Ripping DVDs (for personal use)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Actually EA, if you feel it better to close this thread, I would agree to that.

Mario

There’s no need to hamper discussion. Another host has wisely suggested I amend the title.

[Mario]

As usual EA, most wise.

I agree completely.

Apologies for any discomfort I may have caused - unintentionally.

Thank you.

Mario

[Dave2002]

All I meant is that I don’t want to spend my retirement curating, filing, sifting and selecting tracks on CDs and DVDs on multiple formats. Since I’ve paid for OneDrive, which I’ve been using for years and find it very useful (if only MS would bring out a decent player for it that fills the gaps between tracks particularly in operas), I didn’t want to start using and PAYING for Apple iCloud if OneDrive can do the job. Hence my question regarding good, worthwhile, and LEGAL DVD Rippers.

I do wonder how much cloud storage you are using or need. I agree that faffing around with multiple formats, hardware, software etc. is not necessarily a fun way to spend one's time.
You already seem familiar with OneDrive - and are prepared to pay for it. I think at the moment basic services from iCloud are free to anyone who has Apple kit - though the total file size limitation might kick in and lead to the possibility/opportunity of "having" to pay for more online storage.

My concerns are mostly about privacy and cloud systems misbehaving themselves and accessing and copying data which they should not. I have noticed enough anomalies in Apple systems to be suspicious of their claims on integrity and trustworthiness, and also one of my friends had a major loss of data years ago when Apple's cloud was in its infancy and then called something else. Some of Apple's anomalous behaviours have actually acted in my favour on occasions, but issues of trust still remain.

That doesn't mean that I would trust any of the other cloud providers more, however, but rather that ultimately end users should look after their own data carefully - something which we don't all manage to do consistently and all the time. Which reminds me .....

[Mario]

Yup, all fair points Dave 2002. Let me try to explain my dilemma.

With Microsoft OneDrive, which I trust, and so far after quite a few years of usage, nothing untoward has happened (so far…), although we have no children, I’ve nonetheless opted for the Family subscription, which gives me 6TB of storage for Eur 99.00 p.a. This is huge and so far I’ve only used just over 1GB with my (hides his shame) only 2,000 CDs.

But I also have some 1500 films we’ve accumulated (and purchased from Regions 2, 3 and 4). If I can find a simple DVD Ripper, which suggestions in this thread seem to imply a cost of under US$100 and be able to upload all my films to OneDrive, without more apps, more passwords, and more complications by going the iCloud route, then my listening (and my life) gives me the simplicity I so crave. iCloud gives 5GB free, enough for one film! Their largest storage is 2TB for Eur 9.99 per month. Why pay for iCloud when I’m currently already paying for OneDrive?

Hence my desire to stay with OneDrive to enjoy my music and watch my films in Malta, in London, wherever we’re travelling and ahem… in Manchester.

Mario

[hmvman]

Bearing in mind the foregoing comments, I should, for clarity, add to my earlier post recommending Wondershare that I use the DVD 'ripping' function to extract material from discs that I have made or material that I have been given permission to extract by the copyright owner.

[Dave2002]

Yup, all fair points Dave 2002. Let me try to explain my dilemma.

With Microsoft OneDrive, which I trust, and so far after quite a few years of usage, nothing untoward has happened (so far…), although we have no children, I’ve nonetheless opted for the Family subscription, which gives me 6TB of storage for Eur 99.00 p.a. This is huge and so far I’ve only used just over 1GB with my (hides his shame) only 2,000 CDs.

But I also have some 1500 films we’ve accumulated (and purchased from Regions 2, 3 and 4). If I can find a simple DVD Ripper, which suggestions in this thread seem to imply a cost of under US$100 and be able to upload all my films to OneDrive, without more apps, more passwords, and more complications by going the iCloud route, then my listening (and my life) gives me the simplicity I so crave. iCloud gives 5GB free, enough for one film! Their largest storage is 2TB for Eur 9.99 per month. Why pay for iCloud when I’m currently already paying for OneDrive?

Hence my desire to stay with OneDrive to enjoy my music and watch my films in Malta, in London, wherever we’re travelling and ahem… in Manchester.

Mario

I didn't realise you could get that much storage, though you are using hardly any of it.

You might find this link helpful - https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-dvd-ripper

The issue you are probably facing is overcoming the limitations (from the end user's point of view) of DRM encoded discs. The whole point of DRM encoding is specifically to stop you creating an "illegal" copy, but of course just about every man, woman and their dogs seem to have found ways to get round that, or so it seems to me when I see others watching videos on small devices as we travel around.

If the films you want to watch are available online, then it might actually be easier and cheaper to just pay to watch them when you're travelling, but you may have an extensive collection of esoteric films which are not available in Netflix, Prime, Apple Store etc.
I'm assuming you don't actually want to take DVDs and DVD drives with you. There are still some laptops which have inbuilt drives, or you can buy an external drive, but it's not great having to carry a whole lot of extra hardware around just for this purpose while travelling.

In the link I mentioned Handbrake comes top as a useful tool - with the proviso that it won't overcome DRM constraints. I find Handbrake invaluable in some circumstances, but it probably won't solve your issues if it can't overcome the DRM limitations. It's an excellent tool for compressing video - with hardly any perceptual loss - depending on your needs and viewing equipment - and it can actually improve the perceptual quality if running video from a slow storage device, as slow devices may cause stuttering in playback, but reducing the file sizes can make it easier to get the data to your playback software without any buffering.

There are also portable DVD players which might suit your needs - though you won't get a full screen 4k or 8k experience from those.

Do you actually do so much travelling that this is a major problem for you?

If on the other hand you have a collection of unusual films which are important to you, then you may want to convert them into digital video files even for use at home, if you are trying to set up a digital library.

[Mario]

Dave2002,

Thanks again for your comments and the link provided.

Yes, it seems that WinX consistently comes out tops, but I’m also impressed with hmvman’s Wondershare product.

Decisions, decisions…

Mario

[Mario]

Just a quick update should anyone be interested in uploading their music to their portable devices for their own personal use…

Hmvman’s suggestion of Wondershare scared me off, only because it seemed to me to be too complicated and advanced for my needs.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum at a discounted price including a back-up CD for €54 has proved an absolute boon!

Spending the last few days uploading up to my OneDrive account my favourite DVD music by Mozart, Wagner, Schubert, Verdi and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named including some favourite operas such as Marriage, The Ring, Aida and Fidelio for a trip to visit the wife’s family in Lincolnshire soon.

The three-hour flight to Heathrow is going to erm, fly by!

Mario

[Bryn]

Just a quick update should anyone be interested in uploading their music to their portable devices for their own personal use…

Hmvman’s suggestion of Wondershare scared me off, only because it seemed to me to be too complicated and advanced for my needs.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum at a discounted price including a back-up CD for €54 has proved an absolute boon!

Spending the last few days uploading up to my OneDrive account my favourite DVD music by Mozart, Wagner, Schubert, Verdi and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named including some favourite operas such as Marriage, The Ring, Aida and Fidelio for a trip to visit the wife’s family in Lincolnshire soon.

The three-hour flight to Heathrow is going to erm, fly by!

Mario

Can I take it that you are a Mac user? Otherwise, you could have saved yourself €54 and used DVD Shrink (freeware which, despite some Internet claims to the contrary, works fine under Windows 10). Also contrary to some claims, it works with disc-burning software other than Nero, though a perfectly usable version of Nero is sometimes supplied with disc-burners. On the rare occasions I burn DVDs, these days, I still use the complimentary version of Nero that came with an external burner I bought over a decade ago.

[richardfinegold]

Just a quick update should anyone be interested in uploading their music to their portable devices for their own personal use…

Hmvman’s suggestion of Wondershare scared me off, only because it seemed to me to be too complicated and advanced for my needs.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum at a discounted price including a back-up CD for €54 has proved an absolute boon!

Spending the last few days uploading up to my OneDrive account my favourite DVD music by Mozart, Wagner, Schubert, Verdi and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named including some favourite operas such as Marriage, The Ring, Aida and Fidelio for a trip to visit the wife’s family in Lincolnshire soon.

The three-hour flight to Heathrow is going to erm, fly by!

Mario

I have a number of DVD Audios. Could I use this to rip to my NAS?

[Mario]

Richard, I don’t see why not!

I’m no technical expert, and notwithstanding other suggestions upthread, my WinX app, which even a simpleton like me can use, is right now converting DVD Movies to MP4 files on Win 11, then uploading to my OneDrive Microsoft account. I can then watch say, Fidelio on my iPad to my heart’s content. As I’ve also downloaded this opera on my iPad, I need no internet connection to stream it while watching it on a plane.

If NAS is a similar cloud service, then I don’t see a problem.

One final point – WinX does have a trial app which is completely free, which was my first step before purchase. Here, you’re allowed to convert only five minutes of your DVD to see if it works.

I hope I’ve answered your question.

Best wishes,

Mario

[Bryn]

Richard, I don’t see why not!

I’m no technical expert, and notwithstanding other suggestions upthread, my WinX app, which even a simpleton like me can use, is right now converting DVD Movies to MP4 files on Win 11, then uploading to my OneDrive Microsoft account. I can then watch say, Fidelio on my iPad to my heart’s content. As I’ve also downloaded this opera on my iPad, I need no internet connection to stream it while watching it on a plane.

If NAS is a similar cloud service, then I don’t see a problem.

One final point – WinX does have a trial app which is completely free, which was my first step before purchase. Here, you’re allowed to convert only five minutes of your DVD to see if it works.

I hope I’ve answered your question.

Best wishes,

Mario

The DVD-A specification includes rather more advanced copy protection than does that for DVD-V. I am not aware of any legally available software which overcomes that protection. That's not to say it cannot be done but if it can, I have no idea how.

[richardfinegold]

I mean every word that I said.

However, I'm beginning to regret having sought advice now.

Sorry to sound a tad defeatist, but we're living in a truly miserable world right now. Each day as I read the news updates, I become more and more miserable. I don't want to fight anymore, nor do I want any stress in the short time I may have left.

All I seek is a simple, and repeating it ad nauseam, legal way of enjoying my music wherever I am.

Best wishes,

Mario

My NAS is a Melco N 100; no such Cloud Services available, and I believe what Bryn said is true as well.

[Mario]

Sorry I couldn't help, but I did say I was no expert.

Mario

[HallamVoe]

I recommend MakeMKV (makemkv.com) which is completely free for DVD ripping (they ask for a fee to enable the much more technical job of ripping Blu-ray) and which is pretty simple to use, giving full control over which audio, subtitle & video tracks you wish to extract from the disc.
When that us done, you are left with a large MKV file, typically about 5GB for a feature film.
This file can then be reduced in size by about 90% into the universally playable MP4 format with the free Handbrake app (handbrake.fr) with no loss of video or audio quality.
If that all sounds complicated, it really isn't, and the slower, Handbrake, part of the job can be set to run overnight.