Copying DVDs is great, but we love to re-encode our DVDs, using much better compression so they’re suitable for
playback on computers, Media Centers, and even TVs equipped with a video streaming box. What’s better, once your
video is in a standard format, it’s a cinch to tweak it to play on a Video iPod, PSP, or portable video player.
Ripping DVDs has always been pretty easy; there are dozens of freeware apps that will decrypt the disc and copy
VOB fi les to your hard drive. However, actually doing anything with those mystical VOB fi les—like transcoding them
to smaller Divx or WMV fi les—is often an insanely diffi cult, multi-step process.
Intervideo’s DVD Copy 4 will rip to every format we’ve ever needed, in three easy steps, but it won’t rip any
encrypted DVDs. For that, you’ll need to pair DVD Copy 4 with AnyDVD, which removes the copy protection and
region encoding from your DVDs on the fl y.COPY COPY MOVIES & MUSIC
Ripping and Compressing DVDs
STEP 1 PREPARATION
We’re going to assume that
you’ve already installed
the software—including
AnyDVD if you’re going to rip
encrypted discs—and you’re
now wondering what you
need to do to prepare for the
rip. First, make sure you have
enough free disk space on a drive formatted with NTFS. Each
movie will absorb about 2GB at DVD-quality bitrates. Before
you begin, defrag your drive, and you’re ready to go.8 MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC APRIL 2006
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
A DVD you want to rip
DVD Copy 4 Gold ($50, http://www.intervideo.com)
AnyDVD (optional, $40, http://www.slysoft.com)
1- to 2GB of hard-disk space per DVDThere are reasons to use each of the available
codecs—some work nearly everywhere, while
some deliver exemplary compression and
video quality. Here’s a quick rundown on fi ve
options that DVD Copy 4 Platinum offers.DIVX The new Divx 6 container format
allows multiple audio streams, subtitles, and
even multiple videos inside a single fi le. It’s
essentially a one-fi le DVD. However, it’s not
widely supported yet.DIVX (AVI) The original MPEG-4-based
Divx format. If you want a fi le that will play
virtually anywhere, with decent quality and
sound, this is it.WMV The choice for owners of
Windows Media Center machines. WMV
offers better compression than Divx, but
isn’t as widely supported. It’s the only
format supported by Windows Media
Center Extender streaming boxes.MP4 The offi cial MPEG-4 format is
MP4. Many portable players support MP4,
including the PSP and Video iPod.H.264 A new addition to the MPEG-
4 standard. H.264 allows for greatly
improved image quality at even smaller
sizes than standard MP4 fi les. Lacks wide
compatibility with streaming boxes, but is
supported on many portable players.CODEC PRO AND CONS
STEP 2 CHOOSE YOUR SETTINGS
Open up DVD Copy
and drop your DVD in
the drive, if you haven’t
already. Make sure your
source and target are set
correctly in DVD Copy:
Point the source at your
DVD drive, and select a
Target folder to save the
ripped movie in.
In the “Copy As” fi eld, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of
formats—including Divx, WMV, straight MPEG-4, and H.264 (if you
shelled out for the Platinum Edition). We’re going to use Divx(Avi),
but check the sidebar below for more on the different formats.STEP 3 TWEAK THE CODEC
Click the little
hammer icon
on the right side
of the screen to
make a couple
of small tweaks.
You’ll want to
change the
“Disc Label” to
the name of the movie, and then you should click the Codec
tab (it’s Divx here) to change the resolution.
Although some codecs offer more options, Divx is minimal.
For most DVD rips, you’ll want to use the Home Theater profi le.
It will deliver a near-DVD quality fi le, at about a quarter of the
space used on a commercial DVD.STEP 4 RIP IT
All that’s left now is to select the content to rip. For movies, you
can usually click Main Movie, which selects the longest video on
the disc. If you’re ripping a disc of TV shows, you might have to
manually select the titles you want using the Customize button.
After you’ve chosen the Titles and Chapters to rip, all you
have to do is press the Rip button in the lower-right corner of
the screen and wait. Rip times will vary based on the speed of
your optical drive and CPU. The encoders are all multithreaded,
so dual-core processors are much faster than comparable
single-core procs.