, 48000Hz, 4157 kbps movie.

I was using HandBrake but lately it has been acting up -- insisting that I need VLC -- even though it is installed.

There is also an article on MacWorld.com called "DVD-ripper roundup" where they rate four of them.

Well so far I have not had any issues so far with Handbrake with VLC and Fairmount.

Rips are usually in the 700-750MB range. I use handbrake.

The only time files were larger was when I used the blurays that came with the digital discs: the dark knight, star trek, etc.. Those were close to 2GB

I am using Handbrake using the Universal setting and am getting files that range from 1GB to 3.5GB's. And no Blueray here too. Not an issue for me though with a 64GB iPad here.

 

[Soura2112]

My simple way

I have been doing this a simple way, I am sure there are way better ways to get a better picture and other little things. I just got to the point where it looks good to me, and does not take up too much room, for Digital Copy's that come with my Blu-Rays take up more room.
The nice thing about Handbreak is you do not need to use Mactheripper or another DVD ripper. Though I have done it both ways at first.


This is how I use handbreak. I leave all the settings alone, except quality, which I make 90%. When it is done, I bring the video into itunes and simply create the "Apple TV or Ipad" conversion. I have messed with the video quality and 90% is pretty good, plus it saves a tiny bit more space then 100%.

Of course your not going to fit everything on there, so I just swap out videos. For example if it was "24" (not that I am doing that) I would bring in as many as I could then when finished with so many just take them off the iPad, and bring more in. Unless you do not own another computer I would think this is the best way to do it, or wait till Apple makes a 1TB iPad. Though. Even that would not hold all my movies.

 

[4DThinker]

What size DVD? I thought they were all the same size, about 4.6875" diameter.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

What size DVD? I thought they were all the same size, about 4.6875" diameter.

LOL

Was set to respond till I caught on to the

Such the tease there

 

[VTMac]

I have been doing this a simple way, I am sure there are way better ways to get a better picture and other little things. I just got to the point where it looks good to me, and does not take up too much room, for Digital Copy's that come with my Blu-Rays take up more room.
The nice thing about Handbreak is you do not need to use Mactheripper or another DVD ripper. Though I have done it both ways at first.


This is how I use handbreak. I leave all the settings alone, except quality, which I make 90%. When it is done, I bring the video into itunes and simply create the "Apple TV or Ipad" conversion. I have messed with the video quality and 90% is pretty good, plus it saves a tiny bit more space then 100%.

Of course your not going to fit everything on there, so I just swap out videos. For example if it was "24" (not that I am doing that) I would bring in as many as I could then when finished with so many just take them off the iPad, and bring more in. Unless you do not own another computer I would think this is the best way to do it, or wait till Apple makes a 1TB iPad. Though. Even that would not hold all my movies.

I don't mean to be rude, but your setting of 90% is a complete and utter waste. The "quality" setting isn't actually a quality setting at all. If you read the handbrake forums, the developers will tell you anything beyond 63-65% is a waste because you are actually telling the transcoder to create more detail than exists. Nobody should follow this advice, as it's completely and utterly incorrect. All it will do is artificially bloat both the file size and bit rate for %0.0 increase in quality.

The best setting for 9 out of 10 users with Handbrake .9.4 is either Universal or AppleTV with the "quality" (incredibly poorly named) setting bumped up to 62.5%.

Personally I choose the AppleTV because I want to be able to use the same files on my iPhone, iPad and 55 inch LCD. It's on the 55 inch that I can see some very mild difference between ATV setting and Universal setting.

 

[iWannaBeAdored]

Coming from an Archos 705/A5IT, my entire video collection is ripped in AVI with AC3 audio. Does this mean I am screwed? Re=encoding all 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1 is something I am not looking forward to...

I love SG-1!

I use the Apple TV setting for converting avi files. They usually come out the same size.

 

[funkyc]

The best setting for 9 out of 10 users with Handbrake .9.4 is either Universal or AppleTV with the "quality" (incredibly poorly named) setting bumped up to 62.5%.

Personally I choose the AppleTV because I want to be able to use the same files on my iPhone, iPad and 55 inch LCD. It's on the 55 inch that I can see some very mild difference between ATV setting and Universal setting.

thanks for the tip VTMac - just curious, what is the average size of the files that result from conversion using this method? and what are the results like on ur 55" LCD? btw is ur LCD full HD?

i haven't done any DVD conversion before but would like to start. However I want results that are still watchable on any of my 'media viewing products' ie ipad, 13" mbp or 27" iMac, 32" LCD or 50" plasma - whichever strikes my fancy at the time...if u know what i mean, as i plan to be able to stream everything all over the house

 

[ScottFitz]

For what it's worth, I've got a ton of dvd's ripped by handbrake in iPhone setting. They look great on my iPad.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

For what it's worth, I've got a ton of dvd's ripped by handbrake in iPhone setting. They look great on my iPad.

Maybe I missed a setting there.. but DVD's I ripped for the iPhone look like crap on the iPad... that is why choose the Universal setting in Handbrake...

 

[ZBoater]

I love SG-1!

I use the Apple TV setting for converting avi files. They usually come out the same size.

I just got done reencoding 24 Season 1. I bought an iTunes season pass for Season 8.

Apple sure makes it hard (or at least doesn't help) to get non-iTunes videos into your library. Handbrake did a fine job (using the Apple TV settings) in reencoding my 24 avi files. Now, getting them sorted, tagged, with the right artwork, descriptions, and placed in the right folder, THAT was. PITA!!!!!

First, importing the files brings them over as movies, not tv shows. Changing that is easy enough.

Then, it put them each in their individual folders, not like season 8 where all the episodes were under one folder. Ok I can deal with that.

Then iTunes lets me change some meta data, but not others (like rating, tv-14). For that i had to use Metax. I then had to painstakingly edit each file with the episode number, description, sort name, etc.

Finally, the artwork.

It took me.a while, and that was season 1. I have six other seasons, plus Stargate, The Unit, BSG, and Buck Rogers to name a few.

I would pay $50, maybe even $100, for an app that would do the whole thing.

 

[Soura2112]

Cool

I don't mean to be rude, but your setting of 90% is a complete and utter waste. The "quality" setting isn't actually a quality setting at all. If you read the handbrake forums, the developers will tell you anything beyond 63-65% is a waste because you are actually telling the transcoder to create more detail than exists. Nobody should follow this advice, as it's completely and utterly incorrect. All it will do is artificially bloat both the file size and bit rate for %0.0 increase in quality.

The best setting for 9 out of 10 users with Handbrake .9.4 is either Universal or AppleTV with the "quality" (incredibly poorly named) setting bumped up to 62.5%.

Personally I choose the AppleTV because I want to be able to use the same files on my iPhone, iPad and 55 inch LCD. It's on the 55 inch that I can see some very mild difference between ATV setting and Universal setting.

Not being much of a handbreak user pre iPad I tried general settings and 50% did not look very good. I will try the 63% settings to see any difference. Your not being rude simply stating the facts and thanks for the correction. I hope it works out. All my handbreaks are for Rush concerts so I want some great detail. Thanks for the heads up. Even at 90% I was under a gig, all my other videos are final cut videos I make or digital copies.
Like many im trying to figure out what works best and even though I enjoy video work I would like simple DVD to iPad transfers.....all of which I own. Though I am going crazy searching for my Rush in Rio DVD!!

 

[VTMac]

thanks for the tip VTMac - just curious, what is the average size of the files that result from conversion using this method? and what are the results like on ur 55" LCD? btw is ur LCD full HD?

i haven't done any DVD conversion before but would like to start. However I want results that are still watchable on any of my 'media viewing products' ie ipad, 13" mbp or 27" iMac, 32" LCD or 50" plasma - whichever strikes my fancy at the time...if u know what i mean, as i plan to be able to stream everything all over the house

The files look great. Nearly indistinguishable from DVD on the 55. And yes it is 1080p.

As for file size they range from 800M->1.5GB on average. Most typical movies are 1.25 GB.

Note that this is larger than you'd get with the Universal setting, as the universal setting encodes to a lower resolution to support older iPods and iPhones than the ATV setting. In practice I think the Universal setting is pretty good up to 40 inch screens. Hence my selection of ATV.

 

[bwfc0907]

I don't mean to be rude, but your setting of 90% is a complete and utter waste. The "quality" setting isn't actually a quality setting at all. If you read the handbrake forums, the developers will tell you anything beyond 63-65% is a waste because you are actually telling the transcoder to create more detail than exists. Nobody should follow this advice, as it's completely and utterly incorrect. All it will do is artificially bloat both the file size and bit rate for %0.0 increase in quality.

The best setting for 9 out of 10 users with Handbrake .9.4 is either Universal or AppleTV with the "quality" (incredibly poorly named) setting bumped up to 62.5%.

Personally I choose the AppleTV because I want to be able to use the same files on my iPhone, iPad and 55 inch LCD. It's on the 55 inch that I can see some very mild difference between ATV setting and Universal setting.

Do you use mpeg4 or h264?

 

[DCR-Jerry]

The Universal and Apple TV Presets in Handbrake 0.94 have been working great. I have some I ripped on Handbrake 0.92 in Apple TV that don't work. I was able to encode the ATV version created in 0.92 into a Universal copy on 0.94 and it plays great and saves about a 1GB in file size.

 

[sracer]

Maybe I missed a setting there.. but DVD's I ripped for the iPhone look like crap on the iPad... that is why choose the Universal setting in Handbrake...

Sounds like you aren't using the correct settings. Or your definition of "crap" is far different than mine.

 

[sracer]

thanks for the tip VTMac - just curious, what is the average size of the files that result from conversion using this method? and what are the results like on ur 55" LCD? btw is ur LCD full HD?

i haven't done any DVD conversion before but would like to start. However I want results that are still watchable on any of my 'media viewing products' ie ipad, 13" mbp or 27" iMac, 32" LCD or 50" plasma - whichever strikes my fancy at the time...if u know what i mean, as i plan to be able to stream everything all over the house

I know what you mean... sounds great in the theoretical, not so great in the practical. Over-encoded videos that look great on a 50" plasma will choke on an iPad (if they play at all). Larger files means longer sync times and the playback of those files on the iPad will cause battery life to suffer as the system grabs more data than necessary from storage, process it, and pump it to the screen.

I have 1000's of video files encoded from my personal DVD collection... many of them have 2 versions... one for mobile, another for home.

 

[tbayrgs]

I just got done reencoding 24 Season 1. I bought an iTunes season pass for Season 8.

Apple sure makes it hard (or at least doesn't help) to get non-iTunes videos into your library. Handbrake did a fine job (using the Apple TV settings) in reencoding my 24 avi files. Now, getting them sorted, tagged, with the right artwork, descriptions, and placed in the right folder, THAT was. PITA!!!!!

First, importing the files brings them over as movies, not tv shows. Changing that is easy enough.

Then, it put them each in their individual folders, not like season 8 where all the episodes were under one folder. Ok I can deal with that.

Then iTunes lets me change some meta data, but not others (like rating, tv-14). For that i had to use Metax. I then had to painstakingly edit each file with the episode number, description, sort name, etc.

Finally, the artwork.

It took me.a while, and that was season 1. I have six other seasons, plus Stargate, The Unit, BSG, and Buck Rogers to name a few.

I would pay $50, maybe even $100, for an app that would do the whole thing.

My advice..after encoding with Handbrake, don't import into iTunes...yet. Tag each episode using MetaX---will save you a ton of time, especially with it's search function. Most popular shows/episodes already are in the Tagchimp database so do a search (just use episode name), pick an existing entry that you like, make whatever changes you see fit manually and write. MetaX even has a setting in preferences to automatically send your newly tagged file to iTunes. And since you'll have already populated the pertinent season info, it will automatically be sorted by seasons in iTunes. I've done multiple seasons for multiple shows and while it certainly takes longer than tagging movies, you can set up a process that will help you get through it in no time.

For TV shows, I typically open the first episode in MetaX, find an entry I like, and make sure the fields that will be consistent across episodes are populated (cover art, show, season, artist, etc) and then create a preset. Then when I open a new episode, I just apply the preset and fill in the rest, usually with an existed entry from Tagchimp. I would usually queue up maybe a dozen episodes and let MetaX go to work. Did all seasons of Lost, BSG, Alias this way--a full season typically took me about 30-45 minutes, depending how much info already existed in Tagchimp.

 

[ZBoater]

^^^
Sweet! Great advice, I'll give it a try. Thanks!

P.S. I love this site.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

I don't mean to be rude, but your setting of 90% is a complete and utter waste. The "quality" setting isn't actually a quality setting at all. If you read the handbrake forums, the developers will tell you anything beyond 63-65% is a waste because you are actually telling the transcoder to create more detail than exists. Nobody should follow this advice, as it's completely and utterly incorrect. All it will do is artificially bloat both the file size and bit rate for %0.0 increase in quality.

The best setting for 9 out of 10 users with Handbrake .9.4 is either Universal or AppleTV with the "quality" (incredibly poorly named) setting bumped up to 62.5%.

Personally I choose the AppleTV because I want to be able to use the same files on my iPhone, iPad and 55 inch LCD. It's on the 55 inch that I can see some very mild difference between ATV setting and Universal setting.

Thanks, will try that on my next RIP's... but with the preset of Apple TV will bumping it to 62.5% be that much better over the default of 60.78% if I were to break down and buy an Apple TV?

Do you use mpeg4 or h264?

For me I am using h264 here. And the RIP's at the Universal preset look great on my iPad so far....

Sounds like you aren't using the correct settings. Or your definition of "crap" is far different than mine.

Should have said maybe that using the iPhone preset and trying to view the same videos on the iPad look like crap. As they should being in lower resolution of course.

I know what you mean... sounds great in the theoretical, not so great in the practical. Over-encoded videos that look great on a 50" plasma will choke on an iPad (if they play at all). Larger files means longer sync times and the playback of those files on the iPad will cause battery life to suffer as the system grabs more data than necessary from storage, process it, and pump it to the screen.

I have 1000's of video files encoded from my personal DVD collection... many of them have 2 versions... one for mobile, another for home.

Live in modest condo, so the largest screen that works for me is a 42". LOL So the tips so far is helping me as I move forward.

For me as to doing two versions; one for the iPad and one for lets say the iPhone is a non-starter for me now. If I want movies on the go I will take the iPad along. But that is just me. Can never go back to watching a movie on my iPhone now. Though did that many times over the last three years till the iPad and loved it.

My advice..after encoding with Handbrake, don't import into iTunes...yet. Tag each episode using MetaX---will save you a ton of time, especially with it's search function. Most popular shows/episodes already are in the Tagchimp database so do a search (just use episode name), pick an existing entry that you like, make whatever changes you see fit manually and write. MetaX even has a setting in preferences to automatically send your newly tagged file to iTunes. And since you'll have already populated the pertinent season info, it will automatically be sorted by seasons in iTunes. I've done multiple seasons for multiple shows and while it certainly takes longer than tagging movies, you can set up a process that will help you get through it in no time.

For TV shows, I typically open the first episode in MetaX, find an entry I like, and make sure the fields that will be consistent across episodes are populated (cover art, show, season, artist, etc) and then create a preset. Then when I open a new episode, I just apply the preset and fill in the rest, usually with an existed entry from Tagchimp. I would usually queue up maybe a dozen episodes and let MetaX go to work. Did all seasons of Lost, BSG, Alias this way--a full season typically took me about 30-45 minutes, depending how much info already existed in Tagchimp.

^^^
Sweet! Great advice, I'll give it a try. Thanks!

P.S. I love this site.

MetaX is so great. I have only done movies so far. Thank you for the advice when I get to my TV shows.

And to ZBoater.. be sure to check out Fairmount for VLC - it helps RIP many protected DVD's - even Avatar! (Before being flamed - I only RIP DVD's I own - so this in under fair use provisions so far.

The only DVD I own that I have yet been able to RIP is Wall-E. When I tried to do it - it came up as needing almost 60GB of space. More than I had available at the time. I am now pruning my RIP computer to free up some space and see how things work out there...

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

MetaX is so great. I have only done movies so far. Thank you for the advice when I get to my TV shows.

Don't use MetaX, it's broken, try Subler, it's quicker and searches tagchimp properly, and you can add any srt's you might need too.

 

[ZBoater]

My advice..after encoding with Handbrake, don't import into iTunes...yet. Tag each episode using MetaX---will save you a ton of time, especially with it's search function. Most popular shows/episodes already are in the Tagchimp database so do a search (just use episode name), pick an existing entry that you like, make whatever changes you see fit manually and write. MetaX even has a setting in preferences to automatically send your newly tagged file to iTunes. And since you'll have already populated the pertinent season info, it will automatically be sorted by seasons in iTunes. I've done multiple seasons for multiple shows and while it certainly takes longer than tagging movies, you can set up a process that will help you get through it in no time.

For TV shows, I typically open the first episode in MetaX, find an entry I like, and make sure the fields that will be consistent across episodes are populated (cover art, show, season, artist, etc) and then create a preset. Then when I open a new episode, I just apply the preset and fill in the rest, usually with an existed entry from Tagchimp. I would usually queue up maybe a dozen episodes and let MetaX go to work. Did all seasons of Lost, BSG, Alias this way--a full season typically took me about 30-45 minutes, depending how much info already existed in Tagchimp.

I wanted to report back and say I tried this on Season 2 of 24 and it WORKED LIKE A CHAMP!!!! Thanks a lot! It made a huge difference. I was able to edit the files much more efficiently. The one thing I haven't figured out is how to get them to import neatly into a folder where the other seasons are. No biggie. I turn off the function to copy files when importing into library, manually put them where I want them, add them to the library, and then turn the function back on.

For those of you who are fans of 24, going back to see the first season should be a TREAT!!!

 

[ag55]

handbrake is good