On Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 7:36:32 PM UTC-5, Dan wrote: > > On Jan 25, 2015, at 05:15 PM, William Spencer <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > I have a single copy of a non-commercial and unavailable DVD that appears > to be copy-protected. I want to make a copy for myself that I can watch on > both the TV and the computer just as though I’m looking at the original, > meaning including whatever chapters might exist. > > > To do this, I *think* I have to go through a conversion process…Disk > Utility refuses to make a disk image (this is why I think the disk is > copy-protected). So what’s the simplest way to do this? > > > Simple is relative. The key is in understanding the individual steps > required, I think. > > 1. Physically clean the DVD with water and a soft cloth! Better to make > a clean rip than waste time listening to the DVD drive re-read track after > track after track, hoping to get it right. > > 2. Prepare to break the encoding/protection. Until this is done, other > tools will simply t-rex (flap their wee hands uselessly). Do this by > installing and launching Fairmount. > <https://github.com/pmetzger/Fairmount> > > 3. Mount the (now dry) DVD and wait a minute or three for Fairmount to do > its magic. > > 4. Rip the whole DVD using MacTheRipper. > > 5. Test the rip by opening and playing the resulting Video_TS folder with > VLC. > > 6. (optional) Transcode the desired title(s) in the Video_TS to something > else. An mkv file containing h.264 is usually preferred because it > supports chapters and embedded subtitles etc. My current fav tool for this > is Handbrake, but sometimes I wing it with raw ffmpeg commands. > <http://handbrake.fr/> > > Technically, you should be able to skip steps 4 & 5, going directly to 6 > and transcoding right off the optical media, but I’ve not had good luck > with that. Handbrake and Fairmount don’t always seem to get along; > Handbrake crashes etc. So I’ve found that doing things one step at a time > works best. Also, transcoding with Handbrake from a Video_TS folder on > your hard drive is much faster than re-reading the DVD. That makes it > easer to re-transcode after changing settings and such. > > HTH, > - Dan. >
Thank you, Dan…these steps looks not too bad all told. I've purchased the current MacThe Ripper Pro package (it looks like the last free version won't work on 10.9.x) but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to install Fairmount--which appears to be out of production anyway. (The computer I'm trying to do this on is the newer Mac, using 10.9.5) I downloaded the zip file from the github website you list but it's just a bunch of (I assume) code-related files, no installer or user guide or anything included that I can see. (It also doesn't appear on cnet's download.com website so I assume the link above is the only way to get it.) So what now? I'm sorry to be dense about this but I am not a techie, just plain old me. Thanks! Bill -- -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iMac Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
