How to put DVD onto iPod?

[Numo]

My daughter wants to put a copy of one of her favorite DVD movies (which we own) onto her iPod. Is this legal? How would I do this? Do you have to purchase sw or are there cheapo ways to do it?

[bhaveshp]

Handbrake (free!) will do this for you. Very simple to use. http://handbrake.m0k.org/

[davemchine]

Handbrake is definitely the easiest way to do what you want. You asked if it was legal so I'll touch on that briefly. It is the act of breaking the copy protection that is illegal. CD's do not have any copy protection, hence it is legal to rip them for your own puposes while dvd's are not. I think most people view this situation as absurd and simply ignore it.

You can read a bit more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_ripping...and_status

Dave

[Harbourmaster]

The same way you put a pancake on a bunnies head?!...

[zachdog]

I think some recent DVDs, especially from Sony, don't work with Handbrake. There is another application called "MacTheRipper" which will rip the DVD to your hard drive. I understand that the most recent version, which works with virtually any commercial DVD, requires a donation to the developer.

YMMV on this. A Google search will help you find the developer's forums for more information.

After ripping a DVD to your hard drive, I understand that you can then use Handbrake to rip it to iTunes. For large movies, you can also use a recent version of Toast or Popcorn to compress everything to a single-layer DVD.

[deckeda]

Ammo, invest in Mac The Ripper 3.0 r14d. It's about $35 or so (although it's a convoluted process to make the donation). Today, it's one movie. Next month, she'll want another.

http://www.ripdifferent.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=3960

Then try Handbrake and/or VisualHub. They both are easy to use but require some homework on your part to get the most from them.

[Numo]

[quote Harbourmaster]The same way you put a pancake on a bunnies head?!...


Nice going, Ken. The SPCA has worked for years to stop the barbarous practice of balancing pancakes on bunnie's heads, and your photo only serves to mock their efforts.

To everyone else who responded, thank you for your suggestions - you've given me some good ideas to try.

[Seacrest]

I know you think it's funny, but the relatively benign (in the US and Western Europe) practice of "Buncaking" in its more extreme third world versions can produce unspeakable cruelty to the rabbits.

PETA has made a video that shows how truly awful this act can be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sK3AqFYAWQ

[RAMd®d]

I say start with MacTheRipper 2.6.6.

It's the last free version, and there's not convolution required. IF that doesn't work, then think about jumping through some hoops.

davemachine is spot on about the legality. But it's widely held that this conflicts with the fair use doctrine establish as a result of Sony's fight with movie studios years ago. This is the standard applied to CDs.

Many people use MTR to rip DVDs they own for making archive copies or putting the content on other devices. There's been no legal test that I know of, but sticking with content you own for personal use should keep your conscience clean.

[Article Accelerator]

[quote deckeda]Then try Handbrake and/or VisualHub. They both are easy to use but require some homework on your part to get the most from them.
I don't think so. Handbrake requires just 3 mouse clicks to set the process in motion.

If you want to use the command switches for absolute maximum quality, they're made available for cut-and-paste in Handbrake's online documentation. You can then activate and save them in a preset. Then it's still just 3 clicks.

BTW, the all-out settings provide stunning results but take roughly 3 times longer than the built-in preset to transcode a DVD. That's not worth the time, IMHO, because HB's built-in preset is very good.