Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Get help or discuss anything relating to audio/video software & hardware
User avatar
beatlesondvd
Posts: 470
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:38 pm
Location: France
Has thanked: 316 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by beatlesondvd »

Hello everyone.

I want to start ripping my Beatles (uncompressed) DVDs to digital.

With all the expert knowledge around here, I was wondering if someone has any advice as to what software/file extension/setting I should use for the optimal quality/size ratio.

Is x265 the best codec around?
Should I rip to .mp4 or .mkv?
What about deinterlacing?

Thank you!
User avatar
Lord Reith
Posts: 4598
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:22 am
Location: BBC House
Has thanked: 139 times
Been thanked: 3936 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by Lord Reith »

beatlesondvd wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:06 am Hello everyone.

I want to start ripping my Beatles (uncompressed) DVDs to digital.

With all the expert knowledge around here, I was wondering if someone has any advice as to what software/file extension/setting I should use for the optimal quality/size ratio.

Is x265 the best codec around?
Should I rip to .mp4 or .mkv?
What about deinterlacing?

Thank you!
You don't need to convert to mp4 anymore because storage is now so cheap. It's not worth spending hours converting a dvd to mp4 just to reduce the size, especially if you have a lot of them.

You can rip your dvds losslessly to an mkv container, and it will not be re-encoded so you lose no quality and it only takes as long as it takes to copy a file. So you can convert a dvdr in 5 mins or less.

The software I use is called XMediaRecode. Handbrake can't rip losslessly to mkv.

https://www.xmedia-recode.de/download.php

Once you've opened it:

- set FORMAT to "matroska"
- click OPEN DISK and either select a physical dvd or a VIDEO_TS folder you've already ripped. Note that if you're ripping a commercial dvd (that you own of course!) then it will have to be ripped as a VIDEO_TS folder first with something like DVDFab because they are encrypted. Dvdrs aren't encrypted. I always find it is best to rip discs first as VIDEO_TS folders, regardless of whether they are encrypted. You don't need software to rip dvdrs. Just open the disk in explorer and copy the VIDEO_TS file as you would any other folder.
xmediamini.jpg
xmediamini.jpg (80.13 KiB) Viewed 3069 times
- under OUTPUT select a destination that suits you. This has to be done first!
- you can load more VIDEO_TS folders if you want using OPEN DISK, as many as you want. The video contents of all of them will appear in the rectangular window at the top.
- select the dvd title you want, or select all of them. Some dvds contain one long file, others contain many titles
- in the VIDEO tab, set MODE to COPY
- in the AUDIO tab, set MODE to COPY. If there are foreign language streams you can ignore them or highlight them and add them to the output as well with the triangle button. They are not added by default.
- click ADD TO QUEUE
- check the queue and make sure you have everything you want and that all video and audio streams are indicated as "copy"
- click ENCODE

This probably sounds horribly complicated, but what I described only takes about 30 seconds. The encoding will be very fast and if you convert a bunch of VIDEO_TS folders at once you can go off and do something else. You'll be left with mkv files with the original chapters embedded. Of course, you'll have to manually title them.
Last edited by Lord Reith on Tue May 04, 2021 2:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Women there don't treat you mean, in Abilene
User avatar
beatlesondvd
Posts: 470
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:38 pm
Location: France
Has thanked: 316 times
Been thanked: 29 times
Contact:

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by beatlesondvd »

Thank you, Lord R! Just what I was looking for. Step-by-step explanation, and a suggested software! I'll get to it.
chrisp
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:18 pm
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by chrisp »

I thought this was an interesting question and a great helpful answer by Lord Reith. I just wondered how beatlesondvd was thinking of doing this. Are you thinking of using any additional software to organise the mkv files on a hard disk, usb stick or streaming device? I am asking because I use a usb stick for MKV or MP4 downloads and I just plug the stick into my TV to play them. It works well but it is a long list to scroll up and down to select the next video to watch.
User avatar
Egg_Crisis
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 3:24 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by Egg_Crisis »

chrisp wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 5:14 pmIt works well but it is a long list to scroll up and down to select the next video to watch.
If you separated them into folders would your TV allow you to click on a folder and access the contents?
chrisp
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:18 pm
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by chrisp »

I hadn't thought of doing that, thank you. I will try it and see.
User avatar
onemojofilter
Posts: 202
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:44 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by onemojofilter »

Lord Reith wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:58 am You don't need to convert to mp4 anymore because storage is now so cheap. It's not worth spending hours converting a dvd to mp4 just to reduce the size, especially if you have a lot of them.

You can rip your dvds losslessly to an mkv container, and it will not be re-encoded so you lose no quality and it only takes as long as it takes to copy a file. So you can convert a dvdr in 5 mins or less.

The software I use is called XMediaRecode. Handbrake can't rip losslessly to mkv.

https://www.xmedia-recode.de/download.php

Once you've opened it:
...
Forgive a newbie asking an obvious question, but is it possible to have multiple VOB files converted into one mkv file rather than multiple mkv files?
My opinions are my own, but, my dog tends to agree with everything I say.
User avatar
Suzy Parlourphone
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:19 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by Suzy Parlourphone »

onemojofilter wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 9:35 pm
Forgive a newbie asking an obvious question, but is it possible to have multiple VOB files converted into one mkv file rather than multiple mkv files?
I use MakeMKV for ripping DVDs/DVD files (https://www.makemkv.com). You can turn a title and its chapters into a single mkv file, but I think if there are multiple titles they would be different mkv files. For example, if you wanted to do a DVD movie with special features, the movie would be a file and the features would be separate individual files. You can also do individual chapters, specify the audio, etc. It works for Blu-Ray too.
User avatar
Lord Reith
Posts: 4598
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:22 am
Location: BBC House
Has thanked: 139 times
Been thanked: 3936 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by Lord Reith »

onemojofilter wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 9:35 pm Forgive a newbie asking an obvious question, but is it possible to have multiple VOB files converted into one mkv file rather than multiple mkv files?
A lot of people make that mistake. Don't use "open file", use "open disk", even if it's a disk ripped to your hard drive.

Like so:
xmedia.jpg
xmedia.jpg (238.64 KiB) Viewed 3071 times
It will open the titles on the dvd instead of the vob files.
Women there don't treat you mean, in Abilene
chrisp
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:18 pm
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Advice for ripping unbootlegged Beatleg DVDs to digital

Post by chrisp »

Egg_Crisis wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 6:46 pm
chrisp wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 5:14 pmIt works well but it is a long list to scroll up and down to select the next video to watch.
If you separated them into folders would your TV allow you to click on a folder and access the contents?
Thank you Egg_Crisis for that suggestion about using folders. It worked, I don't know why I hadn't thought of it. It will make it much easier to organise my videos.
Post Reply