Rip DVD to file, then re-rip for every new device

[jnorris235]

I have looked, and I have read too much. Brain indigestion.

I have lots of DVDs that I want to sell.
Ordinary (not blueray or 3D or anything fancy) films and TV series like Stargate etc.
I have already ripped them for viewing on my iPad using MacX DVD Ripper Pro.
However I now want to view them on AppleTV on my big screen.
And no doubt one day I'll want a better version to view on a retina iPad.

So do I need to rip the DVD as an iso (perfect copy but huge file) or an mp2 or mp4 - with H264, (perfect copy but smaller file), so I am future proofed when I want to convert for a new device using MacX Video Converter Pro - just as if I still had the DVD?
Quality is important.

 

[kornchild2002]

Are you asking about which program to use? For Windows, I suggest using DVDFab HD Decrypter. Rip the DVD (just the main movie or the whole thing) to an ISO file. It will be an exact duplicate of the DVD minus the copy protection. You can then use any number of programs to convert the ripped DVD to a format capable of playing on your iPad/Apple TV. I suggest Handbrake. It has a built-in Apple TV 3 profile that works well with the Apple TV and also plays back on all iPads and iPhones. The quality will never, ever, ever produce a "perfect copy" since DVDs are already compressed. When encoding for an iDevice (including the Apple TV), you are taking a compressed file and compressing it further (even if the resulting file size is bigger than the source DVD). That's like making a photo copy of a photo copy. The results are acceptable but the only way to obtain a perfect copy of a DVD is to directly rip the content without conversion (which DVDFab can do). If you want to digitally archive your stuff, you should rip the DVDs without conversion first and then use software to convert them for your iDevices later down the line. I don't recommend keeping only an mpeg-4 AVC copy of the movies.

That is what I do with all of my DVDs. I rip them using different software (I'm on a Mac), keep the untouched "raw" DVD files on an external hard drive, and then encode all those files using Handbrake (my software of choice since it produces great quality files while giving me options for deinterlacing and cropping videos so that they have their correct aspect ratios) for my Apple TVs (2010 and 2012 models), iPad Mini, my girlfriend's iPad 3, my iPhone 5, and my 15" MacBook Pro. The files that Handbrake produces look really good and they are small enough to store quite a few of them on the 64GB that my iPad mini has.

On a legal front though, you should know that what you are doing is technically illegal. Bypassing copy protection on DVDs is an illegal process (even if you own them). Furthermore, when you make a digital copy, you should delete it once you sell the source DVDs. You no longer own the material in that medium and any unauthorized copy (which is exactly what you're doing) associated with that material should be erased once ownership of it is transferred (sold) to someone else.

 

[jnorris235]

Thanks for taking the time to read and help!
No, I'm not asking about which program to use. I used to use Handbrake but then a year or two ago it was discontinued or so I understood. Hence I changed to the one I mentioned.

You answered my question by saying "Rip to an ISO file".
I thought I'd read that an mp4 with H264 (?) was just as good as an ISO but smaller.

So, if I read you right, you have the DVD, rip to an ISO. Then you could get rid of the DVD since you have an exact copy.

Next you rip/convert/encode that ISO maybe three times? Once, best copy for big screen TV. Second time, a smaller file size for an iPad. Maybe a third time for an even smaller file size (because the screen is smaller) for your iPhone.

Or would the one rip/convert/encode be the best possible (for the AppleTV) and still be good for the other two devices.

And you further explained that a DVD is already compressed (didnt realise that!).

 

[kornchild2002]

Handbrake is still actively developed, it hasn't been discontinued. It isn't as good under Windows as it us for OS X as, for OS X, it has access to the QuickTime/AAC encoder which is 1000000 times better than the FAAC encoder it uses for Windows. This is only for encoding audio. Plus, with OS X, Handbrake has been tuned a little so that it takes less time to encode a movie than with Windows. I believe this is due to Handbrake being coded for OS X first and then ported over to Windows.

You're confusing technology a little bit. ISO is not a DVD standard but rather a file that can house all sorts of data. ISO files can represent software, ripped DVDs, etc. An ISO file from a ripped DVD houses all of the audio and video files that a DVD has in a single file. It doesn't convert the DVD (which is already encoded using the mpeg-2 video standard along with AC3/DTS audio) but just takes the video files and places them in an ISO container. That would represent an exact copy of the DVD though. Now, when you take that and convert it using a program, you are further compressing the DVD. Since DVDs are encoded using the mpeg-2 standard, they represent a compressed video. So the videos on DVDs are already compressed, they were sourced from a studio lossless version of a movie (which takes up about 2000 GB of space). When encoding, you are taking that already compressed mpeg-2 video and further compressing it using mpeg-4 AVC. The results are acceptable but the resulting mpeg-4 video, NO MATTER WHAT, will NEVER have the same quality as the source DVD.

mpeg-4 AVC is a better video option when encoding videos from a lossless source. The Blu-ray standard relies on either VC-1 or mpeg-4 AVC h.264 for video encoding from the studio lossless file. On a bitrate-to-bitrate comparison, mpeg-4 AVC is going to outperform mpeg-2. So, theoretically, if you had the 2000GB studio lossless movie file, encoding it to mpeg-4 AVC at a certain bitrate would be better than encoding it using DVD standards at the same bitrate.

That isn't the case here though since DVDs are already compressed. There is absolutely no way you can ever, ever, ever, ever obtain better quality than your source DVDs when you are ripping and encoding them.

I rip my DVDs to a single, lossless file once and then encode them to a single mpeg-4 AVC file. The file is encoded with Handbrake's Apple TV 3 profile. I then take that single mpeg-4 AVC file and watch it on my Apple TV units, iPad, iPhone, MacBook Pro, etc. I don't see a need for encoding multiple versions of the same movie for various devices. I can understand doing this if you are working with a 2000GB studio lossless file but you are working with an already compressed, standard definition (DVDs are not high definition!) video. You might save 100MB by encoding it using a specific iPhone profile but that's about it. My mpeg-4 AVC videos normally take up anywhere between 800MB-1.75GB depending on the length of the movie.

 

[jnorris235]

You're absolutely right in saying that I was confusing technology. Thank you so much. It is obvious that a DVD is a compressed version of the original. Just hadn't occurred to me.
So I'm not expecting to get any better than the DVD by ripping it - just hoping it didnt get any worse, which is why you say an ISO (a single lossless file) is the best I can do if I am going to get rid of the DVD.
Shame you can't just get a ISO for the bits you want - or rather I want - i.e. no different language tracks or 'extra' bits they add to the disc.

My program offers, as a backup, Clone to ISO (your choice), backup to MKV or Main Title Content Copy (Copy and Save DVD with selected video/audio tracks as a single MPG file. I suppose it is clear to me now that this option, which I thought the best one, and the one they recommend, in fact is a FURTHER compression. Hence stick with the ISO.

Then convert that file once for everything.

I should have converted it myself using several presets and compared file sizes to answer my own question but what with options to "Use High Quality Engine", "Deinterlacing", "Safe Mode" to try out, let alone the "Low Quality" to "High Quality" options I thought it quicker to ask!
Thanks.

 

[kornchild2002]

What I end up doing is ripping the main movie to an ISO file. My DVD ripper selects the main movie, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack with the movie, and it allows me to select the subtitles. I then rip only that (so no special features or any additional padding) to an ISO file. I suggest you switch DVD ripping programs if it is causing issues. I have used DVDFab in the past when I was with Windows, I know it too has the same option of just ripping the main movie if you don't want the special features and whatnot. I don't see a point in ripping the special features when I will only watch them once and many of them are available online for free through either the movie studio, the movie studio's YouTube page, the movie's website, or the movie's YouTube page.

 

[jnorris235]

Thanks very much indeed you cleared it all up.