Here’s how to copy a DVD to your harddrive and convert it to a movie that will play on your iphone, ipod or in quicktime on your computer. Go to http://handbrake.fr/ and click on ‘download it now’ to download the latest version of handbrake.
Instal and run handbrake.
Insert the DVD you want to copy.
Click the ‘source’ in the top left of the toolbar, and select the DVD.
Under ‘source’ select the title and chapters that you want. You can work out the chapters by opening DVD player and looking in the information window. To verify them you can check the duration. Click ‘toggle presets’ in the toolbar and this will give you a pull out window where you can select the output quality that you want.
AppleTV is better quality, iPod is lower quality and a smaller file.
I made my own setting called phone for my samsung mobile phone, which makes a very small file. I used: MP4 file, MPEG-4 Video/AAC Audio. Video was 320×240 and 15 frames per second and 350kbps. Audio was 128 kbps and 24khz. This was as small a filesize as I could make with still an OK quality. Select a destination directory (eg desktop) and press the start button. It can take quite a while, allow a few hours!
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If you download and use “instant handbrake” (free download) you can rip off the movie into a Quicktime movie with just one click. The resolution is reduced but generally fine to watch on a laptop. We use it to convert our DVDs so as to watch them on an ipod video.
Wow Handbrake looks great. So simple!!!
You can get it here:
http://handbrake.m0k.org
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[...] Mac the ripper is a little program that allows you to copy a DVD to your computer, and at the same time it removes the copy protection. (This is called ‘ripping’ a DVD) Click here to go to the mactheripper page to download it. Otherwise click here to download it locally. Basically it will copy a DVD from your DVD player to your computer – you’ll need to watch it with DVD Player.If you want to convert a DVD it to a different format, for example to watch on your iphone, or to put on the web, try handbrake. [...]
Well, I don’t know what the replies up above are smoking, but Handbrake does not produce a Quicktime. I have to use a second program, MPEG streamclip, to create a Quicktime from the file that Handbrake produces, an MP4. Boy, I would kill for a program that can convert a DVD directly into a Quicktime. If you are not editing your content on a Quicktime based editing system (like FCP), however, you may not care, as MP4′s behave a lot like Quicktime. If anybody DOES know of a software that actually will convert a Quicktime in one step from a DVD, please tell!
@shannon you are right: to go to quicktime it’s a two step process you then need to use quicktime player pro 7 or that software you have to export into a .mov file. I heard the handbrake team are working on direct export to quicktime.
Wayne
Hi Wayne, just what I was looking for. However, when I tried to use Handbrake I was told that I needed to use VLC media player – any ideas what this is for and why I need it?
same question as above…it keeps saying i need vlc,then i download vlc, but what then?
after downloading VLC, go to handbrake file/open source choose your video file, then click on play.