10 Best Ways to Convert DVD to MP4 Free in 2023

Summary: Wonder how to rip DVD to MP4 free on Windows 10/7/11 and Mac? Look no further. In this post, you're going to learn 10 easy ways to turn a DVD into an MP4 video file by using some beginner-friendly DVD to MP4 converter like VideoProc Converter.

While Netflix and YouTube might be your main channels for entertainment now, old-style DVD discs never disappear. If you have a box set or a ton of homemade or commercial DVDs, you'd better extract the DVD media content to save into MP4 or other digital formats for more flexible options of playback or just in case they get broken or lost.

When it comes to DVD backup, MP4 is always preferred as the first choice of the target format. Why is that? Simply put, MP4 is the most popular and compatible video format right now. Besides, converting a DVD to MP4 ensures the best balance between video quality and file size, which should cover most people's needs. But how to convert DVD to MP4 for free on Windows 10 or Mac? We find the 10 best DVD to MP4 converters (freeware included) for you. Just read on.

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VideoProc Converter is a professional yet simple video processing tool with full DVD ripping capabilities. It reads all titles, chapters, tracks, and metadata, and preserves 1:1 image quality with its innovative High Quality Engine. It can convert DVDs to MP4, AVI, MKV, MOV, and 420+ formats for easier playback and sharing, shrink the DVD file size to save up to 90% space, fix interlaced and low-res DVD video content, and so forth.

Put a DVD to your computer via an internal or external optical drive. Launch VideoProc Converter. Click "DVD" > "Disc" and let it detect the disc and file system automatically.

Click "Video" at the bottom and select MP4 H.264, the best MP4 format for general use. (For specific use, you can find the MP4 preset profiles in "Target Format". Such as MP4 for TV, iPhone, iPad, Android, Xbox, YouTube, Facebook, etc.)

By default, VideoProc Converter chooses the title with the entire media content. Also, you can select the title, subtitle track, and chapters manually. Click the edit icon, and you can cut, crop, rotate, add subtitles/effects/watermark, adjust speed and volume, force a/v sync, etc.

Click "Browse" and select an output folder. Hit the "RUN" button and start to copy the DVD to computer in MP4 format.

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Review 1: VideoProc offers an easy video processing software that converts 4K UHD videos, DVDs, and music with full GPU acceleration, and has better performance than HandBrake and many pro-level converters.

Review 2: It's worth noting that VideoProc Converter leads the pack in the best DVD to MP4 converters. It instantly converts feature-length DVDs to MP4 in under five minutes while maintaining the original quality.

Excellent

Handbrake is an FFmpeg-based open-source media converter. This free DVD ripper has hardly any features missing compared to commercial converters. Its 80s-style interface with difficult video jargon often put a rookie even off. However, the fact is you will be hard-pressed to find any free or paid converter more versatile and powerful converter than Handbrake.

Handbrake allows ripping DVD or Blu-ray Discs into MP4 or MKV files for digital use. It offers a myriad of settings for output parameters, including video/audio encoding modes, partition types, resolutions, bitrate, frame rate, languages, subtitles, filters, and more. Those options may easily get beginners baffled but are very useful for experts who want full control over the output digital file.

Step 1: Choose the DVD file.

After launching Handbrake on our computer, it will automatically detect the DVD driver that is already installed on your computer. Click the target DVD driver in the section of Source Selection.

Step 2: Select the seasons you need to convert.

Go to the drop-down of Title. You are going to see many clips of different lengths. If you are holding a movie disc, then the clip that comes with the longest duration would be the main movie.

Step 3: Adjust the output settings.

Step 4: Click Browse to set a destination file folder. Click the green Start Encode button to start ripping the DVD to MP4.

Check your discs in the first place. There shouldn't be any scratches or visible gray or Handbrake won't read the discs directly. If the error still exists, then the problem might be:

1. The DVD you are converting comes with copy protection.

Handbrake can't decode any encrypted DVDs or Blu-ray discs on its own. There are chances you can walk it through by installing the Libdvdcss file on your computer, but the effect is hard to be guaranteed. You are suggested to use a commercial DVD ripper to convert encrypted discs to MP4.

2. Your CPU or RAM is out of usage.

It is a long and labor-intensive process to decode and encode large DVD movies with Handbrake. Our computer needs to assign as much CPU resource to Handbrake to make sure it works properly. That is to say, don't load any additional tasks when using Handbrake to rip DVD to MP4, or the app would fail to work.

Freemake DVD Ripper, actually Freemake Video Converter, contains a free DVD ripper that is well-known to many people. It can extract original files from DVDs, and convert them to 20 more video formats. You can choose MP4 as the output format, or other formats that are compatible with iPhone, iPad, Android, Xbox, HDTV, USB, etc. Better still, it supports Blu-rays.

Step 1: Put your DVD into your DVD drive of the computer.

Step 2: Download and launch the free DVD to MP4 ripper software on Windows 10.

Step 3: Choose the source DVD you want to convert.

Step 4: Select "to MP4" on the bottom.

Step 5: Customize the settings if needed, and press "Convert" to start ripping the DVD to MP4.

VLC Media Player is best known as a versatile multi-media player which basically can play almost all sorts of video and audio (DVD files, MOV, AVI, MP4, MKV, WMA, MP3, WAV, and many more) that on our computers without extra codecs installed. But few people know it's also an inclusive and robust video converter and DVD ripper that is capable of flawlessly converting DVDs to MP4 on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

VLC can convert unencrypted DVDs, Blu-ray, Audio DVDs, and SVCD/VCD to MP4, TS, and WebMD formats in a relatively easy manner. It comes with full sets of controls on the generated video that allow users to adjust the encoding parameters, resolutions, filters, frame rate, etc.

Note: or the Mac version of VLC, the interface, and steps are quite different. If you are on macOS, learn how toconvert DVD to MP4 on Mac in the correct steps.

Step 1: Select the target DVD

Go to media > Convert/Save, and then choose Disc. Click Browse to select the target Disc device

Step 2: Select the copy content

By default, the option of No disc menus should be ticked. You can untick that option to rip DVDs with the menu.

Step 3: Convert DVD to MP4

Click Convert/Save in the bottom of the left corner to open up a new panel. In the section of Settings, you can find Profile. Select Video – H.265 + MP3(MP4), or H.264 + MP3(MP4) as the formats since you need MP4 output.

Step 4: Choose an easy-to-be-found folder as the destination output file folder. Click Start and VLC will start to rip the DVD to MP4.

1. Stick on the VLC default setting for output format (H.264/H.265 + MP3). The audio codec you select on VLC doesn't support the MP4 container. MP4 is not capable of supporting all sorts of audio. For example, it can't go with PCM, WMA, G.728, and partially support Vorbis and FLAC audio codec.

2. Make the original audio sample rate match the generated file. The generated MP4 video won't come with an audio stream if the sample rate setting for the audio file doesn't match the source information.

DVDFab is a powerful and user-friendly software that enables users to rip DVDs to MP4 format in high quality. This software is packed with numerous features that allow for customization and control over the conversion process. Here's how to use DVDFab to convert your DVD or DVD ISO to MP4 on Windows 10.

Step 1: Install and Launch DVDFab.

Download and install DVDFab on your computer, and launch the software.

Step 2: Load the DVD.

Insert the DVD that you want to rip into your computer's DVD drive. Then, in DVDFab, select the 'Ripper' module from the top menu bar. Click the 'Add' button, and select the DVD you want to convert. Wait for the software to scan the DVD content.

Step 3: Select the MP4 Format.

DVDFab will convert a DVD to MP4 by default. But you can also choose MP4 as the output format.

Step 4: Customize the Settings

DVDFab also allows you to customize the output settings to your liking. You can choose the resolution, bit rate, and other parameters to optimize the video quality.

Step 5: Choose the Destination Folder.

Once you've customized the settings, select the destination folder where you want to save the converted video. Click the 'Start' button to begin the conversion process.

Step 6: Wait for the Conversion to Complete.

DVDFab will begin the DVD to MP4 conversion process. This can take a while, depending on the size of the DVD and your computer's processing speed. Once the process is complete, the software will notify you.

In conclusion, DVDFab is a good choice for ripping DVDs to MP4 format. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, it's a great tool for anyone looking to convert their DVD collections to digital format.

MakeMKV is a lightweight and free DVD converter that reads and converts DVDs quickly. But just like others, it takes much time in the converting process. Now follow the steps to convert the DVD to MKV in 5 steps, and just wait for the exported movie.

MakeMKV was born to DVD digitalization, but it only converts DVDs to MKV files which are not well supported by many players. If you want a better-supported MP4 copy of your DVD, then you have to re-convert it with other video converters or transcoders.

MakeMKV is a light-weight and free DVD converter that reads and converts DVD quickly. But just like others, it takes much time in the converting process. Now follow the steps to convert DVD to MKV in 5 steps, and just wait for exported movie.

Step 1: Insert the DVD that you want to convert.

Step 2: Launch MakeMKV, and select the drive with the disc in it.

Step 3: Click the big disk button in the center of the UI, and the software will start to read the disc.

Step 4: Tick the title that you want to convert (usually the one in the biggest size), and choose an output folder.

Step 5: Hit Make MKV, and it will start the conversion.

MakeMKV preserves the best video quality, all video and audio tracks, and chapter information, and at the same time, the final video will remain the original size which a two-hour movie DVD will reach up to 5+GB. If you have limited storage, then you should consider some tools that can highly compress DVD videos.

The main products of DVDVideoSoft are YouTube converters. But the provider also has video and DVD converters. Free DVD Video Converter from its product line will help you convert DVDs and Blu-ray discs to MP4, AVI, MKV, PSP, iPod, iPhone, and more. It also lets you select the DVD title, language, and subtitle. But the program only supports parts of DVDs, say, homemade ones. If your DVDs are not copy-protected or region-coded, you can try DVDVideoSoft on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or XP SP3.

Step 1: Download Free DVD Video Converter from DVDVideoSoft's website. It requires installing .NET Framework 3.5/3.0/2.0 on your Windows PC.

Step 2: Make sure you have inserted your DVD into your DVD-ROM, and then click Browse on Free DVD Video Converter to select the input path of the DVD to load the DVD.

Step 3: Choose the title(s), language(s), and subtitles you need.

Note: You should check the main title of the DVD before converting it. Usually, it would be the longest one.

Step 4: Press Browse under the output file and choose the output location.

Step 5: Find MP4 under Formats. Or, you can choose an option in Presets, for example, AppleTV (H264; AAC), or Sony PSP (MPEG4; AAC).

Step 6: Hit the Convert button on the lower part and start the fast DVD to MP4 conversion.

MediaCoder is a free video and audio converter featuring a DVD to MP4 ripper. It works on Windows 10, 8, 7, and even Vista. If you are a pro in DVD ripping, it can fulfill most of your needs, such as settings compression format, bitrate, audio effects, etc. Before converting DVD to MP4, it lets you preview the video content but lags on recent Windows PC. Tests show that MediaCoder is a good option for people who want to convert DVD to MP4 for free, but not so good for beginners or people who want a fast conversion from DVD to digital copies, because of its old-school UI design and loads of settings panels.

Step 1: Insert your DVD into your Windows PC via the optical drive. Launch MediaCoder. Click File > Add Track.

Step 2: Select DVD in Track Type. Open the VIDEO_TS folder in your DVD drive. Click OK.

Step 3: Open the Video tab in the lower middle position. Now you can customize the video bitrate mode, rate mode, format, encoder, and so on.

Step 4: Click Output Folder to choose a folder to save the file MP4 movie.

Step 5: Hit the Start button in the upper toolbar.

Note: By default, MediaCoder does not let you choose which title to rip and merges all titles into one MP4 file. So if you are coping with a 99-title DVD, you'll get a video extremely large and long.

Another free DVD to MP4 ripper is VidCoder, available for Windows 11/10/7 64-bit computers. It uses HandBrake as its encoding engine and supports Blu-ray/DVD to MP4 and MKV encoded with H.264, HEVC, MOEG-4, MPEG-2, and VP8. And the same HandBrake, VidCoder does not decrypt commercial DVDs, either. If you only have some homemade discs, it's a good way to go.

Step 1: Insert a DVD into your computer. Open VidCoder, click Open source and choose the disc just loaded.

Step 2: Expand the drop-down menu in Title to select the one you want to convert to MP4.

Step 3: Choose an encoding preset according to conversion speed, device, and general uses. Also, you can customize the video and audio parameters, crop, rotate, and resize the video. But note that it does not let you preview the whole video.

Step 4: Start encoding and wait for it to rip DVD to MP4 on your computer.

Windows Media Player, also called WMP, is a media player and media library utility on Windows 7/8.1/10. It enables Windows users to play, store and organize (including easy edits) video/audio files as well as images. It supports a wide range of media formats, such as MP4, AVI, WMV, MP3, M4A, FLAC, etc.

Windows Media Player can't convert DVD to MP4. All versions of WMP are not capable of converting DVD to MP4 due to the copy protection issue. On Windows 11/10, Microsoft removed the DVD playback utility from Windows Media Player. You are not allowed to play or copy DVDs with Windows Media Player since then.

Since it's no way to convert DVD to MP4 with Windows Media Player, though you can find many so-called guides on how to convert DVD to MP4 with WMP, they usually end up with a tutorial on other software, or other functions of WMP, e.g. convert CD to MP3 on Windows 7.

Generally speaking, backup any content with copyright for infringing purposes like commercial redistribution, whether you own it legally or not, is illegal. But when it comes to converting DVD to MP4 for personal use, things are different from country to country.

Free Download VideoProc Converter to Convert DVD to MP4 on Windows 11/10 or Mac

Unfortunately, there is no real DVD to MP4 converter online. That is to say, no online service can analyze and extract data and information from a disc. If you need to rip a DVD to MP4 or other video/audio format, you have to turn to a DVD ripper software like VideoProc Converter. It will help read DVD data, choose the right main title, and digitize or backup any DVD. But if you have DRM-free VOB files, you can convert them to MP4 files using a free online video converter.

It depends. If you use a DVD to MP4 converter that supports hardware acceleration like VideoProc Converter, about 8 to 12 minutes should be enough to complete the backup of a 120-minute DVD. When using software encoding only, converting a 120-minute DVD to MP4 on Intel Core i7-8700K might take you 20 to 40 minutes, or even longer.

Disclaimer: We do not advocate copying authorized or protected DVDs for commercial use.