Blu-Ray

How to rip DVDs and Blu-ray discs with MakeMKV and Handbrake

In a recent article, I explained how you can rip DVDs with the free Handbrake. While the solution I describe in that article is easy to use, you might want to consider another way of ripping discs. You can do this using the free MakeMKV, and then using Handbrake. This has several advantages:

  • There’s no need to install additional tools from the command line, as I explained in the “How to rip DVDs with Handbrake” article.
  • You can also rip Blu-ray discs with MakeMKV and then convert these files to iTunes-compatible files.
  • If you don’t want to store your videos in iTunes, you can play them with the free VLC media player, and you can view them in the iOS version of VLC as well.
  • And if you use Plex to manage and view videos, then you can use the MKV file as is; Plex can read and play this type of file, and it’s got great apps for iOS and the Apple TV.

Here’s how to use MakeMKV to rip optical discs, and how to convert them with Handbrake.

Read the rest of the article on Macworld.

How to Rip Blu-Ray Discs on a Mac

My friend and podcast co-host Rob Griffiths has published a great how-to guide to ripping Blu-Ray discs on a Mac. It’s a bit of a complex process, because you need to use a few different pieces of software. But if you – like Rob and I – like to have all our videos in digital form, you’ll want to check out this workflow. It’s efficient, and results in excellent quality videos.

For his example, he uses the recently released Blu-Ray of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, which he got to see live when he visited me earlier this year. You might like this film, if you like Shakespeare.