ripping dvds to hard drive in a singe file

[angryassdrummer]

hey guys- im wanting to rip my dvd collection to my external hard drives in one single file and smaller sizes than the vob ones im getting atm
what is the easiest/free way to do this?
atm im using dvd shrink but would be handy if there were an application that would rip it in another file format thats smaller without too much loss of quality
any help/directions would be great
cheers

[angryassdrummer]

sorry i should add for some dvds i would like to keep the commentary track as an option too

[filmboss80]

VOB2MPG will give you a single MPEG-2 file without re-encoding, thus maintaining the quality of the original. Shrinking with DVD Shrink will reduce quality. To make files smaller, while preserving a satisfactory level of quality, consider making an .avi with AutoGK.

Edit: If you also want to keep the commentary track, you'll probably just need to rip the entire DVD structure to harddrive and leave it at that.

[cal_tony]

A single file would in many cases require that your Hard disks be formatted in NTFS. Some players only accept Fat drives so that is something to consider. Fat drives have a max of 4gb per file.

For any of my DVDs that I have put on external hard disks, I also have used Shrink, not to shrink them but, to convert them and store them on my disks as ISOs. All my players accept ISOs and the advantage of an ISO is that you can select any DVD functions including tracks, chapters and menus all in one file.


Tony

[hech54]

hey guys- im wanting to rip my dvd collection.........using dvd shrink

You better check the "expiration date" on DVDShrink. It is OLD and has not been updated in years. It will most likely choke badly on new releases.

[cal_tony]

hech54 is right.

I forgot to mention that with my use of Shrink I also have Fab Passport installed. Passport as well as AnyDVD will remove any copy protection and shrink will now see the disk as having no copy protection. So, it will work. Without either of the 2 above mentioned programs, Shrink will probably fail with most disks.

Tony

[angryassdrummer]

thanks guys.
so if i forget about commentary track and just want to get my dvds onto hard drive in a smaller single file is there any easy/free way to do it?
i only use shrink cause its so easy to use... i will be literally be converting thousands of dvds to my hard drives as i am over moving them everytime i move house...and now use a WD media box with my tv,,, have found that avi files work best on it... tho. recently have seen good quality and smalller mkr files...is that another option or too much work considering how many dvds i got to get through?

[angryassdrummer]

ok this is causing more problems than i thought, am having troubles with dvd shrink, dvd decrypter, dvdfabdecrypter... suddenly just downloading all my dvds again from someone who has already done all the hard work seems easier.
any ideas before i quit?
the program must be free
all i want to do is rip dvds to my hard drive and make them in smaller files than the large vob ones. loss of quality is not a huge deal as long as its not terrible
the easier the better

[hech54]

DVDFabDecrypter is free(the ripping portion)

[PuzZLeR]

Another option is HandBrake - new release out this week.

You can create .mkv or .mp4 files with H.264 video, at compromising quality with considerably smaller file sizes. I would recommend a CRF value close to 18 for a good balance of small file size and decent quality.

And your WD should play these files without hiccup.

[garryward]

MakeMKV