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Converting my DVD's to Digital for home use


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First: I hope this post does not break the rules, I could not find a rule (quick search, I admit) against it.

Now that I have WHS running and have it configured to stream to my TiVo's and PS3, I'm looking to convert my DVD's to digital copies so I can box them up and put them away. I've tried a few different apps and each results in choppy playback. I've tried a number of apps, so I'm going to clean the slate and see what the community recommends.

What apps have you used to rip your personal (legal) DVD collection that resulted in good video quality and playback?

System Specs:

  • Core i7 920
  • 6GB DDR3
  • MSI X58 Platinum mobo
  • EVGA GTX 470
  • 120GB Mushkin SSD (C:)
  • 500GB WD Black (D:)

****UPDATE****

Thanks for the replies, I've tried the following so far...

Got a winner! Rip with other tools and encode w/ Handbrake results in a perfect quality video. Thanks for all the recommendations. It's interesting to see all the different tools and implementations that people use. This will be my setup of choice going forward.

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THB I'll answer for most so these replies won't clutter the rest of the thread: personally I found it easier, faster, and better quality (downloading 720p mkv rips over rubbishy physical dvd rips) to just download copies of whatever I've got on dvd. Not legal, not perfect, but it's what everyone will suggest.

(re downloading, I always thought that the *sharing* part of p2p was the illegal part, not the downloading - hence megaupload.com downloads don''t upload so imo you're not sharing the content.)

So, apart from that, what else do people use/do?

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While I agree with the dude above... Does a version of Handbrake exist for PC? Cos on the mac it's a dream!

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While I agree with the dude above... Does a version of Handbrake exist for PC? Cos on the mac it's a dream!

It does exist and it's great on the pc and mac.

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I never knew which settings worked well for good size/quality trade-off - Some versions of The Wire looks identical to the iTunes version in terms of quality yet are less than half the size.

What's best for a dvd to mp4/mkv on Handbrake?

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Whats the network you are streaming over, if its wireless then thats your problem.

I use powerline network western digital 200mbs and I can stream raw mpeg rips and even full on bdrips without issue.

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SlySoft AnyDVD has always worked great for me, it has a 30 day free trial so that should be fine for a quick use, this program will allow you to rip the dvd's right to an iso, take a look at the other slysoft products as well, they will let you do even more
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Handbrake... - FREE!

Free Suite - FREE!

A whole free suite for all your media stuff.

Or a converter I just found which uses CUDA or the new version of Ati Stream (which was crap) called AMD APP, which is MUCH better than Stream was.

Xilisoft HD Video Converter

As for the WHS setup, I used to have that and stopped using it, I installed Ubuntu Server instead (it's totally free and it's a web industry standard!) and use the Webmin web-based control to do everything on the server because it's just soooo easy.

I can add share folders, configure access on them, install and configure an ftp server and loads more, all from a web page. So, once you set up access through your router (cos you can choose what port you want to use for the WebMin page) for external access you can control your server from anywhere. You can even check for system updates and install them, restart or shutdown the server. ALL FROM A WEB PAGE!!

Using Ubuntu Server is MUCH smoother than WHS, uses less resources and I never have any dropouts all the way to 1080.

Trust me, try it out.

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THB I'll answer for most so these replies won't clutter the rest of the thread: personally I found it easier, faster, and better quality (downloading 720p mkv rips over rubbishy physical dvd rips) to just download copies of whatever I've got on dvd. Not legal, not perfect, but it's what everyone will suggest.

(re downloading, I always thought that the *sharing* part of p2p was the illegal part, not the downloading - hence megaupload.com downloads don''t upload so imo you're not sharing the content.)

So, apart from that, what else do people use/do?

I can't see how it isn't legal...the disclaimer on the movie very clearly states that I have a license to watch the movie. It does not state on the media I paid for. So as long as I don't buy the regular edition, then download the deluxe 2,5, 84 disc edition, I feel I am in the clear. I have license to the content, not the content on a particular media.

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Whats the network you are streaming over, if its wireless then thats your problem.

I use powerline network western digital 200mbs and I can stream raw mpeg rips and even full on bdrips without issue.

Wired, Wireless, and local viewing all appear choppy. Wireless is served by a Netgear WNR 3700 v2 and wired is GB from that same router.

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I like DVDFab for extraction but keep coming back to Handbrake for mp4 encoding. I just haven't found anything that matches its size/quality.

You will generally need a wired connection to your playback device. I've never had issues using the PS3 media connect to my Win7 PC without any special software. You could always just setup a Boxee and mount pure isos as well. I prefer the space saving of a good rip (avg 4:1) with minimal loss in quality.

And no, you can't legally download a torrent just cause you own the disk.

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I can't see how it isn't legal...the disclaimer on the movie very clearly states that I have a license to watch the movie. It does not state on the media I paid for. So as long as I don't buy the regular edition, then download the deluxe 2,5, 84 disc edition, I feel I am in the clear. I have license to the content, not the content on a particular media.

The warning clearly states "...has licensed this disc for private home use only". It doesn't say this movie.

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The warning clearly states "...has licensed this disc for private home use only". It doesn't say this movie.

Incorrect because if I had licensed the disk, I could do whatever I wanted with the movie. The disc has no value, only the content, the movie, has value.

From the FBI website:

"Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."

By their very wording, getting it from a torrent is more legal than copying the movie to your hard drive. You are in effect reproducing the movie when you copy it, though by technical standards you would be reproducing it from a torrent because it would be a new copy.

Copyrighted work is the important part, the part about the disc is in relation to home viewing only. Meaning I cannot put it up in a bar, hall, or church and let people watch it, two different issues.

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