How to Rip and Trim Files with Freemake

I have answered some questions on VF and in private messages of how to use Freemake Video Converter for ripping videos from a dvd and for trimming these videos so am going to try to put together all of the tips here.

One other thing to remember about Freemake Video converter,
sometimes you have to try more than once to open the dvd's titles, even on dvdrs burned by Freemake!
(good thing I'm stubborn and kept trying LOL)

See using Handbrake as another option for ripping at the bottom of this page.

There are two ways you can try to get just a selected chapter/title ripped from a dvd, depending on how your actual dvd will have the titles listed by Freemake.

First Way to rip a chapter/title:

Open Freemake Video Converter.

Put in dvd.

Click on *DVD* then the highlighted VideoTS which should appear.

If it doesn't, try to find the Video TS folder on the DVD.

(If it doesn't appear then you will have to do it the second way.)

click ok

Depending on your dvd's chaptering, Freemake will then open the dvd and list numbered individual titles and their duration.  Freemake will have checked off for you what it determines to be the titles you may want, usually including the longest one for the whole movie and leave others you may actually want unchecked. Check the box in front of the ones you suspect may be the titles you want. Uncheck those you do not want.

If I am not sure which title I want, I list all of the ones I suspect may be the ones I want then just remove the extra titles I didn't want.

click ok

Now for each title, click play (green square around triangle) to play it to confirm it is the video(s) you want to rip. Keep the titles you want and edit each title's name. Remove from the list the other video titles you do not want to rip.  You can also trim  each title if you want to remove any parts  before choosing to convert or burn.  Trimming instructions are in red below.  Remember if you do trim, to click OK in the lower right corner of the editing screen to save your edited version!

Second Way to rip a chapter/title:
If Freemake doesn't identify the chapters on the dvd as separate titles:
you can trim the movie down to the footage you want either from selecting just the long title or clicking on *Video* instead of *Dvd* and selecting the large vts/vob files directly from the dvd which you can trim while the video is on the play screen.

Trim off the beginning you do not want by inserting the end bracket ] where you want to cut then click the scissors icon to cut the selection. Cut off the end you do not want by inserting the beginning bracket [ at the start of the part you want removed and move the slider to the end of the video to insert the end bracket ] and click the scissors icon to cut the selection.  To remove a center clip, put the beginning bracket [ at the beginning of the selection to be cut and the end bracket ] at the end of the selection then click on the scissors icon to cut the selection.

Sometimes the chapter you want is at the end of one VTS file and continues at the beginning of another. You then have to select and trim each file then choose to fuse the files before converting/burning.

Here's alittle video by Freemake to demonstrate cutting
http://www.freemake.com/how_to/how_to_cut_video_quickly

It isn't necessary to insert the [ at the beginning as they show just the ] where you want to start your video. Their technique is more for how to cut out a center part of the video.

Also they do not show how to trim off the end so just follow what I typed above LOL
Once you get the hang of it, it becomes really simple.

Remember you can convert, edit, and store the video files on your pc,  waiting to burn several hours of them onto a single dvdr at another time.

I usually store in MP4 or WMV formats with TV or Mobile Quality and have burned 6 to 10 hours of footage into a single chaptered dvdr with standard quality.  Also I suggest creating folders where you can easily find them for storing your downloads.  You may want to remember to delete the downloads and stored files you no longer need while others you may want to keep to play on your pc.

Here's a link explaining how to rip with Freemake and Handbrake:

How to Rip DVD Easily: Everything You Need to Know

This article has a huge error.  When ripping with Freemake choose *+DVD* not the *+Video*!
Then highlight your DVD's Video TS folder

If you do not want to download the newest Freemake Video Converter version because you do not want to risk getting any other freeware offers, try Handbrake for ripping dvds.

You can still burn a dvd using MP4 files produced by Handbrake by opening the MP4 files with Windows Movie Maker then saving the movie to burn on dvd.  Just takes much longer than Freemake to burn.

Download Handbrake directly from their official site

http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

For a Screen Shot Walkthru on how to rip a dvd Title/Chapter

http://neverendingplateau.blogspot.com/2013/03/ripping-with-freemake-screen-shots.html

*ETA: I recently downloaded Freemake Video Converter version 4.0.1.0 which was released 4/25, refusing all other offers and it works like a charm.  You can easily remove any unnecessary extra freeware with malwarebytes downloaded for free from
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Freemake still works great even after removing objects found and removed by malwarebytes