DVD Remaster Pro: Quickly Re-compress your DVD Collection
When it comes to putting DVDs on your Mac, the first application that comes to mind for many is the open-source Handbrake. DVDRemaster Pro, from Metakine, is an application similar to Handbrake. It allows you to re-compress an entire DVD, export a DVD to a device such as an iPod, or rip a raw, uncompressed stream of the DVD to your hard drive.
When you first open DVDRemaster Pro, you have to choose a source. DVDRemaster Pro comes with an application called FairMount, that allows you to mount DVDs like Disk Images.
Once you have chosen a source, you must decide what mode you are going to burn in. There are three modes in DVDRemaster Pro: Remaster, Export and Extract.
Remaster lets you re-compress the DVD onto your hard drive, that can simply be stored, or later re-burned. You can choose to re-compress the entire DVD, or just the main feature. First you have to select a Recompression Module, and you can choose a target size to try and keep the file size under.
Export is the mode that I expect most people to use this application for. You can choose from 7 formats to export for, including iPod, Apple TV, MP4 and Quicktime. There are a number of presets included in DVDRemaster Pro for this mode, and you can easily create your own in the “Configure†dialog. Once you have chosen your format and preset, you can go through the files on the disc and choose which files you want to export. You can also have the result automatically imported into iTunes once it is done, and choose whether you want the subtitles of a particular file.
Finally, DVDRemaster’s third mode is Extract. Extract lets you take the raw stream off the DVD for use in another application, such as VLC.
In the end, DVDRemaster produced great results, and made it easy to get files quickily from DVD to iPod. It took DVDRemaster Pro 5 minutes, 59 seconds to rip a 26 minute episode of FRIENDS, where it took Handbrake 18 minutes, 24 seconds to rip the same episode, at the same settings. This test was in no way scientific, but rather just a quick test to compare burn times.
DVDRemaster Pro is a little on the expensive side at $49.99 ($39.99 for standard version) when there are tools like Hanbrake available, but it depends on whether you are willing to pay for the convenience of time.
Just remember that you should not rip DVDs that you do not have ownership of. If I understand correctly, it is illegal in the US to rip a DVD if you circumvent the encryption or protection in the process. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Handbrake only takes existing DVD video data (on your HD) and encodes it to something else. It does NOT rip/decrypt off the DVD which is a necessity. DVD Remaster Pro sounds fine and dandy, but so many movies you can buy now (such as Vantage Point or 21) will not rip. At $50, it’s a bit of a risk.
@CaptSaltyJack: from Handbrake’s website: “Supported Sources: Any DVD-like source: VIDEO_TS folder, DVD image or real DVD (encrypted or unencrypted, but protection methods other than CSS are not supported and must be handled externally with third-party software), and some .VOB and .TS files”
Unless I am not understanding what you mean correctly, Handbrake does rip directly off of DVDs in your optical drive.
Ahh I stand corrected, didn’t know it could decrypt. But it sounds like it’s limited, and a 3rd party app such as MacTheRipper (free) might be needed.
That is correct, many people suggest using MacTheRipper to get the DVD onto your HD, and then use Handbrake to encode it to the format of your choice.
DVDRemaster Pro is sort of like “one-stop shopping.”
I have just recently started using handbrake. I purchased a 160G ipod classic and wanted to put all our dvd’s (kids and mine) onto my ipod to be able to play back via a portable dvd/ipod player or play on my tv via a homedock. I have been able to convert all my dvd’s without the use of any other software whatsoever through handbrake.
Not that i suggest this but i was also interested to see if this would work with a rented dvd and it did. Again this is illegal, however i really just wanted to see if it would work and it does.
So i don’t see the point of paying for a piece of software that another software will do for free. The original poster said it was faster. I generally just put in a dvd and forget about it until its done so speed is of no importance whatsoever.
Unless i am missing something what would be the point of using this “mactheripper” software since handbrake will do it all?
MacTheRipper might tackle certain DVDs that Handbrake may not. But that’s just speculation. Handbrake does warn that it only supports certain encryption methods. I think MacTheRipper recognizes more.
Handbrake has shutdown on a few occassions, however, when this happens i just restart the process and it usually converts the dvd. In fact there has only been one dvd that i haven’t been able to convert and that is a recently purchased copy of “Bee Movie”.
Maybe i will try this mactheripper program and see if it can convert it.
Other than that, there isn’t anything that i have thrown at handbrake that it can’t handle.
@Dale: MacTheRipper doesn’t convert the ripped information, it saves it as the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. You can then use Handbrake to convert the folders into the format of your choice. MacTheRipper excels at the ripping process, and Handbrake is better used to encode your files.
ah ok, that makes sense now. I have noticed that on the cds with those 2 folders already in place, converting the dvd works flawlessly.
Thanks for the clarification.
No problem Dale, glad you understand now.
I have downloaded this software, but I trashed DVD Remaster Pro. I already have Cinematize. It’s interesting that FairMount is mentioned only in passing. You do realize that once a DVD is mounted as a disk image, it’s decrypted right? You can then drag that VIDEO_TS folder to a hard drive. FairMount is now my preferred DVD decrypter.
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For the longest time, I could not understand how people experienced no issues with Handbrake! I use it often, but it fails at least 50% of the time, which I believe is due to encryption problems. I just wanted to let everyone out there know that Handbrake, when used in conjuction with a decryption program, (as in, Freemount), is a seemingly painless process. Install Freemount. Run it. It will auto-mount your DVD as a disk image on the desktop. Go into the disk image, find the VIDEO_TS folder, then drag it to your desktop to copy it. Once copied, run Handbrake on the entire VIDEO_TS folder you just copied (that’s now both decrypted and NOT on a DVD, thus speeding up the process) and voila–you should have your Handbrake-created movie in no time!