Ubuntu and Linux Mint: Rip DVD
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I like storing my media; TV series, films & music on a NAS box (Network Attached Storage), so it's available to all devices in my house; my PLEX media server, XBMC (Kodi) Raspberry Pi's behind TV's, Android phones, tablet etc.. But to achieve this, DVD films and TV series first need to be ripped to the NAS.
There are many ways to skin a cat, but this open source solution works for me - HandBrake.
Note: I've tried this with success on Ubuntu 14.04, and LinuxMint 18 Cinamon 3.0.7.
Install HandBrake
Either use the desktop Ubuntu Software Center or a Terminal session to install HandBrake, terminal guidance below:
~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases
(Enter password when prompted)
~$ sudo apt-get update
~$ sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk
Decrypt Encrypted DVDs
A lot of commercial DVD's are encrypted with CSS (Content Scramble System) to stop people pirating DVDs and selling on illegal copies. This also hinders people like you and me who just wish to move their DVDs to their home media library.
Luckily there is software available to help us over this hurdle. Full write up here, but here are the essential terminal commands to get it installed and working:
~$ sudo apt-get install libdvdread4
(Enter password when prompted)
~$ sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh
HandBrake
HandBrake is fairly easy to use, the tricky part is determining which"title" of the DVD you want to save as an individual file. In the case of TV shows, an individual title is usually an individual episode.
VLC
To get around this, I use VLC media player, which allows you to browse the titles of a DVD:
Play the DVD in VLC, go to the menu "Playback", then select "Title", and all the titles are listed with their lengths, and the one currently playing conveniently has a dot against it. You can also select a different title to play from this menu to check which is which. I make a note of which title I'm interested in, then go to HandBrake, and pick out the specific title to rip.
The example screenshots above shows episode "Rose" (episode 1, of season 1) of the 2005 'new' Dr Who serial. This episode is title 3 of the DVD. For this TV series, the chapters are simply sections of the episode, of which I want all together to give me one file of the whole episode, so I have left the defualt chapters 1 through 14 set.
HandBrake Queue
Handbrake offers the option to queue more rips, so for a given DVD, you can leave it operating over night, and in the morning you'l have all of your eisodes saved! Easy...
