Ripping a home dvd to pc-best and fastest way?

justaquestion

Hi,


I have seven dvd's of old family footage, and would like to back them up further to my computer.


Just wondering what is the best and quickest way so that they will become playable on the pc, rather than to insert the dvd?


I have heard of the handbrake program and also MPEG_streamclip.


Also what output format should I use? The original footage was on a sony analog standard not HD camcorder. The dvd seem to play fine on computer, I have copies of each but would like to rip them to the pc as well.


Thanks for any advice

Le_Kirk

When you put the DVD into the PC, does it autoplay? What programme (Windows Media Player for example) does it use? If you insert the DVD and hold SHIFT, that should stop the autoplay and give you the "what do you want to do" dialogue box. One of the options will be open to view files. You should then be able to transfer those files to one of your drives. What file extensions do you see?

justaquestion

Thanks for reply.


I haven't got the dvd handy at the moment but I recorded it by hooking camcorder up to an old Panasonic dvd recorder.


Windows media player auto plays the dvd.


I am under the impression that transferring the files to the pc is not enough, they simply won't play with any program, hence the ripping question.

pappa_golf

d/load handbrake , set to "optimise to web" , output as MP4 , and have a go

hans_2

http://www.winxdvd.com/resource/best-free-dvd-to-wmv.htm

Download is clean as is the uninstall.

RobTang

Make MKV is usually the weapon of choice the actual ripping.


http://www.makemkv.com/


You can use the ripped files as is or use handbrake to convert to something more convenient.

Sicard

As above or here's a few more rippers http://ashampoo2.software.informer.com/download-ashampoo-dvd-ripper/

paddyrg

You can copy the VOB files, but they're not intended so much for end users as machines. That said, if you change the extension from .VOB to .mpg or .mp2 you can convince some players (most likely VLC) to play them. It's worth experimenting with whether this is 'good enough' for you as it's incredibly fast, faster than real time.

Next option for speed and convenience could be to capture from an external DVD player issuing one of those little sticks meant for camcorders (or via as minidv camcorder if you've got the wires) - capture in real time.

Finally is transcoding on the computer, which is all of the above options. This can be very slow depending on settings used

paddyrg

To add - the first method bypasses all decoding and reencoding, the second does it in hardware taking advantage of the 'analogue gap', the third is full CPU transcoding. All three are used in industry with different benefits.

Encoding video is one of the most intensive tasks for a computer and even small tweaks in encoding can make a huge difference in file size, compression, screen artifacts, CPU and GPU load, etc. Most people never need to know this stuff, but the technology behind it all is incredible. Some good transcoders can use GPU, others can't, and it makes a difference.

One tip for method 1) if you can't copy the VOB files is a bit of freeware called 'DVD Decrypter' which may be necessary (although less likely on a home DVD).

justaquestion

Thanks for all the help,

VLC player works great in windows 7 32 bit, just finishing up copying all the .VOB files to the desktop hard drive, no need to change any extension, it just plays fine.


Thanks again.