OS X: Rip your DVDs to your NAS-device

It could be no easier than using Handbrake on OS X. HandBrake does not require any more write-up: you install the app, pop in the DVD, select the target format and your DVD gets ripped to a number of formats (PS3, AppleTV, XBOX etc).

At least now I have a perfect use of my old PC for this mundane task: I have installed Ubuntu Heron on my old Acer which is now grinding away at producing 6-channel mixed mp4’s for my video-collection. My MacBook Air manages to rip a DVD in 70 minutes, whereas my Acer (more memory and more CPU) takes a good 110 minutes – makes you think?

On Ubuntu I run the Linux command-line-interface version of handbrake, which has the same presets and to rip a DVD for PS3 is as simple as the following command: ./HandBrakeCLI -i /media/cdrom0/VIDEO_TS -o MyMovie.mp4 –preset=”PS3″. After some time it will eventually spit out a 1,7-2,0 GB movie file at stunning video and sound-quality.

Performance tip: HandBrake encodes the video at about 17 fps. After installing yasm I was able to increase the encoding rate to about 30-40 fps.