Macintosh rip,compress & burn guide

MACINTOSH DVD RIPPING TUTORIAL BY MEDIAGURU

After reading through some message boards I realized there
were many newbies who simply didn't know the process. I
typed this up quickly and I'm sure it's not perfect. I'll revise it
if I find mistakes sometime....

There are several good ways to rip and burn a dvd on the mac
in OSX. I'm able to rip/compress/burn with my dual G5 in
less than an hour. These steps are fairly detailed but once
you have your preferences set it will be as simple as a couple
of mouse clicks per rip/compress/burn.

There are 3 basic applications you will need to backup a
commercial dvd:
1. A RIPPER such as Mac The Ripper, DVDBackup1,3 or OSEX
2. A COMPRESSOR: If the ripped files are over 4.3GB then
you'll need to compress to reduce the file size.
3. BURNING SOFTWARE: burn with toast.

MY FAVORITE WAY TO RIP/COMPRESS/BURN: (Mac The Ripper
+ DVD2ONEX + Toast)

[bold]RIP[/bold]

I prefer to use Mac The Ripper to rip. It has many great
features including the ability to rip full disc, movie only,
titlesets, chapter selction, disable user operations, de-
macrovision, reset RCE Region and more. It has come to my
attention however that using MTR in "main feature only" mode
may result in an unplayable rip. If that is the case rip the
whole disc just to be sure.
Update: There is a new version of MTR: 2.6.6
I don't know if the movie only problem is fixed
but there are other improvements. Download MTR here: http://www.speedisc.com/downloads/

1. Put the dvd in your mac.
2. Quit dvd player if it starts up
3. Run Mac The Ripper (MTR)
4. MTR will default with full disc rip (Movie only doesn't work
currently up to version 2.6. So don't rip movie only for now!)
5. Hit "GO" and MTR will rip the disc to your hard drive.
6. I usually title my rips like this STAR_TREK_RIP

[bold]COMPRESS[/bold]

SKIP the compress stage if your RIP is 4.3GB or less! (Unless
you want to strip some extras or use some of the features of
dvd2onex).

1. Run DVD2ONEX
2. Decide if you want to compress the MOVIE ONLY, WHOLE
DISC or use the JOIN MODE

MOVIE ONLY mode is usually what I use. I want to preserve
the quality of the MOVIE and I don't usually care about the
extra features. If you can strip the extras and unwanted
languages ect, you can have more space for higher quality
DVD video.

WHOLE DISC mode is obviously for compressing the entire
dvd. It is to be used if you wish to preserve all extras,
previews, fbi warnings and subtitles. You can still de-select
some audio tracks.

JOIN MODE is good for RIPS that may contain several
"episodes" on one DVD. For instance a Star Trek dvd will have
4 episodes. I used join mode to "Join" two episodes together
onto ONE dvd. Using join mode in this way preserves ALL of
the video quality. You could also use join mode to COMBINE
TWO DVD'S. Say you have two DVD's that are 1 hour each.
You could "join" them and make 1 dvd. HOWEVER, using join
mode to combine titles could result in lower quality video.

YOU CAN SPLIT A DVD INTO TWO, OR SELECT A PORTION OF
THE DVD WITH CELL/CHAPTER/LAYER (under the selections
tab).
If you want to split the disc you can select layer to split where
the layers switch. OR you can select chapter and select the
first half of the chapters for disc one and the 2nd half of the
chapters for disc two. This would most likely result in split
disc with no quality loss at all.

3. Once you've selected the correct mode you may need to
select which chapters, audio tracks and subtitles you want.
4. Select START and DVD2ONEX will ask you for a location for
the new compressed data.
5. Create a new folder and DVD2ONEX will put the VIDEO_TS
and AUDIO_TS folder in there!
6. I'll usually title my compressed files like this:
STAR_TREK_DVD

[bold]AN ALTERNATIVE TO COMPRESSION THAT SHRINKS THE
DISC SIZE AND KEEPS THE MAIN MENU! ALSO A "MANUAL"
WAY TO SPLIT THE DVD WITH MENUS ON BOTH!
(before you do this you may want to try the way I describe to
split above with dvd2onex).

WARNING: this may result in an unplayable dvd however so be
warned![/bold]

If you have a DVD that is larger than 4.3gb but contains tons
of extra features, deleted scenes etc you can try a little
experiment.

The basic structure of the DVD will have:

DISC_TITLE
-VIDEO_TS
(inside video_ts are some files with .IFO .BUP .VOB)
The ifo file has the basic "instructions" for the player. It is
basically a text file telling the player what to play when.

The .VOB is a "Video Object" which contains the mpeg2 video
and audio.

There will be several VOB files: VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB
etc. The max size for 1 vob file is about 1GB. If you have say
6 or 7 VOBS and you want just the main feature try this: Take
out VOBS 5, 6 & 7. See if you are under 4.3GB. If you are
then load up DVD Player and try to play the VIDEO_TS folder.
Go to the last chapter or two of the disc and try to play them.
Play it out to the end of the movie. If it is all there you are
good to go. If not, then the mpeg2 compression is too big
and you'll have to compress it.

If you want to save the extras the opposite of the above works
as well. Just make a version with the .IFO .BUP and the last
few .VOBs. You'll retain the main menu and have a disc with
the extras!

If you have a DVD with basically NO special features or extras
and you want to split it into two discs and thus have NO
compression then you can do the same. Make disc one with
the .IFO and .BUP files along with the first half of the .VOBs.
Then make the 2nd disc with the .IFO and .BUP with the 2nd
half of the .VOBs. You won't know where your split is until
you play it though and there may be some overlap but hey it
will work!

If you want to save the extras the opposite of the above works
as well. Just make a version with the .IFO .BUP and the last
few .VOBs. You'll retain the main menu and have a disc with
the extras!

In these scenarios you may need to keep the first VOB if your
menus are not there! EXPERIMENT!

Once again I warn you that you may make some coasters this
way. Test your VIDEO_TS folders with DVD Player!

[bold]BURN[/bold]

Using TOAST 6

1. Run toast 6.X
2. Select the DATA tab
3. Under the disc options window tab, select ADVANCED
4. Select "DVD-ROM (UDF)"
5. Select "New Disc" and name it with CAPS_ONLY_LIKE_THIS
(no spaces)
6. Add your new VIDEO_TS folder to the disc.
7. Add or create an AUDIO_TS folder, even if it is empty.
(Some players like to see this folder)
8. Burn (Use slowest speed you can stand to wait for)
DO NOT USE THE "VIDEO" TAB. This is for creating VideoCD,
or DVD from video files such as MPG, AVI etc. It is NOT for
burning DVD from ripped files!!! This is something MANY
people don't understand!!!
8.5 In version 6.0.7 I believe you CAN burn a "DVD From
VIDEO_TS Folder" from the Video tab.

That's it!

[bold]YOU CAN'T USE DISK UTILITY TO BURN DVD VIDEOS!:[/bold]
DVD video discs are "UDF" format. Disc utility doesn't do UDF!

[bold]OTHER APPS:[/bold]

You can use DVDBackup1.3 or OSEX instead of MTR. OSEX is
kind of buggy but sometimes can drip a DVD that other
programs can't. Use OSEX as a 3rd option.

USING DVDBACKUP1.3:

1. Put DVD in player
2. Play the DVD in apple's DVD player for a few seconds. I
usually start the main feature and scan through some of the
chapters. The encryption keys are stored IN the DVD player.
If you don't do this your rip may not work.
3. Quit DVD player and run DVDBackup1.3
4. Drag the dvd's disc icon from the desktop to the window in
DVDBackup. You'll then see the files in the dvd.
5. Hit "Process Files" and the program will ask you to create a
new VIDEO_TS folder. It will then decrypt the files to that
folder.
Proceed to Compress or Burn mode when the rip is done.

OSEX

OSEX is one of (if not THE) the first mac OSX rippers. It has
some
nice selections like extracting to quicktime, chapter selections
etc. It does like to crash when there is dvd-rom data for the
computer on the dvd. Sometimes OSEX will extract a dvd
when other apps won't. Nice as a 2nd or 3rd backup for
ripping.

DVDRemaster:

I usually use DVD2ONEX but DVDRemaster has very high
quality compression. It does lack many of the features
DVD2ONEX has like join, movie only etc. But for a full disc
recompress it works quite well. It does allow you to select
two different ways to recompress and different audio track
selection.

The M2VDownsizer is a very high quality mode that actually
recompresses the video. I can't tell a difference in the video
quality of a dvd-9 or a dvd-5 with m2vdownsizer
compression! It can take a LONG time depending on your
machine. On my dual G5/2ghz it takes about 4 hours.

DVDXDV:

Use this great program to extract parts of a DVD to quicktime.
Works awesome, but doesn't decrypt. So if you want to
convert part of a commercial dvd, you'll need to rip it first.

FAST DVD COPY:

Nice for 1 click copying of a commercial dvd!

If you simply want to click one button and have virtually NO
control over the content then take a look at FastDVDCopy. I
don't recommend this way personally.

[bold]WHEN NOTHING ELSE WORKS[/bold]

I have a couple of macs that can boot in OS9. There's an old
app (I believe the very first on the mac) for ripping. It is called
DVDExtractor.9b. It will rip the disc and make a disc image of
it. I've had discs that couldn't be ripped with any of the osx
rippers but DID rip correctly with DVDExtractor.

UPDATE DECEMBER 31 2006
Wow it's been over TWO years since I wrote this guide. Things are mostly the same with new versions of the apps. One of these days I'll come up with an updated version of this guide but for now I suggest:

Mac The Ripper 2.66 for ripping (it's in beta 3.13e now). There will be discs that 2.66 can't rip so you may have to try the beta. You can get the beta at ripdifferent.com.

dvd2oneX for compression (if you need it) Toast 7 now compresses too. I haven't tested it to see how good of a compression it is, but I hear it's a bit slow.

Toast 7 for burning.

New rip guide soon

 

Wow, what an excellent guide...thanks alot! I sure wish I could work something out with my AVIs..I guess I could just back them up as data since I don't have the patience to wait days for one to burn. Thanks again!

 

Quick Question regarding "DO NOT USE THE "VIDEO" TAB. This is for creating VideoCD, or DVD from video files such as MPG, AVI etc. It is NOT for burning DVD from ripped files!!! This is something MANY people don't understand!!"

Before seeing this guide, I burned a ripped DVD by using the Video Tab...in Toast 6.07 there is a tab that says "Video from TS" or something to that effect..worked fine...is your way better?

 

Just two more things about BURNING.

a) If you are using Toast 6.0.7 you should select the "Video" tab and under the advanced options select "DVD-Video from VIDEO_TS" to burn your ripped DVDs. Toast will automatically add an empty AUDIO_TS folder.

b) If you do not want to spend money on burning software you can download DVDImager (http://lonestar.utsa.edu/llee/applescript/dvdimager.html) to create an image of your VIDEO_TS folder in UDF format that can be burned using Disk Utility (Panther) or Disk Copy (Jaguar).
Applications?Utilities?Disk Utility/Copy.

 

deltadiva: Perhaps it will create the dvd from a VIDEO_TS folder. Never tried it. If it does I'd better modify my post earlier.

You can use toast or to create vcd or dvd from avi I do believe. It takes quite a long time to convert.

MG

 

I am trying to back up Return of the King. I am using a MAC superdrive burner. Everytime I try and burn it says illegal operation and crashes the computer. What program should i use to remove the protection?

 

I am trying to back up Return of the King. I am using a MAC superdrive burner. Everytime I try and burn it says illegal operation and crashes the computer. What program should i use to remove the protection?

 

Mac The Ripper

http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/mtr.html

 

The first time I ripped it I used DVD shrink to rip it then moved it from my windows computer to MAC and it didn't work isn't dvd shrink more powerful than mac the ripper?

 

Hi. First of all thanks for the great tutorial.

I've followed it along and I'm able to get a piece of "The Warriors" dvd ripped and into a folder on my desktop.

I want to take bits of movies from my dvd collection and edit them together in FCP or even iMovie to make a cool little atmosphere collage thang for background viewing at parties and stuff.

How can I take this extracted footage and import it into any video editing apps? (Mac of course). I've tried a suggestion I read to simply rename the ext. to .mpg but it create a QT file that cannot be read by anything.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

D.V.

 

You need to rip or convert to quicktime so you can edit them. The best app for this is DVDXDV. Look 'em up on google.

MG

 

20200

I'm not really sure why you're going back & forth between windows & mac. If dvdshrink creates a DVD file structure with a VIDEO_TS folder then maybe you could transfer the files.

But for MTR to work you need to RIP the disc directly, not try to use it on some files that are already ripped on your HD.

 

I tried DVDxDV all afternoon and everything I imported to it looked pixelated in their window. Is there a trick with that program?

 

DvdXDV doesn't decrypt the data. You'd need to rip it first to your HD if it is a commercial dvd.

THEN you can extract the quicktime. Look for OSEX as well. That app can extract to quicktime.

MG

 

Yes. I think I have a system that will work for me now.

I rip the DVD's with Mac the Ripper. From there DVDxDV can import the VOC files then export sections as MPEG'S. Which I can put together in FCP. Ahhhh.

 

I am having a weird capacity problem. When I compress with DVD2oneX and set the output to DVD+/-R which is 4472, when I go to burn it in Toast 6 (set to Data) I get an over capacity messge. The message is 2301433 (4.4GB) needed, 2298496 (4.4GB) available.

I find that I have to set a custom output size on DVD2oneX. 4400MB works, but I do not know how large I can make the output before it goes over capacity on Toast. I just know that the 4472 MB is too large.

Anyone else having trouble with this?

I set Toast to DATA, DVD-ROM (UDF) and create a new disk with the exact title of the original.

 

I've run into this problem dozens of times. I usually just do what you did by setting it to 4400 for that particular disc. Some people think that some questionable media doesn't work well beyond 4000 so they set it to 4000 as well.

MG

 

I ripped a DVD and it is in .VOB format.. IS that what its supposed to be in? The DVD is too large to fit on a Blank DVD so i Downloaded DVD2oneX but i dont know how to use it. When i tried opening up my ripped dvd file in the dvd2oneX program it wouldnt let me highlight the VOB file to select it..

 

YOU SHOULD have a VIDEO_TS folder containing a few files inside with extensions .VOB .IFO .BUP

If all you have is one VOB file you've probably done something wrong. I remember OSEX has some kind of rip that is like that.

What did you use to RIP? DVD2ONEX can only work with a proper VIDEO_TS folder.

 

I used OSEx but now i just ripped it with Mac The Ripper and i have what u said a VIDEO_TS folder containg all those files...so now what?