DVD Ripping and Copying Basics

Much is said in the computer world about ripping and copying DVD movies. The movie industry wants you to think it is totally illegal, the pirating industry wants you to think it's a way to stick it to The Man. The truth is a gray area. Making a DVD backup to protect your expensive movies is a practical and legal thing to do, much less expensive than replacing those videos whenever the kids decide to use them as frisbees!

Users can choose to back up their valuable DVDs by ripping them to a file which is stored on their hard drive--eliminating the need for a disc for viewing (perfect for small children's movies) or can copy them to a blank DVD for viewing on the family television.

Regardless of which method is chosen you will need a few things to make your DVD backup experience a pleasant one.

Hardware:
You need an optical drive on your computer capable of reading DVD media and a hard disk large enough to store the transferred DVD movies. If you wish to make a backup disc copy of the DVD to use while you store the original in a safe place, the optical drive will need to be capable of burning DVD media as well, and several blank DVD discs to copy the movie to.

Software:
You need software designed to "rip" DVD movies. This software, commonly called "DVD ripping programs" can be found online and are occasionally bundled with DVD burning software. This program will decode the DVD and either burn it onto a blank DVD or convert it to a format like WMV, AVI or others for storage and playback on your computer. Some popular programs are DVDFab, SlySoft CloneDVD, DVD:Rip and Handbrake for Mac and Linux users.

Basic Steps:
After setting up your computer (hardware and software-wise), start the DVD ripping program and insert the DVD movie into your optical drive. Most burning programs will automatically detect the movie and begin analysing it but if this is not the case look for a button labeled "Open" or "Load." It will usually have a DVD icon on it or nearby.

Choose what you want the program to do (copy the DVD to another disc, rip it to a file on your hard drive, etc.), set your preferences and press the button to begin the process. Depending upon the speed and resources of the computer this step can take a long time to complete: you can help speed the process by not using your computer during this time. Just walk away and grab a soft drink and let the computer do its job.

If you instructed the program to make a copy of the DVD a window will pop up when it is time to insert a blank disc in the optical drive. Insert the blank disk, close the drive door and click "OK" to continue the burning process. A window will appear informing you when it is finished.

Tips:
Copying only the main movie will improve the quality of the video by reducing the amount of compression needed to store it in a file or on another disc.

If you love keeping all of the menus and extras, consider using dual-layer DVDs for the copies. They have more space available to enable the software to compress the DVD title as little as possible.

If you get errors during the burning process try turning the burning speed down. Some DVD media cannot handle the faster speeds some drives burn at.

Warnings:
Piracy is illegal and can land you in jail. Don't copy movies for your friends or sell them to your neighbor. No matter how quiet you think you can keep it someone WILL report you. The money is not worth spending time in jail or putting your karma at risk so do the right thing--only copy DVD movies to back up and protect the expensive original discs.

References:
Slysoft: Clone DVD 2 Features and System Requirements
Handbrake: Details
DVD:Rip: Documentation

Resources:
DVD Fab: Product List