How-to: Use HandBrake to copy your DVDs
August 21st, 2007 by Brendon Chase
In this quick tip we'll introduce you to a nifty free tool called HandBrake to copy your favourite DVDs easily to your computer or favourite portable device.
Backing up or copying the DVDs you own to other formats can be a cumbersome process. Previously most users had to have knowledge of encoders, output file formats, frame rates, codecs, and file sizes before using two or three programs to do this task. Things have thankfully moved forward recently with programs that will copy DVDs to the file formats you want with the click of a button.
HandBrake is a free tool which comes with plenty of features for beginners and intermediate users alike. The open source software can decrypt and convert a DVD into formats that can be consumed on your Mac, PC, iPod, PSP, Apple TV, Television, iPhone, or mobile phone.
To get started you'll have to install the software. At the time of writing the software was up to version 0.9 and available free at the HandBrake Web site. For the purposes of this tutorial we'll be following the Mac installation and use, but PC and Linux users can also use this program.
Download: http://handbrake.m0k.org/?page_id=8
Once installed open the HandBrake application. The application should default to a simple interface like the screenshot below.
Once you've selected the DVD you want to copy or back up insert it into your Mac. Now click on the icon that says "Source" and click your DVD drive. This should gather some information about the DVD you want to copy.
Once this is done you'll need to decide what type of format you should export the DVD to. To do this easily there are some presets which can be found on the "Presets Toggle" bar as shown in the screenshot below.
These presets should be for most beginners wanting to backup their DVDs. If you're not sure which preset to use then the rule of thumb is the larger the screen size intended the larger the file format will be and the longer it will take to copy your DVD. As an example, copying a DVD to Television output will take up more room on your hard drive than copying a DVD to iPod quality output.
Once you've decided which preset you'd like to use then simply click on the start button. The program will take care of the rest. The program might take a while depending on how long the DVD you want to copy is and the output quality.
Once finished you can check the file by opening it on your Mac to where the file was saved. By default the program saves files to the Desktop. Once saved you can move the file to wherever you want to play the content.
This should conclude our first look at HandBrake. We'll go through some of the more advanced features of the program in a later tutorial.
Note: AppleSource strongly recommends you check the copyright notices on the DVDs you plan to copy and check local laws before following this tutorial and using HandBrake. AppleSource does not support piracy of copyright material.
Can also use a much simpler tool at www.tonebee.com the 
bigb6456
October 1st, 2007 at 12:29pm
Why is it so slow it takes forever 3-10 hours??
Jeff
October 8th, 2007 at 5:58am
Handbrake too slow on Powerbook G4. Ripped DVD (VIDEO_TS) ETA 23h18m4s to rip to iPod High Rez setting.
rubaiyat
January 8th, 2008 at 12:47am
Video ripping takes quite a bit of computing power. On my iMac G5 2.0Ghz a movie with 2 pass encoding can take 4-5 hrs. On an iMac Intel 2.1Ghz this comes down to under 2 hrs. Make sure you use the ffmpeg encoder as the Apple QuickTime encoder is very slow, for no better quality.
mhat
March 21st, 2008 at 2:19am
I downloaded handbrake but it wont open to the interface page, how do I fix it?
rubaiyat
March 21st, 2008 at 5:20am
mhat A bit confusing as to what you are saying, but I'm taking a guess that you can't see the starting window. Hit cmd-1 or go to Menu > Window > Handbrake. When you see the main window select your source DVD [top left icon on toolbar] or source DVD folder of a RIPed DVD. I use MacTheRipper to RIP a series of DVDs to the HD and then source and queue those to run over night. This is an extra step which adds up to only a little extra time overall, but is much more efficient and avoids much of the bombs in HandBrake, which usually happen when just ending a RIP, which is most annoying and wastes a lot of time.
maclover
April 19th, 2008 at 10:47pm
finally when the program was done i draged it into the ipod movies and that when i went to sync it said that i couldnt be played on my 30gb ipod under ipod high rez whats wrong did i have to choose low rez?
Dustin Milner
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:00pm
??
Brian Harris
May 7th, 2008 at 3:33am
To load movies into the iPod after they have been converted to MP4 format, I had to IMPORT them into iTunes. Dragging did not work. Importing them did. I clicked the FILE menu tab and used the IMPORT command in that window.
Brian Harris
May 7th, 2008 at 3:36am
To play a movie on the 30 GB iPod, you may have to update the iPod software...there is no reason why a movie should not play on the 30 GB Pod.
Nikki
May 10th, 2008 at 12:02pm
Ripping DVDs with Handbrake is the best. It is the only thing I use on Mac. I have tried it on Windows, but performance is much slower. On a Macbook, it takes me about 20-25 mins to rip a DVD.
Valerie
May 27th, 2008 at 1:07pm
So... It works for me... it works fast and it looks great on my i[pod touch but the only problem is there is no sound! I don't know what I did worng.... I did a few movies and each of them, no sound.....
Valerie
May 27th, 2008 at 1:08pm
So... It works for me... it works fast and it looks great on my i[pod touch but the only problem is there is no sound! I don't know what I did worng.... I did a few movies and each of them, no sound.....