DVD Ripping: What's the best tool for the job?

Yeah, I’m actually picking up a DVD burner these days (maybe even today 👏 ), it's about 🎉

So, here’s the real question: what are you guys using to rip movies? Is it just DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter, and those other handy little tools... because even if they support dual layer, those discs are still way too pricey for regular use 🙄

And which software is best for making movie menus? I know even Nero can handle it since I’ve messed around with some VCDs with menus before, but that’s pretty basic... nothing advanced.

I’m honestly clueless about this stuff, I feel like a total amateur 😳

Douglas Phillips4 said:Yeah, I'm picking up a DVD burner these days (maybe even today 👏 ). It's going to be great. 🎉

Now the real question is: what are you all using to rip movies? Is it just DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter, and those other handy little tools? Even if they handle dual-layer discs, media is still way too expensive to be wasting it. 🙄

Also, what software are you using to build the menus? I know even Nero can do it—I've made some VCDs with menus before—but that's pretty basic. Anything more advanced?

I'm completely lost here, honestly. 😳

Here is my current setup:
Ripping: DVD Shrink + Nero, Alcohol 120%, or something similar.
Authoring: TMPGEnc, DVD Author... (not many bells and whistles, but fine for basic menus).
...I picked up Adobe Encore, but haven't had a chance to dive in yet. Supposedly, it's top-tier.
For more serious authoring, people often suggest DVD Maestro or Sonic. I haven't actually used them for anything significant; I've mostly just opened them and closed them again.

I'm sticking with DVD Shrink and TMPGEnc myself.

Alright... I've got DVD Shrink installed, and DVD Author should be arriving soon. 🙂

edit: Installed! I just grabbed them to get a quick look at the interfaces... they both look incredibly straightforward. 👍

If you want to make a decent DVD backup, here’s how you actually do it:

First, rip the disc using DVD Decrypter.

Then, grab DVDRemake Pro to strip out all the junk—you know, those useless menus—and fix the links so the movie starts right away instead of forcing you through ads and other crap. Once you've cleaned everything up, you'll have a DVD where you can just compress the specific menus you actually want along with the movie itself. You see, DVD Shrink really only gives you the Re-author option—either it just burns the movie to the disc, or if you try to keep the menus, it keeps everything. That means you often end up wasting half a gig compressing useless motion menus on high-quality discs.

After that, use DVD Rebuilder to handle the compression; it's easily the most powerful tool for shrinking a DVD. It even lets you downscale features to HalfD1 resolution, which frees up even more space for the actual film.

In the end, you get a movie with all your preferred menus and languages, and it looks perfect. Trust me, spending a few hours learning these two programs will definitely pay off in the long run.👍

And lastly, for the authoring part, just go with DVDLab Pro—you can't go wrong there.👍

p.s. I know it might seem like DVD Shrink is the better way to go right now, but when the compression fails on a disc because you tried to squeeze out 45% too much, you won't be feeling so optimistic.

Gerald Rivera60 said:If you're looking for slightly more robust authoring, people usually point you toward DVD Maestro.

As far as I know, they haven't released a new version of DVD Maestro in quite a while—it's been ages—but DVDLab basically took over its philosophy and interface.👍

I'm planning on picking up a DVD burner myself soon, so here's an idea: could someone with actual experience in DVD backups put together a proper tutorial?
Since DVD burners have become so easy for the average person to get their hands on, we're going to see more and more threads like this one. It would be much better if people had a guide to read through before they start flooding the boards with questions.
I noticed Icepick already made a guide for DVD Shrink. Maybe someone else can step up and write one for the other tools you guys use.

What are your thoughts on Sony Vegas 5 and Sony DVD Architect 2.0?

Personally, I find that just sticking with DVD Shrink + Nero is the easiest way to go.
I usually just strip out all those extra languages that nobody actually needs... I mean, who on earth wants ten different language tracks on one disc when they're only ever going to use one, or maybe two at most?
Same goes for the subtitles—just toss out the ones that aren't necessary.
Then you can decide if you feel like adding a menu or not.
And if there are any special features someone might actually want, you can throw those in too.
It’s all pretty straightforward, honestly... couldn't be simpler, and you can pretty much knock the whole thing out in about a minute tops.

DVDLab Pro remains the gold standard for authoring, making any further debate on the matter entirely redundant; it possesses absolutely everything a professional requires, and when paired with pvastrumennt and Subtitle Workshop, it becomes virtually unbeatable for handling MPEG-2 formats.

Douglas Phillips4 said:What are your thoughts on Sony Vegas 5 and Sony DVD Architect 2.0?

Vegas is an awesome program—honestly, I recommend it to everyone I meet—but when it comes down to actual authoring, I still stick with DVDLab Pro.

Well... I went ahead and grabbed those two 🙂

Let's see if this works ☕

dustywalker25 said:DVDLab Pro is hands down the king of authoring—any further debate is honestly just a waste of time. It’s got everything you could possibly need in one package, and when you pair it with pvastrumment and Subtitle Workshop, it’s absolutely unbeatable for MPEG-2 formats.

👋 👍 🙂

The first DVD is burned; I've got the second one cooking right now 🙂

First, finally getting that long-awaited backup done, and then... [ta-da!] I'm ripping The Bourne Supremacy 😎

If you're looking to split a DVD9 onto two DVD5 discs, go with DVDFab:
http://www.dvdidle.com/download/DVDFabPlatinum28.exe

Skip DVD Shrink and just use Nero Recode instead. The quality remains identical, but Recode is faster...

Douglas Phillips4 said:Yeah, well, I'm picking up a DVD burner these days (maybe even today 👏 ). Man... 🎉

So, what'd you end up getting?

LiteOn SOHW-1673 - $158 picked up for cash at Best Buy 🙂

It absolutely crushes the benchmarks; the price is more than reasonable. About a year and a half ago, I was picking up a CD burner (among other things), and if I recall correctly, it cost about the same as this—time really does have a way of working things out... 🙂.

The media prices actually caught me off guard! It’s surprisingly cost-effective. TDK 8x without the case is under $1.25, while the 16x in the case is roughly $2.00 plus a few extra cents 🙂. Even the burning speeds threw me for a loop... being new to this, you know... an 8x DVD finishes in about 7 minutes. I was expecting at least 15 😁.

Nice one, neonhawk14, another solid alternative. Super 👍.

neonhawk14 said:If you're looking to split a DVD9 onto two DVD5 discs, go with DVDFab:
http://www.dvdidle.com/download/DVDFabPlatinum28.exe

Honestly, skip DVD Shrink and just use Nero Recode—the quality is identical, but Recode is definitely faster.

🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄 🙄

Douglas Phillips4 said:The price on these media discs actually surprised me—it's a pretty solid deal. The TDK 8x spindles are under $1.25, and the 16x ones in the case are about $2.00 plus a few extra cents 🙂.

Honestly, these TDK discs are the gold standard. Stick with them.👍

These were the first ones I tested out, and I’m pretty happy with them—they work 😁. Plus, their CDs are top-tier, so... 😉

Anyway, I didn't get around to ripping that movie yesterday. I just didn't have the time, or frankly, the motivation... whatever. I ended up heading out to 🙂