DVD Ripping to ISOs

[af2000]

I wish to backup a large number of DVDs and a few Blu-Ray's onto my computer. My ideal scenario would be to have an external drive full of ISOs of these discs images that I can play, but that I could burn to disc anytime in the future should I require to. My collection of discs contain various different regions.

I have been recommend to use AnyDVD, but have now been told that using AnyDVD alone is not a good enough solution as should I ever wish to burn any made ISOs to disc in the future I would not be able to if the discs have Structural Protection. I must use CloneDVD in conjunction with AnyDVD to make the ISOs, then it would be ok. I'm also told that it is important that any Dual Layer media has the split in the same place as the original and not all software can do this. I am just paraphrasing this paragraph, I don't particularly understand it.

What exactly is Structure Protection or Structural Protection? It is Arccos, RipGuard?

What I require is a simple solution for creating an ISO that I can watch, but that I can burn straight to disc in the future without any difficulties or extra software. I have been trying trial periods of software to do this, but I don't really know what I'm supposed to look for.

Please any suggestions?

[netmask56]

Free program ImgBurn will make an ISO of DVD's

[Alwyn]

Imgburn will not make an ISO of protected DVDs.

[af2000]

It is my understanding that if I attempt to create an ISO file when only using a program like AnyDVD, DVD Passkey, etc. then although that will 'work' it will copy the protection as well, so if/when I come to write that ISO back to a disc anything with structural protection (I'm not even exactly sure what that refers to, but it seems to be Arccos/Ripguard), it will not work because for one thing the file size will be too large. Instead I am supposed to use AnyDVD AND CloneDVD together.

Again, if I understand correctly CloneDVD doesn't deal with protected discs either, so does ImgBurn strip the ISO of the false VOB's or whatever it is supposed to do and therefore do the same job as CloneDVD? What is an alternative to CloneDVD (ideally free)? If I enter into Google CloneDVD alternatives its really hard because I don't know what exactly Im spuused to be looking for.

Or I try and find a program that does the job of these two programs. If the software says it deals with Arccos/Ripguard does that mean it will do this for me? Will it create an ISO that I can play and if I ever write it back to disc it will work? Please help...

[johns0]

It won't copy the protection,it just removes it.

[Bwaak]

Imgburn will not make an ISO of protected DVDs.

But a combination of DVDShrink* and ImgBurn will.

*DVDShrink does not remove ALL possible copy-protection schemes.

[af2000]

It won't copy the protection,it just removes it.

Are you referring to ImgBurn? In which case it sounds like it could be used as a free direct replacement/alternative to CloneDVD. I presume ImgBurn must be used in conjunction with another program? Do you mean the created ISO is without the copy protection and therefore writable back to disc? If so, this sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks

But a combination of DVDShrink* and ImgBurn will.

*DVDShrink does not remove ALL possible copy-protection schemes.

I've just taken a look at DVDShrink as I didn't know if before now. Because it ceased development in 2004, I suppose that it why is doesn't remove ALL possible copy protection schemes. Could I substitute DVDShrink for AnyDVD, DVDFab Passkey, etc... if need be?

I suppose my main question is then, what exactly does ImbBurn (or CloneDVD for that matter) do differently to any other ISO maker, like PowerISO, UltraISO, or I've been known to use dd a windows command lime equivalent of the Unix program? This is my main concern.

[af2000]

Or the other option is are there any programs that specifically combine a program like AnyDVD AND CloneDVD together that will create the ISO successfully, but that will also strip away the structural protection (and hopefully deal with other ones should my collection require it) in the ISO so that the ISO can be correctly rewritten to disc if need be?

[Anonymous84]

del

[lingyi]

Commercial disc protection is constantly evolving, which is why ripping software has to be constantly updated. There are numerous threads where the poster can't rip a disc and the best answer is usually to wait until the software is updated to defeat it. DVD copy protection updates on the discs has largely stopped because their production numbers are decreasing. Same with Blu-Rays as they give way to UHD.

ArccOS and Ripguard are extensions to CCS (Content Scramble System) which is the core copy protection scheme for DVDs. AACS was an enhancement to CSS for Blu-Ray and AACS 2.0 was a further enhancement for UHD.*

*To date, AFAIK, no commercial disc copy protection scheme hasn't been completely defeated. Though it sometimes took months or years for the software to catch up. There are some VCD protection schemes, primarily from India, that have never been defeated. But these types of discs are widely out of the original VCD specs.

Then there's Cinavia, which you may encounter. Cinavia protects the audio tracks and will mute your audio after ~20 minutes on a licensed hardware or software player. Cinavia has never been 100% defeated without degrading the audio signal. AFAIK, the only way to get a 100% Cinavia free audio track is to replace it with an unaffected one. More on this and copy protection below.

However, an understanding of what and how the above works is moot. You just need to have the updated software to deal with it. To that end, DVDFab is probably your best choice because it's constantly updated. The trial is 30 days, and unless it's changed recently, only the Blu-Ray/UHD ripping ability goes away. The DVD ripping portion remains free.

Some claim that the long abandoned DVDDecrypter can brute force defeat some copy protection schemes. This is also why some claim that DVDShrink can rip some discs. It's because they were never copy protected.

Which brings us to claims that XYZ software works for some posters. Since all copy protection schemes requires a per video and sometimes per disc license, only mainstream U.S. distributors usually use copy protection. European and Asian commercial discs usually don't have any type of copy protection because of the cost of the licenses. Which brings us back to Cinavia and replacing the audio track(s). Early software that claimed to completely defeat Cinavia, particularly DVDFab's software, used the audio tracks from unprotected European and Asian releases of U.S. released movies. They hid this by requiring the disc to be part of their database of available titles, claiming that the breaking of the Cinavia infected audio on each title had to be tweaked. But the truth was that their database only contained titles that had a European or Asian without Cinavia.

A final point. MakeMKV can rip Blu-Ray and I believe UHD, but not DVDs to their file structure, which can then be combined into an ISO with Imgburn.