Anyone know how to backup DVD's with VLC Player?

[GMaq]

Hello,

I've been using mplayer to backup main movies with the following command:

mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile dump.vob

Until recently mplayer has been pretty immune to ArCCos, but a few of my recent attempts including Rush Hour 3 haven't been playable or rippable (is that a word?) in either mplayer or Totem. I have the most up to date libdvdcss2, libdvdread3 and libdvdnav libraries installed.

VLC Player will play these movies but I find the transcoding wizard to be very confusing, and also I don't want to transcode I just want to dump a Vob stream like in the mplayer command above.

Does anyone know what command line to use in VLC Player?

[freebird73717]

Hey Gmaq.

I don't know if this is what you are wanting but I found this on doom9 a few weeks ago.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=133967

I've been scouring the linux forums here and there trying to learn as much as I can.

Hope this helps.

[GMaq]

freebird73717,

Great link, thanks very much! I will try it out and post back in case anyone else is interested. Mplayer was really cutting it until recently but I would guess they must handle streams in a somewhat similar fashion.

**EDIT**
It would seem Rush Hour 3 is a particularly hard one to deal with, My failsafe DVD Decrypter/Latest AnyDVD on my "Windows side" also failed miserably (for the first time). It's not like it's a cinematic masterpiece anyway, just trying to put it on my son's iPod!

[GMaq]

OK,

Here's the verdict, Mplayer and VLC have about the same capabilities for ArCCos DVD backup, Many newer titles will work but not all. I think I may do a guide for VLC since it is so popular cross-platform. Stay Tuned!

**EDIT**

I've done a few rips with VLC now, some have gone flawlessly, but some have had A/V Sync issues which hasn't happened in Mplayer. I was hoping to do a true cross-platform guide DVD to iPod/PSP/etc with VLC and WinFF, but I've got a lot of testing to do....

[freebird73717]

Have you tried ripping it with the latest dvdfabhddecrypter? I'm not sure if it will defeat the protection on rush hour 3 because I don't own it but it may be worth a try. It will work in wine.

I was wondering how vlc would stand up to arccos. Looking forward to your guide!

[tekkieman]

GMaq - Have you looked for an updated k9copy? It still uses mplayer/mencoder, but between k9copy and (I believe you use) Mint, you might have better luck than a straight mplayer rip.

The downside is it will give you a DVD folder structure, but once the ArCCos is removed, you could use avidemux to output the single vob, then your WinFF to convert.

*Sorry to refer to WinFF as yours, but considering how active you are in the project, I think it's fitting.

[GMaq]

Hi tekkie, Good to hear from ya!

For future reference I am using MEPIS AntiX 7.01 (w Debian Lenny Repos) now as my sole distro, Mint is terrific, I just got a little bored with it personally (no offense to Mint users) also my "Frankentower Linux Box" is getting a little aged so AntiX is nice and lean with most of the MEPIS amenities that you are quite familiar with.

I have used K9 Copy in the past, it will also actually export directly to .mp4 now, in my trials with it I was a little dissappointed in the output quality even using H.264 at equivalent bitrates to (Matt Weatherfords) WinFF (LOL). OGMRip which has evolved from AcidRip is also doing the same thing. But a usual indicator of success is if an mplayer straight rip doesn't work, then K9Copy or OGMRip are also dead in the water. VLC so far appears to have similar limitations. I think either ArCCos has evolved or there is something new afoot in the last couple of months. Many movies that Windows users were complaining about in the forum would sail right through with Mplayer up till the last month or so. I am content to wait, I just like to experiment and see what I can get away with.

@freebird73717,
Thanks for the tip on DVDFabHD, Since I dual boot I don't use Wine on my Linux side, I have used DVDFab in the past but since I paid for AnyDVD I usually just wait till it catches up with it's regular update cycle. Also using AnyDVD with DVDdecrypter gives me the freedom to rip one big VOB and choose my streams/subs. No doubt though, DVDFab is a great tool on both platforms!

[GMaq]

OK, In Conclusion:

After some testing I have to conclude that DVD MPEG-2 (Including some arCCos protected) Streams CAN be ripped using both MPlayer and VLC.

HOWEVER:

MPlayer is far more reliable in all cases with both A/V Sync and Correct Decoding. VLC had several cases of A/V Sync Stream problems and also Motion Vector decoding errors.

MPlayer wins! However dedicated ripping Apps are probably your best bet for newer releases. But you all knew that!

To quote Nacho Libre "Is for fun"

[freebird73717]

Good to know GMaq.

Thanks!

[disturbed1]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=133967 "How to Rip any DVD in *nix" or, at least that's what the thread is titled

I cheese out and just use DVDFab through wine