Backing up DVDs to External HDDs

[amateur]

Hello,

I have a 1TB Seagate external HDD. I want to take a dump of my old DVDs. I want to play them directly from the HDD on Sony bluray player S190 which I have. I checked that Sony bluray player is able to sense the external 1TB HDD - tried playing some audio files - it did.

Now the question is :

1. what ripper should I use , what format to be chosen to be able to play it.
2. I am ok in purchasing a good DVD ripper online -suggest me options please
( if there are good freewares, it's good too )
3. are there rippers that does Bluray discs ripping too ?
4. what format should I choose in DVD ripper to rip DVDs and Blurays

Kindly guide me on this.
Need suggestion from people that have used good rippers.

 

[Rupam]

The Best and Easy to use ripper is DVDfab Pro.
DVD Copy Software - Copy DVD and DVD movies to ISO, blank disc and hard drive easily.

 

[Staxxx]

The Best and Easy to use ripper is DVDfab Pro.
DVD Copy Software - Copy DVD and DVD movies to ISO, blank disc and hard drive easily.

Could I please ask:

a) What is the difference between dvd COPY and RIPPER? Why are these separate programs?
b) Are they available in India (preferably Bangalore) rather than importing from the US.
c) I assume the free download of the program has limited functionality and time constraints?

Thanks.

 

[technobhatt]

If one doesn't care about DVD Menu and the ultimate target is just to make a single file of the movie; then nothing better than this: MakeMKV .... MakeMKV - Make MKV from Blu-ray and DVD Totally free.

Please note, I'm not asking to compress the DVD files; just embed them into MKV and enjoy it from your external HDD.

 

[just4kix]

If you don't compress the DVDs, then each DVD movie is usually 7~8 GB. Thus you can hope to accommodate 120~125 movies on the 1 TB disk. If you decide to compress the movies to 4.5GB, then you can double the movies but with a resolution loss.

The first option is DVD Shrink that will rip 1:1. It will also remove region code, CSS and Macrovision protections. DVD Shrink is the best all-in-one software for the purpose. It can rip and save in 1:1 format or rip, compress, encode and save in multiple DVD size formats with loss due to compression. This way you will retain all DVD like features (unless you decide to strip off menus, secondary audio track, subtitles, etc. - which does not take much space anyway). This is the quickest method (even if you choose to resize and encode). A typical 1:1 rip takes 7-8 minutes while resizing/encoding takes longer at 20-25 minutes. The audio is maintained at Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS.

Converting to MKV, AVI and other such format will take much more time. The first step will be rip and then two pass encoding. Each rip/encode is expected to take 40 minutes or so. MKV container is better because it will tend to preserve as much PQ as possible without affecting any reasonable loss. MKV will also retain DD 5.1/DTS, etc. MKV will shrink the file size quite a lot, but as stated above, you will loose menus and chapter navigation.

 

[amateur]

thank you, I need to have a 1:1 copy, no compression, etc, exact copy of what get in DVD that includes menus, subtitle - language selections, etc.

so this should ideally work if I understand you rightly - let me give a try, thank you very much.

 

[devilwearsprada]

I would rather vouch for Media Coder :
1. It does both 1:1 copy, and also rips movies with target size(Res. Loss)
2. Supports a number of formats and direct conversion.

 

[amateur]

thank you all for the suggestions - unfortunately none of them really worked

Tried most of it :

1. handbrake - frequently hangs and was not able to do it properly.
2. MKV - after 90+%, it throws up some error and hangs or closes.
3. DVD Decryptor - does to some extent - however I am unable to choose the subtitle after I play from the external HDD.
4. DVD copy - a trial version - same issue- no subtitle available.

It seems subtitle option is not around or cannot be chosen when we play via external HDD.

any other suggestions welcome.

 

[just4kix]

DVD Decriptor is a very good option and you need to select the correct VOB to play menus, select subtitles, chapters, etc.

Have you tried DVD Shrink? It works with DVDs only. With DVD Shrink, you can do all of the following:

- 1:1 DVD decrypting
- remove CSS and macrovision protection
- remove region coding
- create a single ISO image of the DVD or replicate the DVD structure on the HDD

Using utilities such as Daemon Tools, you can create virtual drives and load ISO and other such disk images.

Then there are paid softwares. AnyDVD HD is the best amongst all and available for EUR 79. Will work with DVDs as well as BDs. Click on the link for features. If you wish to build a home media server, look no further. The price is well worth it.

 

[amateur]

thank you, will try the options listed. Btw, in DVD decryptor , you had mentioned of selecting the right VOB - is it by trial and error or is there a standard way to do it ? thanks much in advance

 

[just4kix]

You should start with VIDEO_TS.IFO. Refer this: Doom9.net - The Definitive DVD Backup Resource

 

[slash1814]

I use DVD Shrink for Ripping and Decryptor for Burning Back.

 

[designation]

hello all audio gurus- when converting and compressing would you lose the quality? or would you get the same quality as how it is in the dvd?

 

[just4kix]

hello all audio gurus- when converting and compressing would you lose the quality? or would you get the same quality as how it is in the dvd?

I am speaking strictly with reference to DVD Shrink.

If you compress, quality is definitely lost. On TV sets up to 32", it is not that much noticeable. As the TV size becomes bigger, you will definitely start noticing the difference between the original and the compressed. 5.1 sound is retained regardless of compression.

DVD Shrink's default compression is to fit to a 4.7 GB DVD (single layer, single side). If there is no dearth of disk space, I will not recommend compression.

 

[Rupam]

I am speaking strictly with reference to DVD Shrink.

If you compress, quality is definitely lost. On TV sets up to 32", it is not that much noticeable. As the TV size becomes bigger, you will definitely start noticing the difference between the original and the compressed. 5.1 sound is retained regardless of compression.

DVD Shrink's default compression is to fit to a 4.7 GB DVD (single layer, single side). If there is no dearth of disk space, I will not recommend compression.

Just use DVDfab Pro. Its one in all solution.

 

[amateur]

DVD Fab pro - failed - i.e. not able to select subtitles - sometimes language changes automatically.

thanks for the reply.

 

[manzb]

It is very simple, if compression does not means loss of quality, then everyone would have compressed it before publishing the original product. Anyway, DVD mpeg PQ is already compressed to optimum level; so any more compression, you gonna loose quality. There is no two way about that.

 

[john_k_antony]

I have used DVD shrink and its a breeze to use it. Highly recommended.