Ripping DVDs to digital form with and without retaining extras

[Muse]

I've used DVD Shrink, DVD Rebuilder, DVD Fab in a few forms, to create DVD-R's, single and dual layer for years. I want to rip to digital form now, files or file structures I can play from a computer or NAS.

Can this be done?

How to best do it, both retaining extras and otherwise?

Can I choose extras I want to keep?

I don't have a Blu-ray burner yet or even a Blu-ray reader in my midtower PC, but am about to upgrade the machine with new mobo, etc. What is needed to do this stuff with Blu-rays?

Someone suggested getting Makemkv to me. Is this a solution, a partial solution, are there better ways to go?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Someone suggested getting Makemkv to me.

That is the best solution if your goal is to take a DVD or Blu Ray and rip the main features (or extras) to mkv files. This is what I use personally.

If you want to keep all the extras like menu's, etc. then you are ripping everything to a ISO. I personally don't like this as its less clean for on-demand playback on a media appliance.

 

[smitbret]

MakeMKV is going to be the best option for a simple rip to a single .mkv. Anything else is gonna require an investment in something like AnyDVD.

 

[Kneedragger]

Yeah MakeMKV is the way to go. I've been using it for years and love it.

 

[soulcougher73]

Only problem i have with makemkv is subtitles. Or im too lazy to figure out all the extra stuff to install to get them to work properly on media browser.

 

[nickbits]

Another vote for makemkv. I have the subtitles working from them too, although I wrote the software myself. I did install some directshow filter that also made them work but I don't recall what it was called.

 

[Muse]

Another vote for makemkv. I have the subtitles working from them too, although I wrote the software myself. I did install some directshow filter that also made them work but I don't recall what it was called.

Yeah, it's subtitles that have me concerned about it right now. DVDShrink let's you keep just the subtitle streams you want (for me that's English!). I so love being able to rip a DVD and keep just the English ST. It's annoying to have to scroll through all the other languages just to turn ST off on the original disks. I did some searching in the Makemkv forums today (joined, and downloaded and installed the program). I actually ripped a couple of DVD's, too, having picked English as preferred in Preferences, hoping that it would preserve and reveal just the English subtitles (yeah, hoping, but now I'm pretty sure they won't be there). I guess I could suggest that stuff at the Forums, I saw people suggesting things, I haven't posted yet.

I did it pretty default, made between 9 and 6 mkv's, so it includes some extras. I have no idea what I'll encounter when I turn on my Sony S390 player and try to play them. The program indicated that it skipped a bunch of stuff because the run time was less than 120 seconds. I figure that's trailers, and eliminating them is AOK with me. Maybe there was some other stuff, don't know.

I wonder if my .mkv's will play using my Sony S390 BD player, I'll try tonight. Or do I have to use Handbrake? Is Handbrake just to reduce the size of the file?

I want subtitles because my hearing kind of sucks and a lot of times I miss lines, have to back up a few seconds and turn on ST for a few seconds to pick up what I missed.

Have you all paid for Makemkv or are you using the beta?

 

[Muse]

Well, my first experience has been OK until I tried to play (using my Sony BDP S390 BD player) any of the .mkv files which I have stored on my new NAS (Synology DS214play, which supports transcoding). I get the message: File is corrupt or is unsupported

Maybe I can play it using the transcoding, but don't know how to set that up at this point.

 

[VeroK]

With WinDVD (paid) you can burn the subtitles if that's what you want. I prefer to keep them as a separate file and you can them play them with or w/o them with something like VCL. I just use handbrake.

 

[gorcorps]

Well, my first experience has been OK until I tried to play (using my Sony BDP S390 BD player) any of the .mkv files which I have stored on my new NAS (Synology DS214play, which supports transcoding). I get the message: File is corrupt or is unsupported

Maybe I can play it using the transcoding, but don't know how to set that up at this point.

This is where handbrake comes in (or it can if you want to try). You can convert to a different file type that your bluray player can read.

 

[smitbret]

Have you all paid for Makemkv or are you using the beta?

It has been in BETA for, quite literally, years.

 

[poofyhairguy]

This is where handbrake comes in (or it can if you want to try). You can convert to a different file type that your bluray player can read.

Or just play the unchanged files on something with more robust decoding than a Blu Ray player.

If you want to get heavy into mkvs the solution is not to transcode every file. The solution is a device that can play any file. Trying to do everything through a Sony device is begging the tech gods to hit you with a bolt of Cinavia lightening (which Handbrake won't fix).

 

[mmntech]

Does MakeMKV actually decrypt & rip Bluray? I thought only AnyDVD HD had that feature. May need to find a cheap BD reader for my desktop if that's the case.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Does MakeMKV actually decrypt & rip Bluray?

Yup

 

[mmntech]

Yup

Sweet. Canada Computers has Pioneer BD readers on sale for $40. Might have to go pick one up this weekend.

 

[Muse]

Well, my first experience has been OK until I tried to play (using my Sony BDP S390 BD player) any of the .mkv files which I have stored on my new NAS (Synology DS214play, which supports transcoding). I get the message: File is corrupt or is unsupported

Maybe I can play it using the transcoding, but don't know how to set that up at this point.

This is where handbrake comes in (or it can if you want to try). You can convert to a different file type that your bluray player can read.

So, next I copy a couple of folders of nothing but .jpg files under the \Photos folder of the DS214play's Media Server application. I go to Diskstation in the Sony BD player's startup screen, navigate to the folders, one at a time and get the same message, The file is corrupt or is unsupported.

Seriously? JPG's not supported? That's absurd!

I have to wonder if there's a configuration issue here.