best blu-ray ripping guide

[QueBert]

he's not a computer person at all, I'm building him a HTPC and he does have a decent Blu-Ray movie collection that's growing. I had foolishly listened to some idiot at an Internet cafe a few weeks ago who told me AnyDVD can rip and convert a Blu-Ray into an MKV with a few clicks of the mouse. Having never ripped a Blu-Ray myself I thought he could be telling me the truth.

I Googled and there seems to be no n00b solution for this. At this point I want to find the simplest guide, even if it has to buy something to do this. I don't see him being able to do anything even semi complicated ever. I was hoping for a click and convert method, but that looks like it's only gonna happen for his DVD collection.

He has a nice TV (XBR) but his vision isn't the greatest, so quality is less important than ease of use. I'm going to set it up so he can do DVD & CD's in a few clicks, wanna get Blu-Ray to MKV as basic as possible.

 

[abaez]

MakeMKV should do it for you.

 

[s44]

This is illegal.

 

[imported_Mike]

I use TMT, eac3to, and mkvmerge but it creates a multi step process. Easy enough if you're friend is somewhat computer literate.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: s44
This is illegal.

WTF? Not if you own the blu-rays.

 

[Baked]

It takes shorter time to watch the movie than ripping it to your computer. And how many times do you plan on watching the movie? Once or twice?

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Baked
It takes shorter time to watch the movie than ripping it to your computer. And how many times do you plan on watching the movie? Once or twice?

Something to do? There's another thread on here where a guy is making a media box and ripping 500 DVD's + tons of CD's and Blu-Rays too. I don't know why this guy I know wants to do this, but this is what he's after, so I'm asking. I myself wasted, errr... spent months ripping DVD's to MKV files for my HTPC setup lol. People are dumb I guess.

 

[zebrax2]

Originally posted by: Baked
It takes shorter time to watch the movie than ripping it to your computer. And how many times do you plan on watching the movie? Once or twice?

its easier to find files at your hard disk than on disks😀

 

[XMan]

I ripped all of mine to ISO's and stream them from my server. Toddlers and optical disks don't mix well.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: XMan
I ripped all of mine to ISO's and stream them from my server. Toddlers and optical disks don't mix well.

This is the first time Im hearing of this. What are the benefits of ripping it to ISO? How is the ISO played back?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: XMan
I ripped all of mine to ISO's and stream them from my server. Toddlers and optical disks don't mix well.

This is the first time Im hearing of this. What are the benefits of ripping it to ISO? How is the ISO played back?

Using a program like Alcohol 120%.

Basically a program creates a virtual optical drive, the ISO gets mounted to the drive (think putting the disc in a physical drive), and then play it. An ISO is basically a digital 1:1 copy of the disc.

The benefits of an ISO over a .mkv are it's the same as putting a physical disc in the drive. You get all of the extra content and such, where a .mkv is solely the movie without the added content (directors comments, alternate endings, etc). The downside is an ISO will be larger, and require more space on the HD.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: s44
This is illegal.

WTF? Not if you own the blu-rays.

The current law says it is illegal to decrypt any disc.

The Act defines what it means in Section 1201(a)(3):

(3) As used in this subsection?

(A) to ?circumvent a technological measure? means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner; and

That law also states that it affects fair use.

The Act clarified existing law rather than creating new or changing existing substantive rights or defenses, including fair use. Section 1201(c) provides:

(c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected.?

(1) Nothing in this section shall affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to copyright infringement, including fair use, under this title.

So if you decrypt it for your own fair use purposes, then it's all kosher. If you distribute it in any way (to family, friends, online, etc) then it's not legal. There are many grey areas to fair use regarding digital content. Analog isn't as much of a big deal, because each generation of copies has signal degredation. Digital doesn't suffer from degredation with each generation of copies.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: zebrax2

Originally posted by: Baked
It takes shorter time to watch the movie than ripping it to your computer. And how many times do you plan on watching the movie? Once or twice?

its easier to find files at your hard disk than on disks😀

good point, there's also the cool factor. When you have a female over and pop in a DVD, it's whatever. Nothing like firing up XBMC though and having all the cover's on the screen with hi res backdrops and cool little animations come up. And being able to flip threw movies/tv shows/music without getting off the couch.

I might never watch a movie more than once, hell some I might never watch even once, if/when do I won't have to look for a disk. I also like how it downloads all the movie info like actors, plot, and the rating.

 

[mc866]

I've been using RipBot264 to convert my bluray and HDdvd's to MKV, works well though slow on my system, e6600, I'm also scaling back to 720p to conserve some space.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: s44
This is illegal.

WTF? Not if you own the blu-rays.

Actually, it still is. There are no exceptions in the DMCA for breaking encryption, even for fair use. DisgruntledVirus' assertion that fair use is an exception is incorrect, and has been tested in court. This has been discussed at length on the Internets, should you care to look.

The easiest solution is to use AnyDVD HD for straight rips. Unfortunately, it's getting more and more expensive by the year.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Baked
It takes shorter time to watch the movie than ripping it to your computer. And how many times do you plan on watching the movie? Once or twice?

hehe, I hear ya. I only own one BR movie, 2001: A space odessy, and havent even played it yet.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: s44
This is illegal.

WTF? Not if you own the blu-rays.

Actually, it still is. There are no exceptions in the DMCA for breaking encryption, even for fair use. DisgruntledVirus' assertion that fair use is an exception is incorrect, and has been tested in court. This has been discussed at length on the Internets, should you care to look.

The easiest solution is to use AnyDVD HD for straight rips. Unfortunately, it's getting more and more expensive by the year.

The "fair use" doctrine is still a grey area regarding personal backups last I checked (which admittedly was over a year ago). So, unless there was a court case/law I missed (entirely possible) "fair use" under the DMCA allows you to legally back up your content.

Could you please link to the court cases where backing up your content (and NOT distributing it through any means) does not qualify as fair use, and was ruled to be illegal due to the copy protection?

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
The "fair use" doctrine is still a grey area regarding personal backups last I checked (which admittedly was over a year ago). So, unless there was a court case/law I missed (entirely possible) "fair use" under the DMCA allows you to legally back up your content.

This is only for format shifting and personal backups. It doesn't apply to encryption.

Could you please link to the court cases where backing up your content (and NOT distributing it through any means) does not qualify as fair use, and was ruled to be illegal due to the copy protection?

Again, you keep saying backups. Backups are fine by themselves. It's just removing the encryption to make the backups that's the issue. Knock yourself out:

http://www.chillingeffects.org...icircumvention/faq.cgi

The court case is Universal vs Corley. It affirmed quite a few bits of the DMCA when it comes to encryption. It is irrelevant whether you distribute the material further.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

we all know that law =! ethics/morals

I don't care if the law makes it illegal for me to copy my own disks. Go peek into someone else's bedroom...

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: Aharami

Originally posted by: XMan
Toddlers and optical disks don't mix well.

This is the first time Im hearing of this.

...woah.

Originally posted by: gersson
we all know that law =! ethics/morals

I don't care if the law makes it illegal for me to copy my own disks. Go peek into someone else's bedroom...

Depending on your interpretation of a recent bit of legislation, it's now illegal to give homegrown produce to your neighbors. The sheer number of people doing it has resulted in a situation similar to prohibition in that there's no point in going after anyone but those at the top, but thankfully lacks the mobsters (though certain anti-piracy ads suggest otherwise.)

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: gersson
we all know that law =! ethics/morals

I don't care if the law makes it illegal for me to copy my own disks. Go peek into someone else's bedroom...

Anandtech _potentially_ opens itself to liability when it becomes a venue for discussing illegal activities, even if you don't have a moral problem with them.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: gersson
we all know that law =! ethics/morals

I don't care if the law makes it illegal for me to copy my own disks. Go peek into someone else's bedroom...

Anandtech _potentially_ opens itself to liability when it becomes a venue for discussing illegal activities, even if you don't have a moral problem with them.

Which in and of itself is borderline retarded.

http://www.gearlog.com/2007/09...es_bluray_media_ju.php

I mean, when Sony releases a product that requires you to rip movies to it to utilize it, I am done hearing about defeating encryption, especially for home use. I rip all of my movies to keep my kid from scratching the heck out of them. If they want me to stop ripping them then make the bottoms of them scratch-proof for pete's sake.

EDIT - OK, I misread the product description. It's a 200-disk jukebox in addition to a server. But there are other products out there that are hard disk based.

 

[QueBert]

Gotta love Sony, they'll sell you the BURNER to burn the Blu-Ray, they'll sell you the BLANK disc to burn it on, but don't dare copy a Sony movie with it.

When I go to Best Buy and see 100 pack spindles of Sony DVD's I wonder if Sony believes people actually buy these to ummm make 100 copies of a crappy summer vacation video they shot.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: XMan
EDIT - OK, I misread the product description. It's a 200-disk jukebox in addition to a server. But there are other products out there that are hard disk based.

Really? Care to link us to some? Because, really, they don't exist. Even the Popcorn Hour / NMT-based stuff doesn't really handle Blu-Ray properly, there's no BD-J support, etc. Kaleidescape made a DVD version of what you're describing, but that licensing loophole has long been plugged.

Originally posted by: QueBert
Gotta love Sony, they'll sell you the BURNER to burn the Blu-Ray, they'll sell you the BLANK disc to burn it on, but don't dare copy a Sony movie with it.

Which is exactly how it's been with DVDs and CDs. I don't even get your point.

When I go to Best Buy and see 100 pack spindles of Sony DVD's I wonder if Sony believes people actually buy these to ummm make 100 copies of a crappy summer vacation video they shot.

They probably expect them to back up their computer, send stuff to family, etc. This line of thought is rather dangerous - it's what the studios tried to use to kill the VCR.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
The "fair use" doctrine is still a grey area regarding personal backups last I checked (which admittedly was over a year ago). So, unless there was a court case/law I missed (entirely possible) "fair use" under the DMCA allows you to legally back up your content.

This is only for format shifting and personal backups. It doesn't apply to encryption.

Could you please link to the court cases where backing up your content (and NOT distributing it through any means) does not qualify as fair use, and was ruled to be illegal due to the copy protection?

Again, you keep saying backups. Backups are fine by themselves. It's just removing the encryption to make the backups that's the issue. Knock yourself out:

http://www.chillingeffects.org...icircumvention/faq.cgi

The court case is Universal vs Corley. It affirmed quite a few bits of the DMCA when it comes to encryption. It is irrelevant whether you distribute the material further.

While I am still in the middle of reading that court case, and the other link you provided 🙂beer: for that, thx 🙂) the issue that started the court case was the Corley posted DeCSS on his website. Like I said, I have yet to read all about the case but that is one important bit of information.

I agree discussing ways to break laws can open anandtech up to lawsuit, breaking the decryption in order to make a fair use backup (that does NOT get distributed) is something that I still believe is a grey area (and that you won't get caught unless you distributed it, or it's discovered due to some other crime you commit). I'll keep reading about the court case, and see if I'm wrong about that.