Here is a brief overview of how to rip the movies from the DVDs, convert them to a format that is playable on an Apple iPod and also merge the video with any subtitles if desired.

  1. The first step doesn’t need much explaining: everyone has their own preferred application to rip movies from the DVDs. I use the following three applications for ripping DVDs:
    1. DVD Decrypter ( + RipIt4Me )
    2. CladDVD.NET
    3. DVDFab HD Decrypter

    Rip DVDs Using DVD Decrypter
    Both the software are extremely easy to use.

  2. The second step is the crucial conversion process. Based on the type of output file to be generated, there is a lot of choice in picking an appropriate application for the job, there are a lot of conversion programs that target a specific output format or a group of formats((Super Converter is the application that supports conversion to most of the formats). When I have to do simple, straight-forward format conversions to AVI(DivX/XviD) format, I prefer to use the following applications:
    1. AutoGK(Free)
    2. SimpleDivX(Free)
    3. #1 DVD Ripper(paid).

    Convert VOB to AVI Format Using AutoGK

    #1 DVD Ripper can actually create compressed AVI files directly from a DVD, no separate software for ripping is needed(step 1), but I prefer to first rip the DVD to the hard disk(which is a fast process) and then convert the ripped VOB files to the AVI format(which takes a lot of time). #1 DVD Ripper is a paid software, so go through the product details on its website and make up your mind if it’s worth buying or not. AutoGK is a free application and boasts of a bigger feature set too. Where as #1 DVD Ripper loads all the available chapters from the DVD upon opening the disk or the folder containing the VOB files, we have to manually add all the IFO files one after the other in AutoGK(add IFO files instead of VOB files if you want to convert including the subtitles; subtitles can be selected from a drop-down box in #1 DVD Ripper). AutoGK allows different output file sizes to be selected. Both the software have an option to shutdown the system when all the jobs are completed(multiple jobs can be queued before starting the conversion process).

    Lot of advanced editing and conversion operations are supported by two extremely popular Free software applications:

    1. FlaskMPEG
    2. VirtualDub

    FlaskMPEG and VirtualDub have different feature sets, but together they can handle most of the video manipulation tasks. They are not the easiest to use applications though.

    I will list my preferred applications for converting to other formats in another post.

  3. The final piece in the puzzle is the free application Videora iPod Converter which converts an AVI(DivX/XviD) file to MPEG-4 format, which can then be played on the iPod player(use iTunes to copy the file).
    Convert AVI to MP4 Format Using Videora iPod Converter

    If you have downloaded an AVI file(or some other format) from the Internet, they too can be converted to MPEG-4 using Videora iPod Converter software. But if you want to add the subtitles to the AVI file, you have to merge them first. I use AviRecomp to merge the subtitles with the downloaded AVI files.

    4. Merge Subtitles Using AviRecomp

In summary, this is a long but fairly straight-forward way to convert DVD movies to iPod format(playable on many other devices too):

  1. Rip using DVD Decrypter;
  2. Convert to AVI(XviD) using AutoGK;
  3. Merge subtitles, if needed, using AviRecomp;
  4. Convert to MPEG-4 using Videora iPod Converter;
  5. Transfer to iPod player using iTunes or similar application.

Also see:
Converting DVD(VOB) Format to iPod Format in One Step Using HandBrake

I will try to expand each step listed above with step-by-step procedure to be followed in the next few posts(Done).