I want to Copy my DVDs for my deployment. WHat software should I use.

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I want to Copy my DVDs for my deployment. WHat software should I use.

Posted: 10/26/2009 2:42:21 PM EDT

Title says it. I am about to be deployed to Iraq and I would like to copy some of my DVD collection, rather than take it with me. What Software do you guys reccomend. Also is there a way to save them on a HD so that I can save battery power on my laptop and watch them without running the DVD drive?

Posted: 10/26/2009 2:52:49 PM EDT

[#1]

I'm assuming it's for a PC? I always used DVD Fab. Worked great for me. Pretty sure it lets you copy to your HD also.

ETA: Thanks for your service!

Posted: 10/26/2009 2:54:45 PM EDT

[#2]

Also, here are the latest reviews to help you out.

http://dvd-copy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Posted: 10/26/2009 3:12:33 PM EDT

[#3]

if you have an nvidia video card, Badaboom is nice.

you'll need a copy of dvdshrink (free) to make the initial copy; use badaboom to compress.

Posted: 10/27/2009 5:32:48 AM EDT

[#4]

Rip them to MP4 files with Handbrake (after decrypting) and play them on your laptop.

Decrypting software will vary. DVD Decryptor always worked for me, but I have heard it has problems with some newer disks. I use Fairmount (Mac) to decrypt, works great.

Posted: 10/27/2009 5:40:55 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
I'm assuming it's for a PC? I always used DVD Fab. Worked great for me. Pretty sure it lets you copy to your HD also.

ETA: Thanks for your service!

This!

Posted: 10/27/2009 10:15:56 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Rip them to MP4 files with Handbrake (after decrypting) and play them on your laptop.

Decrypting software will vary. DVD Decryptor always worked for me, but I have heard it has problems with some newer disks. I use Fairmount (Mac) to decrypt, works great.

The previous version of Handbrake has decryption included, if you can find it. v0.9.2 IIRC.

Posted: 10/27/2009 12:46:46 PM EDT

[#7]

again, I'll point out badaboom if you have nVidia hardware. it encodes movies at high quality very quickly. CPU-only methods tend to burn long and hot, or if they're short and sweet, the quality is low.

Posted: 10/27/2009 12:59:14 PM EDT

[#8]

CloneDVD and AnyDVD

Posted: 10/27/2009 3:31:25 PM EDT

[#9]

I use DVD Shrink to rip them to my computer, and it also compresses the space they use by about half...which is a BIG plus. You will get what is called an "Image" file, which is basically a "virtual DVD".

After that, to play them off of my computer, I use VLC media player. Free, and plays just about every format imaginable. VERY user friendly, both of those programs.

I've been doing this for a while, and those are the ones that work best for me.

Posted: 10/27/2009 4:18:10 PM EDT

[#10]

Anydvd + CloneDVD + CloneDVD Mobile = Win

If you buy before Nov 1st you can get 20% off and I can get a finders fee if you use the above link.

Posted: 10/28/2009 9:22:52 AM EDT

[#11]

I am going to tag this as I travel quite a bit and I woul dlike to convert a few movies so I can watch them on my Blackberry (I have an 8gb micro sd card). I assume the advise above would apply to a small player too and I could set the output size appropriately?

Posted: 10/29/2009 7:28:56 AM EDT

[#12]

Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure what I'll end up but I'll use some trials and see how I like them

Posted: 10/30/2009 3:23:19 PM EDT

[#13]

So right now I'm using DVD Shrink and Badaboom.. I have been ripping the main movie only with DVD Shrink. I leave it uncompressed and then compress it with Badaboom. I know with pictures you only want to compress twice it possible. BUT Badaboom is SLOOOW. Like 5 to 7 hours to compress. Am I doing somthing wrong?

Posted: 10/30/2009 4:51:22 PM EDT

[#14]

Just ripping your DVDs to hard drive would be a terrible waste of space. DVDs contain anywhere from 5 to 9 gigabytes of data. As you can guess, it wouldn't take very many disks to fill up your HD. I've have been in the process of making a external video drive, so to speak. What I have been doing is ripping my DVDs to my computer using AnyDVD or DVD Fab HD Decrypter. I then use Handbrake to compress the movie to a mp4 video file. Movies are compressed to 500 - 750 megabytes (depending on the length of the movie) and TV episodes I will compress to 250 - 300 megabytes. I put a 320 gig SATA 2.5 inch drive in a external enclosure and now have 19 movies, the entire series of Babylon 5, the Caprica pilot, and two episodes of Farscape on the drive. There is still over 250 gig free on the drive. All that in a form factor smaller that a paperback book.

Vulcan94

Posted: 10/30/2009 4:55:36 PM EDT

[#15]

I have ripped around 300 of my DVD's to MP4 using Handbrake.
Depending on the compression, speed of computer, etc. It can take a while, but for me it was worth it.
I can now pull up any movie I want at any time. It's great.
I use H.264 compression and each 1.5 hour movie takes up around 900MB of disk space.
You can speed things up by using a faster compression, not doing the two pass encoding or encoding at a lower resolution or bit rate.

Posted: 10/30/2009 5:10:47 PM EDT

[#16]

300 DVDs! WoW! You must have been doing for quite some time now. I've been only working on mine for just under 2 months now.

Vulcan94

Posted: 10/30/2009 5:20:58 PM EDT

[#17]

As to the waste of space. The only thing I will be using this laptop for is internet, and entertainment. It is my for my deployment. Also I've heard that watching them off the HD will extend my batter life over watching them off the disk. I will probably end up with an external HD for most of my movies.

Posted: 10/30/2009 7:20:50 PM EDT

[#18]

I personally wouldn't compress them to mp4...but thats only because I like having the option of burning the image back to a dvd, and saving the menu. To each his own of course...but if you get a decent size external and compress them to dvd-5 (with dvd shrink or another program) your still saving a LOT of space.

Posted: 10/31/2009 11:44:55 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
I personally wouldn't compress them to mp4...but thats only because I like having the option of burning the image back to a dvd, and saving the menu. To each his own of course...but if you get a decent size external and compress them to dvd-5 (with dvd shrink or another program) your still saving a LOT of space.

I backup all of my DVDs to DVD-5 as well. But, I'm looking at it from his point of view that he is being deployed. By compressing them to mp4s he can take a lot more of his movies with him when he deploys. I'm sure that having a much larger collection of movies that he can view will be more enjoyable to him. Everyone I know that has been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan has been gone for at least a year.

Vulcan94

Posted: 10/31/2009 4:08:03 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I personally wouldn't compress them to mp4...but thats only because I like having the option of burning the image back to a dvd, and saving the menu. To each his own of course...but if you get a decent size external and compress them to dvd-5 (with dvd shrink or another program) your still saving a LOT of space.

I backup all of my DVDs to DVD-5 as well. But, I'm looking at it from his point of view that he is being deployed. By compressing them to mp4s he can take a lot more of his movies with him when he deploys. I'm sure that having a much larger collection of movies that he can view will be more enjoyable to him. Everyone I know that has been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan has been gone for at least a year.

Vulcan94

Bingo!. I'm going for quantity over quality.

Posted: 10/31/2009 5:36:33 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I personally wouldn't compress them to mp4...but thats only because I like having the option of burning the image back to a dvd, and saving the menu. To each his own of course...but if you get a decent size external and compress them to dvd-5 (with dvd shrink or another program) your still saving a LOT of space.

I backup all of my DVDs to DVD-5 as well. But, I'm looking at it from his point of view that he is being deployed. By compressing them to mp4s he can take a lot more of his movies with him when he deploys. I'm sure that having a much larger collection of movies that he can view will be more enjoyable to him. Everyone I know that has been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan has been gone for at least a year.

Vulcan94

Bingo!. I'm going for quantity over quality.

If you use the H.264(x264) codec that comes with the latest version of Handbrake you can compress down to 500 to 750 meg. and still have excellent quality.

Here are the setting that I use:

Preset: Normal

Video Filters: Decomb is set to default

Under Video I select:
Video Codec: H.264(x264)
Framerate: Same as Source
Target Size: 500-750 mb (depends on the length of the movie, TV episodes 250-300 mb)
then I check the box for Two pass encoding and Turbo first pass.
All of the rest of the tabs I leave at their default settings.

Using these setting I get excellent results.

Handbrake also has a batch mode so you can set it up to encode several movies while you sleep.

Edited to add: I use VLC media player to watch all of my movies.

Vulcan94

Posted: 10/31/2009 9:49:27 PM EDT

[#22]

I'll try those settings. I'm using handbrake right now and it is WAY faster than badaboom. Thanks for all the help

Posted: 11/1/2009 7:05:01 AM EDT

[#23]

If you use an Ipod and Itunes alot you might want to look at Xilisoft. They have a DVD to iPod Converter that I've been using for a while now without any problems.

Posted: 11/1/2009 4:02:17 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
I'll try those settings. I'm using handbrake right now and it is WAY faster than badaboom. Thanks for all the help

Glad to be of assistance. If you have any more question, just ask and I'll be glad to help.

Vulcan94

Posted: 11/2/2009 2:03:04 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

I always used DVD Fab. Worked great for me.

I agree with the above...DVDFab is a good tool.

Posted: 11/3/2009 4:41:41 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I always used DVD Fab. Worked great for me.

I agree with the above...DVDFab is a good tool.

Yes, DVDFab is a great tool. I use it as well. But I like the convenience of AnyDVD. Just putting in a DVD and having AnyDVD decrypt it in the background works for me 99% of the time.
I, also, was lucky enough to purchase AnyDVD before the price increase.

Free upgrades forever!

Vulcan94

Posted: 11/3/2009 4:52:36 PM EDT

[#27]

download Smartripper free. Just google it. It will rip the complete dvd content or just the movie to your HDD. Then burn using Nero or any dvd authoring software.

Many of the other programs are actually running smartripper in the background. It does not install into the registry either. you just unzip it and run the exe file. You may have to add ASPI but there is a free dowload out there called instaspi or forceaspi that will do the trick.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I want to Copy my DVDs for my deployment. WHat software should I use.

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