confusion with mactheripper, perian & handbrake

[yoly]

i'm looking for some genius help on the following:
i've just bought a macbook pro and have two issues that require guidance & your help.

1: so i watch DVDs beautifully on the Mac but then i would like to download it onto my HD and either transfer to store onto a separate HD or burn. burning not really a priority.
i was told that mac the ripper was the bomb - great - have downloaded and testing out with one dvd but after dvd files download, i'm not sure how to get them to play from the listed VIDEO TS FOLDER.

2. secondly i have a bunchload of my kids' DVD that i would like to store onto a 1TB external HD so that we can then watch through TV. what would be the best programs and process to transfer them? i would also like to have the option of syncing chosen dvds onto iphone to take on holidays with us.

have also had perian and handbrake downloaded ... not quite sure what to do with them?

as you can tell i'm far from a "techie" about the terminology to use but am pretty cluey on following instructions .... hoping somebody can help!

cheers

[redwudz]

You would likely get more answers to Mac specific questions in our Mac Forum. Moving you.

And welcome to our forums.

[guns1inger]

You also need to provide more information about how you expect to play them on your TV. Putting them on a HDD is simple.

Are you playing back through the Mac to the TV ?
Do you have a console (Xbox 360/PS3) that you intend to use ?
Do you have a standalone player that reads USB drives ?
Do you have a WDTV ?
Does your TV read USB HDDs ?

All of these things will determine what you need to do with your files to make them suitable for what you want to do.

As for question 1, install the Mac version of VLC, then open the video-TS folder as a DVD Folder and it will play.

[phase52001]

i'm looking for some genius help on the following:
i've just bought a macbook pro and have two issues that require guidance & your help.

1: so i watch DVDs beautifully on the Mac but then i would like to download it onto my HD and either transfer to store onto a separate HD or burn. burning not really a priority.
i was told that mac the ripper was the bomb - great - have downloaded and testing out with one dvd but after dvd files download, i'm not sure how to get them to play from the listed VIDEO TS FOLDER.

Just out of interest are you using Mac The Ripper (MTR) V2.6.6 or MTR3 or MTR4?

Once you have the VIDEO_TS folder backed up on your hard drive all you need to play it is to start DVD PLAYER, (which came with the OS), then go FILE->OPEN DVD MEDIA then select the VIDEO_TS folder, then press PLAY on the CONTROLLER.

The easiest way to burn the VIDEO_TS folder to a blank, is with Toast Titanium. I use it all the time to make backups of my DVDs.
You'll either need some dual layer blank DVDs or software like DVDRemaster to compress anything over 4.3Gb to 4.3GB.

2. secondly i have a bunchload of my kids' DVD that i would like to store onto a 1TB external HD so that we can then watch through TV. what would be the best programs and process to transfer them? i would also like to have the option of syncing chosen dvds onto iphone to take on holidays with us.

I don't have an iPhonbe myself, so I'll assume you mean putting video content into iTunes so you can load it into your iPhone?
Use MPEG Streamclip to extract video content from the VIDEO_TS folder, in a suitable format, import into iTunes and send to iPhone. I assume that should work.

have also had perian and handbrake downloaded ... not quite sure what to do with them?

as you can tell i'm far from a "techie" about the terminology to use but am pretty cluey on following instructions .... hoping somebody can help!

cheers

Backing up DVDs for the kids is a good idea. They're expensive to replace if broken by the young ones.

There are a couple of options for "storing on an external HD and watching through the TV":

(1.) Your Macbook pro should have a Mini DisplayPort output port. (With support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI (requires adapters, sold separately at the Apple store). With an adaptor you can plug you Macbook Pro directly into a suitable TV. (Most Widescreen Plasmas & LCD have the needed ports in the back).

Then plug the Macbook Pro with HD attached into the TV, set up the second screen out in System preferences, start DVD Player, and off you go. Without the Widescreen TV you may need some form of adaptor to connect the Miniport out to the TV. Check at the Apple store. (Online or real).

(2.) Purchase a Western Digital Media Player. (Google it). Connect to TV. Copy DVD to HD. Attach HD to WDMP and off you go.

Hope that helps.

[rumplestiltskin]

Use Handbrake (you'll need VLC installed because Handbrake uses VLC's decoding library) and rip to MP4 (H264) for AppleTV. Then either buy an AppleTV or the Western Digital TV Media Player (not the "mini" version). The WD will connect to a 4:3 TV as well as a 16:9. Store the videos on a HD and that plugs into the WD device. If you have the AppleTV, iTunes will take care of the transfer (or the aTV Flash hack will permit many more formats on the AppleTV and let you use a USB keyboard, as well).