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Can you "play" a disk image?

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I was thinking of transferring my DVD collection over to disk storage and getting a Mac Mini to use as a media center computer, but I'm worried about loss of quality and DVD extras when I just record the movie to MP4 format.

I think I can just copy a disk image, which is just exactly what''s on the disk, but can I get a computer to "play" it as it would a physical DVD? I'm not too well-informed about these things, so I may be off-base here. I just want to retain the DVD video and audio quality and keep the DVD extras if possible.

Thanks,
 
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You can rip DVDs with misc. software and you will get a Video_TS and AUDIO_TS folder containing the contents of the DVD.

VLC Media Player can "play" these folders just as if it were a real dVD. Not sure about the extras, though.
 

dtravis7


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I have a few movies that way for storage and I just click the image and it mounts then play it like a normal DVD.
 
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fleurya
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I tried copying the files directly from the DVD, but I get an error saying I don't have sufficient privilege. I suppose I need the software. What software will make a copy and keep the same quality as the DVD itself? I've used Handbrake, but it seems like the video/audio quality go way down in the process.
 
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I've never used handbrake, but as far as I know it's supposed to rip DVD's with no compression.

I use MacTheRipper
 
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use mactheripper for this...

also dvdPlayer will play the video ts files as well, no use for vlc in this case
-chris
 

dtravis7


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use mactheripper for this...

also dvdPlayer will play the video ts files as well, no use for vlc in this case
-chris

Yes on both counts.
 
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fleurya
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use mactheripper for this...

also dvdPlayer will play the video ts files as well, no use for vlc in this case
-chris

I ripped the DVD using MacTheRipper and copied it all over, but VLC is no use since you can't select screen options and are essentially stuck on the main menu.

I'm not sure what DVD Player you're referring to. If dvdPlayer is a program, where can I get it? I tried using the DVD Player on my Mac to play the TS files, but it says the type is unsupported, which I think is very strange since it's directly from the DVD.

Thanks again.
 

dtravis7


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I ripped the DVD using MacTheRipper and copied it all over, but VLC is no use since you can't select screen options and are essentially stuck on the main menu.

I'm not sure what DVD Player you're referring to. If dvdPlayer is a program, where can I get it? I tried using the DVD Player on my Mac to play the TS files, but it says the type is unsupported, which I think is very strange since it's directly from the DVD.

Thanks again.

Which Mac do you own? Which OSX? DVD Player is right in the Applications folder and has been since for sure 10.2. That is what coach is talking about. The only time DVD Player is not installed is if your Mac does not have an internal DVD ROM installed.

Also remember to mount the image.

Here is a screen capture of me playing a DVD that I have stored in an Disc Image with OSX's DVD Player.

dvd.jpg
 
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Ah, got it to work. I tried opening the entire file folder containing audio and video TS folders, which didn't work. I had to select the video folder only. I thought it would leave the audio out, but it played fine.

Thanks again!
 

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