ripping DVDs to MP4

[LCHIEN]

hi, anyone using their computer to rip DVDs to MP4s to view on their ipod?
I have a longish commute now and get to carpool. I've tried DVDFAB's DVD to mobile option and then i tried freeware Handbrake.
I think DVDFAB demo took like 6 hours to rip a DVD, HAndbrake took 11 hours. I could get a faster PC but its still way longer than real time.

What do you use and how long does it take?

[RAFlorida]

I've tried DVDFAB and it was slow.

LOML bought ConvertXtoDVD for me for around 49 bucks I think. It's faster, usally a movie takes about an hour to copy. Not sure, but I think it does do MP4. Have to look at the spec.
Here's a site with it:

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/?ap=avangate&aid=2202&afs=will_3

[jussi]

hi, anyone using their computer to rip DVDs to MP4s to view on their ipod?
I have a longish commute now and get to carpool. I've tried DVDFAB's DVD to mobile option and then i tried freeware Handbrake.
I think DVDFAB demo took like 6 hours to rip a DVD, HAndbrake took 11 hours. I could get a faster PC but its still way longer than real time.

What do you use and how long does it take?

Are you doing the whole DVD or just the movie? Ripping the movie only saves time as well as space.

[smorris]

I'm using AVS Video Converter. It will do what you want and much more, it converts most any format to another. I use it to convert divx and mpeg to dvd video for the TV mostly, got all my NYW and David Marks videos converted into video format for the TV and it lets you build the menus and chapters. It costs $40 if I recall correctly although there is a free version but it leaves a watermark in the output file.

[phi1l]

This out fit has decnt free conversion software

I use there YouTube to MP3 converter

[RayintheUK]

This application does exactly what it says on the box, simple, fuss-free and effective.

Ray

[LinuxRandal]

VLC (also known as Videolan, an old name) lets you do it. I find it easier to watch how to do it on You Tube then explain it. It is gpl licensed.

EDIT: One link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdQKtxto7C4

http://www.freedvdripper.net/guides/rip-dvd-convert-video-with-free-vlc-player.html

[Mowgli]

I don't know about .mp4 but http://www.doom9.org/ was the best resource for ripping mp3s, dvds etc...

I just looked.
Of course they still have guides including mp4 - here - http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/guides.htm

[toolbelt diva]

I use Videora: http://www.videora.com/

Videora Converter is a free video converter that converts video files, YouTube videos, movies and DVD's so you can play them on your video playing device. The software can convert all types of video files (avi, divx, xvid, flv, x264, vob, mpeg, DVD's, YouTube, etc.) into the proper video formats that play on your video playing device. It is available for Windows and Mac.

It is free and very easy to use. It seems to take the same amount of time to convert a DVD or video that it takes to watch it, so I usually set up batches to convert overnight.

[Kristofor]

Do you need to have it in MP4 format for size or device capability? If those aren't issues then leaving it in MPG2 format and possibly transcoding to save some space may be much quicker on a slow PC.

Which DVDFab profile are you using? Using the default iPod profile in DVDFab6 (720x404, fixed 1394kbps video rate, single pass, aac DPL2 audio at 64kbps) it runs at about 250fps on my machines and takes about 10 minutes to convert a movie.

Those are not the settings I would actually use, so for content heading to my BlackBerry or ZuneHD it actually takes ~25minutes per movie but the app will batch tasks so you can queue up 10 movies and let it plug over night.

My machine that I use for doing this is actually not my newest/fastest. It's an intel Q6600 (Quad 2.4GHz, non-i series) running Vista 64 with 12GB of RAM. An i series processor is supposed to be faster at these types of tasks but I don't know if DVDFab or Handbrake utilize the new instructions or not.

Oh, I should also mention these are not being converted directly from the DVD but from ISOs I have already ripped and stored on my media server which add some network delay but that may still give a bit of a performance boost rather than reading from the DVD drive.

If you are ripping directly from the DVD check to see how quickly you can JUST rip and ISO without converting. Several DVD drives were firmware limited to only be able to rip at 2x unless you take some steps to load hacked firmware...

[RayintheUK]

Do you need to have it in MP4 format for size or device capability?

Read the OP - it's for iPod use.

Ray

[Kristofor]

Yes, in fact I did read the post but that doesn't really answer the question for me... I've owned several portable media devices over the years none of which were one of the twenty-odd flavors of iPod models/generations.

Rather than make an assumption about the limitations of the apple hardware/software, or spending time (side)tracking down the capabilities of those twenty-odd models I simply threw that out as another option to consider. This was before giving specific details on the conversion speeds I was seeing in the tool the OP listed, and a suggestion to check the performance of different parts of the process.

[LCHIEN]

I am ripping directly from DVD.
I am ripping to MP4 for my ipod... I understand that's what it wants and seems reasonably sized compared to the original DVD sizes.
I'm new at this so is there a better format for my iPod (I think a gen 3? 30 GB with video) that is small enough not to fill up the iPod with 3 movies and yet be reasonably quick to rip?

[RayintheUK]

With the Cucusoft app I mentioned earlier, "Ronin" comes in at 390MB, if that gives you an idea of the number of films likely to fit on your iPod.

Ray

[gsmittle]

I use Handbrake or Mac the Ripper. Very handy for ripping clips for my classes.

g.