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Open Source DVD Tools for the Mac

While ripping retail DVDs to share with friends is a no-no, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to copy them. For example, you might want to take all 13 episodes of Greg the Bunny with you on your next vacation, but don't want to worry about losing any of the DVDs. Or maybe you just bought season one of Hannah Montana to go with your daughter's new Linux desktop and don't want her to scratch them up as she plays them over and over. Well, you get the idea.

Mac users have several open source tools at their disposal to help back up personally-owned DVDs with very little effort. I've talked about DVD ripper Handbrake before, so lets have a look at a few others. And remember, always rip responsibly.

DVD Remaster - This GNU GPL-licensed recompression tool gives you everything but the kitchen sink. It copies and burns DVDs in a single click, lets you dump DVD features you don't need like subtitles and actor commentary, and convert files for viewing on on iPod or iPhone. DVD Remaster is a paid app, but there's a demo mode you can try out to see if the standard ($39.99) or pro ($49.99) version is right for you.

MacTheRipper - Like Handbrake, this app in an old standby for DVD ripping on a Mac. Although MacTheRipper is no longer supported by its developers, it's still a terrific tool for creating exact copies of DVDs you already own or extracting data from damaged discs. The app is licensed under the GPL and, although there was some question about code violations, the issue appears to have been resolved.

K9Copy - Here's a handy tool with a small footprint that's perfect for creating ISO images or copying DVDs with or without menus on Linux. It also lets you choose which audio and subtitle tracks to copy. K9Copy doesn't have the bells and whistles of other open source DVD-ripping apps but it gets the job done without a lot of fuss.

Thoggen - This DVD ripper is designed specifically for Linux and encodes video directly into the Ogg/Theora format. It doesn't support subtitles yet, but it does allow users to make a language selection. Thoggen will also let you crop and resize pictures, and has a number of other configuration options that make this little app worth a look.

• encryption
• dvd
• ripping

by an anonymous user on Feb. 23, 2011

I just realized that Facebook has some good info on this subject as well. I never thought that Facebook could actually help with 'real' information.

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by Greg on Mar. 19, 2011

I'm not sure if Handbrake is technically a 'ripper,' which allows you to 'rip' the video files as-is from the disc to your hard drive. I don't see where handbrake does that. It is more accurately a conversion program, for converting video files from VIDEO_TS folders, or other video files, to a different format. Other than the obsolete MacTheRipper, there doesn't seem to be any free or open-source rippers for Mac. Handbrake is top-notch for converting files, although sometimes (not always) it seems to add artifacts when converting directly from a protected DVD. I prefer to copy the files from the DVD to my hard drive, then convert from the video files on my hard drive into a AppleTV of iPod-friendly format. Still need two separate programs to accomplish this.

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by sechange on Apr. 25, 2011

the same problem

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