555-Shaggy

I want to rip my dvd's to my pc so that they can be played in full with all the menus etc and full 5.1 sound via media player / media centre.

Is this possible, what do I need to do it?

HankScorpio

Do a google for "DVD Shrink".
Loads of info and help out there, certainly more than I can offer here!

555-Shaggy

I've tried that after a search on here, but cannot get the resulting files to be played - am I missing something?

HankScorpio

Depends on what you're trying to play them with.
You could try Daemon Tools to mount the results so your ystem see them as a DVD.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

You just need a dvd ripper like DVDFab or DVDblaze, DVDshrink will rip to, but will not work with newer titles using DIR protection.

jpor

iTrader: (1)

You also need a a software DVD player like powerDVD or WinDVD. You maybe able to play them with Microsoft Windows Media Player. But you will need an MPEG-2 Codec.
Theere are other players. Do a search on VideoHelp.com

555-Shaggy

I'm trying to play them via media center / media player.

GC8

Will Media Player play an image or play from an .ifo file.....? Youd be better off using PowerDVD; all recent versions will play the files correctly from your fixed disk from the .ifo file. To use all of the menus as intended then youll be best using an application like Daemon Tools, as already suggested, to mount the image (so that the computer sees a physical drive). With this done you should be able to navigate the menus as if you were using a physical disc. PowerDVD will still be a better bet though.


Simon

555-Shaggy

Cheers mate, the thing is I want to be able to select my movies from something Media Center, I don;t want to be loading loads of bits of software to play them..

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

You don't need to load lots of apps. The ripping tools mentioned create the correct DVD menu structure in a folder called video_ts. That's why its better to use a proper DVD player like PowerDVD as mentioned. Then you just point the DVD player software to each film's folder. So you need 2 applications. One to rip, one to view, simple.

555-Shaggy

But that is just it.. I've already got stuff that plays video in the form of Media Player / Media Center.. why would I want more?

I want a nice graphic menu that displays the contents of my ripped dvd folder and will just play it when I click on the movie I want.. I don't want to be heading into explorer (or some other apps File | Open) to find the right file to be played. I want something simple with a remote that anyone can use with a degree in Windows OS's...

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Mate you dont seem to understand. You cant do it with the apps you have, you HAVE to use some kind of ripping app to get the DVD onto your HDD for a start, and also to rip the correct DVD structure. Then you need something to actually play the files back correctly. WMP is not the tool for the job.

DemonDave

iTrader: (13)

shaggy - you can rip the dvd to a single file - you will not have all the menus - you can then put them into the my videos folder to play as you wish.

as said you cannot replicate a full dvd with media centre - you would need another application to "pretend" the files are a dvd.

but you said you could not get the files ripped with dvd shrink to play - did you get sound but no video ?

555-Shaggy

Mate you don't seem to understand. I know I need something to rip the DVD to the hard drive and happy with that.. its the play back I'm not happy with. Media Center does play the dvd from the disc directly but not from the hard drive - which I want it to do.

However, I have now found a plugin / hack and have ripped 2 dvd's to my hard drive and guess what, in media center they are playing... from the hard drive... with menus... and it should download all the metadata to add to the dvd just like media player does for cd's... this is exactly what I wanted..

The only problem is that to play 2 different dvd's you need to close and reopen media center in between, unless I can find a way round this too, but this is a small price to pay to have the system that I want working how I want.. no more getting up to change disks, no more lost disks / unable to find what you want without searching through loads of disks...