how to rip dvds for your personal collection
I love owning my own media, be it physically on disk or digitally on my own hard drives. However, I don't like the cost that comes with creating a movie collection and am warry of downloading pirated files from the internet.
My solution - ripping DVDs! A classic process that has mostly been forgotten with the ease of pirated materials online, it's cheap (if not free), has no risk of viruses and will allow you to create as large of a collection as you want. Here is my process for ripping, compressing, and storing movies for my own collection.
What you'll need:
- Computer with a bit of storage
- DVD Drive (either in computer or USB)
- DVDs!
sections
Obtaining DVDs - Ripping DVDs - Compressing Files - Storage/Viewing
Obtaining DVDs
A warning beforehand, for any copyrighted media (Movies, TV Shows, etc.), this process is illegal. You are allowed to own the media if you have the physical copy, but the act of bypassing the copy-protection on the disk is not allowed, therefore making the process of ripping DVDs a crime. It is also very illegal to share these files.
So be sure to only use this process on your own, non-copyrighted home videos stored on DVD, and not:
- Your own personal movie collection
- Cheap DVDs from thrift stores
- Borrowed DVDs from your friends' and families' collections
- DVDs from your local library
This process does no harm to the DVDs, and you only need to have the disk for 30 minutes to an hour.
Ripping DVDs using MakeMKV
To rip your DVD, I use MakeMKV which (as the name describes) makes an MKV from the files on the disk. Using it is easy:
- Load the disk into your disk drive and open MakeMKV. The program should automatically detect the disk
- Read the disks contents. There will usually be multiple files - these can be the teasers that play before, any extra content, and the movie itself.
- Select what files you want to download. The main movie file will be the largest with the most chapters, and to save time you can select only that. I like to download them all just to see what they are.
- Once the file has been downloaded (this usually takes me around 30 minutes for each DVD), check the file to ensure everything has been downloaded correctly. You now have the file for your collection!
Compressing for storage using HandBrake
Movies are pretty big, so if you are going to be storing a lot you might want to compress them. I use HandBrake, which is easy to operate - just choose your file, choose a compression preset that fits what you want, and compress.
Some Storage/Viewing options
Once you have your files, you can watch them whenever you want, no internet required! Store them on your computers drive, flash drive, NAS box or personal server, I don't care.
Good ways to watch them are:
- VLC Media Player, a great open source video player
There are also services that manage your files into a traditional streaming service look and allow you to stream these files over the internet. Some of these include:
- Plex, partially paid, once the standard but is increasingly falling out of favor
- Jellyfin, free & open source
- Emby, partially open source
I haven't tested all of these, so I recommend doing research on each of these to see which is the best for you.
conclusion
I think my favorite aspect of ripping DVDs is that it makes you work a little bit. You have to go out and search for movies you want, ask your friends, and visit your local library do grow your collection. We have been spoiled with video streaming (both the legal and illegal sort) and I like the idea of putting in the work to create your own media collection.
- keeperofhoney, June 2025