Help for a technophobe please

tori.k · 18 October 2016 at 9:56AM

Can anyone advise me on the kit I need, I would like to transfer our DVD collection onto a hard drive that can be used with the TV so I can free up space. is there some sort of plug and play machine that I would be able to do this with ?
Many thanks

Strider590 · 18 October 2016 at 1:50PM

There are ways to do this, you'd use software to rip the DVDs to your hard drive.

This in itself is not illegal, you can stil legally make copies of your own movies and music, it is illegal to distribute said copies.

However there's no way to know if your doing this, so there is software known as DRM (digital rights management) which can quite aggressively mess up you PC if it detects you have any sort of DVD ripping software onboard. DRM comes from many sources, it's usually packaged in with PC games, it can even install from DVDs.

I'm not going to recommend any software because in all honesty, if you don't know what your doing, there's a really good chance you'll regret it.

Ironically, it being so difficult to copy your owned DVDs, is why so many illegal download sites exist.

bsod · 18 October 2016 at 2:57PM

strange answer, it's not difficult at all, and (unless you pick a rogue tool to do the encoding) doesn't aggressively mess up anything. When installing any software, decline any additional toolbars or software offered during the installation process.

https://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper/

You will have to choose a format and storage medium that works with your tv/pvr/stb/usb enabled dvd player, not all of which support hard disk storage, but they may support sd cards or usb flash drives which come in reasonable capacities now

mp4 is the usual choice - a 90 minute dvd needs around 1GB of space

tori.k · 18 October 2016 at 5:18PM

Thanks to you both, so in a nut shell I just download the DVD to an eternal hard drive the plug that into a USB enabled DVD. I've downloaded CD to my computer in the past im guessing it work's the same way with DVD.

bsod · 18 October 2016 at 5:22PM

eternal hard drives would sell like hot cakes

download is not the correct term, but it doesn't matter.

you put the dvd in, convert it to mp4 using the software, copy the resulting file to a usb flash drive, insert it into anything with a usb connector that plays mp4's and press play.

hard disk drives require more power than a flash drive, so a lot of devices don't support them. Also some that do may require the drive to be reformatted, which will wipe all data on it, so be careful

Cornucopia · 18 October 2016 at 5:27PM

tori.k wrote: »

Thanks to you both, so in a nut shell I just download the DVD to an eternal hard drive the[n] plug that into a USB enabled DVD. I've downloaded CD to my computer in the past im guessing it work's the same way with DVD.

Yes. Another vote for Strider's answer being somewhat wide of the mark - certainly technically.

DRM is encoded on the DVD (and respected by most PCs), and is intended to make it more difficult (or impossible) to rip (copy) some DVDs. There is no infestation of the PC involved.

The issue I have found when doing this in the past is that the default file types that come out of the ripping process are not compatible with the players on many PCs and especially those on TVs and STBs. (For the technically minded, the DVDs contain ".VOB" files for the main content, and players typically want MP4 files).

Video conversion used to be a tortuous process, too. Perhaps the above recommendation solves all of that? I shall be delighted if that is the case.

As an aside, there are lots of older films on Youtube, and OnlineVideoConverter makes a reasonable job of converting them to MP4s in most cases.

https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/

There's also Get_iplayer that can download films & other content from BBC iPlayer as MP4s...

https://squarepenguin.co.uk/downloads/

flashg67 · 18 October 2016 at 5:33PM

I use either BDlot DVD Iso Master (free) or DVDFab (free trial then paid) to rip to an ISO file and play on a PC using VLC player Free).

DVDFab allows you to rip just the main movie without trailers, menus etc.

Then store them on several large HDD's to play on my very cheap Dell PC attached to my TV, so I'm not constantly unplugging stuff. ISO creates a large file, but retains DVD quality which I prefer when watched on a large screen.

The above might seem complicated, but it's not once you get the knack, it's just time consuming ripping them first time, as it is with all the methods given

bsod · 18 October 2016 at 5:35PM

winxdvd solves most of the torture, it has occasional problems with some discs, and does output extra's to different mp4's though, so not as perfect as an iso rip, but the resulting files are much smaller

you can get a little gizmo that plays iso from hard disk that would be neater than a pc.

tori.k · 18 October 2016 at 5:39PM

Many thank I now understand..that I should pay someone to do the job for me

Fightsback · 18 October 2016 at 5:40PM

Or use the excellent open-source Handbrake, windows users for encrypted DVD ripping you need to add the libdvdcss.dll library:

http://lifeofageekadmin.com/how-to-rip-dvds-using-vlc-and-handbrake-on-windows/

bsod · 18 October 2016 at 5:43PM

tori.k wrote: »

Many thank I now understand..that I should pay someone to do the job for me

no reason at all to do that

you should start by finding out what your tv or whatever supports.

Help for a technophobe please

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