Back Up Your DVDs with Acidrip
There are many naysayers out there who say Linux is not ready for the main stream desktop. For those naysayers I offer up for review one of the many applications that proves Linux is, in fact, ready for the main stream desktop. The application? Acidrip. What it does is rip DVDs (for backup purposes of course) and it does it so easily that any user can rip DVDs. It's so easy, all you have to do is insert a DVD into the DVD drive, open up Acidrip, and get to burning.
Acidrip works with mp3lame and Mencoder for the ripping process and uses lsdvd to be able to which reads and prints the contents of the dvd to the terminal. The process is very simple:
- Insert DVD
- Open up Acidrip
- Press the Load button
- Press the Start button
- Wait
Of course the process of ripping a DVD isn't quick. And you're going to need some space on your machine to hold the temporary file (which can get large). Depending upon your system, you might notice a slowdown as the application does it's thing. On an AMD Sempron with 1 Gig of RAM I noticed a moderate hit on my system (though not to the point the system was unusable.)
Although the process is not quick the quality of video that is ripped is quite good. In fact I have yet to notice any drop in quality from the original to the copy. Acidrip is that good.
Once feature of the tool that I especially like is the preview window. The preview window shows an embedded preview of the DVD contents before the ripping process begins.
When you start Acidrip the the main (and only) window opens allowing you to set up the process of ripping. As you can see (in the image to the left) I am ripping the Rush Snakes and Arrows Live DVD. The only information I had to enter was in the Info dropdown list. You can select various bits of information to add to the file. Other than that it's just a matter of clicking the Load button and then clicking the Start button.
During the ripping process you can switch to the Compact view by clicking the Compact button.
Final Thoughts
If you have ever had any doubts that Linux was primed and ready for the desktop, doubt no more. Applications like Acidrip make tasks that were once considered "expert-only" on Linux so user-friendly your grandparents and your four year old sister could handle. If you have any DVD ripping needs turn to Acidrip, you will find it one of the most user-friendly DVD rippers around.
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Acidrip looks like a good package, but using it to prove that Linux is ready for the mainstream (it’s still largely not) is odd and a point better served in a separate article.
Are there any advantages of this vs. Handbrake and libdvdcss?
Dudly: Why? Because this is a solution to a problem many people wanting to switch to Linux need. It’s not the only Linux solution but it is a very simple one.
Sounds good but with windows I have a free DVD decoder and why rip a big file when I can use DVD shrink again free. Or I can use ISO program to set up all dvd as ISO automatically again FREE.
Also can not stream Netflix in linux.