I’ve known about this the Handbrake tool for a while. I even used it once on Windows to archive a scratched DVD that wouldn’t read on other workstations.
I was pleasently surprised that Handbrake is available for Linux and in the Ubuntu 14.04 apt repository. I thought it would be worth a try to see how it compares to OGMRip. After using Handbrake for about two weeks I am now a die hard fan, and don’t know if I’ll ever go back to OGMRip.
It’s just that much better.
Installing
To install Handbrake on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS open a termainal and enter:
sudo apt-get install handbrake
The command line utility HandBrakeCLI is also very good at archiving DVDs, and using it on a remote workstation via SSH is a major time saver. So you might also install it with:
sudo apt-get install handbrake-cli
Using Handbrake
Open Handbrake by clicking the Ubuntu icon in the top left hand corner of your desktop and type handbrake into the search field.
Click the “Source” button to select a DVD to archive.
After selecting a DVD Handbrake will scan the disc for titles to archive. You can choose a specific one in the “Title” drop down. This is very handy for T.V. show DVDs that have more than one episode on them.
At this point click the “Start” button to begin archiving the DVD. You should notice progress messages at the bottom of the window.
Also, before archiving a DVD you can choose a profile from tlist in the little “sub-window” to the right of the main window.
Another useful feature of Handbrake is the Activity Window that will show you useful information about the archiving process. Click the “Activity Window” button in the upper right hand menu to open it.
After a short time Handbrake will alert you to the archive completion with a funny little pop-up.
Using HandBrakeCLI
The main command I use to archive DVDs with HandBrakeCLI is:
sudo HandBrakeCLI -i /dev/sr0 -E ffaac -o DVD_NAME.mkv
The above command uses the default profile, and I also frequently use the “High Profile”:
sudo HandBrakeCLI -i /dev/sr0 -E ffaac -o DVD_NAME.mkv --preset="High Profile\
Use the -z option to view the profiles you have available:
HandBrakeCLI -z
Conclusion
I have noticed that Handbrake finishes an archvie orders of magnitude faster than other utilities I have used like OGMRip. Not 100% sure why Handbrake is so much faster, but I’m very glad I finally decided to give it another try.
Party On!