In the final part of our “Converting DVD’s to Video Files” series we’ll be looking at the procedure for doing so in Linux.  We’ve already looked at how to do so in Windows here, and using a Mac here.

As with the other walkthroughs, I must point out the following:  Technically, it is still against the law to make a copy of a DVD that you own, be it by creating a digital backup, a copy of the disk, or even a transfer to a video cassette.  This is the same piece of out of date legislation that decrees that it is illegal to copy a CD onto a blank tape, or even convert a CD for MP3’s.  To my knowledge, no one has ever been prosecuted for any of these offenses, and my personal opinion is that no one ever well (providing the copies you make are strictly for personal use!).  However, I must point out that I take no responsibility for any legal action that occurs as a result of using the methods detailed in this walkthrough.

This walkthrough uses the latest version of Ubuntu Linux (10.04).  I cannot say for certain if this method will work with any subsequent Ubuntu releases, or with other Linux distributions.

Step 1 – Installing the necessary software.

To rip our DVD we will need to download an application from the Ubuntu Software Center:  Type “acidrip” into the search bar at the top right and you should be presented with the correct package.  Install it as you normally would and the package should then be available under the “Applications/Sound & Video” menu.

For other Linux distributions, you can find AcidRip here.

Step 2 – Converting DVDs to Video Files

This is comparatively simple compared to the Windows and Mac walkthroughs, the first step is to insert the DVD you want to convert and then close any applications that open.  Once this is done, open AcidRip from the applications menu:

AcidRip DVD Ripper

The first thing to do is to load our DVD disk, click on the “Load” button, and after a few seconds the contents of the DVD will be displayed in the right hand pane:

AcidRip DVD Ripper - DVD Loaded

In the above image the relevant video file on the DVD is already selected, however it’s important to check that the selected file is the feature film that you wish to convert.  One way of doing this is to compare the length with the running time on the back of the DVD case.  But you can also check by clicking on the “preview” tab and sampling the video file to make sure it’s the correct one:

AcidRip Preview Pane

From here you can click the “Preview” button which will bring up a preview pane of the selected video file.  Once you’re happy that you have the correct file selected, return to the “General” tab:

AcidRip DVD Ripper - DVD Loaded

The next step is to set the output files attributes.  You can change the title of the film if you wish, but this can be edited later on anyway.  It’s imperative to make sure that the appropriate audio channel is selected (shown in the language field).  You can also suggest a file size that you would like AcidRip to stick to, this is useful if you’re planning on copying the file to a CD or USB memory stick.  Once you’re happy with the settings on this page, click on the “Video” tab:

AcidRip - Video Pane

On this pane we can make adjustments to the output video file that will be created.  You can select which video codec (the type of file in a sense) to use, which is useful if you know the device you intend to use only supports certain codecs.  You can also specify a bitrate if you know you’re device has a bitrate cap.  The cropping section will allow you to remove any black bars from the video file, if you know how many lines are in each black bar you can specify, or else press the “Detect: button and the program will attempt to work out the width of the black bars.

Once you are happy with the settings, you can click “Start” to begin the conversion process:

AcidRip Converting

Above you can see the video file converting.  Once complete the AcidRip window will return to the main page, and your converted video file will be in the specified location.  By default this is the “Home” folder within the “Places” menu.

Rinse and repeat for any other DVD’s you wish to convert!