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How to rip DVD audio commentaries.

One of the things I love most about having an iPod (aside from the sheer coolness that comes from being an iPod owner, as opposed to an iPod wanna-owner), is the ability to walk around listening to DVD audio commentaries. For some time now I've taken to extracting the audio from various DVDs I own, and rather than listen to them as I actually watch the movie or television show they're intended for, I listen to them on my iPod. It may sound a bit weird, but honestly, I really can't imagine doing it any other way at this point. Nine out of ten DVDs I own with commentaries I've seen multiple times, and in the case of The Simpsons, Babylon 5 or The Critic, I've seen them so many times I practically have them memorized. So why do I need the video?

Anyway, until this week, ripping was a fairly convoluted procedure. Using a PC (as opposed to my desktop Mac), I would extract the audio tracks in question to AC3 format using DVD Decrypter, convert them to WAV using Ciler's AC3 Tool, and then convert them to DVD using Musicmatch, which I would also use to add in proper ID3 tags and rename the files to a more acceptable format. This system, although a bit clunky, worked fine. But thankfully, I've finally stumbled upon an easy-to-use alternative that's native to OS X (yes, I know I could have used OSex all along, but that was an even worse procedure).

This method's not free, but it works great, and I've even got some fancy touches thrown in for good measure, so read on for complete directions.

First, I load up Forty-Two DVDVX Plus. Yes, I know it has a terribly awkward name, but it's wonderfully effective nonetheless. Using this program you select the audio commentary, and then can extract the audio in one of two ways: you can either do a direct AC3 rip and convert it to an iTunes-ready format yourself (I tried this and used MPEG2 Works, which worked great). Or you can use the "CD Audio" method, and directly rip to WAV format. Both methods work fine, and there wasn't any appreciable difference between the two as far as I could tell.

Once I've got it in an iTunes-ready format, I import the file into iTunes and convert it to AAC. But here's the fun part. Using FileInfo, I change the name of the file to use an "m4b " (including the space after m4b), and change the file type to "M4B". Then I re-import this file into iTunes and set all the tags up right. I use "DVD Audio Commentaries" as the artist, the name of the movie or tv show as the album, and either the episode name or the name of the participants for the song title.

So what was up with that whole bit with FileInfo there? Ahh...that's the best part. When Apple started selling audiobooks from Audible, they added in the ability for iPods and iTunes to "bookmark" audio files, provided they're specially designated AAC files. By changing the extension and file type, I classify my audio commentaries as audiobooks, which means if I turn off my iPod, or play something else, I can always pick right back up where I left off. It's a little complicated, but it works like a charm (this Applescript supposedly makes it easier, but I never got it working right).

So there you go. It's not free -- Forty-Two DVDVX Plus will set you back $15, and if you choose to use MPEG2 Works, that's another $10 (although the demo should be able to convert from AC3, so you don't have to register it), but it's totally worth it in my mind. There's nothing like having an iPod chock full of audio commentaries. Especially now that I have a shiny new 15 GB iPod as a birthday present!

Posted by jason at June 4, 2004 10:37 PM | TrackBack | Read more: Apple , Geek Culture , Movies