Best ripping/burning solution for Macs?

[amckinney]

Hi:
I used to use a combination of MacTheRipper and Toast to do what little DVD ripping I did in the past. However, I can no longer get MTR to work, and I want to move on and do a little bit more. Hopefully, somebody here can point me in the right direction!

What I'm MAINLY looking to do is to have the ability to take content (individual TV episodes, for instance) from multiple home-recorded DVDs (that I made with my set-top recorders), and re-assemble them onto other discs. For example, maybe I have episodes 1 and 2 of a show on separate DVD-Rs in SP speed, and all I need to do is Rip the discs and somehow combine them (maybe with a simple newly-created menu) onto a new single disc. Without re-encoding/losing any picture quality (as they're SP speed, they would fit just fine as-is).

Or, take a home recorded movie that is on one disc, and combine it with a trailer I just found recently so that they both can be on the same disc.

Would also like to be able to convert video files from such formats as MP4, FLV, Windows Media, etc. into MPEG-2 format so that they can be burnt as a DVD-VIDEO to play in a DVD player.

I might even have the occasional need to back up a few 'burn on demand' (DVD-R) discs that I purchased, so that in case they go bad, I still have what I paid for.

----

I tried the "movie + trailer" latter with iMovie, but had really bad results (the video got re-encoded at much poorer quality). I've been searching the net for newer programs that are easy to sue and will do the work (but not be as complicated or expensive as, say, Final Cut).

Unfortunately, it's hard to trust everything I see out there. One website I looked at today claims to be a "top 10 reviews" site, but I suspect it's a shill site for the program that they recommend (DVD-Cloner).

Besides DVD-Cloner, I've also seen the likes of DVD-Fab, MacBurn, WonderShare and others, but almost always, it's either the developer's website (or a thinly-veiled shill site) proclaiming the virtues of each. There don't seem to be a lot of independent reviews around.

I also realise that it may take a combination of programs (such as adding Toast or VLC). I'm okay with that, I'm just hoping there's a really good program out there that will do most of what I need by itself, and then using, say, Toast to burn or VLC to convert file formats, etc.).

I have Core2Duo and PowerPC macs running Snow Leopard.

Hope someone out there has some good ideas! Sorry for the long-winded post!

[SERBIAN]

http://www.mpeg2works.com

[amckinney]

http://www.mpeg2works.com

Okay, any ideas from someone who's not promoting their own software?

[smrpix]

Paralells?

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

That will give you access to all the "good" PC stuff.

DVDFab has mac versions as well. (edit: It's legit and well regarded.)

Handbrake (free) can get you much of what you want.

[SERBIAN]

http://www.mpeg2works.com

Okay, any ideas from someone who's not promoting their own software?

Well, everything you asked for in your post it can be done with my app .. I thought is best to give you the link so you can check it by yourself .. Anyhow if you need more info just contact me .. As for the app itself it has been developed for last 10 years so you can do research and find out anything you wanna know about it..

Cheers

[amckinney]

Paralells?

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

That will give you access to all the "good" PC stuff.

DVDFab has mac versions as well. (edit: It's legit and well regarded.)

Handbrake (free) can get you much of what you want.

I have no interest in putting Windows on my Mac, so that's not really an option. Thanks for the comment on DVDfab, though. I wondered whether that was legit software or if it was like some of those programs that are the same stuff under multiple names.

It looks like DVDfab's Ripper is a separate program, though, right? Any opinions of what the best Mac Ripper is now, since MacTheRipper doesn't seem to be as good or reliable as it once was?

[smrpix]

Anything listed in the tools section at the upper left on this site, while not absolutely definitive, can be approached with some confidence.

[pixel zombie]

Here are the tools I use:

yade X: for extracting specific VOB files from dvd's

MPEG Streamclip: for doing simple editing to VOB files WITHOUT having to re-encode

MPEG2 Works 4: for converting video clips, muxing/demuxing, and also for combining VOB's into a single dvd

Toast: mainly for burning only, converting video formats with toast is very slow, it can be used to make simple menus from various VOB files but is not always successful which is why I use the app listed above

Mac DVDRipper Pro: used for ripping, very stable and fast compared to other options

[amckinney]

Here's another question: Is there a Mac tool that will enable the anamorphic flag on a disc that has it incorrectly set to "off" (of course, enable the flag on a newly-burnt copy of said disc)?

Without having to re-encode, of course.

[Herve]

Is there a Mac tool that will enable the anamorphic flag on a disc that has it incorrectly set to "off"[…]
Without having to re-encode, of course.

for DVD-VIDEO purpose?
if YES, my app does it (menu "Windows" > "Studio" : "Modify") and for free (aka change the display flag without re-encoding)
http://www.movieconverter.movieconverter-studio.com
PS: it's not a bogus self-promotion, the app is a shareware, but this module is free (so you don't have to pay to make your change)
PPS: DVD-VIDEO stream is always anamorphic 4:3 or 16:9 (but no DVD compliant video is 4:3 or 16:9 ). Some others aspects exist …but there are not used and rarely supported by DVD players (so -to be accurate- my soft aloows to change a 4:3 to 16:9 and vice-versa, that's all)

About others formats, you cannot almost never change the aspect flags in most of video stream formats (you can change it inside its wrapper, but not inside the video stream itself)


bye