Convert a dvd into an AVI file(s) on a mac

[shonmader]

How would I go about converting episodes off a Battlestar Galactica Season 4 dvd into avi files on a mac?

thank you for any help & knowledge!

s

[rumplestiltskin]

Mac the Ripper or RipIt should get the DRM'd stuff onto your hard drive where the QuickTime MPEG2 component ($30 from Apple, IIRC) and QT Pro ($20) will let you export it as AVI.

Alternatively, there's ffmpegX, MPEG Streamclip, even VLC (this even without the MPEG2 component, I believe).

Others will make suggestions. Be patient.

[terryj]

My workflow for this is the following:

1. Rip Full Disc onto HD with MTR.

2. Open DVD Structure in MpegStreamclip ( w/ QT Mpeg-2 addon).

3. Set In and Out points with MpegStreamclip to export the
episodes to individual DV Stream files.

4. Drag and drop the Individual DV Stream files into VisualHub,
set the quality slider to "high" and let it batch them to individual .avi
files overnight.

It may not be the prettiest workflow, but it works for me.