Ripping (DVD & Blu-Ray)

“Ripping” is the act of extracting the contents of a DVD or Blu-Ray disc. The reason it is called ripping, and not copying, is because the information on retail movies has copy protection. The software that extracts the files does so by circumventing this copy protection, essentially ‘ripping’ it away so that the files may be copied without issue. This section will explain how to rip the contents of both a DVD and a Blu-Ray disc.

Ripping a DVD on a Apple Computer

Ripping a DVD is incredibly easy task, which is fortunate since most people will probably have a fairly large library of DVDs that they will want to rip for their Media Center. There are numerous applications available for the Mac that will rip a DVD for you, but none are as simple, easy and consistently updated as RipIt. Because I am a fan of this software, that is what I will be using for this tutorial.

1. Open the RipIt application.
2. You will be prompted to ‘Insert DVD’, insert the DVD you wish to rip.
3a. RipIt will scan your DVD (several seconds) and then present you with a ‘Rip’ button.
3b. Before ripping your DVD, rename it (should you wish to). Click ‘Rip’.
4. RipIt will begin ripping your DVD and present you with the time remaining.
5. RipIt will not make any fanfare when it is completed. Your file will simply be where you told it to save.

Ripping a Blu-Ray on a Apple Computer

In the case of ripping a Blu-Ray movie, there is only one application that you can currently use on a Mac, MakeMKV. You will also need a Blu-Ray Drive or you will not be able to read the Blu-Ray disc, there is a selection of drives available in the Blu-Ray Drives section. Before you jump into ripping all of your Blu-Ray movies to your computer you should know in advance what you will be doing with the files. What is your main intention with the movie? Do you actually want to rip the entire disc to keep on your computer? Or do you really just want the main movie track? The reason for this question is because complete Blu-Ray discs are between 25-50GB. However, the full quality main title may only be between 8-20GB. It may be a huge waste for you to fill up your hard drive with full images when you just want to watch the main title. Now with all that said, lets get into it:

You first will need to rip the entire disc to your hard drive, even if you want just the main title track. Follow these directions first and then the instructions below to proceed further.

Ripping the Entire Blu-Ray Disc (25-50GB):

1. Open MakeMKV and Insert Blu-Ray Disc.

2. MakeMKV will scan the disc. (10-60 seconds)

3. In the text window on the left of MakeMKV, the top most menu, “Blu-Ray,” should be highlighted (see thumbnail)

4. Click the ‘Save selected titles’, button (highlighted below).

5. MakeMKV will ask you, “/Users/username/Movies/movietitle does not exist,” would you like to make it.

6. Click ‘Yes’

7. MakeMKV will then take ~60 minutes to rip the entire Blu-Ray, folder structure and all, to your Movies folder.

8. That’s it!

Ripping the Main Title Only (8-20GB):

If you just want to rip the main title track, follow the above instructions and then proceed with the information below.

1. Open MakeMKV without your Blu-Ray disc in the drive and click on the folder icon.

2. Navigate to where you saved your Blu-Ray disc image and click on the ‘index.bdmv’ file which is in the BDMV folder.

3. Open MakeMKV will scan the disc. (10-60 seconds)

4. Look at all the ‘Titles’ for the largest track (10GB+). This is your main movie file.

5. Uncheck all the other ‘Titles.’ (see thumbnail).

6. Click the ‘Save selected titles’, button. Same as above.

7. MakeMKV will ask you, “/Users/username/Movies/movietitle/title00.mkv does not exist,” would you like to make it.

8. Click ‘Yes’

9. MakeMKV will then take ~30 minutes to rip the main movie file, as an MKV, to your Movies folder.

10. That’s it!

Your new .mkv video file will be playable in programs like Plex and VLC with full surround audio. The only thing left to do is make some popcorn and dim the lights!