Best DVD Ripper for Plex Media Server (PC & Mac)

By Powell Wong |

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Last updated on March 10th, 2024

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For anyone who owns a media server, whether it’s a Plex server, a Kodi media center, or just a regular file server that you guys have your content on, this is a great way to get your DVDs over to your media servers today.

We will take a look at the Wonderfox DVD ripper, this software allows you to rip your home movies, your DVDs, TV shows, or whatever it is and put it in a media server format that allows you to enjoy it anywhere in the world.

The File Format & Settings Supported by Plex Media Server

The media compatibility and video quality limits of Plex differ depending on the device. Here are the recommended settings and format in which Plex Media Server is supported. You can rip DVDs to Plex with the following settings:

Container: MP4 (H.264+AAC)
Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower)
Audio Encoding: AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
Resolution: 1920×1080 or smaller
Video Frame rate: 30 fps
Video Bit Depth: 8

Almost all media files can be played on Plex via Direct Stream or after being transcoded. But Plex doesn’t support other disk image formats such as ISO image, and Video_TS folder.

How to Rip DVDs for Plex on Windows PC?

Using a DVD Ripper: WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro (Windows)

Still, wondering which is the best DVD ripper for Windows? We have already done a full review and here are the top 10 DVD ripping tools. Out of those 10, one of the leading tools is Wonderfox DVD Ripper Pro. It’s the best DVD ripping software on the market and there are many reasons for that.

In a hurry? Get the Wonderfox DVD Ripping Software Now!

Following are some of the reasons why WonderFox wins our editor’s choice:

So here it is you can rip DVD to digital copy in five minutes with flawless 1:1 quality (of course, it depends on the original DVD video length).

It can rip an exact copy of the DVD and whether it’s a whole movie, real movie, or TV show you can go ahead and put it in there.

To rip the DVD it has three basic steps:

1.) Insert & load the DVD

2.) Select the intended output format like MP4

3.) Click the Run button. After a couple of minutes, you’ll have your DVD in a digital format.

As far as DVD decryption all you’re worried about is how to bypass DVD region code, CSS, multi-angle, RCE, and different kinds of copyright protections – this ripper can bypass all of that!!

So you will be able to go ahead and convert it to a digital format and also it has perfect compression ratios over the files. It will compress a seven to one ratio, and you won’t lose any output quality. The compression is big and this will save you a lot of space on a media server.

Another great point is that the conversion speed is fast as you only need 20 minutes to rip 150 minutes of DVD to mp4, avi, mov, mkv, and other file formats.

Also, it can intelligently detect the name and title of your movie or TV show so you don’t have to go through and guess which video file you need to select to get started.

Click Here for a Full Review of WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro!

How to Use the WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro?

Let’s go and jump into the software overview, so let’s launch the software we just give it a couple of seconds for the software to load up. Of course, you must download and install the software before using it.

From the main software dashboard, we’ll get into some of the main options or settings.

The first thing is to check for updates so just click on the first button from the left, it’ll tell you that you have your latest version or if you need an update.
If you want to change the output file location, you can click and then browse to where you want the ripped file to be stored. For example, if you want to put it on your desktop, you can do that.

For more details, you can watch the following video that will guide you on how to use the Wonderfox DVD Ripper Pro:

YouTube video

Click here to check out the latest price of DVD ripper from Wonderfox.

Step-by-step Guide to Rip the DVDs for Plex or Kodi Media Player

In the main window, you can see there are three main options available: DVD Disc, ISO Image, and DVD Folder. You do have three source options so you can go ahead and try the first option, the DVD Disc. To create an ISO Image, refer here.

Just insert the DVD disc into your computer DVD/optical drive and launch the software. Select the correct drive letter (most probably it’s already selected to the correct drive) so just click on the Ok button.

Let’s give it a few seconds for the computer to scan the DVD and you will see the different titles you have from the disc you inserted. This should take about five to ten seconds.
You will notice by default it detected there is a main movie out of many titles. The software is so smart that it can detect and check only the ‘Main Movie’ that needs to be ripped later.

You can go ahead and change the title by clicking on the movie title, change it to the intended name, and click on the OK button.
If you look in the actual window of the DVD source file you can see the original file size (such as 10.8 GB) as well as the resolution (i.e. 720 x 480).
The output is what it’s going to give you after ripping is done in the AVI format. For example, the size is 2.4GB and you can also have the same resolution so nothing will change but the file size which is a key feature of this WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro. You will save a lot of space on your computer or server when you do have a lot of movies in the future.
If you click on Edit (blue color with pen button) you can make a lot of changes here to make the movie more vivid or make it blurry. You can also rotate it, flip it whatever you want, and go ahead and make some changes as required. Once finished, click on the OK button.
At the bottom, you can add a subtitle. A subtitle is disabled but you can click the drop-down and select English, or click add subtitle if you have a file to be imported there which is another good feature to have.

In the right panel, the first thing is the Output Format. If you click on the menu right here slide it out and you will see all the different formats. Click on the Video category, you can see all the video formats, including AVI, MP4, MKV, WMV, MOV, 3GP, H264, etc.
If you click on the Web category, you can see the different formats supported like HTML5, YouTube, Facebook, FLV, etc. There are other files and devices supported and you can check them out yourself.
In the middle of the right panel, you have the option to kind of play with the speed versus the video quality. So slide to the left to get a higher quality and a lower ripping speed while sliding to the right you get a lower quality at a higher speed.
Directly below that if you click the Settings button you have a lot more options than you can change like the bit rate, resolution, frame rate, encoder, etc. These are sets of the smart fit right now and they are just the default settings.

One of the things that I wanted to cover before we get into the ripping is the resolution. This is a key feature because a lot of these older movies have the old 4:3 format which is the box shape and most of the new newer systems or television screens out there are a 16 x 9 or a 16 x 10 ratio.
So you want to go ahead and change the resolution, just hit the drop-down and choose 1920*1080 which will give a nice wide angle that will fit most monitors well. One thing we take note of is that when you change the output resolution the file size will get bigger too. So, this will take a little longer to burn/rip if you change the resolution.
To start the ripping process, hit the RUN button.
So once it’s done you will receive a pop-up and all you have to do is just click open and access the video that is just converted.
Just copy the file to your Plex/Kodi media server and you’re good to go.

Alternative Software: WinX DVD Ripper Platinum

BONUS: FREE Download WinX DVD Ripper Platinum to Rip Any DVDs You Like!

Also read:

How to Rip DVDs for Plex on Mac OS X?

If you prefer to use a free tool, then you can go no other than HandBrake, another highly recommended DVD ripping software by our editors. One of the main limitations of HandBrake is that the tool is unable to read the protected DVDs, so if you have commercial discs and want to store them in a Plex server, download and install libdvdcss for HandBrake.

Using a HandBrake Free Tool to Rip DVDs for Plex (Mac & Windows)

The HandBrake can be run on either Windows, Mac, or Linux. So, it’s pretty similar to running the software on a Windows PC or Mac system. You need to download and install the software before starting to use it. Insert a DVD to rip and then follow the guide below:

1. Launch the HandBrake software. In the left panel, click on the DVD drive, and the software will start scanning and display the contents of the disc.

2. Choose the movie Title and chapters that you want to save or rip. Make sure you set the Format as MP4 File (a format that Plex can accept). The other settings you can change as needed.

3. You can change the Destination file location to a folder that you are familiar with and set a meaningful file name by clicking on the “Browse” button. Lastly, click on the “Start” button to start the DVD ripping process.

How to Add the Ripped DVD Movies to Plex Media Server?

After you successfully rip the DVD, you must know how to add the file to the Plex server, and here are the steps to follow on the Windows computer. Plex Media Server can run on Windows, Mac, or Linux computers.

To Setup the Plex Server

Step 1: Download and install Plex Media Server. To open the Plex app, find the Plex icon in the computer System Tray at the lower right of the screen. Right-click the icon and choose “Open Plex…”.

Step 2: The very first time the server runs, it should launch a browser, ask you to create a new account and start the Setup Wizard.

Step 3: The wizard will lead you through a short series of steps to name your server and set up your media libraries. The Plex Media Server uses Libraries that house your media. You can create as many media Libraries as you like.

To Create a New Library

Step 4: Click on the “ADD LIBRARY” button and choose an appropriate media type (Movie, TV Show, Other Videos, Music, and Photos). Here you can choose the option – Movie. If needed, name the Library and hit the “NEXT” button.

Step 5: Click on the “ADD FOLDER” button and browse to the folder where you store the ripped DVD files on your computer. Choose the “ADD” button.

Step 6: Click the “ADD LIBRARY” button to load the movies. The Library is created and the media found will be added to the database

Then you can open Plex to play and stream them.

If you encounter any problems setting up the wizard, refer here.

Wrap Up

To conclude, it’s not difficult for you to enjoy your DVD collections on the Plex Media Server. As explained in this article, all you need to do is choose a reliable DVD ripper (free & paid option) to rip the DVDs, and set up the Plex server then you can transfer & watch the movies on Plex.

We’ve also explained how to effortlessly add your DVD movie to your Plex Media Server. Now, you can go ahead and enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows on Plex.

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