These days there are a lot of applications out there that will convert your DVD to any kind of format you wish with a click of a button. You may choose for one of these applications because they’re fast and easy to use. If you’re reading this article however, it means you’re missing something. Either you want to know more about the inner workings of the DVD, or you found the limitations of these one-click applications. The vintage method allows you more control and understanding of the entire process because it stops every step of the way and gives the control of the endresult back to the user, where it belongs.
Ripping the actual video
This is all a question of the right tools. The best freeware solution is SmartRipper. Works 99% of the time to get the job done. If you have it there are also some paid software options that let you export the contents of the DVD to your hard disk.
Converting VOB into AVI
Every VOB part (DVD Video File) is at max 1 gigabyte large and a DVD5** will contain at least 4. If you wanted to save it to full size avi your hard drive would explode. It’s likelier you want to get it to a manageable format. The best tools for this job are DVD2AVI and VFAPI converter.
DVD5: Normal DVD of 4.3GB capacity.
DVD9: Double (layer) DVD capacity.
Using DVD2AVI to create a project file:
Open your VOB files from the File menu.
From the File menu, select Save Project File. This will create a fairly small file with a *.d2v extension.
Using VFAPI to make the DVD2AVI Project File a readable AVI:
Load the D2V file into VFAPI. Use the Convert Button to create the ‘fake’ AVI. Quit the program.
Getting the audio
Next step is to get the audio extracted from the VOB files. Again, there are many paid software applications that limit the time you need to get this done. There are also some free alternatives. I’d go for paid if you want it done without hassle. The most basic free method is using GraphEdit. Basically, what you’re doing is using DirectShow Filters to process the VOBs (MPEG-2) to mere audio.
Go to Graph –> Insert Filters. Unfold DirectShow Filters. Look for the following filters and Insert:
- I-Media Multiple MPEG-2 Source
- Ligos MPEG Splitter
- InterVideo Audio Encoder
- WavDest
- Filewriter