How to Record Your Movie DVDs or Music DVDs on PC and Mac

April 07, 2021Andrew Miller

This guide will talk about how to record a DVD on Windows and Mac. Although it has become an outdated format, you might still have a collection of movie or music DVDs in your hand. To protect the contents and prevent customers from making copies, studios usually added encryption to commercial DVDs or compressed it. In result, you can only play your DVD but not digitalize it. Don't worry! This guide tells you three ways to do the job easily.

Record DVD

Part 1: 100% Working Way to Record a DVD to Computer

To bypass the encryption and other restrictions on your DVD, you will need a powerful DVD recorder. Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is the right answer. It has the ability to record any playable DVDs into digital video files so that you can watch them anytime and anywhere.

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How to Record a DVD without Quality Loss

Step 1.
Install DVD recorder

The best DVD recorder provides two versions, one for PC and the other for Mac. Install the right one on your computer and launch it. Choose the Video Recorder to open the interface. Next, insert a DVD into your machine, and click Pause once it begins playing.

Main Interface
Step 2.
Record a DVD

Locate the Display section and click Custom to set the recording area based on the video. To record a DVD in full screen, choose Full instead. Turn on System Sound, while disable Webcam and Microphone, which will capture your face and voice. If you wish to change more options, click the Settings button. Play the DVD and click REC button on the DVD recorder to start recording it.

Tip: If you wish to change more options, click the Settings button.

Interface
Step 3.
Save DVD recording

When you want to stop DVD recording, click the Stop button on the toolbar. A few seconds later, you will be presented the preview window. Here you can check the DVD recording and cut unwanted frames with the Clip functionality. Finally, click on the Save button to export the recording to your hard drive.

Video Preview

Part 2: How to Record a DVD with Handbrake

Handbrake is an open-source DVD recorder for both PC and Mac. It is absolutely free of charge with some downsides, such as limited output formats, complicated setup, and general output quality. If you do not mind, follow the guide to record a DVD for free.

Step 1.
Run Handbrake from your desktop. If you do not have, download it from the official website. Put the DVD into your computer too.
Step 2.
Click Open Source, select your DVD drive to open the DVD video file. Then head to the main interface and you can decide to record entire DVD or certain chapters.
Handbrake Source
Step 3.
Click the Browse button in the Destination section and set an output folder. Click and expand the Container list, and choose a proper format. Then go to the Presets tab on the right side and select a preset based on your need.
Handbrake Interface
Step 4.
Optionally, you can also customize a wide range of options in Picture, Filters, Video, Audio, Subtitles and Chapters tab at the bottom. For beginners, we suggest you keep them default.
Step 5.
Click on the Start Encode button to begin recording the DVD immediately.

Note: Since Handbrake is an open-source project, it can only process unencrypted DVDs.

Part 3: How to Record DVD to Computer via VLC

VLC is another way to record a DVD without paying a penny. As a media player, VLC offers plentiful useful tools including DVD recording. Considering the workflow is complex, we share the steps below:

Step 1.
Make sure the DVD is inserted into your computer. Open VLC and click Convert/Save in the Media menu.
Media VLC
Step 2.
Go to the Disc tab on the open-media dialog and select DVD in Disc Selection area. Click the Browse button and select your DVD drive. Then hit the Convert/Save button to move on.
Rip a DVD with VLC
Step 3.
In the Convert window, click the Profile dropdown list and choose your favorite video format, like MP4. Then hit the Browse button and select the output folder.
Step 4.
Once you click on the Start button, VLC will begin record the DVD. Technically, VLC is streaming the DVD to a video file on your hard drive, so it takes full runtime of the disc.
Start VLC
Step 5.
Wait for the DVD playback is done or at any moment you want to stop, and click the Stop button. According to our research, the video quality recorded from DVD is poor.

Further Reading

Part 4: FAQs about How to Record a DVD

Is it legal to record DVDs for personal use?

Though there is no rule about it, recording DVD is illegal generally speaking. When it comes to personal use, the thing may be a bit ambiguous since the payment of DVD should contain a digital copy.

Can I record a DVD to USB stick?

You cannot record a DVD to USB flash drive directly. Alternatively, you should record a DVD to computer and then transfer the digital files to your USB stick.

How to record a DVD to another DVD?

If you need to record a DVD to another disc, you must have a DVD recorder with two drives, or you can do it on your computer using a DVD recorder program.

Conclusion

This guide has shared three verified methods to record a DVD on PC and Mac. Handbrake is a well-known DVD recorder software program, but it cannot handle commercial discs. VLC is a free way to record a DVD, although the output quality is not very good. Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is the best choice to do the task without losing quality. If you have other questions about the topic, leave a message below this post.

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How to Record Your Movie DVDs or Music DVDs on PC and Mac