How to Put DVDs on your iPod for Free (mac only)
Recently I have been trying to get movies on my iPod. Movies I own, at least. I have crawled the blagosphere long and wide to find a solution, and now I do. I would like to pass this information to all of you. Whoever you are.
1. Download and install Handbrake and Mac the Ripper. Mac the Ripper is a program which will copy your DVDs onto your mac. It also will disable security features for you (like DRM or Region Encryptowhatever) and get rid of those obnoxious Federal warnings for you, if you enable it. Read the manual that comes with it. Handbrake is a video conversion program. It can convert your rips into mpegs, which is what your iPod uses.
2. Rip the DVD. That basically means running the program Mac the Ripper with your DVD inserted, and click the large button on there that says "GO!" Do all this, and let your computer sit for a little while. It takes 20-60 minutes, depending on the length of the DVD and power of your mac. Special note: before you rip, hit command+shift+s to change the directory to which you are saving your files. Save it somewhere you will remember.
3. Convert the DVD. What Mac the Ripper leaves behind is a file with a bunch of crap you can't open inside it. This is where you need Handbrake. Run Handbrake. In the window it opens up, find and select the whole file (yes, the whole file) that Mac the Ripper leaves behind. After you click open, select a destination. It's normal path is just /insertnameofmoviehere.mp4. You can browse to one, or type yours in. After that, under the subdirectory of "Video," click on the option bar next to "Video Codec:" and select "MPEG-4 (FFmpeg). Leave everything else alone and click "Start" at the top of the window.
If you happen to have multiple things you want to convert one after another, just click "source" and select the new folder, go through step 3 again, and then click "Add to queue" to make it convert right after the current one.
4. Place in iTunes, place onto iPod, and enjoy.
I hope you find this short how-to useful. I wish I had it like... 4 months ago.
