Best Ripping utilities I've tried so far:

[Canon_Bob]

For DVDs - DVD Catalyst. No contest here. I have all the mainstream converters, and this one beats them hands down for DVD to Droid conversions.

For Blu-Ray - Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper. Of the Blu-Ray rippers available, this is the best I've found so far. Audio/video sync is great, and they just released the instructions for making a Droid profile (optimal settings): How to employ optimal settings when converting videos to play on Motorola Droid?

couple quick questions if someone would please inform me i'd appreciate it.
1.) just wondering, i haven't tried any videos after the 2.1 update on the droid... did anything change in terms of video playback and quality (i.e. FPS, etc) because i heard of all these things about how 2.1 slowed the phone down... im just wondering

2.) can i still use the above guide that i quoted (and does it work for any length of video)? and do i have to make any adjustments to the program I was using for videos after this 2.1 update?

basically, did anything change in terms of slowdown/etc with videos on 2.1? or can i just keep doing what i have been doing (when i was on 2.01) w/o making any alterations from the update..

I appreciate any feedback! Thank You!!

Everything is still working great from my experience. I have not had to change a thing.

 

[cfi on the fly]

Just to update some people that might me looking for good rip utilities. I originally reported that I was having good luck with pavtube. For the most part it works ok, but I ran into several blue rays that would not work...River Runs Through It for example. I emailed the devs and they seem to be pretty responsive in getting those specific blu rays to work, but it can get tiresome waiting for the fix and sometimes they still dont work.

I have gone back to my old standbye of MakeMKV. They have updated it with forced subtitles now, and I havn't yet found a blue ray that it would not rip. I then use Handbrake to format for the droid using the iphone presets. Only thing I don't like about handbrake is you cant boost the volume. Both makemkv and handbrake are free to use as well.

For just DVD's I would use DVD Catalyst, but it doesn't yet support blue ray which is all that I use these days. Once they do, I will be all over that!!

 

[yamaredman]

Can DVD Catalyst convert .mov and .wmv files to .mp4?

When I attempt it, it "fails" every time.

 

[dvdcatalyst]

Can DVD Catalyst convert .mov and .wmv files to .mp4?

When I attempt it, it "fails" every time.

Yes it can.

If your files are protected with some form of DRM (such as Digital Copies) then no.
As for MOV's. have a look at my trailer thread. those are all trailers from Apple's trailer website, converted using DVD Catalyst.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-audio-video/15161-droid-optimized-movie-trailers.html

 

[yamaredman]

Thanks for the fast response!

I am using the default Motorola Droid profile when I try to convert this small .mov file. Each time I try to convert it, it fails.

These are videos I shot.. they are not protected. Not sure what I'm missing...

 

[dvdcatalyst]

Thanks for the fast response!

I am using the default Motorola Droid profile when I try to convert this small .mov file. Each time I try to convert it, it fails.

These are videos I shot.. they are not protected. Not sure what I'm missing...

If you email me one of your files, I'll have a look and see if its the file itself.

 

[yamaredman]

You have a PM.

Thanks!

 

[dvdcatalyst]

I downloaded your file. (it was an avi, not a wmv or a mov)

The problem is that some phone recordings have a very low audio quality setting for their video recordings (8 Khz). To be able to convert these files to Droid format, the audio quality has to be "increased".

For these files, change the conversion format in "Modify" to divx5_mp3_cam (instead of h264_ipod) and convert your files to that format first. then the audio is upgraded, and any other format can be used without issues.

The divx5_mp3_cam format is specifically for these files, and is rarely used.
I guess the recordings were from a different (older) phone?

 

[yamaredman]

Yeah, I was having issues with all 3 formats and sent you the .avi because it was small.

The files are converting now.

Thanks for the fast responses!

Anyone on the fence about buying DVD Catalyst... the support alone is worth the cost.

 

[yamaredman]

The divx5_mp3_cam format is specifically for these files, and is rarely used.
I guess the recordings were from a different (older) phone?

Actually the video was shot with a first generation GoPro camera.

I don't have this issue with Droid videos or videos shot with the new GoPro HD.

Thanks again,

 

[Mbk]

The elephant in the room here is that many, if not most, Blurays needs AnyDVD-HD to be able to rip..... or is someone saying that one of the apps mentioned can rip all Blurays?...

 

[dvdcatalyst]

The elephant in the room here is that many, if not most, Blurays needs AnyDVD-HD to be able to rip..... or is someone saying that one of the apps mentioned can rip all Blurays?...

Thats something I noticed as well. I still don't get it how companies like Xilisoft can charge $60 for a bluray ripper if you need the $80 AnyDVD application to make it work.

From their System Requirements

BD-ROM; AnyDVD HD v6.5 or above; UDF2.5 Driver (for Windows XP only)

 

[cfi on the fly]

The elephant in the room here is that many, if not most, Blurays needs AnyDVD-HD to be able to rip..... or is someone saying that one of the apps mentioned can rip all Blurays?...

Thats something I noticed as well. I still don't get it how companies like Xilisoft can charge $60 for a bluray ripper if you need the $80 AnyDVD application to make it work.

From their System Requirements

BD-ROM; AnyDVD HD v6.5 or above; UDF2.5 Driver (for Windows XP only)

Actually all the blu ray rippers I have tried do not require anydvd hd. However, they all have there short comings, mainly that not all titles are supported.

The best method to date that I have found to play blu rays on the droid is to use MakeMKV and then convert with Handbrake. Its also awesome to have a 1080pmkv backup of your movie if you have the hard drive space. Havn't had a failure yet with this method and best of all it is all free. Now for ease of use with just DVD's I would recommend DVD Catalyst.

Any word on a BLU RAY CATALYST yet?

 

[dvdcatalyst]

Actually all the blu ray rippers I have tried do not require anydvd hd. However, they all have there short comings, mainly that not all titles are supported.

The best method to date that I have found to play blu rays on the droid is to use MakeMKV and then convert with Handbrake. Its also awesome to have a 1080pmkv backup of your movie if you have the hard drive space. Havn't had a failure yet with this method and best of all it is all free. Now for ease of use with just DVD's I would recommend DVD Catalyst.

Any word on a BLU RAY CATALYST yet?

The bluray ones I've been looking at mostly have this requirement. I know makemkv doesn't but many of the ones that have like a million clones under different company names and 50 different versions of the same app with just a different profile (xxx DVD to iPod, xxx DVD to iPhone, xxx Video to iPod, xxx Video to iPhone, xxx iPod Suite, xxx iPhone Suite and so on) have the AnyDVD requirement.

Because those big companies are actually relying on AnyDVD like that, I have been thinking about going that route as well, but different. I will not force people to pay AND for bluray catalyst AND AnyDVD HD though.


As for a release-date on Bluray Catalyst, I'm still working out the details in my head. And I have to pick up a bluray computer drive yet.

 

[cfi on the fly]

Actually all the blu ray rippers I have tried do not require anydvd hd. However, they all have there short comings, mainly that not all titles are supported.

The best method to date that I have found to play blu rays on the droid is to use MakeMKV and then convert with Handbrake. Its also awesome to have a 1080pmkv backup of your movie if you have the hard drive space. Havn't had a failure yet with this method and best of all it is all free. Now for ease of use with just DVD's I would recommend DVD Catalyst.

Any word on a BLU RAY CATALYST yet?

The bluray ones I've been looking at mostly have this requirement. I know makemkv doesn't but many of the ones that have like a million clones under different company names and 50 different versions of the same app with just a different profile (xxx DVD to iPod, xxx DVD to iPhone, xxx Video to iPod, xxx Video to iPhone, xxx iPod Suite, xxx iPhone Suite and so on) have the AnyDVD requirement.

Because those big companies are actually relying on AnyDVD like that, I have been thinking about going that route as well, but different. I will not force people to pay AND for bluray catalyst AND AnyDVD HD though.


As for a release-date on Bluray Catalyst, I'm still working out the details in my head. And I have to pick up a bluray computer drive yet.

The two programs that I have that are specifically marketed to rip blu rays and convert dont require anydvd hd. Pavtube and Blu-ray Ripper. These are the only two that I have tried so I guess there may be more that do require anydvd hd, but if youre going that route, you might as well stay with slysoft throughout the process. I dont want to pay that kind of money and the renewal fees.

Really, for those looking, MakeMKV and handbrake just cant be beat, easy to use and cheap. Only downside is that they are not integrated together and its a two step process.

DVD Cataylst, as soon as you make a bluray catalyst, I will be all over it. I hope that a $100 bluray drive isnt what is really holding you back!!! Im sure it must be a chore to figure out how to get around the blu ray restrictions and make it works for all titles. Good Luck and Ill be first in line when it comes out!!