How to Backup a DVD in Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10

Personal DVD collections can become quite cumbersome, and involve the investment of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Copying your DVD collection to a hard drive will allow you to view the movies or TV shows on mobile devices, such as an iPod, and will also allow you to archive the files for later burning in the event that one of the discs becomes lost or damage.

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10, released in 2010, doesn't come pre-installed with DVD backup software, but does offer Brasaero, a disc burning app. You can download DVD backup software from the Software Manager. If your computer doesn't have a built-in DVD burner, you can purchase a USB DVD burner from an electronics store or online.

Step 1

Download a DVD backup program. Ubuntu offers several different DVD backup programs through the software manager; in my experience, DVD::RIP is the best. To download DVD::RIP, click "Applications", then "Software Manager". Type "DVD::RIP" into the search field, then hit enter. DVD::RIP will appear in the software results. Click the "Install" button to install the program, then close the window.

Step 2

Choose "File", then "New Project". Enter a name for your project, then click "Create". Choose a save location, then select the "RIP" tab on the left side of the program. Click the button titled "Read the DVD Contents", and wait for the program to analyze the videos on the DVD. Once it loads a list of different video segments on the disc, choose the segment that is the longest - this is the main movie. Click "Rip selected video".

Wait for the video to copy to your computer's hard drive. This could take as little as 10 minutes, or as long as an hour depending on the speed of your computer.

Step 3

After the video has been entirely copied to your hard drive, remove the DVD from the disc drive and put it back into its case. Click on the "Transcode" tab and select the options you want for your DVD. For example, choose "AVI" from the video format drop-down menu if you want to turn the copied DVD into an AVI file. Choose the quality you want (0 is the highest quality). When the settings are configured the way you want them, click "Transcode".

Depending on the speed of your computer, this could take two hours or longer.