The Official Digital Content Thread

[Sizzle]

I know there was some discussion in the iPad apps thread (I think) and I could probably go search that thread to find the answers. Or, I figured I could just start a new thread and go from here (to keep threads clear), especially with a few new AppleTV users who may or may not have read the other thread in its entirety.

So, I use Handbrake for 95% of my DVDs. Works like a charm most of the time. I've got probably 50 DVDs in, and have had problems on 3 of them, where either they only rip the first 10 minutes, or they don't rip at all. So, for those movies that I own but am unable to rip with Handbrake, is there another (preferably free) solution to ripping the content. Or, as an alternative, is there a bit torrent solution that you've used (I'm on a Mac, so that would be ideal) to obtain digital copies of movies that you own a disc for?

TIA.

[TripletDaddy]

Dvdfab works well. Also rips blu ray which handbrake does not do, unfortunately.

[Sizzle]

Dvdfab works well. Also rips blu ray which handbrake does not do, unfortunately.

I feel somewhat sheepish asking this, because I usually consider myself fairly tech savvy. My computer doesn't play BluRay discs. Will DVDFab be able to rip those if I can't watch them on my Mac?

(Hanging my head in shame for the fact that I have to ask that question).

[TripletDaddy]

I feel somewhat sheepish asking this, because I usually consider myself fairly tech savvy. My computer doesn't play BluRay discs. Will DVDFab be able to rip those if I can't watch them on my Mac?

(Hanging my head in shame for the fact that I have to ask that question).

Your computer cannot rip a blu ray disc if it does not have a blu ray optical drive, regardless of the software you have on your computer. However, if you do have a blu ray drive, you can rip the disc, convert the file, and watch a high quality flick on any computer, regardless of having a blu ray drive.

[Sizzle]

Your computer cannot rip a blu ray disc if it does not have a blu ray optical drive, regardless of the software you have on your computer. However, if you do have a blu ray drive, you can rip the disc, convert the file, and watch a high quality flick on any computer, regardless of having a blu ray drive.

That was what I thought. So since my computer does not have a bluray drive, that does me no good for the Blu Ray discs that we have that we did not get the "digital" copy for (so maybe half of the 10 blu ray movies that we have).

Have there been any issues ripping movies with DVDFab? Have you ran into any that wouldn't rip? Also, what is the speed compared to Handbrake. A movie typically takes me 45 minutes or so (about twice as fast as real time) to rip an hour and a half movie. Has anybody noticed DVDFab being any faster?

[TripletDaddy]

Haven't run into any problems ripping with DVD fab. Another thing I like about it is that it has a built in decryption program. Handbrake doesn't do this either.

As for time, the ripping is about the same, all depends on the res. Blu rays take longer and more space. My process is even longer, because I copy then convert, as opposed to ripping. I don't like having the hard drive spinning for 45 minutes when I can cut that down in half by copying it first.

[Tim]

I have a digital content question: Does any have a membership to Consumer Reports online? We'll be buying some appliances and I want to make sure we do our research, so I think I may get a subscription. I thought I'd see if anyone advises for or against Consumer Reports for advice on appliances, etc.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I have a digital content question: Does any have a membership to Consumer Reports online? We'll be buying some appliances and I want to make sure we do our research, so I think I may get a subscription. I thought I'd see if anyone advises for or against Consumer Reports for advice on appliances, etc.

I have had a subscription for several years. I don't use it that much, but each time I make a major purchase it seems to be well worth the $20 or so that I pay each year.

[Uncle Ted]

Dvdfab works well. Also rips blu ray which handbrake does not do, unfortunately.

Handbrake 0.9.5 or better supports the BluRay disc structure (but not "ripping"):

https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic...=19299&p=88826

[Uncle Ted]

I know there was some discussion in the iPad apps thread (I think) and I could probably go search that thread to find the answers. Or, I figured I could just start a new thread and go from here (to keep threads clear), especially with a few new AppleTV users who may or may not have read the other thread in its entirety.

So, I use Handbrake for 95% of my DVDs. Works like a charm most of the time. I've got probably 50 DVDs in, and have had problems on 3 of them, where either they only rip the first 10 minutes, or they don't rip at all. So, for those movies that I own but am unable to rip with Handbrake, is there another (preferably free) solution to ripping the content. Or, as an alternative, is there a bit torrent solution that you've used (I'm on a Mac, so that would be ideal) to obtain digital copies of movies that you own a disc for?

TIA.

I have found that Handbrake also works for most of my DVDs. I had to use Mac The Ripper (free) on some to remove the copy protection.

I have heard that RipIt works well for the mac but haven't used it. http://thelittleappfactory.com/ripit/

[Sizzle]

I have found that Handbrake also works for most of my DVDs. I had to use Mac The Ripper (free) on some to remove the copy protection.

I have heard that RipIt works well for the mac but haven't used it. http://thelittleappfactory.com/ripit/

I think I actually have Mac the Ripper downloaded but haven't used it yet. I'll have to give that a shot on some of those ones that I have trouble with. On the plus side, two DVDs that previous versions of Handbrake couldnt open, the latest update was able to crack no problem. I'm almost done with all the kids movies. It'll be nice to pull them all off of our main iMac and leave them on the old one to serve as a streaming only machine.

[TripletDaddy]

Question for ipadders

I will often have multiple browser windows open. When choosing one of the windows, sometimes the window and it's content will refresh. Other times, it will not. For example, sometimes I will be in the middle of a post in CUF and go into another window. I come back, the page refreshses and I lose my post. Other times, I go back into the window, the page does not refresh, and I continue my post. This happens with various websites.

Why does this happen?

[Tim]

I have had a subscription for several years. I don't use it that much, but each time I make a major purchase it seems to be well worth the $20 or so that I pay each year.

Thanks, Dude.

[mtnbiker]

I have a digital content question: Does any have a membership to Consumer Reports online? We'll be buying some appliances and I want to make sure we do our research, so I think I may get a subscription. I thought I'd see if anyone advises for or against Consumer Reports for advice on appliances, etc.

The library always has a copy and a copier, so the few times I want to reference them to get a general idea of what to purchase, I run down there with a few quarters and find the relevant article and come home with a copy.

[falafel]

What format do you all rip your dvds/blu-rays to? I've used h264 as the encoder, but lately i've been trying xvid and dvix. h264 was giving me some problems on some playback, it seemed like.

Anyway have a preference? I know Uncle Ted likes h264.

Also, does anyone mess around with the audio? I think I usually do audiocopy (on DVDFAB), but I've thought about just doing mp3. I think it might be smaller.