Help Me Rip My DVD!

[SatinWorship19]

Disclaimer: I swear on my little dog's life, I'm not doing anything shady. All I want is to rip the footage from my TV appearance from a DVD to my hard drive so I can start editing it and get it on YouTube. And the people at Comcast gave me the OK to use the footage for my own promotional purposes.

That being said, I'm running into a great deal of difficulty ripping my DVD. Windows Media Player doesn't have this function. There are a bunch of open-source programs out there, but I'm not sure if any of them are good to use. I can't figure out RealPlayer to save my life. (It only seems to rip my DVD in 2-second snippets - WTF?)

Talk to me like I'm a third grader. How do I get my footage on my hard drive? Thanks in advance!

[mariyah13]

I downloaded a free software called Handbrake (Thanks Amy!)
handbrake.fr
and it was pretty easy from there. Good luck!

[Lesgemini_Zafirah]

Dude(tte)!!! I'm with you on this--hope you don't mind but I MUT bandwagon!!! I have a DVD of my performances & brief cable tv appearance & have zero-zilch-ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE how to download...

[SatinWorship19]

Thanks Mariyah! There's so much Open Source stuff out there, but I was hesitant to try without a recommendation.

It really is annoying to have a perfectly good DVD and no clue what to do with it! I'm sure I'll come crying back to the Tech Forum when I start editing it too....ah, the things we do for "fun" ,r:;

[jewelsdances]

I second Handbrake. I just put my movie onto my desktop from my camcorder, then let handbrake find it, and you can resize it so it fits for youtube. My problem is I have movies like these but can't figure out how to put it onto a dvd!

[SatinWorship19]

Good to know! Handbrake is fired up and doin' its thing as we speak ..g.:

Once this is ripped, I'd love to edit my interview into little sound bytes. But baby steps! For now, all I want is to extract my dance performance and get it up on YouTube.

[laura 2]

I use DVD Shrink. Download DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15 - DVD Shrink - A FREE software to backup DVD disks ! - Softpedia

The output is a .VOB file, but then all you have to do is change the .VOB file extention to .MPG. The MPG file can then be imported into Windows Media Player.

[laura 2]

My problem is I have movies like these but can't figure out how to put it onto a dvd!

Windows Media Player can put footage onto a DVD, but you have to have a DVD burner installed in your computer. If you only have a CD-ROM, there's no program that can make it happen.

[jewelsdances]

Windows Media Player can put footage onto a DVD, but you have to have a DVD burner installed in your computer. If you only have a CD-ROM, there's no program that can make it happen.

hmmm, I have a Mac, I'll look to see if I have a dvd burner. I think I do but I am so unsavvy about computers.

[SatinWorship19]

This just in! Handbrake is awesome. Worked like a charm.

Thanks Mariyah and Jewels for the tip! ..g.:

Now to figure out how to edit the darned thing...

[laura 2]

hmmm, I have a Mac, I'll look to see if I have a dvd burner. I think I do but I am so unsavvy about computers.

If you have a Mac and it turns out you do have a DVD burner, I think iMovie makes DVDs. I'm a PC gal myself, though.

[laura 2]

This just in! Handbrake is awesome. Worked like a charm.

Thanks Mariyah and Jewels for the tip! ..g.:

Now to figure out how to edit the darned thing...

I use Windows Movie Maker, which comes pre-installed on most PCs. It doesn't do anything too super fancy, but it's really easy to use and gets the job done.

[SatinWorship19]

I use Windows Movie Maker, which comes pre-installed on most PCs. It doesn't do anything too super fancy, but it's really easy to use and gets the job done.

I just tried this and it says I'm missing a codec needed to play the file. Gah! WTF is a codec and where do I get one?

[Mayliz]

Try Gspot codec or Dvix

[HubicRuzz]

Yeah ripping the dvd is only half the battle. Getting Windows movie maker to export a clip that then looks good on youtube will be a challenge. I think you can somehow download a setup file to get movie maker to export in a high resolution but I've never done it before.

[laura 2]

I just tried this and it says I'm missing a codec needed to play the file. Gah! WTF is a codec and where do I get one?

Hmmm...I know it has to do with WMM not being able to "read" how the file was encoded (i.e., transformed from DVD into a video clip). I haven't had that error myself when using files ripped with DVD Shrink.

[TexasRuya]

Following this thread with interest - I've got DVDs of me dancing & no clue how to rip those suckers for tha interwebs.

Rooting for success, Satin - so I can run quickly in your footsteps, lol.

[catysue]

Carrara, when you finish the video, you have to show us!

[Asim]

WTF is a codec and where do I get one?

Simple answer -- get and play via VLC , which plays Nearly Every Multimedia format ever made.

More complex answer:

Handbrake is...sort-of a DVD ripper. It's really a video format converter that is optimized for reading DVDs and converting them to modern, lightweight formats like for your iPod/iPhones. I don't recall off-hand what format it defaults to, but I'd try exporting to what's called AVI with Mpeg4 -- but note that the latest version removes this, and I don't know a good alternative.
In short, Handbrake is this situation like using a screwdriver to open a door -- it might work, but it's a hack. And if Google isn't popping up an easy solution, I suspect there isn't one. :(

Sadly, more than this I don't know how to help with. Not only do I not know WMM that well, the options you have differ depending on which windows version you have, as each comes with a different WinMovieMaker version as well!

One thing you can try involves using DVD Shrink instead of Handbrake. DVD Shrink creates the "real" DVD on your harddrive in a set of .VOB files; if you rename them to filename.MPG, you might be able to load them right into WMM.

If the above doesn't spark something, and no one else has an idea, drop a comment with your OS and Window Movie Maker version, and I'll see what I can do. :)

[sabrinabellydancer]

another vote for handbreak to rip
.
ffmpegX to convert file format on a mac
ffmpeg on windows, but its a command line tool.

[SatinWorship19]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! And Asim's right. Apparently, there's no easy answer ,m::

My boyfriend took a stab at converting it, but the quality's insanely crappy. At that point, I'm back to Square One: I may as well post my shaky, dimly lit footage from nightclub gigs ,r:;

I think instead of climbing Mount Everest, I may tackle Denali instead....gonna see if I can put together a nice, presentable DIY promo clip.

And people wonder why so many dancers don't put video on their websites!

[laura 2]

Satin, I sent you a PM.

[HubicRuzz]

The solution is fairly straight forward if you buy video editing software like Nero. As long as the DVD is not copy protected, Nero can import and, more importantly, merge DVD vob files. Sometimes you can get luck and the piece of footage you need is contained within 1 vob file. If you are unlucky it is split between 2 vob files and you need something to merge them.

If the clip you want is contained in a single VOB file, just rename it to MPG and import it into Windows Movie Maker.

Apparently movie maker in Vista, and I assume windows 7, allows you to export in a high resolution. In XP you have to try and download set kind of setup file to get this option.

[azhaar]

You may be able to copy the VOB files directly from the DVD onto your hard drive. (VOB files are contained in the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD.)

VOB files can be played using VLC Media Player, as Asim mentioned.

If you're having codec issues, you probably need the AC3 codec. You can get it here: http://ac3filter.googlecode.com/file...1_63b_lite.exe

To change the file from VOB to MPG I go the the COMMAND PROMPT (I'm using a windows PC: START>ALL PROGRAMS>ACCESSORIES>COMMAND PROMPT). Change directories to where you stored the VOB file. Rename the file by typing "rename file.vob file.mpg" at the command prompt then hitting the "ENTER" key. (Close the window to exit the command prompt screen.)

The file can now be imported and edited using Windows Music Maker.

Let me know if you need more help! (Best to msg me on FB. ;))

[andalee-oriental]

I also use handbrake. It defaults to MPEG4 and I choose the AVI option instead. If you use WMM or Windows Media Player, you'll need a Codec. I downloaded this: K-Lite_Codec_Pack_544_Basic.exe. I can't remember where I got it from, but I'm sure if you do a search for K-lite you'll find it.

As for quality, you can mess around with the settings until you find a quality that works for you. However, just remember the quality will never be as good because you are taking a huge file and compressing and making it smaller and therefore losing quality.

Oh and on Handbrake...if your DVD is chaptered you can choose to import certain chapters only. That might make it easier to edit. ;)

[anthea]

Good to know! Handbrake is fired up and doin' its thing as we speak ..g.:

Once this is ripped, I'd love to edit my interview into little sound bytes. But baby steps! For now, all I want is to extract my dance performance and get it up on YouTube.

I use Handbrake too, it's wonderful. Remember youtube limits you to 10 min. unless you have a pro account (or somethign like that).
good luck!

[Safiyah]

If the clip you want is contained in a single VOB file, just rename it to MPG and import it into Windows Media Player.

This is what works for me; I've done it for all of my videos and some home videos for family members. Free and easy

[SaNoorah]

Satin - any word on what you ended up doing and what worked? I've been in this boat now since May, maybe longer.

[SatinWorship19]

Ripped with Handbrake, converted it with conversion software called Need4Video, and edited using Windows Movie Maker. All that stress and it was actually pretty easy to do!

[gisela]

I ripped, edited and published on youtube with just Windows Movie Maker. I have windows 7, maybe that is a difference?