DVD ripping software for Macs?

[Cormacaroni]

Can anyone recommend good freeware for OSX? I know nothing about Macs  :'(  Kind of reluctant to install any of the random stuff that googling brings up.

I want to rip a bunch of DVDs to the HDD for my kid to watch on holiday. Will I also need image mounting software?

edit: I don't need to compress it after ripping btw.

[TVC15]

Handbrake (what I use the most) - http://handbrake.fr/
ffmpegx is what I usually use for transcoding, if I need a format that Handbrake doesn't do - http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

[Cormacaroni]

sweet, thanks!

[TVC15]

Some people like MacTheRipper over Handbrake, but I don't know why, really.

http://www.mactheripper.org/ just in case you want to give it a shot.  I think Handbrake is better in just about every way.

[Cormacaroni]

Does Handbrake remove copy protection though? The documentation is vague on that. I keep getting "no valid source" errors with this (store bought) DVD i'm trying to rip.

[TVC15]

A quick google search indicates that Handbrake does not remove DVD copy protection.  I've ripped tons and tons of DVDs with it and have never had a problem, though.  Do most DVDs not have copy protection?

[Cormacaroni]

The documentation says:

"Disk won't rip? Try these steps: ¶

First off, you should know that HandBrake is not a dedicated DVD ripper. There are many of those out there. For Mac, the best option is Fairmount paired with DVD2OneX. For Windows, it's AnyDVD. HandBrake's more about video conversion than stripping copy protection. For best results, you should feed HandBrake unprotected video."

which is kind of weird. Can it do it or not? Fairmount + DVD2OneX seems to involve installing 4 different apps, some of which are not freeware. Not having much luck finding a working download for Mactheripper either.

[TVC15]

Yes.  It rips DVDs.  I use it all the time.  I've never had a problem with copy protection.

[Cormacaroni]

d'oh, looks like my problem was with the Macbook's DVD region setting. Handbrake seems to be happily ripping and crunching right now. Cheers again!

[TVC15]

Oh?  How do you fuck with region settings?  I thought that sort of thing was all locked in firmware and a pain to fiddle with. 

I think DVD copy protection, outside of CSS, was dead on the vine because they never planned for firmware updates.  I bet the number of DVDs that use copy protection beyond CSS is teensy.

[Cormacaroni]

try to play a disk in from the wrong region and a box will pop up asking you if you want to change the region. you can change 5 times. i'd forgotten that i'd played a region 1 disk on this thing months ago, and that the disk i was trying to watch was region 2. I'm sure there's a firmware hack but you have to know the make of DVD player.

think i'll take a look into this now actually, this is annoying.

[TVC15]

try to play a disk in from the wrong region and a box will pop up asking you if you want to change the region. you can change 5 times. i'd forgotten that i'd played a region 1 disk on this thing months ago, and that the disk i was trying to watch was region 2. I'm sure there's a firmware hack but you have to know the make of DVD player.

think i'll take a look into this now actually, this is annoying.

System Profiler in Utilities will tell you the make of your DVD drive.