How to Convert DVD to MP4 with VLC on Windows/Mac(Full Guide)

In the passed years, there have been the times when it was popular to buy movies DVDs and play at home. However, when today people are more likely to save the movies, TV shows, and all kinds of video contents in common digital files so that the playback can be more convenient, because you don't need the DVD drive to play the discs anymore.

 

On Windows and Mac, there has a popular media player called VLC, which can also help you easily convert DVD to MP4, so that you can rip the DVD discs to save the videos in the common MP4 files for playing on more devices such as your large-screen televisions or smart phones even with DVD drive. The following apart of the article will show you how to use it.

Contents

1. Step by Step: Convert DVD to MP4 with VLC on Windows/Mac

Actually, VLC is a professional media player, so it mainly provides people with the high-quality media player originally. For its ability to rip and convert DVD to MP4, the software tries to make the function simple, so it won't be hard for you to use it. Now, you can follow this simple tutorial to try converting DVD to MP4 using VLC on Windows and Mac with only very simple clicks.

On Windows

Step 1. To get started, you need to firstly insert the DVD disc you want to convert to MP4 to the computer. Then open VLC.

 

Step 2. On the home screen of VLC, select "Media" from the menu bar and choose "Open Disc". Then select the "Disc" tab and locate the inserted DVD to VLC by clicking the "Browse..." button at "Disc Drive". Remember to select the "No disc menus" here too.

VLC Load DVD

Step 3. After selecting the DVD disc, click the down arrow of the "Play" button and choose "Convert / Save". Now a new window will be opened.

 

Step 4. In the "Convert" window, select MP4 in "Profile" to make it as the output format. Also, you can browse to select an output folder for saving the converted MP4 files in "Destination file" here.

Rip DVD With VLC

Step 5. Finally, just press the "Start" button and VLC will start to convert the DVD to MP4 for you.

On Mac

Step 1. When you have inserted the DVD disc to your Mac, open VLC now and directly click the "File" option on the top Apple menu bar and choose the "Open Disc" option.

 

Step 2. In the new pop-up window, choose the "Disc" tap and you will see that VLC has detected your disc and load it here. Then you need to select both "Disable DVD Menus" and "Stream Output".

Mac VLC Open Disc

Step 3. Now you should click "Settings" above the "Open" button. Here you need to set MPEG 4 in "Encapsulation Method" to make it the output format to convert the DVD. Also, in "File" and you can select an output folder to save the converted MP4 videos here too.

Mac VLC Convert DVD to MP4

Step 4. Finally, after click the "OK" button to save the settings, just press "Open" to start converting the DVD to MP4 on Mac.

However, as you select VLC as the tool to help you convert DVD to MP4, you may still face some limitations or disadvantages of using the software, which would include the following points.

  • Unstable and slow DVD conversion: The performance of VLC to convert DVD disc is not stable at al. Also, it would take a long time to process the conversion of one DVD disc. Therefore, if you have more DVDs to convert in VLC, you will waste much time on it.
  • Less formats and quality: VLC doesn't provide many output formats or allows you to adjust the video settings such as the quality before converting it like many other professional DVD rippers can do. You can only select the limited format options provided by it.
  • No basic editing functions provided: VLC can only help you to convert DVD to MP4, without providing other easy editing functions to adjust the video before the conversion.

 

If you need to improve the DVD to MP4 conversion experience, or find a better way which can  to do it, now just go down to the next part to see its best alternative.

2. Best VLC Alternative: Convert DVD to MP4 without Hassle

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is the best alternative to VLC for people can enjoy much more better DVD to MP4 converting experience in the software. Compared to VLC, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper provides more output formats and device presets for people to select, and it allows to flexibly change the parameter settings or edit the videos with its in-built editor before the conversion.

VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper also provides the fluent experience on both Windows and Mac computers. With the 6X faster ripping speed, it helps people to save much time in doing the DVD to MP4 conversion.

Tips

The Windows version of VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper released a new version which has big changes compared with the old version. But the new version for Mac is still under the development. That means the interface and the operation of Windows and Mac will be different.

To know the details about the new version, you can read on the article: A New Version for BD-DVD Ripper (Windows) Released! See What Changes

Step 1. When you have inserted the DVD disc to your Mac, open VLC now and directly click the "File" option on the top Apple menu bar and choose the "Open Disc" option.

 

Step 2. In the new pop-up window, choose the "Disc" tap and you will see that VLC has detected your disc and load it here. Then you need to select both "Disable DVD Menus" and "Stream Output".

Key Features:

  • Supports to convert Blu-ray/DVD discs of all types
  • Provides more than 300 video/audio formats to convert Blu-ray/DVD discs
  • Saves all the audio tracks and subtitles after converting the DVDs as well as add external ones
  • Allows to adjust videos parameters or edit them before starting to convert
  • Keeps high quality to save converted DVD videos in digital formats

Steps to Convert DVD to MP4 Using VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

Step 1. Add DVD Disc to VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper

After installing VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, insert your DVD disc to the computer and open the software and click "Load DVD" option to select "Load DVD Disc" for importing the content.

Ripper Main

Step 2. Select Movie Title to Convert

When the DVD content is loaded inside VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, click "Full Movie List" and select some titles you want to convert to MP4. You can also choose all at once.

Full Movie List

Step 3. Select MP4 As the Output Format

Then you can select MP4 as the output format to convert the DVD movies to in the "Rip All to" menu. VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper will offer MP4 options with different quality to let you convert the DVD.

Rip All to

Step 4. Choose Output Folder and Convert

In "Save to", VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper allows you to change the output folder at anytime when you need to. Finally, directly by pressing the "Rip All" button and the DVD can be directly converted to MP4 with your selected quality.

Ripping Disc

You can also see the video tutorial on how to rip DVD to MP4 with VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper.

3. FAQs on Ripping DVD with VLC

How do I rip a protected DVD with VLC?

Originally, VLC can only rip the unprotected DVD discs because it won't support DRM. But the libdvdcss.dll files provided in the VLC installation package can help another free DVD ripping software, Handbrake to rip protected DVD. So you need to install VLC on your computer at first and take the libdvdcss.dll file from it, then copy to the directory of Handbrake. After that, you can rip the protected DVDs within Handbrake.

HandBrake Rip Protected DVD

How long does it take to rip a DVD with VLC?

The time taken to rip a DVD with VLC is not fixed, because it would depend on your network condition and also the performance of your computer hardware. Generally, it would take around 10-30 minutes to rip a standard DVD movie. But using a powerful DVD ripper with GPU Acceleration such as VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper, it may only takes you less than 10 or even 5 minutes to finish ripping a DVD. So if you want to convert DVD to MP4 with higher efficiency, choosing a professional software like VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is better for you.

Conclusion

Converting DVD to MP4 can offer you a more flexible and conveninet offline playback experience. To freely get this done, VLC is the best choice for you. But if you want a faster way to rip the protected DVDs, VideoByte BD-DVD Ripper is your need. Just choose the method you like to convert DVD to MP4 now.