Just finished ripping my newly purchased copy of Stones in Exile on DVD.
I use RipIt to digitalize my DVD collection and I have been since I first bought it. I’m satisfied with the application for two reasons:
Having previous experience with more or less obscure and complex video encoding applications, RipIt feels like a breeze of fresh air.
RipIt’s will save a playable, untouched, undistorted copy of your DVD, which you can watch at anytime directly from your hard drive. No scratched disc required.
However, RipIt doesn’t try to squeeze your DVD into one single burnable DVD-R disc. It doesn’t convert your DVD to some other format, and it doesn’t even offer you the option of compressing the video data.
Why? Well, my guess is because there are already a lot of great apps for that — especially on Mac OS X. HandBrake and VisualHub (unfortunately now discontinued) are two great apps for compressing, converting and encoding video files. They come with a lot of options and advanced settings.
RipIt, on the other hand, doesn’t. Insert a DVD and it will back it up for you. Removing copy protection and other junk, leaving only a folder with an exact replica of your movie. (The folder becomes a “virtual DVD” — open it ewith VLC or eveb Mac OS X’s built-in DVD Player and they wukk treat just like a physical disc.)
So. RipIt. Great for making exact copies of your DVDs. Does require a lot of disk space though. The other apps I’ve mentioned (and other classical apps like MacTheRipper) are proofs of just how insanely great Mac OS X apps there are out there.
If you don’t already own RipIt, download it now. And if you like it, buy it (obviously). It pays for itself.
Or well, maybe that’s just me and my prejudice. There might be good third-party apps for Windows, too. Compare them to the third-party OS X software and well… they don’t compare. Not even close. And I’m not just talking video apps, obviously. Take any category of applications. Honestly. Proof me wrong. But now I’m just off-topic.
From iMac to iPhone. A video montageof all of the (most interesting) product announcements made by Steve Jobs, since his return to Apple.
A detailed look at the 960 CSS Framework.
Their tagline: “Where iPhone App Developers Show Off Their Work”.
Nice place for finding information about iPhone application. They seem to have plenty of video reviews (and previews).
