Best way to put my DVD's onto new media computer?

[Jeffsta]

I have a collection of DVD's that I have purchased throughout the years. I would like to put them on my new htpc/media computer. I came across a guide that says FreeDVD and DVDShrink is the most common software used to backup DVD's. I was wondering which is best? or if someone has a better suggestion.

I have purchased these DVD's, so it should be legal to back them up to my computer right?

Will I be able to play them right off the computer? Instead of inserting the disk to watch them.

 

[boosted1g]

Yes it is legal to put them on your computer, if you put them on an additional computer then it is not legal. It would also technically not be legal to watch it on the PC and on the disk at the same time, not that anyone actually cares.

You will need to rip them to a single AVI or DIVX file to be able to just play it on the computer.

Once you have them all digital (saved to the computer), if this is for a TV/Family entertainment environment I highly recommend Kodi (formally XBMC) to use as your player and front end.

As far as which program I have not dealt with dvd converting in years so I don't even remember what I used to use, let alone what is still good.

 

[kanewolf]

In the US it is sort-of legal to copy DVDs. It falls under the fair use doctrine, but it violates the digital millenium copyright act (DMCA) because it circumvents the copy protection. I don't think anybody will be arrested for personal transcoding of media they own, but TECHNICALLY it is still unlawful -- http://lifehacker.com/5978326/is-it-legal-to-rip-a-dvd-that-i-own

 

[Mr5oh]

I do this entirely in Linux, as it works better in my opinion:

For most DVDs I use Handbrake, free and open source. It's rare but when I come across one that won't rip directly from Handbrake, I end up using AcidRip (also free) to rip the DVD and then usually it works.

I convert them all to MP4, as they generally will play on anything. It also allows me to use aacgain (in conjunction with easymp3gain, mp3gain)to normalize the volume level in all my videos / movies, so everything is the same volume.

 

[faalin]

( ninja look around) back in my days when i would rent movies and rip them to my computer i would use dvd shrink, I would rip them as iso files (or avi) and burn them right back to disk or use daemon tools as a virtual dvd drive to mount and play the movie.

Dvd shrink would also allow you to remove anything you didnt need on the disc, like other languages, extras, or audio formats that you knew you didnt support.

Always loved the blockbuster 's monthly plan, take 3 movies bring them back and get 3 more. I was in that store more then any other customer and new were every dvd was on the shelf and quite often got asked for recommendation for movies from other customers.

 

[Jeffsta]

Once you have them all digital (saved to the computer), if this is for a TV/Family entertainment environment I highly recommend Kodi (formally XBMC) to use as your player and front end.

I was wondering about this earlier. I will give Kodi a try.

Thanks!

 

[Jeffsta]

In the US it is sort-of legal to copy DVDs. It falls under the fair use doctrine, but it violates the digital millenium copyright act (DMCA) because it circumvents the copy protection. I don't think anybody will be arrested for personal transcoding of media they own, but TECHNICALLY it is still unlawful -- http://lifehacker.com/5978326/is-it-legal-to-rip-a-dvd-that-i-own

I will look into this more just to be on the safe side. Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[Jeffsta]

Thanks for the very helpful responses everyone!