For home use only....

I keep thinking about getting an Eye TV or similar so that I can hook up my asssortment of Mac's to my big TV, for showing pictures etc, so with that in mind I have started investigating how to get my 300+ DVD's converted onto the Mac.

Two pieces of software seem to be working well at the moment, MacTheRipper and HandBrake. Both work well on Tiger.

I have two cupboards full of DVD's and some never get watched because you have to take the chlid locks off the cupboards route all the way to the back etc...it would be a lot nicer to just click point ... oh lets watch that !

I would like the cupboard space back !

I am not going into the legalities of 'copying' DVD's...my theory is, that these are all legally owned and bought DVD's and that I am making a backup, which I think you can do. The DVD's will then get stored in a big box in the attic !

I am going to RIP first DVD tonight to see what the praticalities are !

If anyone is already doing, (has done) this let us know.

Regards

Ric

I watch alot of dvds on my mac, mostly my collection of comedies such as 'Only Fools and Horses' and 'The Office'. After a long period of getting them out of the box, switching dvds I decided to install them into my Mac's HD to save time and ensure my dvds won't get scratched.

I've been using 'mactheripper' for Ripping my dvds onto my mac for some time now and personally think it's the best out there for the mac.

I also used a program called Roxio Popcorn to make a copy for my brother, it saves me lending my dvd to him and as he ruins them. It's a very good program, very similar to toast titanium but is specially created for dvd burning.

on the hole they work very well together if yo want to make a back-up of your dvd, say for instance you've got a limited edition dvd and want to keep it in pristine condition or you dorky bother/sister wants to borrow your dvd, simple.

Use the above mentioned programs to make a backup copy and your flying

Thanks D:

What settings do you use in MTR, I have just done one DVD earlier tonight, but there is a lot to choose from...what works best for you.

I have Toast Titanium, but rarely use it nowadays...is Popcorn good !

I take it the files have to go through MTR first and you can't do a straight copy with Popcorn ??

regards

Ric

Should have said used MTR to Rip this DVD then I used Hand Brake to squash the DVD to 700Mb..plays nice on the laptop haven't tried reburning yet though !

Ric

I use the 'movie only' extraction for mac the ripper as I don't need or really care for all the extras.

I had Toast Titanium for burning my ripped dvd but now use popcorn as it's much better for making dvds as you can just stick the video_TS folder into it and your good.

Popcorn also compresses the file to fit onto the dvd so there is no need for Hand Brake.
So it's a very useful little app

So on D's say so off Ric goes for some instant gratification...

...why we love the Internet....

Hope it's good !

regards

Ric

let us know what you think of it.

MacTheRipper is currently ripping Disk 1 of the office, first series !

The Hackers TOS that I ripped earlier, Popcorn didn't like !!

regards

Ric

Stage 1 complete...

7.79GB extracted, in 34 minutes whilst doing other stuff !

Now onto Popcorn...

D: the MTR file that is on the hard disk...do you not compress that in any way ?

The file I did earlier "Hackers" the movie was 6Gb ish and I used MTR to rip it then used Handbrake to squash it down to 700mb...plays more or less perfectly on my PB.

Do you leave your Ripped DVD's as is (size wise) that are stored on your hard drive ?

regards

Ric