


If you’re looking to rip a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc, it’s possible, but be prepared to spend precious time troubleshooting any weird issues that may arise. One of the biggest things you’ll need should you decide to embark on this achy journey is patience. Read Also: The Best Flash Games | Digital Trends That’s why you’ll want to employ a transcoding program, which will minimize file size and/or play the file on multiple devices. Blu-ray files, in particular, tend to be massive. Still, it may be advisable to convert these files to save space. If those are your primary methods for watching videos from your library, you can stop here. In some cases, you don’t even need to convert this file, as MKV files are compatible with the desktop and mobile versions of VLC, as well as Plex’s media server. This process can take anywhere from two minutes to half an hour depending on your computer’s specs and the size of the file, but when it’s done, you should have a MKV file waiting in the specified folder. When you’re all ready to go, hit the “Make MKV” button on the right. Next, designate an Output Folder where you’d like the file to end up once it’s been ripped. To rip only the movie, and not extras or bonus material, select only the movie chapter or segment (usually the longest title or biggest file) and uncheck all the other boxes. Read Also: Early Presidents Day Deal: Latest MacBook Air Down to Lowest-Ever PriceĪfter you’ve selected your disc, MakeMKV will return a list of chapters and segments that you can rip. Theoretically, this process could also remove copyright protections from a disc, but again, that’s not something we condone or encourage. Once the program recognizes your disc, click the big disc drive icon to begin the ripping procedure. The app will say “MakeMKV BETA” at the top - ignore this and insert your DVD or Blu-ray into the optical drive. First, download and install MakeMKV, and open the application once completed. Whether you’re using Windows or MacOS or ripping a Blu-ray or a DVD, the process is identical for all of them. Once you’ve got all of the necessary materials, it’s time to get started.

A VLC media player to watch your video.We recommend Handbrake, which is also available for both Windows and MacOS. A program to transcode the file after it’s ripped.We’ll be using MakeMKV in this guide, which is available for both Windows and MacOS. Blu-rays can take up a large amount of storage, so we recommend you have 30GB-60GB of free hard drive space if you’re looking to rip one. Enough storage on a hard drive to save the ripped files.If your computer lacks the proper disc drive, an external DVD or good Blu-ray drive can be purchased for as little as $25. A DVD or Blu-ray disc drive on your computer - you won’t be ripping anything without one.
