Rip DVDs and Blu-rays to MKV format quickly and easily with MakeMKV Beta

Everyone’s looking for that magic one-click solution to digitizing their personal video and movies collection. Often you find yourself having to jump through a number of hoops before you can get the movies in a format you like, but if you’re looking for a perfect 1:1 rip in MKV format, then MakeMKV 1.7.10 Beta is the tool for you.

MakeMKV 1.7.10 runs on Windows and Mac, and lets you simply select your DVD or Blu-ray disc, pick an output folder and click a button to rip it. Better still, it produces a 1:1 copy in much less time than other tools, and is completely free to use while in beta.

MakeMKV works with both physical discs and previously ripped ISO files. If quality is king, then this is the tool for you as it always produces an exact digital copy with no compression in the popular MKV format using the video’s original codecs. From here you can simply add the file to your media collection, or if you’re looking to convert it into a different format for compatibility purposes or to produce a smaller, compressed file, load it into another app such as Handbrake for Apple-friendly MP4, or Freemake Video Converter for a wider choice of output formats.

MakeMKV reads both DVD and Blu-ray discs, including protected formats, although support for Blu-ray will only be free while the app remains in beta. The output file preserves all video and audio tracks (including HD) as well as chapter information and other meta-data, although there’s no facility for editing this within the app itself.

The key thing to recommend MakeMKV is the speed of the conversion -- it’s basically hampered only by the read speed of your drive, which makes it worth considering even if you’re subsequently looking to convert the file elsewhere but have problems reading it from the original disc.

The program is undergoing rapid changes -- the latest build just released improves handling of DVD discs with mastering errors and adds unspecified "miscellaneous improvements". Other notable changes in recent months include support for AACS v35, an updated BD+ engine and the addition of two profiles (WDTV and FLAC), accessible from the Advanced tab of the program’s Preferences dialog (users must first tick "Expert mode" on the General tab to make this visible).

MakeMKV 1.7.10 Beta is a free-during-beta download for Windows and Mac. Beta versions work without registration for 30 days, after which users must insert a free beta key to continue using all the program’s functionality. This can be found on the program forum. When this expires, a new beta key can be found at the same link, or users can opt to purchase the full version ahead of its final release.

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