videodisk - ripping applications equate
Although DVD prices have dropped , replacing dear DVDs that have become grave , covered in jam , or chewed on by a teething two - twelvemonth - old is a bother . ( More of a bother is if one of those record is no longer uncommitted . ) Fortunately , there are a variety of program for make digital copy that are playable on your Mac . We gathered some of the most democratic of these applications and put them through their paces in the Bob Hope of finding the best performing artist .
The applications
I test five applications — the spare 64 - piece reading of HandBrake 0.9.4 ( ) , the natural endowment - wareMacTheRipper 4.0 , The Little App Factory ’s $ 20RipIt 1.4.3 ( ) , DVDSuki Software ’s $ 10 Mac DVDRipper Pro 1.5.5 ( ) , and iSkysoft ’s $ 39 iSkysoft videodisk Ripper ( ) . Some of these app merit further discussion .
The iSkysoft bundle is usable by other names from other companies . Specifically , iSkysoft DVD Ripper is also usable from Wondershare ( iSkysoft ’s parent society ) asWondershare DVD Ripper for Mac . At $ 45 it costs $ 6 more than iSkysoft DVD Ripper , yet is the same piece of software with a different skin . Wondershare ’s OEM partner , Aimersoft , also sell the program under the nameDVD Ripper for Mac . It ’s price at $ 39 . ( All three of these applications programme are routinely market via meeting place spam and on questionable “ reviews ” sites . I wonder the company about these method acting and was say that while Wondershare does n’t allow this practice , not all of its many affiliates stick to the rules . )
MacTheRipper exists in a few forms . The detached 2.x reading found floating around the net is old , contains the software package necessary to decrypt copy - protect discs , and does n’t sour with many New DVD . The current interlingual rendition can be lawfully obtain only by sending the developers a “ gift ” ( the suggest price is $ 50 , but we obtained a copy for $ 20 ) . To do that you must join theRipDifferent forum , send an inquiry to one of MacTheRipper ’s developers , and then wait for a reaction to learn how to send your endowment so that you’re able to receive the up-to-the-minute version of the utility program . This version does not turn back the atomic number 55 decryption tools you demand to rive commercial videodisk — the info for obtaining it is found in a special orbit of the RipDifferent meeting place ( which you have access to only when you ’ve offered a gift and received a response ) .
It ’s apprehensible that tools like MacTheRipper are often used to pirate DVDs and the legal ground on which their developer stand is shaky , but the silence and back - back street character of this tool ’s statistical distribution is annoying . Given the many mirky issues surround the skill of MacTheRipper , we ’ve choose to not rate it , though I did quiz it .
HandBrake and the iSkysoft / Wondershare / Aimersoft app not only uncase commercial DVDs of their written matter protection ( HandBrake can do this only if VLC is also instal on your Mac ) , but also convert the resulting video to other formats — ones compatible with an iPod , iPhone , Apple TV , or iPad , for model . MacTheRipper and Mac DVDRipper Pro simply create decrypt archives playable on your Mac with Apple ’s DVD Player practical app or another applications programme up to of play message domiciliate in VIDEO_TS folders . RipIt similarly make decrypted archive , but version 1.4 introduces a genus Beta Compress feature , which earmark you to to boot make movies at one of five options — High Quality MP4 , Apple TV , iPhone / Touch , XBox260 , and PS3 .
Testing, testing
I tested the five practical software with two DVDs — Pixar / Disney’sWall - Eand phonograph record one of the first time of year of HBO’sSix Feet Under . I choseWall - Ebecause Disney is one of the studio that uses a copy - protection scheme that obscure a picture show ’s main lineament among XII of “ copies . ” These copies are n’t copies at all but rather scrambled portions of the disc ’s content identified as the main characteristic . Each written matter is of a unlike length and sizing , making it problematical for a ripping pecker ( or substance abuser ) to place the real feature . These discs also get many DVD ripping applications to misidentify the amount of data they hold . Some claimed , for example , that theWall - Edisc held nearly 60 GB of data , when , in fact , it held just 7.85 Great Britain .
To ripWall - Esuccessfully with those applications capable of ripping just the chief title — HandBrake , MacTheRipper , and iSkysoft videodisk Ripper — I had to first determine which of the 99 titles was the correct one . you could do this by playing the videodisk in DVD Player and then selecting Go - > Title . The resulting Title submenu disclose that deed 30 was the correct one to use .
TheSix Feet Underdisc does n’t use this type of shelter , but , like other TV - compilation disk , it does contain multiple episode . I chose this disc to see which of the applications could extract item-by-item episodes .
I conducted the tests on a quadrangle - essence 2.66GHz Mac Pro with 8 GB of RAM , running Snow Leopard .
The basics and beyond
The range of ability of these applications is fairly broad . On the unbelievably childlike end you happen RipIt , which proffer just two user interface options — Rip and Compress . Choose Rip and it rips the capacity of the entire disk — you do n’t have the choice to pick out the principal feature article or item-by-item chapter or installment . Click Compress and you could create a full - disk transcript or , optionally , attempt to evoke just the independent lineament or episodes in one of the five formats I refer .
When clicking Rip , the resulting file cabinet is a .dvdmedia DVD Player archive that you may play with Apple ’s DVD Player . Within this archive is the VIDEO_TS folder , which curb the phonograph record ’s video data file ( you could also uncheck a druthers to have it just give you a VIDEO_TS folder ) . you could convert this unencrypted VIDEO_TS booklet to a moving-picture show data file compatible with your Mac , iPod , iPhone , iPad , or Apple TV with a creature such as HandBrake , or Roxio ’s $ 100 Toast 10 Titanium ( ) or$50 Popcorn . you may also use a tool such as the freeDVD ImagerorLiquidCDto make a record image or burn the folder to a playable DVD as a backup . Click Compress and the file is saved in the formatting most appropriate for the terminus machine . In the caseful of Apple ’s gimmick , it ’s an H.264 file .
Mac DVDRipper Pro is similarly simple . It rips only the entire disk — offering no feature or episode extraction . It can pull a disc either as a DVD Player archive or as a .iso image file . Unlike RipIt or MacTheRipper , once you ’ve decrypted the record , you’re able to choose to fire a transcript , all within the covering . I did this successfully with theWall - Edisc . to boot , it provides you some control over skipping bad VOB units ( due to scratches ) or cells ( add as part of a transcript - protection scheme ) . This last pick helps you with hard disc .
MacTheRipper will decode discs and preserve their contents to booklet . Inside these folders you ’ll receive the VIDEO_TS folder , which you may play or commute as explained in the beginning . Additionally , MacTheRipper get you remove region cod ( the scheme that curb DVDs to being played in the geographic region in which its sell ) . It can also seek out a DVD ’s main feature and chapters . Like HandBrake , it shows you all available features and lets you take the one you want . Although you could pick out individual installment , it does n’t provide you to add multiple episodes to a queue , as does HandBrake .
iSkysoft DVD Ripper ca n’t do a full - disc extraction that result in a VIDEO_TS pamphlet . Rather , you have the selection to take out and convert just the main feature of speech , aggregate all of the DVD ’s movies into a single video , or extract individual moving picture from the DVD . It offers 74 unlike end product format , and each can be tweaked with a click of a options button . When you choose to extract just the main feature of speech it does n’t let you choose the correct feature on a phonograph recording such asWall - Es , so if it makes the unseasonable guessing , you ’re out of luck . In this case , it chose the correct title .
iSkysoft videodisk Ripper also lets you prefer caption and audio racetrack . When you enable a subtitle track , it ’s burned into the video — you ca n’t turn it off . to boot , when you rip the disc you have the option to trim the beginning and end of the TV , lop it , and add force to it . The applications programme includes a preview windowpane so you ensure that you ’re rip the stuff you desire .
HandBrake is also designed to pull and convert a disc ’s features and episodes rather than the entire DVD . It declare oneself far fewer conversion presets than does the iSkysoft covering , but the 1 it does offer are utilitarian — Universal , iPod , iPhone & iPod Touch , Apple TV , two unconstipated presets ( Normal and High Profile ) , and a fistful of Legacy presets ( Classic , Apple TV Legacy , iPhone Legacy , and iPod Legacy ) . you may tweak each preset within the main window as well as manipulate the timbre of the resulting video recording by setting a prey size of it , average bitrate , or incessant timber slider . you could additionally make subtitles that can be turned on and off and supply episodes to a waiting line , make it easy to rend a disc’s - Charles Frederick Worth of TV show with one sink in rather than rend each instalment singly . It offers a large Preview windowpane and can encode little snippets of video so you get a unspoiled idea of how your converted picture will expect and fathom . It also has a number of controls for tweaking advanced circumstance .
Performance
On my Mac Pro I was able to ripWall - Ein well under an hour . Specifically , MacTheRipper rip the chief feature in 22 minutes and 52 seconds , RipIt rip the entire disc in 28 instant and 3 seconds , Mac DVDRipper Pro did the same job in 28 instant and 30 moment , HandBrake ripped and converted the master feature to the Apple television format in 32 minutes and 16 seconds , and iSkysoft videodisc Ripper took 31 minutes and 43 seconds to attain this same rip and rebirth .
RipIt ’s first iteration of the Compress feature article did n’t work well — RipIt 1.4 refused to ripWall - E(though when it could n’t , the programme offered to beam a account to the developers ) . The current translation ( 1.4.3 ) did ripWall - Eand the threeSix Feet Underepisodes using the Apple TV compression setting , but it took a recollective time to do the jobs — just over 57 minutes forWall - Eand 1 minute and 56 minutes for the three boob tube installment . If you want to rip and convert DVDs in a comparatively speedy direction , HandBrake is the better choice .
Quality was n’t an issue with MacTheRipper , RipIt ( using the Rip selection ) , or Mac DVDRipper Pro because they do n’t convert the source moving-picture show — it count the same as the original . It does matter , however , with HandBrake and iSkysoft DVD Ripper , which exchange the video . HandBrake ’s Apple TV conversion looked significantly better than the one do by iSkysoft videodisc Ripper when using DVD Ripper ’s Apple TV H.264 preset — with more item and fewer artifact . Additionally , the iSkysoft DVD Ripper video recording had a stuttering quality . This was a piffling surprising as the HandBrake reading had a lower act rate ( 1122 - kbs versus 1643 - kbps ) , smaller video size ( 720 by 352 versus 960 by 540 ) , and lower frame pace ( 24fps versus 30fps ) . I adjusted DVD Ripper ’s Apple TV preset to bring it in line with the HandBrake setting and the timber of the result video improved , but it still lack the clearness of the HandBrake rip .
HandBrake preservedWall - E’schapters — making it gentle to navigate through the picture show . iSkysoft DVD Ripper did n’t . And HandBrake ’s closed captions expect far advantageously than DVD Ripper ’s burned - in subtitle .
As for theSix Feet Undertests , the applications that create archives without commute the video were again faster . RipIt care the job in 26 bit and 20 second , MacTheRipper rip the disk in 26 minutes and 33 seconds , and DVD Ripper Pro took 28 minute and 49 seconds . HandBrake rip the disc ’s three episodes using the Apple TV preset in 53 minutes . iSkysoft DVD Ripper ripped those same three episode using its Apple tv set H.264 preset in 1 time of day and 7 minute . Again , the quality in the decryption rips did n’t change as they preserved the original TV . And , also again , HandBrake produce better looking videos than did iSkysoft DVD Ripper .
Conclusions
When choosing a magnetic disk ripping app , you have a couple of wide option . One is an lotion that decrypts the disc , leaving you with an archive that you’re able to spiel on your Mac , but that needs to be converted with another service program so that the archive ’s TV can be play on an iPod , iPhone , iPad , or Apple TV . The other is a tool that decrypts as well as convert .
Of the decrypting tools , RipIt has the advantage that it ’s dead - simple to use and is capable of ripping just about any platter you discombobulate at it . I ’ve yet to have a failure with it . mackintosh DVDRipper Pro is inexpensive at $ 10 and , even though it can be trip up when making archive ( as it was withWall - E ) , it offer the .iso workaround , lets you pull discs after you ’ve convert them , and gives you a standard of control over intentionally bad sphere that can interfere with a rip . MacTheRipper has a destiny going for it in the contour of its speed , but obtaining a transcript is confounding .
There ’s no contest between HandBrake and iSkysoft DVD Ripper . HandBrake is understandably the good putz . It ’s complimentary , provides more modern options , and produces better - looking resultant , even when using its default scene .
