How to Rip DVD to MP4 with VLC on PC/Mac

VLC is better known as an open-source media player supporting virtually all multimedia files, from videos in diverse formats to DVDs, CDs, and VCDs. As a matter of fact, it additionally acts as a simple DVD ripper since version 0.9.6. But, how to rip a DVD with VLC? Can VLC make an MP4 copy from a DVD disc? Here, we will explain how to free rip DVD to MP4 using VLC on Windows 10/11/Mac in detail.

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Part 1. How to Free Rip a DVD to MP4 with VLC on Windows?

The following steps will show how to free rip with VLC on Windows 10/11. To convert DVD to MP4 on Mac with VLC, skip to Part 2.

Step 1. Install VLC DVD Ripper

Go to VLC official site and select matched operation system to download. VLC Media Player supports multi-platforms, including Windows (XP-10), Mac OS (X 10.6 and later), Linux, etc. After it is fully downloaded, double-click the exe file (vlc-3.0.17.4-win32.exe) to install VLC. During installation, you can choose optional components (for example web plugins) to install.

<< Learn detailed guide on how to rip a DVD using VLC >>

Step 2. Import DVD Disc to VLC

Open VLC and insert your DVD. Click Media on the menu bar and a drop-down list appears. Select Convert / Save… to access to Open Media dialogue box. Besides DVD discs, VLC also enables you to import ISO Image or VIDEO_TS folder which stores DVD contents as a source for ripping to MP4.

Step 3: Select the title

Click the Disc tab and you will find 3 sections on this page: Disc Selection, Starting Position, Audio, and Subtitles. Check the DVD option and browse to import the DVD source to VLC. Next, set the title (main title in general) and the chapter you wish to rip to MP4. If you don't know which is the correct title, play the DVD with VLC to find the correct title. Select the audio/subtitle tracks. Then click Convert / Save button.

Step 4. Select MP4 as the output format

The Convert window will then pop up. Move to the Settings panel. Set profile as MP4. If necessary, you can click the setting icon to adjust codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution and subtitles.

Step 4: Adjust the DVD to MP4 ripping settings in VLC

In the Profile edition window, VLC offers some basic options to adjust the DVD to MP4 rippping. Click the Encapsulation tab, you can set VLC to rip DVDs to MP4 as well as MOV, MKV, AVI, and some other formats. For the best output MP4 file that keep a good balance between the file size and quality, here are the best DVD to MP4 settings using VLC:

• In the Video codec tab, set the Bitrate to 1500 and select 2 Pass Encoding for Encoding mode.
• In the Audio codec tab, set the Bitrate to 128 and select MP3 for Codec.
• Click Save to save your changes and close the Profile Edition window.

Step 5. Start Ripping DVD to MP4

Then, click the Browse button to give a destination for saving the output MP4 file. Don't forget to name it. Finally, click Start to let VLC rip DVD to MP4 on Windows 10/11.

Tip: VLC provides two MP4 options: H.264 + MP3 and H.265 + MP3. Choose the most appropriate one depending on your needs. In addition, this VLC DVD ripper offers tens of video, audio, device and web profiles, such as WebM, TS, MP3, FLAC, TV, iPod, Android and YouTube.

Part 2. How to Rip DVD to MP4 using VLC on Mac?

Step 1. Download and install VLC on Mac

Go to VLC's official website and you'll find the VLC download link for Mac. VLC new version runs on macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, etc. and old releases are also provided for earlier Mac OS X. Don't worry if you're running 64-bit Intel processor or an Apple Silicon chip, VLC will support them. After the dmg file is downloaded successfully, install it.

Step 2. Load the DVD

Insert your DVD into the DVD drive of your Mac computer. If there's no inbuilt DVD drive, an external one is a viable alternative. Open VLC, click "File" at the menu of VLC and then choose "Open Disc..." to load the DVD info.

Next, you will see a settings window with your DVD's information. In this panel, click "Disable DVD menus" to avoid possible DVD ripping loop errors. Then check the box "Stream output", and click "Settings" to get access to Streaming and Transcoding Options.

Step 3. Select MP4 as the output format

To rip DVD to MP4 with VLC on Mac, you need to:

1. Check "File" to convert the DVD to an MP4 file on your Mac instead of simply streaming;
2. Select "Browse" to change the output file name and set an output folder on Mac to save the file. Make sure you name the file with the .mp4 extension;
3. Click the drop-down box of "Encapsulation Method" and choose MPEG4 as the output format;
4. Under Transcoding options, choose video codec (H.264 is recommended), audio codec (MP3 for example), bitrates, scale, and channels.

Step 4. Start ripping DVD to MP4 with VLC on Mac

When you have finished all the above settings, you can hit "OK" at the bottom right to confirm. It will then bring you back to the DVD info window. Next, click Open and VLC will start ripping the DVD to MP4 on Mac. It will take quite a long time to finish this task since it always requires from 15 to 40 minutes per half-hour of video.

Video Tutorial: How to Rip DVD to MP4 Using VLC

Part 3. Fail to Rip DVD to MP4 with VLC? How to Fix?

Ripping DVDs to MP4 using VLC can sometimes turn out to be a disaster. Errors like no audio, no subtitles, failure to open discs, etc. happen frequently. Some examples here:

• "I'm trying to save a title from my DVD to an MP4 file on disk. I can save title 1 OK, but for some reason, title 2 crashes VLC."
• "I am trying to rip a DVD to an MP4 file with an H264 codec using VLC. But there is no audio after VLC conversion."
• "When I click Start to rip my disc to MP4, nothing happens. VLC gives no message about the ripping process and just shows the interface."
• "I try to rip a TV series DVD to MP4 using VLC but the ripped MP4 contains only episode one. Where are the rest of my episodes?"
• "Get the error 'Your input can't be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL 'dvd:///D:/.' when I load the DVD to VLC..."

* Fail to support copy protections. VLC is able to rip copy-protected movies, and even if you can't tell the correct title of a DVD, you can find it by playing the movie with VLC. But this doesn't mean a flawless DVD ripping process. Errors like VLC crashes, no audio, pixelated output, etc. can happen easily.

* Limited output choice/settings. VLC supports DVD to MP4 h.264, h.265, and MPEG4 as well as several other formats. It won't ensure the output quality or settings. You can't adjust, merge, crop, and do any settings or adjustments.

* Slow speed. First, the DVD-mp4 process that happened in VLC is not quite the same as DVD ripping. It's a process that records the movies in real-time to MP4 created on your hard drive. DVD ripping is where a DVD ripper cracks the CSS encryption and saves the DVD image into another file. It's faster. Second, VLC is mainly a media player instead of a ripper. It only supports GPU decoding.

* VLC is a media player instead of a DVD converter. VLC is more of a last-resort conversion option: For daily DVD to Video files task, you will need a dedicated, simplified tool optimized for converting dvds to video files.

When wired issues happen during DVD to MP4 ripping with VLC on Windows or Mac, you can:

• Re-install the latest version of VLC.
• Try another output profile.
• If VLC still won't rip DVD, the DVD is probably copy-protected. If so, we need to use a DVD decrypter to remove copy protections of DVDs at first and then rip it to MP4. Or we can switch to a VLC alternative to rip DVDs to MP4 easier.

Part 4. How to Rip Copy-Protected DVDs to MP4 with VLC Alternative?

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How to Rip Protected DVDs to MP4 via VLC Alternative on Windows/Mac?

It is a pretty easy task to rip DVD to MP4 via this best VLC alternative. Download and install it on your computer (Windows 11/10/macOS Ventura and lower are supported).

Step 1. Insert your DVD into the optical drive on your PC or Mac and open the program. Then click the DVD Disc button and select your DVD to load the data.

Step 2. It will ignore the region codes and other protections and automatically select the correct main title. Then an output format window will open.

Step 3. Select General Profiles and choose "MP4 Video". Click OK. Back on the main interface, you can click on the selected profile to adjust the DVD to MP4 ripping in the VLC alternative, such as the resolution, codec, bitrate, aspect ratio, etc. You are also allowed to adjust to meet edit, select subtitle/audio tracks, merge titles, and more.

Step 4. Set where you'd like to save the converted MP4 DVD video on your PC or Mac under the Destination Folder section. Then click Start to rip DVD to MP4 with the VLC alternative. Soon, you can get a resulting digital file in MP4 format in the output folder you just set.

Video tutorial: how to rip DVD to MP4 with VLC alternative

In fact, ripping DVDs to MP4 using VLC is not the best idea. It may help you out in a pinch when you just want to rip several homemade discs and have VLC installed on your computer. VLC is a basic DVD ripper. You probably would never use it when there are better DVD options available. To give you a better picture, below is why you may need another tool to rip DVDs to MP4 on Windows/Mac instead of VLC.

Trusted by millions of users. Safe and clean.	Free and essential	Free and powerful Download for Win Download for Mac
Supported DVD formats General CSS encryption, region codes, Sony ARccOS, UOPs, APS, RCE	No
Rip DVD to basic video and device formats Rip a DVD to MP4, AVI, MPEG, WMV, FLV, MOV, MP3	Limited
Back up DVDs Copy DVDs to ISO image or Video_TS folder with 100% quality & data.
Unique for Special DVDs Uniquely support fitness DVDs, AV DVDs, 99-title DVDs...
Hardware Acceleration enabled Support Intel/Nivida/AMD GPU Acceleration in DVD to MP4 ripping.	Support GPU accelerated decoding
Edit DVD video Adjust settings, crop, trim, merge, subtitles...
Select subtitle/audio tracks Select the subtitle or audio track in your desired language.
Upscale DVD to higher quality Upscale DVD to 720P/1080P for better quality.
Play DVD movies

Apparently, WinX DVD Ripper is a good VLC alternative if you need to rip a protected DVD to MP4 or other digital formats. It also offers more editing features and extra options. According to our test, WinX DVD Ripper can rip a DVD to MP4 at a speed that is about 5 faster than VLC as it supports GPU acceleration. The VLC alternative is free and easy to use.

Disclaimer: Digiarty Software does not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for any commercial purpose and suggests referring to the DVD copyright laws in your countries before doing so.

Part 5. VLC DVD to MP4 FAQ

1. How to Convert DVD Video_TS folder to MP4 using VLC?

The process to convert a DVD Video_TS folder to MP4 is similar to that of converting a disc. The only difference is that you need to add the Video_TS folder to File instead of Disc on the Open Media window.

1. Open VLC and select "Media" > "Convert / Save..." from the main menu.
2. On the Open Media interface, click the "File" tab, click "Add..." button.
3. Choose the VOB video file from the source Video_TS folder and click "Convert/Save" button.
4. Choose MP4 under Settings, set where you want to store the converted MP4 video, and click Start.

2. How to use VLC to convert DVDs to MP4 with subtitles?

When ripping DVDs to MP4 with VLC, you're able to select the subtitle track you'd like to keep. On the Open Media window, you can find the Audio and Subtitles settings. Then you can select the subtitle track there.

3. Why is there no sound after VLC converting DVDs to MP4?

There are many users reporting that the converted MP4 video has no sound after VLC conversion. How to fix the problem? Here are some solutions:

1. Select another audio track under the Audio and Subtitles settings.
2. Change the audio parameters such as audio codec and audio sample rate.
3. In the Preferences > Advanced Preferences, search ffmpeg and set the value of Strict standard compliance from -2 to 2.
4. Turn to a VLC alternative to rip DVDs to MP4.

4. Can I use VLC to convert protected DVDs to MP4?

Though VLC is able to play DVDs with region code and other copy protections, it can't rip a protected DVD to MP4. The good new is, there are workaround to rip protected DVDs to MP4 in VLC.

1. If you insist with VLC, you can play the protected DVD in a DVD player and mark down the main title. When you select the DVD title in the VLC settings, choose the correct title. But this method doesn't work with all protected DVDs.
2. As VLC contains libdvdcss to play protected DVDs, you can use VLC and Handbrake together to rip protected DVDs.