[raysivley]

How would I go about putting movies I already own on my playbook off an already purchased DVD?

[hubermania]

CanadianThomas did a nice summary of existing threads with a sample video. See http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...ight=handbrake .

You will need a tiny program called DVD43 running on your PC to decrypt the video as it's being read off the DVD.

[Ninjatogo]

Or y'know he could just use Freemake. It decrypts DVDs without additional software.

[gtiffany]

You could also use DVD Catalyst 4. I've found it to be very easy and useful in transferring DVDs I own to Playbook.

[omega supreme]

Or y'know he could just use Freemake. It decrypts DVDs without additional software.

i just finished downloading this freemake based on some other reviews but in the description it says it can only transfer unprotected dvd's. which means i would have to rip my dvd's onto a blank dvd and then use that dvd to convert it on freemake in order to transfer it to the playbook, that whole process could take up to an entire day or 2, that's how i'm understanding it. so are you saying i can copy any dvd i have?... also i didn't see a setting for playbook as others have stated; the only one i see is for the blackberry torch...what do you use to convert? and is it a one step process or do i also have to convert the audio? and if so, to what??

[Ninjatogo]

Sorry for the late response , from my own tests of DVDs I have bought they are detected just fine, without any additional decryption software. I have tested with DVDs from 2009. The preset can be changed to the Playbook by simply clicking on the picture of the Blackberry Torch which brings up a form with all the supported Blackberry devices.

[GibsMcWooley]

Do you get the full screen using the PB setting? Mine just ends up with an output of 720 x 420, with letterboxing on either side, even for DVDs in 16:9 format

[RoboticGolem]

There is also vlc. Works great. Just plug in your settings and away it goes. 100% free

[Ninjatogo]

Do you get the full screen using the PB setting? Mine just ends up with an output of 720 x 420, with letterboxing on either side, even for DVDs in 16:9 format

DVDs have a normal resolution of 720*480, this is a bit lower than the resolution of the Playbook (1024*600); one thing you can do to solve the problem on the Playbook is pinch to zoom the video to fill the screen. I don't think the Playbook scales the video up automatically.

[JasW]

DVDs have a normal resolution of 720*480, this is a bit lower than the resolution of the Playbook (1024*600); one thing you can do to solve the problem on the Playbook is pinch to zoom the video to fill the screen. I don't think the Playbook scales the video up automatically.

Yes, it does fill up the screen, even though it's 720 p.

There's a lot of retreading of ground here that was tread long ago (and long before the PlayBook) in the Movie/Videos subforum on CB: http://forums.crackberry.com/movies-videos-f66/

DVD Decrypter followed by Handbrake is the best way to go IMHO. I've been doing it this way for over three years to put DVD rips on various BB devices, and it has always worked like a charm.

The only thing I've changed specifically for the PlayBook is using the Normal preset on Handbrake instead of the iPod preset, because I don't want to scale down the videos.

[Unsure2]

Does anyone know if it's legal to rip DVDs and put them on the Playbook?

[neilwick]

Does anyone know if it's legal to rip DVDs and put them on the Playbook?

That depends on what the owners of the content on the DVD will allow you to do. Strictly speaking, it's probably not allowed because 99.9% of commercial movie DVDs have anti-copying technology built in, but it could be argued that you should be allowed to make a backup copy of a DVD that you own. Many high profile DVD and Blu-ray Disk titles these days include and digital copy usable for a limited time, though the protection on that copy means it can't be used on the PlayBook.

In practical terms, it's pretty unlikely that any movie company is going to sue you for having a digital copy made from a DVD that you own, unless you are selling or giving away that copy to other people. As far as copying DVDs that you do not own, that is almost certainly not legal for any current movie still under copyright, subject to laws in you jurisdiction.

[jpy007]

How many movies can you load on to a 64gb Playbook at a time?

[JasW]

How many movies can you load on to a 64gb Playbook at a time?

Depends on a number of things, the file format, quality, etc., but most movies I have look more than decent on the PB and are under 1GB, so I would say at least 50.

[kennyliu]

You can also use DVDFab. I've been using it for many years to archive my DVD/BR collection.

[GibsMcWooley]

DVDs have a normal resolution of 720*480, this is a bit lower than the resolution of the Playbook (1024*600); one thing you can do to solve the problem on the Playbook is pinch to zoom the video to fill the screen. I don't think the Playbook scales the video up automatically.

Thank you ninjatogo. Never considered trying to pinch the screen. Was looking for a button similar to my wife's iPod touch. Apple products give you nothing but bad habits - but buying a Playbook is a step in the right direction, isn't it?

Cheers

[egzbuen]

That depends on what the owners of the content on the DVD will allow you to do. Strictly speaking, it's probably not allowed because 99.9% of commercial movie DVDs have anti-copying technology built in, but it could be argued that you should be allowed to make a backup copy of a DVD that you own. Many high profile DVD and Blu-ray Disk titles these days include and digital copy usable for a limited time, though the protection on that copy means it can't be used on the PlayBook.

In practical terms, it's pretty unlikely that any movie company is going to sue you for having a digital copy made from a DVD that you own, unless you are selling or giving away that copy to other people. As far as copying DVDs that you do not own, that is almost certainly not legal for any current movie still under copyright, subject to laws in you jurisdiction.

Agree.

Plus, it would also depend where you are located. Thus, if the "Fair Use Policy" is being practiced in your location/territory, you may or might just be allowed to archive your collection.

[FF22]

Thank you ninjatogo. Never considered trying to pinch the screen. Was looking for a button similar to my wife's iPod touch. Apple products give you nothing but bad habits - but buying a Playbook is a step in the right direction, isn't it?

Cheers

Pinch/zoom in Video was introduced in one of the OS1 upgrades a bit ago but was not initially part of the app's powers. So some folks probably still don't know it exists.

[WpgMom]

I have spent hours trying to figure out how to get a DVD on to my playbook. I tried Freemaker and Handbrake and something else. They all either gave me an error message or just spun the DVD and did nothing! Either I need really detailed instructions or something new to try. Why is this so hard?

[Hawnz]

I have spent hours trying to figure out how to get a DVD on to my playbook. I tried Freemaker and Handbrake and something else. They all either gave me an error message or just spun the DVD and did nothing! Either I need really detailed instructions or something new to try. Why is this so hard?

I had the same problems. Could not get it to work too. Got one now that you just put the dvd in the drive and pick playbook setting and that is about it. It is a paid program that I got for free.

[BigAl_BB9900]

Does anyone know if it's legal to rip DVDs and put them on the Playbook?

IF you own the DVD, then this is legal in the UK - not sure about other countries

[BigAl_BB9900]

How would I go about putting movies I already own on my playbook off an already purchased DVD?

copied from another thread

Hi there

I use AOA DVD Ripper and it converts DVDs perfectly to the PlayBook - recommend that you use the 'h264 mpeg4' settings as other formats (eg AVI) sometimes get the picture and audio slightly out of sync

[If you only want to show the movies on the PB, then you don't need a high resolution, but for HDMI to a TV, then I recommend full 1280x720 (or 1024x768 for old movies)
Note: the higher the resolution, the longer it takes to rip, and the bigger the file size
eg Robin Hood Cartoon (1024x768) is 1.4Gb and took about 3 hours to rip on a high end desktop - Muppet Treasure Island (low res) is 320k and only took 1hr20mins to rip]

Copying the movies onto the PB is simplicity itself, just drag the file from your PC into the movies directory on the PB - warning this is always incredibly slow for me over either wifi or USB (about 1Mb/s)

Good Luck and Enjoy!

[anon(2678007)]

I use the free part of DVD Fab to rip the DVD to a file structure (VOB), then use Freemake to convert this file structure into a video.

Freemake has a PB setting but it isn't perfect for all types of DVD. You have to pay attention to the aspect ratio.

For exampel, an episode of Family guy, ripped using general settings, will have black bars on the left and right to preserve the original square-ish aspect ratio - but you can play witht he stretch settins to get it to fuill the entire PB screen without losing any part of the image.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of different aspect ratios out there so it's worth a bit of time trying different settings and saving presets for each ratio.

Hope that helps

[obaaron]

so I ripped a Dora the Explorer dvd (dvdfab) and am using Freemake to convert for use on PB. Question...there are 12 files it ripped (all video files) they each have a separate title however title 1 is an hour and a half so I'm assuming its the main file. Whats the protocol with this? when I use Freemake it creates separate files for each title do I join them (i see an option to do so)? or just convert the longest file?

Please help!

[padamssm]

I have spent hours trying to figure out how to get a DVD on to my playbook. I tried Freemaker and Handbrake and something else. They all either gave me an error message or just spun the DVD and did nothing! Either I need really detailed instructions or something new to try. Why is this so hard?

I've used Aimersoft suite of products on my PC to rip and convert my purchased media for several years with great results. The Aimersoft software is not free but I think it's reasonably priced for what it does. They continually improve their software and give free updates. Their DVD Ripper will rip nearly any DVD, remove the DRM, and output it in almost any format. I select PlayBook output format and then drag the ripped DVDs to my PlayBook. The conversion takes some time. The resulting video is very clear but slightly less than full-size in the PlayBook frame; you can pinch-to-zoom if you want to fill the frame. I also use Aimersoft's Media Converter program to remove DRM from music and audiobook files and then convert to MP3 format. Their tech support is great and they get back to you usually within 24 Hours. When I found a format they couldn't convert, they analyzed the DVD file and added the format in the next free update.