I have used a number of separate programs to rip DVDs to my hard drive. I wanted to make a .AVI backups of a few DVDs with as little hassle as possible. The first program I tried was a program I had used on Windows, namely "DVDx 4". I downloaded the Linux distribution from the site and straight away upon loading realised that thankfully it was identical to the Windows version!
"DVDx 4" will rip any DVD, even if it is protected (as do all the programs I mention here). You can choose the quality of the rip and the codecs it uses. You can also rip for iPod, PSP, Quicktime, 3GPP and of course Divx. On the highest quality rips the picture quality is excellent and can easily be re-ripped to DVD should you want to. The software is fast and reliable and sound keeps in sync, a problem that plagued my ripping using windows.
The second program I have used is called "OGMRip" and this also rips protected DVDs. The interface is much simpler on this one and at first glance it looks like a simplified version of other DVD ripping software. However, under the bonnet of "OGMRip" is a powerful ripping machine. You can rip to more formats than I have seen in any other ripping program, and the quality is a step up from "DVDx 4". It has various filters you can apply to make the picture better and it can rip to a specified storage amount or bitrate.
"OGMRip" is a killer app there's no doubt of that. However, it's simpler interface may put some people off. That said, because of the extra features it can be very slow... make that very very slow! Ideal if you need a HD rip, otherwise get under the bonnet and change those settings.
The third program I have used has been one of the most versatile and is called "DVD95 Converter". It seems to be the fastest ripping software I have used and has worked perfectly on all variants of Ubuntu. I now use Pinguy OS 11.04 since writing this review, and "DVD95" seems to be the most trouble free in that particular distro, making perfect copies every time.
So, combined, "DVDx 4", "OGMRip" and "DVD95 Converter" are a lethal combination and a DVD copiers dream come true! The power of Linux just blows me away each day, and my next adventure will be into the world of Video Editing. Let's see what Linux can offer us then.
Looking through the Software Centre, there are also a number of other programs such as Handbrake, Acidrip, K9Copy and DVD:Rip to name a few. I have not tried these programs out so cannot recommend them at this point, but there should be something for everyone.
Having problems?
If you are having any problems ripping DVDs, please ensure the following files are downloaded onto your PC from the software centre:
libdvdcss2 - required to rip an encrypted DVD.
dvdbackup - required for ripping to hard drive in Linux.
Mark Adams
Re-written and edited August 2nd 2011
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