VLC is a free, open-source, cross-platform media player. It is widely used due to its ability to play almost every file format. In addition to being able to play music and videos on your computer, it can play standard DVDs as well. Although not widely known, VLC is also a capable video conversion tool, able to rip DVDs to your computer. "Ripping" a DVD is the process of extracting the movie from the disc, converting the video file and saving it to your hard drive.

Insert the DVD into your computer's DVD drive.

Open VLC. Select "File" and "Convert/Save" from the menu bar.

Click the "Disc" tab. Select "DVD" and enable "No DVD menus." Select the proper disc drive and click "Convert/Save." If you want rip an exact chapter, you can adjust the "Starting position."

Select a folder to save the file and give it a name. Append the file name with ".mp4" to save it an MPEG-4 video file. MP4s are most commonly used by portable media players (e.g., PSP, iPod and Zune).

Select "H.264 + AAC" as the video profile. Click "Start" to begin ripping the movie to your hard drive. It will take quite a while to complete.

• How to Rip With a VLC Player [09/20/2010 05:03:23]