So, after grabbing the scripted file from Part I, I had to d/l DVD Shrink before DVD Ripper would work (not a surprise, stated clearly on the Lifehacker page below) and after spending less than two minutes setting up I was rippin’ the first DVD. (an 87 minute independantly published DVD of a conference I recently attended).
Now the author says: “Windows only: Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest. “
And he’s not kidding!
The first time you run the automation program you will need to tell it where you want your root directory created for the files to rip to their individual folders for easy access later. (Note: these are all the .vob and .ifo files)
But before you go grab a stack of your DVD’s to back up to your hard drive there are a couple of things you need to know up front:
1. After you insert your DVD and run the ripping program, you’ll be asked to name your file.
2. Depending on your cpu speed, the amount of RAM you have and the speed of your DVD drive, in a few moments the files will be exactly where you expect them to be.
3. At this point you will be asked to insert a DVD-R so you can make a back up copy of your DVD. (The authors intent is to be able to view the back up and not chance harming your original) You can just remove your original DVD and hit cancel and be done.
But then you’ll need something to PLAY the files on your hard drive and Media Player Classic is just thing to use. (open the Video_TS.IFO to start the DVD menu)
And so far, the only hitch I’ve hit is when the DVD is just TOO BIG to fit on a standard DVD disc (“automatically” that is…you can pop into the menu and remove unneeded/unwanted extra’s; like spanish and/or french subtitles, extra commentaries, etc, to make the copy smaller…albeit less complete) — Now I have a Dual Layer DVD +/- R/RW, I’ve just not purchased any DL DVD discs to write to yet…but I will. And I’ll post here if that solves the problem.
