# Ripping DVD's into PC for theater playback



## mrm14

Don't know if this is posted in correct section as I am new here so please bare with me. 

I have been looking for software to rip my Bluray and regular DVD's into my PC for the theater room for play back only and have had no luck in finding anything out there. Actually I went to Fry's Electronics and bought 123 Copy DVD Platinum version thinking that this software would do this but found that it's only good for burning or copying DVD's including bluray types. That will teach me to leave my reading glasses at home. I have no interest in copying more discs of what I already have. I only want to rip movies into my PC and playback from PC hard drive through my theater system. 

I've looked around the internet and found software that claims it can do this but that one would have to buy other software to be able to playback off hard drive. This makes me leary to buy just to find out that it wont work well or would be glitchey. 

So my question is if any such software exists; What is available in software to do this? And if available; Which are the best?


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## Cory Phoenix

As long as you own the physical media and are making backups to your HTPC, I would recommend using:
AnyDVD and/or AnyDVD HD

It isn't free, but it's the best I've found and I have been using it for years. They update the software with new encryption keys almost weekly as new releases go public. It's worth the money if you're going to be doing a lot of this.

Good luck! :T


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## mrm14

Cory Phoenix said:


> As long as you own the physical media and are making backups to your HTPC, I would recommend using:
> AnyDVD and/or AnyDVD HD
> 
> It isn't free, but it's the best I've found and I have been using it for years. They update the software with new encryption keys almost weekly as new releases go public. It's worth the money if you're going to be doing a lot of this.
> 
> Good luck! :T


I've looked at AnyDVD/HD and they say to use other software to play it off the hard drive. I'm O.K. with that. 

What software do you use for playback?

I have about 800 DVD's, regular ones as well as bluray. My new custom built PC tower has 10 TB's of free hard drive just waiting to be loaded with my owned physical DVD media.


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## zero the hero

i use DVDFAB to rip Blurays and DVDs, and play back through my XBox 360s or my Boxee Box. I don't have a player on the PC itself.


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## Nissan-SR20-Man

Cory Phoenix said:


> As long as you own the physical media and are making backups to your HTPC, I would recommend using:
> AnyDVD and/or AnyDVD HD
> 
> It isn't free, but it's the best I've found and I have been using it for years. They update the software with new encryption keys almost weekly as new releases go public. It's worth the money if you're going to be doing a lot of this.
> 
> Good luck! :T


I have ripped everything with Slysoft's software. It is great. It has a trial period and I use it for mass ripping during this period. I have not actually purchased the software.

I always rip DVD's as video files NOT ISO format as others like. Windows Media Center has native support for dvd rips, not iso images. iso images can be played directly though WMC but requires some additional work. I chose the most simple approach.

I have about 5.8TB of blu rays and dvd's. Currently it is about 85% HD rips in MKV format (greater than 720P) and 15% dvd rips in standard dvd format.

I use MKV format for HD due to graphics card acceleration. On windows 7 WMC plus the use of Shark 007 Codec package, MKV playback is flawless. I use ATI HD5550 video card, super cheap and plenty of power for HD. WMC does not support MKV out of the box.


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## nholmes1

I use Arcsoft TMT5 for media playback on my htpc along with AnyDVD HD for ripping.


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## MrBachelor

I'm using DVD Decryptor to rip my ISOs with MyMovies and Virtual Clone Drive to play them through WMC. Alternately, VLC will play ISOs just fine.


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## yao847zi

Well, i always use wannasoft Blu-ray Ripper to help me rip Blu-ray or DVD movies from disks onto my PC for playback. It is able to rip all the versions of Blu-ray/DVD discs, and the output quality is fine to me.

U can have a try


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## xtinkshun

I use Sly Soft Any DVD. It works awesome and you can purchase from a 1yr to a lifetime subscription..


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## mrm14

I bought Sly Soft DVD. It works good, but takes quite a while to rip blu ray to hard drive, but thats just the nature of the beast. I have 231 movies ripped so far with about 540 movies left to go. It'll be awhile before I'm done with my collection.


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## wbassett

My video server has over 18TB of DVDs and blurays on it. I use AnyDVD HD and Shrink.


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## mrm14

wbassett said:


> My video server has over 18TB of DVDs and blurays on it. I use AnyDVD HD and Shrink.


I'm affraid if I shrink / compress the movie files I'll loose some picture quality. But what I most fear is loosing sound quality like when I compress music files for MP3 players.


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## Jasonpctech

AnyDVD HD to throw away any DRM or region issues. _It's your software you paid for it._ (just buy the lifetime offer you won't regret it.)
Virtual clone drive for .ISO loading. (this is free)
MPC or VLC to play just about anything with a good codec pack just in case (free)
CCCP or for Win7 Shark 007 codec pack. (free)
http://www.mymovies.dk/ to organize and access in WMC. (basic features are free I recommend $50 in points)

I won't get into Shrinking media but I can tell you 300-700 mb files can look better than non HD content and still retain digital audio. HD content can still be satisfying on the small screen at 1.3-2 gigs but for projecting do your best to leave it be. 

Also try JRiver MC as a possible WMC replacement they have a 30day trial and you can do fantastic things with the DSP EQ for room correction.

If you find other ways to do this more power to you I have tried most of them and trouble shot many more.
I listed what works, always, period, for me. (and people pay me to build HTPC's)

* I would also suggest if you have any stuttering or playback issues with your current system and you have tried everything else, try backing off memory bus speed and exclude media directory's from resident Anti-virus monitoring and good things will happen. That was experience talkin son.*


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## wbassett

mrm14 said:


> I'm affraid if I shrink / compress the movie files I'll loose some picture quality. But what I most fear is loosing sound quality like when I compress music files for MP3 players.


I don't compress anything with Shrink, I just use it to create my .vob files.


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## Jasonpctech

You know I have a funny theory on the whole picture quality subject. 

I tend to compress the audio less than video when transcoding.
I have been known to compress as much as 70% on lower interest subject matter till it reaches SDTV quality. 

Compress things more based on the following in order: 
1. If replay value is low. (50% rule)
2. Future expected existence of original media. (-60%)
3. TV series with commercials or DVR content. (-70%)
(DVR weekly content is typically deleted within 30 days anyways.)
4. Kids stuff. (-70% with some exceptions)

_Begin semi related rant,_ :rant:
Keep in mind I own my digitized content so failure is less of a issue. I dry store my disc media and no one gets to handle it unless I want to display boxes, no loans or greasy kids stuff instant access in a moments notice. 
Most importantly NO DRM CLOUD SERVERS to disappear years later with no excuses, notice or regard to my rights. :explode:


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## hgoed

I never ripped any DVDs I've only worked with BluRays. It takes a while (~30 min), but I've used dvdfab to rip a few movies to MKV and a few as direct ISO and the quality is the same to me (remux). Size is quite large 'cause I don't compress, but 1TB of hard drive space is about the price of a movie or two and will continue to fall. 

I rip all of my movies, even the ones I plan on deleting right away, because I like to play with the file and like to be able to navigate without any delay or stutter.


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## mrm14

wbassett said:


> I don't compress anything with Shrink, I just use it to create my .vob files.


O.K. got it. Thanks


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## sholling

I like SlySoft's AnyDVD HD a lot (I have a lifetime license) but find myself using MakeMKV more often now. It allows you to decide what audio formats to include and cull out all of the things you won't want like previews and just save the movie in a single full quality MKV file. They have a full featured 30 day trial.


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## StereoClarity

The DVD Fab Beta versions have been working GREAT for me. Easy as cake and they even get the XML data for WMC. I rip as full quality since space isn't an issue. You can do blurays too.

For BluRay playback I use Arcsoft TMT5 as stated above. It's foolproof. It integrates automatically and SEAMLESSLY into WMC without you having to do anything. I highly recommend it!


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## Atama

For ripping discs that I own, is there a software that works well for removing the "extra" content? As in previews, other languages, etc., so that I can store just the movie & appropriate audio, thus saving myself some disk space? TIA!


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## nholmes1

Yes AnyDVD will do this on physical discs, pretty sure DVDfab will do so as well. Most re-enoding software will allow you to archive just the main movie and a preferred audio track.


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## RTS100x5

Dvd fab / total media theater platinum :d


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## JustJoe91010

Is there any advantage to converting dvd library to iso files and viewing with software like Virtual Clone Drive?

Doesn't the pc think you put a physical dvd in a physical drive but without any spool up delay?


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## Jasonpctech

Yup there are advantages, no more leaving your discs where people can damage them or ask to borrow. If you rip them you certainly can skip all the extra fluff on the disc so you can just PLAY the movie and sav some room on your drives. I always DVD Shrink by around %50 for non blockbuster or kids titles "more space saved" hardly noticeable and better looking than some HD content. but the best part is seeing my library on screen ready to watch with tiles and descriptions, categories and integrated with free MyMovies. MyMovies auto downloads all the metadata and Kmplayer opens all the formats until I figure out how to get JRiver MC to work properly as a external player launched by MyMovies XML. Then I will have the best Audio, Video and ease of use interface I can imagine. Plus be able to stream to other rooms.

Question 2, No spooling up, or _looking for that disc your kid just lent out without asking either._

I use and recommend WMC7, MyMovies*, AnyDVD HD, KMplayer*, Virtual Clone Drive*, Gyration MCE remote Also see JRiver Media Center as a possible replacement for WMC7, Kmplayer & MyMovies.

JRiver has audiophile level control built in and features that surpass anything else I have tried but they lack a book and are still not quite user friendly and simple to use for other members of the family.

(*Free full or basic functionality) *See 181Fm for a streaming audio player I love*


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## Irishsaab

Thank you so much for this posting! I've been scratching my head for some time now because I took the suggestion of the HTGUYS and used Handbreak to rip the disk to my hard drive but I'm not impressed with the quality of the video afterwards. Now I have some homework to do. 

Thanks to all for your ideas! 

NB: it! Wish I hadn't already ripped 70 movies! :hissyfit:


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## sholling

If you rip to ISO you'll have zero loss in quality because it's essentially an exact duplicate. On the other hand some (but not all) MKV software automatically apply rather drastic lossy compression leaving you with a smaller but lower quality video. Still others leave the video untouched but strip out lossless audio. ISO leaves you with a very large file but nothing is missing or reduced in quality. The rub there is the need to mount the ISO to play the video. On a PC that's easily done with VirtualCloneDrive but I have no clue what you need for a Mac.


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## Irishsaab

Thanks for the note! I did a quick search and came up with this info from:http://installingcats.com/2007/12/11/how-to-play-watch-iso-dvd-movie-files-in-mac-os-x-leopard/

Thought others might like to see how easy they make this sound. 

From that link: 
"To play a movie that is saved in ISO file format on Mac OS X, start the built-in DVD Player (find it in the Applications Folder, it won’t be on the Dock at the bottom of your screen by default).

Then in Finder (or on your Desktop) double click the ISO file to “mount” the ISO movie file. Apple DVD Player will automatically recognize that a movie DVD has been loaded and will start playing the movie immediately.

That’s all there is to playing movie DVD’s saved as ISO files on your Mac with Leopard OS X."

Guess I'll have to give this a try!


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## Irishsaab

On another related issue I found the answer to another Mac problem on that same site. I haven't had time to test them out but the logic seems sound. 

Most people have had issues trying to play back .mkv, .avi, and .flv. files on their mac computers but this seems like a nice help for those who like Quicktime. 

From that same site: 
"Have an .mkv movie file? Wondering what the it is and how to play it?

High Definition movies in 720 or 1080 pixel width format are often encoded and packaged as a Matroska format video with a .mkv file extension.

Apple QuickTime doesn’t handle this format natively so you have to add a package handler for mkv files to QuickTime to play .mkv files.

A quick and easy solution to how to play .mkv files is to install Perian, which makes QuickTime play .avi, .flv, and .mkv files and handles many different and popular encoding formats for video.

Perian for QuickTime: http://perian.org/ 

Remember to fully quit and re-launch QuickTime after installing Perian (don’t just close the QuickTime window, it’s still running until you Quit the program). This allows QuickTime to reload its list of handled formats and encodings.

When double clicking on an .mkv file to play it, you may have to wait until the entire film is buffered in QuickTime before it will play smoothly. You can tell the progress of the buffering by looking at the grey timeline bar that is inching across the bottom left of the QuickTime window, starting near the 00:00 time marker. This is one of the oddities of the .mkv Matroska video package format. Don’t ask me why this happens, just keep this in mind next time you want to watch an mkv video on your Mac use Perian.


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## JustJoe91010

Jasonpctech said:


> Question 2, No spooling up, or _looking for that disc your kid just lent out without asking either._
> 
> I use and recommend WMC7, MyMovies*, AnyDVD HD, KMplayer*, Virtual Clone Drive*, Gyration MCE remote Also see JRiver Media Center as a possible replacement for WMC7, Kmplayer & MyMovies.
> 
> JRiver has audiophile level control built in and features that surpass anything else I have tried but they lack a book and are still not quite user friendly and simple to use for other members of the family.
> 
> (*Free full or basic functionality) *See 181Fm for a streaming audio player I love*


I was looking at using XBMC instead of WMC7 for most things, I've heard of JRiver but haven't done much research on it. Are there vast advantages over XBMC or WMC7?

Is it free, inexpensive, pricey to get the same features as XBMC or WMC7?

I'm going to have to put whatever I use (sans WMC7 as it's already there) on three pc's in three separate rooms.


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## Sevenfeet

Irishsaab said:


> Thanks for the note! I did a quick search and came up with this info from:http://installingcats.com/2007/12/11/how-to-play-watch-iso-dvd-movie-files-in-mac-os-x-leopard/
> 
> Thought others might like to see how easy they make this sound.
> 
> From that link:
> "To play a movie that is saved in ISO file format on Mac OS X, start the built-in DVD Player (find it in the Applications Folder, it won’t be on the Dock at the bottom of your screen by default).
> 
> Then in Finder (or on your Desktop) double click the ISO file to “mount” the ISO movie file. Apple DVD Player will automatically recognize that a movie DVD has been loaded and will start playing the movie immediately.
> 
> That’s all there is to playing movie DVD’s saved as ISO files on your Mac with Leopard OS X."
> 
> Guess I'll have to give this a try!


Yes, this method works well. Also, DVD rips (non-ISO) will work with Apple's DVD Player too...just tell it where the folder is. It's not Blu-Ray but it's a pretty respectable playback mechanism for DVDs.


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## wtaylorbasil

zero the hero said:


> i use DVDFAB to rip Blurays and DVDs, and play back through my XBox 360s or my Boxee Box. I don't have a player on the PC itself.


1. How do I set up XBox 360 to playback ripped DVD/Blue Ray on Home network DLNA?
2. How do I start a new thread?


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## RTS100x5

wtaylorbasil said:


> 1. How do I set up XBox 360 to playback ripped DVD/Blue Ray on Home network DLNA?
> 2. How do I start a new thread?


Use JRiver Media Center on your PC


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