Copying DVDs to an iPad... Is it possible? Which formats?

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Level 1

5 points

Copying DVDs to an iPad... Is it possible? Which formats?

Okay, now before everyone rips into me and goes off about piracy and theft and all that stuff, lemme explain...

I'm a pilot working toward my instrument rating. I have 18 hours of instructional DVDs -- THAT I PAID FOR WITH GOOD OLE (SOON TO BE WORTHLESS) US DOLLARS -- and I was wanting to rip them into another format and store them on an iPad. The only reason I want an iPad is for the ForeFlight App which is something that countless pilots have migrated to in favor of a paperless cockpit.

My plan was to buy an iPad2 and use it for all of my aviation tasks which would be 1) navigation with the GPS capability, and 2) flight instruction with the training DVDs and website tests.

I'm a long time Apple user, but never owned an iPad. I've read that the iPad can only play certain video formats, and to store DVDs on an iPad you have to "jailbreak" it, whatever that means.

In a nutshell, I just want to know if it's possible for me to store my DVDs on an iPad2. I have about 80GB of DVD video that I would need to compress to fit onto a 32 or 64GB iPad.

MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Posted on Mar 5, 2011 12:13 AM

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Answer 1

JohSm

Level 1

15 points

Mar 5, 2011 9:00 AM in response to DorianJ

If you own the DVD and do not break any laws in your country/state you could consider this:
(Maybe you did produce your own protected DVD's and needs to make a backup for any reason!)

Use WinX Bluray DVD iPad ripper, it was free to download one month ago, as an offer from the company selling it. (The PC version) it does everything for you, you can select audio track, video track and subtitles to include!

If it has problems with some DVD's there is a program called AnyDVD that can be installed on a PC(Windows), it removes any problems in the background, but you then also need to use your choice of program to copy/rip any video tracks needed. (WinX...., DvD to mobile, Roxio...)

If you need to convert diffrent movie/video-files formats "DivX, MKV, WMV, AVI" to .m4v(mp4) or to play/stream them directly to your iPad och iPhone i would recommend AirVideo on the AppStore..
Once you but it you can download the server part to use for conversion and remote access while on the go.
(You can also sync them after adding them to iTunes if you want.)

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Answer 2

deggie

Level 10

167,381 points

Mar 5, 2011 10:16 AM in response to Dah•veed

David, Handbrake used to be able to break the encryption on DVDs (and that is what is illegal in the US, not copying), but it no longer has that feature. It has been recommended here on many occasions without deletion.

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Answer 3

Mar 5, 2011 1:09 AM in response to DorianJ

Listen bro, heres the solution follow these tips and focus :

1- you need a pc, whether its a mac or pc

2- you hAve to put the dvd on your mac/pc and drag the movie after opening the containing folder in your pc files.

3- get a video format convertor

4- convert your dvd format to .AVI its the most common playable format on ipad

5- finish converting your dvd to ,AVI

6- get a ipad, and download a app called yxplayer2 lite , its free on the app store

7- attach your ipad to your pc, and through itunes open your yxplayer2 lite app and "drag" your .AVI convertrd dvd inside

8- wait until the transfer finish

7- when its finished BOOM open your yxplayer2 and enjoy your legal tips to watch your own paid off dvds on your majic machine called iPad2.

Regards,
Khalid from Kuwait.

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Answer 4

PogoPossum

Level 4

2,509 points

Mar 5, 2011 8:32 AM in response to iPadKisser

Considering that this responder still do not know how to look in the user's guide to find the answer to the multiple questions he has per day, and has said that he does not have the time to search the forum for answers himself, I would recommend that the original poster be very cautious about accepting his advice on anything related to the iPad.

The easiest way to convert a video to the iPad is, as another poster said, to use Handbrake. The "Apple TV" preset will work fine, but a recent update included a "iPad" preset. It will create a video that will work fine in the the Video Player on the iPad, without having to worry about any additional settings.

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Answer 5

Mar 5, 2011 11:14 AM in response to Dah•veed

Is Handbrake pirating software?

No more so than Apple's own QuickTime, the computer you are typing on, or any software that allows you to copy files from place to place and convert data from one format to another.

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Answer 6

Mar 5, 2011 11:29 AM in response to DorianJ

Done it zillions of times. The problem is that the iPad has limited storage space, so one must save the end file as something that isn't too large. Whether you have a PC or Mac:

1. Ripping software that will save your DVD as a Video_TS file folder.
2. MPEG Streamclip or Handbrake to convert your Video_TS files into a movie file that can play on your device. With the mentioned programs, you can choose the pixel size, the quality and the codec (I use the H.264) to render the Video_TS folder into a playable movie.
3. I save the movie in iTunes, then drag the movie into my iPad, iPod or iPod Touch.

I don't feel this is Pirating since I am using the copies for my mobile use only. I like the DVDs that have a digital copy as it saves me the time and effort of making an iPad movie.

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Answer 7

PogoPossum

Level 4

2,509 points

Mar 5, 2011 1:29 PM in response to Daniel Filice

While I agree with you ethically and have no morality issue with copying a DVD for personal use, it is important to note that in the US it is illegal to remove digital copyright protection, no matter what the reason.

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Answer 8

JohSm

Level 1

15 points

Mar 7, 2011 1:56 AM in response to Dah•veed

Well i guess that it's possible to do if you use it in an illegal way and break any rules for the country/state that you do live in! But if you own the copyrights to the material and do use it on your own created/recorded DVD or movie material i guess it would be allright? (How do i update/remove my previous post/answer from this forum?)

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Answer 9

JohSm

Level 1

15 points

Mar 7, 2011 2:19 AM in response to DorianJ

Air Video is an app available in the AppStore that does a greate job!
It plays/streams or converts video files in different formats to your iOS device.

Install the client part on the iPad/iPhone (From here you can play, queue files for conversion on your PC/Mac)
Then you download the sever part for a Mac or Pc (Install it to access files on the machines you need)

You are then able to look on video files directly and stream them to your device from the PC or Mac over WiFi and 3G, you can also choose to convert any video file to .m4v format and add them to iTunes and sync them to your iPad or iPhone to use offline if you want!

Remeber do only use this on video files you do own the rights to, do not break any laws!
You do not need to jailbreak anything and it's legally available in the Apple AppStore.
This App does not remove any copying protections.

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Answer 10

crh24

Level 3

930 points

Mar 7, 2011 12:48 PM in response to JohSm

JohSm wrote:
Air Video is an app available in the AppStore that does a greate job!
It plays/streams or converts video files in different formats to your iOS device.

AirVideo also has a problem with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I've never been able to get AirPlay to work reliably if I use Bluetooth as the audio output on my iPad.

As Home Sharing will be available in iOS 4.3 I suspect this problem is either resolved or Apple knows more about the system than the AirVideo people...

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Answer 11

Chris CA

Level 10

82,488 points

Apr 9, 2011 5:15 PM in response to JohSm

But if you own the copyrights to the material and do use it on your own created/recorded DVD or movie material

if it is your own material, it would be much higher quality to use the original source before it was converted to DVD.

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Answer 12

Apr 9, 2011 8:00 PM in response to DorianJ

I use handbrake, macworld had an excellent how to on how to use it, and where to download it:

http://www.macworld.com/article/157590/2011/02/howto_rip_dvdhandbrake.html

great article, easy to follow instructions

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Answer 13

Ziatron

Level 5

4,199 points

May 30, 2011 11:28 PM in response to PogoPossum

While I agree with you ethically and have no morality issue withcopying a DVD for personal use, it is important to note that in the USit is illegal to remove digital copyright protection, no matter whatthe reason.

In the U.S. some studios are starting to not bother with copy protection.

Just as Apple dropped its copy protection from iTunes songs.

Many of the DVDs I have purchased recently (directly from the studio's website in the U.S.) are not copy protected at all. They're realizing it's a waste of time.

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Answer 14

Chris CA

Level 10

82,488 points

May 31, 2011 1:11 AM in response to Ziatron

"Many of the DVDs I have purchased recently (directly from the studio's website in the U.S.) are not copy protected at all. They're realizing it's a waste of time."

They realize it is waste of time for 30/40/50 year old movies which are not released on DVD outside of the studio stores.

Not happening for any newer/blockbuster/major releases.

In other words, only a niche market.

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Answer 15

Danily

Level 1

10 points

May 11, 2013 7:24 AM in response to DorianJ

Hello, DorianJ. Yes, it's possible to copy DVD to iPad. If you buy the DVD movie, it should comes with a digital code, you can use the code to download the digital version of the movie into your iTunes and sync the movie to your iPad. If you don't have the code, you have to convert the DVD movie to mp4 video for transferring to iPad. And here is a step by step guide about how to do that, it works pretty well for me.

http://www.dvdtoipadripper.com/how-to-rip-dvd-convert-video-to-ipad.html

Contact me if you need further help.

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