3 Best Tools for Ripping DVDs for Plex on Windows & Mac

Plex is free media software that can manage and showcase your movies, TV shows, music, and images on devices. Although it is as powerful, it lacks compatibility for DVD files such as DVDs, Video_ts folders, and other "disc image" formats.

You'll need to convert these files into Plex-compatible formats if you want to stream and play them through Plex. It clarifies that you need to rip DVDs to digital formats supported by Plex first. To watch your ripped DVD movies on additional devices, install Plex on each one. So, if you are looking for the easiest and fastest way to stream and play DVDs over your Plex media server, this is the right place.

Most Compatible Format for Plex Media Server

Before we get into rip DVDs for Plex, it's essential to understand which formats Plex Media Server supports. The media compatibility and video quality limits of Plex differ depending on the device. Plex usually supports MP4 (H.264+AAC) as its native format.

Plex may usually play videos that meet the following criteria directly:

• MP4 as a container
• H.264 video encoding (level 4.0 or lower)
• AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
• Resolution: 1920x1080 pixels or less
• 30 frames per second video frame rate
• Bit Depth of Video: 8

This combination should provide good quality while maintaining broad compatibility with various platforms and devices that support Plex. Remember that if your media isn’t in this format, Plex can still play it by transcoding it on-the-fly to a format the client device supports; but this process can be resource-intensive especially for high-resolution files or multiple simultaneous streams.

In the next part, let's learn how to convert DVDs to Plex-supported video formats with the best quality. 

3 Best Tools to Rip DVD to Plex on Windows and Mac

DVDFab DVD Ripper

DVDFab DVD Ripper is one of the most powerful DVD ripping software available at cheap rates. Using this program, ripping a DVD is quite simple. Furthermore, the extensive list of functions available will astound you. It comes with advanced GPU acceleration technologies like CUDA and others. You can rip a regular DVD movie in less than 5 minutes.

Key Features:

• Keeps updating to support all encrypted DVDs, even the newest ones.
• Rip DVD to Plex supported formats, such as MP4 with H264 and AAC codec, and other 1000+ video and audio formats with no loss of quality.
• Convert DVD to lossless MKV.Passthrough video and 5.1 AC3 audio.
• The built-in video editor helps you make a professional or personalized video.
• GPU hardware acceleration technology ensure you a 50x faster ripping speed.

Pros:

• The ripped video can be played on any Plex supported devices.
• Upscale video quality form 480p to 1080p with Enlarger AI function.
• Multitasking Mode allows you to rip multiple DVDs with only one command.
• Generate meta info and display it on you Plex meida serve.
• Can also serve as a Blu-ray ripper for Plex.

Con:

• DVDFab DVD Ripper provides a 30-day free trial. But it offers a lifetime-free but simplified version - DVDFab HD Decrypter - that can rip most encrypted DVD or Blu-ray to MP4&MKV format only. This free pragram is also powerful enough to meet your basic needs for ripping DVD to Plex.

How to convert DVD to plex using DVDFab DVD Ripper?

MakeMKV

MakeMKV is one of the best DVD rippers for Plex on Mac and Windows. It pulls the video stream from the DVD and saves it as an MKV file rather than compressing it. That's why MakeMKV rips videos so quickly. However, this results in the produced videos being somewhat monumental. If your movie DVD is 4 GB in size, the ripped version will be 4 GB as well. 

Key Features:

• It reads DVD and Blu-ray discs secured with the newest versions of AACS and BD+.
• The software saves all video and audio tracks, like HD audio.
• There is entire preservation of chapters and meta-information including track language, audio type, etc.

Pros:

• The software comes with cross-platform compatibility: Linux, Mac, and Windows
• It will rip some encrypted DVDs.
• It has a fast-ripping speed due to the lack of re-encoding.
• Moreover, it has a Blu-ray disc ripper.
• This one generally maintains a good standard.

Cons:

• MKV is the only export format
• It keeps the video size large
• Unable to alter the video and audio codecs.
• There are no preset profiles.

How to rip DVDs to plex using MakeMKV?

MakeMKV is one of the best ways to rip DVDs for plex that you can install and use on your computer. Here are the processing steps:

• Place the DVD in the drive, and the software will load it automatically.
• To study the disc, click the "Open DVD Disc" button.
• Choose a movie to rip. Although MakeMKV can recognize titles, it isn't always accurate.
• Select a location and click "Make MKV.

Handbrake

There is no doubt that Handbrake is a good open-source DVD ripper for Plex. It rips DVD and Blu-rays to preset iPhone, Android, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, and Windows 8. With the extensive set of custom settings available, you can modify codecs, effects, chapter markers, filters, video dimensions, and more. However, if you don't have the libdvdcss library installed, you won't be able to rip copy-protected content. 

Key Features:

• The software can quickly convert any video format to MP4 or MKV.
• You can use it to crop and resize videos.
• It will restore the old and low-quality video.
• It will help you erase combing artifacts produced by interlacing and telecine.
• The users can pass-through audio without transferring particular audio types.
• It will mix discrete surround sound into matrix surround or stereo.

Pros:

• There is no malware threat, and it's free to use.
• It supports multi-platform compatibility: Windows, Mac and Linux
• The user can easily customize the video and audio settings.
• It typically supports a wide range of input formats.

Cons:

• Rip DVDs only to MP4, MKV, or WebM. (Limited output formats)
• Inability to combine DVD videos
• Unable to remove DVD copy protection, you'll need to install an additional decoder.
• It only rips one title at a time.

Steps to Rip DVD for Plex Using Handbrake

Handbrake is available for free download and installation from its official website.

• Insert a DVD into your computer's DVD drive.
• Launch Handbrake, which will ask you to choose a source file.
• Select the DVD drive > VIDEO-TS folder > "Open" on a Mac. Choose "Folder (Batch Scan) > VIDEO-TS folder" on Windows.
• Select a DVD title you want to rip from the "Title" drop-down menu.
• If you want to rip numerous titles, you'll have to repeat the process.
• Select MP4 or MKV as the output format. Both of these work with Plex files.
• Give your output video a name and save it to a folder.
• Select "Start" from the drop-down menu.

How can I Upload a Ripped DVD on Plex?

You can now add the digital files to Plex Media Service after ripping the DVD for Plex. Here are simple steps;

• Sign up for a Plex account at Plex. tv
• Get Plex and install it.
• Go to the Plex main page.
• Click the "+" button next to "Libraries."
• For this library, choose a type of material, a name, and a language.
• Select "Browse for media folder" and enter the location of the content. 
• Select "Add Library" from the drop-down menu.

Note: You'll need to install two apps to use Plex to stream videos. One is a server application that runs on your computer and stores your media files. The Plex media player app is another option.

Conclusion

Have you gotten the whole picture on how to rip DVDs for Plex? MakeMKV and Handbrake are both free to use. However, they only support a limited number of output formats. MakeMKV generates big files, whereas Handbrake decreases video quality. Most professional programs like DVDFab DVD Ripping software, which rip DVDs for any Plex supported format, keep the original DVD quality while reducing file size.