Help tech-phobe rip and burn my workout DVDs! Tried and failed!

[kikinyc]

My New Year's resolution is to put all my exercise DVDs on my macbook air so I can easily access them. I've done extensive online research over the past several days, downloaded several programs, but still haven't figured out how to do this correctly. Please note I am very tech-unsavvy and wholly unfamiliar with many terms I am seeing here in this forum.

I have a MacBook Air with external dvd drive.

Goal: to rip all my exercise DVDs along with all chapters. This is key because some of my dvds, like a Finis Jhung ballet dvd, will have about 15 different chapters, each demonstrating a different dance combination. I would then like to play them on my macbook air, with the option to play them on my ipad. I would also like to create a hardcopy backup DVD. If it can be easily done, I would love to be able to trim some of the dvds-- take out the parts where the instructor talks too much, etc. But my first priority is getting them on my Mac in an easy to play format.

Here's what I've tried. MakeMKV for the ripping part. Seems to work ok, except the audio on some of the dvds is garbled.

I figured out pretty quickly quicktime won't play much of anything so I downloaded VLC, seems to work fine. I was unable to change the track names or burn the DVD, so I tried a few additional options-- Wondershare DVD Creator (bought this)-- when that didn't work correctly the CS there offered me the Ultimate DVD converter-- which failed to register, despite a code they provided me with. I think that company is horrible and am trying to get a refund.

Next up-- Handbrake. I took my MKV file and ran it through Handbrake and ended up with a Mv4 (again, I am unfamiliar with what any of these formats actually mean), with no list of chapters or anything so I can't select the section I want to watch.

I really have no idea what I need, can anyone help? Ease of use is key for me-- I don't mind spending $$ on something that will work. Also, quality is not a big concern for me-- I do need the audio un-garbled though so at least I can hear it.

[Noahtuck]

First off, MakeMKV is not a "ripper" and does NOT remove or bypass any copy protection on dvd's.
It only converts any files you already have into MKV's with no compression or conversion.

Regardless of what you want to end up with you need to use a "ripping" program that will actually rip your dvd's and remove the copy protection before you go any further.

And seeing as you are using a MAC, your choices are limited and would probably be better answered in the MAC forum.

[kikinyc]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I definitely misunderstood "Ripping"-- I thought if the program could get my dvd onto my laptop, that it was "ripped"- thanks for the clarification. I will repost in MAC forum.

[johns0]

Thread moved to the mac forum where you can get more help,please do no open another thread in the mac forum,just continue here.

[Ai Haibara]

Actually, MakeMKV does indeed have some support for ripping DVDs and Blu-Ray discs - however, I'm not sure how extensive that support is, and I doubt it's updated as often as the dedicated ripping programs, for all the latest protections and such. You're better off using a dedicated ripper, anyway, and feeding the result to MakeMKV, rather than have MakeMKV rip and process the disc in one process.

Most of the DVD/BD rippers for OS X are commercial or shareware apps, however, so it could be a little difficult to find one that works for you. But, there's also been a version of DVDFab HD Decrypter released for OS X - the DVD and Blu-Ray ripping functions can be used for free, although updates for it lag a little behind the paid version. Everything else, such as the conversion/re-encoding features (which aren't that great, anyway, from all accounts), are shareware.

[kikinyc]

Thanks for the response. I tested two trial rippers today-- ripit and DVDFab. For whatever reason, DVDFab simply failed. Ripit, however, worked very easily and quickly. I then plugged my file into Handbrake and was able to retain my chapters and even rename them. These both work great on my mac, at least for my simple purposes. I will definitely purchase ripit, it is the key I was missing.

[Baldrick]

Actually, MakeMKV does indeed have some support for ripping DVDs and Blu-Ray discs - however, I'm not sure how extensive that support is, and I doubt it's updated as often as the dedicated ripping programs, for all the latest protections and such. You're better off using a dedicated ripper, anyway, and feeding the result to MakeMKV, rather than have MakeMKV rip and process the disc in one process.

It's updated pretty often. Like today.

Strange that Ripit has NO version information on their site whatsover....hard to update our tools list then.

[rumplestiltskin]

Easiest solution: Handbrake. You must also install VLC as Handbrake uses VLC's decryption libraries for that part of the process (assuming the DVD is encrypted). You'll end up with MP4 (or M4V but you may rename the extension if you don't like iTunes launching when you double-click the video file). Forget MKV.