Any legal way to convert dvds to ipod friendly format?

[Epcot Mom]

We were trying to not take our portable dvd player next time and wanting to put movies on our ipods for the kids. I thought I could simply put it in my Roxio and covert the format but no go. Any way to do this? I'm not wanting to break the law, just didn't see it as anything other than a back up, which I thought we were allowed to do.

If there is no way to do this, what do you suggest as the cheapest way to buy a couple of movies ipod friendly?

Thanks.

 

[CandyHead09]

We were trying to not take our portable dvd player next time and wanting to put movies on our ipods for the kids. I thought I could simply put it in my Roxio and covert the format but no go. Any way to do this? I'm not wanting to break the law, just didn't see it as anything other than a back up, which I thought we were allowed to do.

If there is no way to do this, what do you suggest as the cheapest way to buy a couple of movies ipod friendly?

Thanks.

Sorry but no it literally cannot be done unless you buy the special edition that comes with the itunes version of the dvd or buy the movie on the itunes store.
And itunes sometimes has deals on movies and sells them for five dollars so you can check and see. The movies usually are quite cheaper than buying the dvd but they do go from twelve to fifteen dollars.

 

[Epcot Mom]

Thanks!

 

[Jenn4615]

it can be done... My husband has done it for a few of my kids dvds... its been time consuming to get it to work. Ur better off buying the digital copy or buying off itunes..
fyi... i think its called mp4 format that it needs to be converted too...good luck!

 

[Epcot Mom]

I already own software that converts to the proper format, I just can't get the dvds to do anything other than play when I put them in my computer.

 

[Jenn4615]

Did you try logging into the software and then starting the DVD... once we open up the software it says to insert disk... it should work from there.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Legally, the answer is technically "no", unless you download it from iTunes or from a digital copy.

It can be done (not that I'm condoning it). Handbrake works very well (so I've heard).

 

[jessica52877]

I thought you were allowed to do it for your own personal viewing. Maybe I understood wrong? But I sure wouldn't buy the same movie twice.

DH did CARS and HSM 2 for my DS mix max. No idea how he did it and he doesn't know either. He tried the digital copies not too long ago and couldn't do those for some reason.

 

[Davids-Coco]

Officially, it is legal to rip a DVD that you own for personal reasons only. However, it is illegal to write the software that does it. (see wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripping) So anything that you can prove you have in disk form is okay... If you are looking for it to work with an ipod, it needs to be in a form that it will be happy with - there is this mysterious ipod atom that is required. Handbrake is a good program that has some foolproof options you can just choose to get the correct format.

 

[bumbershoot]

I thought you were allowed to do it for your own personal viewing.

That's how my brother and husband understand it. Since my sis in law is a trademark attorney, and she's the one with the iphone itouch and ipod (and ipad if she's a lucky duck at her big conference like she was last year, winning a kindle) that my brother is changing formats for, I imagine she is comfy with how he's legally doing things.

Now, do I know how it's done? Nope. But hubby spends a great deal of time moving things from whatever format to mp4...brother says that he has to change the format to whatever, then put it into the special software on his macbook pro, which changes it back to whatever it was before, but with its own "i" whatever it needs.

Wow that was really helpful! Anyway, my point is, you CAN do it...for your own personal viewing it's legal...I just don't know how.

 

[Jenn4615]

Legally, the answer is technically "no", unless you download it from iTunes or from a digital copy.

It can be done (not that I'm condoning it). Handbrake works very well (so I've heard).

its legal if you already own the cd or dvd.... You are not allowed to sell them ... that obviously would make it illegal... if you own it... u can do whatever u want with it. My DH has a job where they are given random Lie detector tests... he doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body!

 

[rotlex]

I do this all the time to store movies on my computer, or watch them on an iPod\portable device. Legal? Depends on who you talk to I guess, but Handbrake is a great FREE program that works very, very well. You can find it here http://handbrake.fr/

I've only ever used the Mac OS X version, but they do have a Windows version as well. It will "rip" DVD's to multiple formats etc., and has been successful on nearly anything I've tried it on.

 

[Epcot Mom]

The idea that it's ok for my own use (truly my young children's but still) was what I thought. I guess my Roxio program doesn't trust me. I'm usually afraid to download software from the internet like above. Not to ask a stupid question, but does Handbrake give you other junk on your computer you don't want?
Thanks.

 

[rotlex]

The idea that it's ok for my own use (truly my young children's but still) was what I thought. I guess my Roxio program doesn't trust me. I'm usually afraid to download software from the internet like above. Not to ask a stupid question, but does Handbrake give you other junk on your computer you don't want?
Thanks.

Nope. Does not install anything other than itself. Again, I only have experience with the Mac version, which doesn't even install. You just drag it where you want it, and run it.

As far as working, I'd say it has worked on 9 out of 10 DVD's I've tried it with, pretty much without issue.

 

[miraclemommy]

You can download a trial version at magicdvdripper.com. There is a free trial available to download that you can use 5 times before you have to pay for the full version. I have used it to put a few movies on my DS ipod. It also works to convert dvd's to disney mix max format. You just pick the format you want to convert to from the drop down menu. It is super easy and quick.

HTH
Jennifer

 

[Davids-Coco]

Nope. Does not install anything other than itself. Again, I only have experience with the Mac version, which doesn't even install. You just drag it where you want it, and run it.

As far as working, I'd say it has worked on 9 out of 10 DVD's I've tried it with, pretty much without issue.

We have ripped all our children's dvds with handbrake. Only 1 was an issue. We probably have about 100 movies... but have also bought every dvd that disney has put out that we can and lots of kid's shows. Just make sure you click to include the ipod atom.

 

[My_3_Mi_Princesses]

DVDFab is also great for this. You get a free 30 day trial, after that it cost $60 to buy it. It also does Blu-Ray movies

 

[brergnat]

Ditto to MagicDVDRipper. It works. Very easily.

However, *some* movies on DVD have piracy controls programmed into them, and they WILL rip into an electronic format, but the chapters will not be in the right order. So, you basically can't watch the movie. Those are few and far between, though, and hasn't happened on any of our Disney movies so far

 

[Epcot Mom]

Thanks everyone! These forums are the best!

 

[surfgirl]

It is a 2 step process:

1) convert the DVD to digital. I use DVD Decrypter
http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/

2) covert the digital format to Ipod format (mp4). I use Videora.
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

I have been using both for about 4 years now and I've only had 1 or 2 DVDs that wouldn't convert. Both are free and I haven't (yet) found any unwanted 'stuff' with them. When you convert it to digital, it is big! So once I've converted them to Ipod format, I go back and delete the digital copy because it uses too many hard drive space. We just got back from Europe and I didn't want to carry DVD players, so we only used Ipods... I've converted about 20 total movies this way and it is great. Having said that, it does take a while and in the future, I will spend the extra money (maybe $5?) for the digital also copy which is much easier.