dvd to avi for mac

[Corkson]

I'm in Asia with a ton of dvds I'd like to share. I'm not much of a computer expert, though. Can somebody tell me a convenient (and free) way to change dvd to avi?

Once I do that, I can upload to something like yastorage. I'm not sure about the thumbnails, though... How do I put those up?

Sorry if this has already been covered somewhere else. If there's a thread that can answer my newbie questions I'd be happy to look at it.

Thanks.
:bow-pray:

 

[ccwder]

My favourite and one of the best that I have ever used would be HandBrake (http://handbrake.m0k.org/). Maybe some of the others can help with suggestions for thumbnail hosting as I'm pretty out of the loop for that kind of thing.

I hope that helps!

 

[Corkson]

Looks like exactly what I need, thanks! Already had Mac the Ripper--seems these two go perfectly hand in hand.

 

[desioner]

Yea I agree with ccwder on that. Handbrake is the only way a mac user should rip DVDs. I might also recommend when you rip them to use the mp4/aac profile rather than the avi/aac profile. The mp4 container is better in my opinion (able to have chapter markers & tag movies in iTunes with relivant info) and both mac & PC users can view them.
As far as bit rate goes I usually just set the desired file size to 1025MB =1GB and the quality is usually great, but you can always tweek it a bit. There are a lot of extra features for mp4 as well. I haven't tried to play with any as my CPU isn't that great and I don't think I need them yet.
Now for thumbnails & images you have 2 options.
1: Hosting the image elsewhere. I use PicOodle! It's easy & fast with OK retention. With a few options, like thumbnail link or original image.

2: Adding the image as an attachment to your post here on akiba. Visiable (thumbnail) & clickable. Retention is forever!
Well I hope that helped ya out a bit. Welcome to Akiba, I can't wait to see what ya got. Also as your in Japan I might also recommend uploading your files as torrents we're lucky enough to have great internet connection here.
desioner