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Rip/Encode DVD to External Hard Drive Help
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coolcrow
Newbie
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11. October 2008 @ 16:28 |
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Hello all, sorry if I posted this in the wrong sub-forum. I'm new to ripping DVDs and such, and I could use some advice. Basically, I have a large DVD collection (around 300 movies and episode DVDs)that I would like to rip/encode/backup to my external hard dive. I would then like to be able to watch these movies through a cable connected from my laptop to my HDTV. Right now my set up is a 500 gigabyte external hard drive with my computer connected to my 26" HDTV with a VGA cable. In the next few weeks, I will be upgrading to a 1.5 terabyte external hard drive. In the next year I will be upgrading to a laptop with an HDMI port so I can use an HDMI connection to my HDTV. I would like all of the DVD rips to be around 2 gigabytes or so if possible. What program/encoder should I be using to rip the DVDs to my hard drive? I'm looking for a god mix of quality of video and size (I would be willing to rip them up to 3 gigabytes or so if that would make a significant quality difference, I just don't want to use the entire hard drive for movies). I'm willing to spend money on a good program if a free one isn't available. Time and speed isn't really on issue either. I plan on ripping the movies at night hopefully over the course of the next year or so. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks you so much.
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coolcrow
Newbie
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11. October 2008 @ 16:49 |
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I forgot to mention that I only want to rip the movie file off of the DVDs. I don't want to rip the extra features and titles, although I wouldn't mind having English subtitles. Thanks again.
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Senior Member
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11. October 2008 @ 18:36 |
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You can use dvdfab HD Decrypter to rip the movies. It has a main movie funciton, that only rips the main movie, along with all of the subtitles.
From there, you can use dvd shrink to remove the languages and subtitles that you don't want to keep. You can convert the files with dvd shrink to an iso file, which is easier to manage from your hard drives. Both of these programs are free. They are found (among other programs) in the second link of my signature.
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coolcrow
Newbie
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11. October 2008 @ 20:16 |
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Originally posted by rtm27:
You can use dvdfab HD Decrypter to rip the movies. It has a main movie funciton, that only rips the main movie, along with all of the subtitles.
From there, you can use dvd shrink to remove the languages and subtitles that you don't want to keep. You can convert the files with dvd shrink to an iso file, which is easier to manage from your hard drives. Both of these programs are free. They are found (among other programs) in the second link of my signature.
Thanks for the help. I have a few questions though. Will DVDFab or DVD Shrink also compress the files a bit? I don't want to have 300 or so full size DVD files (minus the special features) filling up my hard drive. Also, can I play an ISO file directly from my computer to stream to the TV? Is there any program that can do all everything in one step? Would it benefit me any to rip the DVDs with DVDFAb and then convert those files to something like AVI or some format like that?
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Senior Member
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11. October 2008 @ 23:37 |
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Dvd shrink will compress the files, you can customize the size you want the files to be outputed. I have mine set at 4300MB (4.19GB), but I also include english subtitles, commentaries, and all the special features.
You can convert the files to avi format if you want to, but to me, you lose some of the quality.
If your connections to your tv is correct and you are able to view your files from your tv, then you should have no problem playing your movies from your computer. As I don't have my tv set up to my computer, I can't help you on that.
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Peshtigo
Senior Member
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12. October 2008 @ 00:44 |
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"I would like all of the DVD rips to be around 2 gigabytes or so if possible."
A feature length movie ( say, 90 min. or more) ripped as "movie only" will cost you 6-8 gigs harddrive space. Compressed to 4.3 gigs > good quality. Compressed to 3.5 gigs > maybe watchable. Two gigs > crap. Are you kidding me? Your movies aren't in HD format anyway and then you want to compress them more? What kind of picture do you expect to get on your new HDTV playing those DVD files? Spring for two of those 1.5 tb external drives and you've got a good start. I'll let you do the math.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. October 2008 @ 00:52
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miltex
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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12. October 2008 @ 01:53 |
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Both rtm and Pestigo are correct. What you are asking for is possible technically. The results are going to be bad.
What you are essentially saying is " I have only a 5 x 10 foot guarge and I need to fit a 7 x 20 foot boat in there"
Just not possible (unless you believe cutting up the boat is a viable solution)
When the chips are down, you can count on miltex !
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coolcrow
Newbie
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12. October 2008 @ 02:34 |
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Ok, ok, sorry, I think I worded things wrong and was a bit confused. Just stay with me if possible. I guess what I was initially thinking of doing was ripping the DVDs to my hard drive, and then compressing/converting them to a divx/avi format or something like that. I've seen avi files around 2 gigabytes that looked good on my computer (that's sort of how I came up with the 2 gigabyte figure). But now that I think of it, that probably wouldn't look as good when blown up on my HDTV. So is the idea of taking a DVD rip and converting/compressing it to avi or some other format total crap? If not, I'll just bite the bullet and save up for another hard drive. Thanks for guiding me through this guys, and sorry I've been so dumb so far.
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miltex
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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12. October 2008 @ 03:16 |
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Quote:
So is the idea of taking a DVD rip and converting/compressing it to avi or some other format total crap?
Crap
Quote:
If not, I'll just bite the bullet and save up for another hard drive
Smart move
When the chips are down, you can count on miltex !
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coolcrow
Newbie
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12. October 2008 @ 03:23 |
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Originally posted by miltex:
Quote:
So is the idea of taking a DVD rip and converting/compressing it to avi or some other format total crap?
Crap
Quote:
If not, I'll just bite the bullet and save up for another hard drive
Smart move
Fair enough. Thanks for setting me straight. Would everyone agree that DVDFab is the best program to do the ripping?
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Senior Member
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13. October 2008 @ 23:22 |
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Quote:
Fair enough. Thanks for setting me straight. Would everyone agree that DVDFab is the best program to do the ripping?
In my opinion the answer is yes. You might get some arguments for AnyDVD but that will cost you, whereas DVDFab HD Decrypter is free and updated often.
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AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
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14. October 2008 @ 01:35 |
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Originally posted by ferguj1:
In my opinion the answer is yes. You might get some arguments for AnyDVD but that will cost you, whereas DVDFab HD Decrypter is free and updated often.
free is hard to beat !
"The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
Ferengi 82nd rule of aqusition
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Peshtigo
Senior Member
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14. October 2008 @ 14:43 |
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Originally posted by iluvendo:
Originally posted by ferguj1:
In my opinion the answer is yes. You might get some arguments for AnyDVD but that will cost you, whereas DVDFab HD Decrypter is free and updated often.
free is hard to beat !
Yes. I haven't found anybody willing to pay me to use their software.
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