I am planning on purchasing an imac or mac mini to use as a HTPC. I have hundreds of DVD's that I have purchased, that I want to rip to my hard drive and store/play from there. First, how do I rip my dvd's? I tried to download MacTheRipper, but all of their links to download are dead. Tried VersionTracker and mac update with the same results. Is MTR still downloadable and usable? Is there another program to rip to my HD?? Once ripped, what is the best program to use to access and play them. I was just going to use MTR to rip the Video_TS file to my HD and VLC or another program to play them. Once ripped (I need help with that :( )should i convert to another format, or use a program to make the files smaller. And what is the best way to access my library? DVDpedia?? something else??? Sorry for all the noob questions, but I just want to back up my dvd's to my HD and have a slick way to search, choose and play them on my HDTV.

Thank you and all input/advice appreciated.

MacTheRipper is the program you want to use. Maybe their servers are just down or something. It comes with a guide that will tell you all you need to know. Anyway, rip the movies to your user's ~/Movies folder.

Example: ~/Movies/Star Wars/video_ts/...

No need to convert it to another format.

Front Row is, IMO, the best Mac front end. There's no setup involved. To start it up, either use the remote that comes with your mac, or hit <command>-<esc>. You can navigate to your movies. It simply reads your movies folder, so you can organize it how ever you want, and it will show up that way in front row. It will use Apple's DVD Player, which is fine.

I've never used DVDPedia, so I can't comment on that.

edit: Here's a link to a MTR download: http://mac.softpedia.com/progDownload/MacTheRipper-Download-7008.html. That's version 2.6.6. I think there's a beta version 3.0, which I've never used.

mslide, thank you. I downloaded MTR and am trying it out on my Clerks 10th anniversary dvd. When I do main feature extraction, its at 4.33 GB. Do you use a program to make it smaller, or is that a pretty common size? When I buy my mini or imac, I will get an external drive too for all the movies, but am curious as to what most do. I do want the best quality though, as i will be outputting via DVI to HDMI. Thank you again :)

Does MTR not work with certain dvd's? I tried to do the Criterion Collection film Chocolate and it is not working, just exits the program.

Does MTR not work with certain dvd's?

Depends which version of MTR you have, and whether you know how to use it.

I own A LOT of Criterion discs, never had a problem with backing up a single one. In fact, if there's one thing you can count on, it's that Criterion discs can easily be backed up.

There's a Lasse Hallstrom 'Chocolat,' that's the one with Juliet Binoche that got nominated for best picture, and a Claire Denis 'Chocolate,' I don't own either one but neither is a Criterion. You're probably having trouble with the Hallstrom, that's because it's a MiraMax/Disney disc, and they're one of the more aggressive studios in terms of trying to defeat ripping. They try all sorts of sneaky anti-piracy tricks and the newest encryption schemes. Once a new disc gets released, folks start ripping it and have problems, then the more advanced users and the developers of the ripping programs try to figure out what's going on, develop a proper ripping strategy, an new update might get released, etc. If you happen to read Stephen Jay Gould, dvd encryption and ripping is more like his idea of "punctuated equilibrium" to describe evolution--long periods of relative calm interrupted by dramatic changes and crippling new strategies.

Anyway, that's why such an old version of MTR like the "free" 2.6.6 isn't going to cut it anymore. A lot has happened in the past 6 years. It'll still work on many discs, especially older ones, but there have been many newer, better versions of MTR released since--I'm using "3.0 R14M" I think at the moment.

How to rip, how to compress, what software to use, how to store the files and share them around your home network, which front end to use--these are VAST subjects. If you have a large dvd collection at home you'll have to learn a new language with terms like RipGuard, ARccOS, puppetlock, zero cells, etc. These days most of us rely on a suite of programs on the OS X side to deal with dvds:

MTR and Handbrake to rip;

Handbrake, VisualHub and DVD2OneX to convert, extract and compress;

Popcorn and Toast to burn an actual backup disc copy.

Several of these programs are more broad, more capable than the way I limited them, but think of all these like tools in a drawer--you'll employ a different combination of them depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

Me--I use MTR, DVD2OneX and Popcorn. But that's because I rip all my dvds to VIDEO_TS, I don't compress or convert them, then store them on hard drives and play them back in that format via Front Row or Apple dvd player. Someone else with a bunch of aTVs, who willingly abides by the iTunes ecosystem rules, will encode that VIDEO_TS into an acceptable aTV or iPod format: after ripping with MTR they'll rely more on Handbrake or perhaps VisualHub to compress and convert. The key concept is that there are many ways to go about this, you have to figure out what'll work best for you. And there are many many threads discussing all aspects of this here, and over at the Handbrake and Ripdifferent discussion forums.

A real good place for newbies to start reading is Macworld--just search over there for basic articles on Handbrake, converting your dvds for the iPod or aTV, and that'll help get you up to speed. Like this one:

http://www.macworld.com/article/57322/2007/04/atv_videoconvert.html

Be forewarned, though: ripping--defeating the encryption and copy protection leaving you with a VIDEO_TS folder of the entire disc or just the main feature--goes fairly quickly; encoding/converting that VIDEO_TS takes much longer.