Handbrake Tutorial: How to Rip DVD to MKV Freely with Handbrake

Handbrake is a free open-source DVD ripper that can freely digitize DVDs into MP4 and MKV formats consumable on your PC, Mac, TVs, PS4, phones or tablets. If you have a huge collections of DVDs and want to emancipate them from the plastic discs so that you can store them on your hard drive for better archiving or preserving and enjoy the high-definition movies as originals, you can use Handbrake to rip DVD movie to MKV format because it holds many audio, video and subtitle tracks and fits in the highest amount of data possible in one single file. Just follow the tutorial to get started with Handbrake DVD to MKV converter guide.

Part 1: Handbrake Tutorial: How to Freely Rip DVD to MKV with Handbrake

To convert DVD to MKV with Handbrake smoothly, you'll need to make sure the DVD you are going to rip isn't encrypted as Handbrake doesn't support any types of copy protection. If you do have a DVD encoded with CSS or region code, please have libdvdcss installed on your Mac or PC beforehand as it helps to do the CSS DVD decryption and read DVDs of different regions.  See how to download and install libdvdcss for Handbrake on Mac/PC

What you will need to convert DVD to MKV free:
* Handbrake (for Windows, Mac or Linux)
* The DVD disc to be ripped to MKV
* DVD Drive
* Enough free disc space

Step 1: Download and install Handbrake
Go to its official page. Free download and install the latest version 1.0.3 on your own operating system. 
Free download Handbrake on Mac >>
Free download Handbrake on PC >>

Step 2: Insert DVD movie
Insert the DVD into the DVD-ROM on your computer. You are also allowed to rip ISO image using Handbrake. Then Handbrake will scan the DVD automatically, which many take up generally 10 seconds (also depending on your DVD drive).
Note: You are suggested to choose the longest duration in the list as this generally contains the true movie content. Or else, choose the other title.

Step 3: Set the Output Folder
Click the Browse button to choose the destination where you want to save your file. Note: Averagely, a full-length movie is 1GB large in file size. So please make sure you have enough space to store your rip.

Step 4: Choose MKV as the Output Format
Go to the Output Settings and choose MKV as the output format from the drop-down list.

Step 5: Rip DVD to MKV Free
Click Start to begin the process of ripping DVD to MKV using Handbrake. In our test of ripping DVD (A Touch of Frost, 93 min, 4.1 GB) to MKV, Handbrake took 20 min at 118 fps, depanding on your computer configuration, file size and dvd drive.

Note: Generally, the best settings for DVD to MKV or MP4 involve in fastest encoding, highest quality and smallest file size possible, at least a good balance among these factors. the latest Handbrake 1.0.0 or above version has the MKV preset profiles for 1080p Full HD, 720p HD, 576p PAL SD, 480p SD. Here we suggest you ripping DVD to MKV 720p HD or lower resolution, other than 1080p Full HD. This is because the standard DVD video resolution is 720x480 (NTSC), 720x576 (PAL). If you choose the latter one, the DVD to MKV ripping process will be lengthened and you will not get the true 1080p. For a fast transcoding to MKV, please choose 480p from the preset profile. For a high-definition result without caring much of the file size and speed, please go to 720p from the preset profile.

Part 2: Quick Fix to Handbrake Won't Rip Protected DVD to MKV

As it is mentioned above, Handbrake can only rip homemade DVDs and rip css-protected DVD or block region locks with the aid of libdvdcss. But the point is there are still many other commercial DVDs coming with other measures that Handbrake libdvdcss cannot deal with. That's why many users reporting errors such as Handbrake won't scan DVD title, No valid source found, Handbrake crashes halfway or stops encoding when they trying to rip new DVDs such as I Am Wrath, Arrival, and other DVDs with 99 titles.

The good news is you can try MacX DVD Ripper Pro, the best Handbrake alternative, which now supports conquering all types of DVDs, ranging from the latest DVDs, 99-title DVDs, workout DVDs, AV DVDs, TV series DVDs and choose the right title from the other fake ones due to its unique DVD title check mechanism. It is the strongest DVD ripper that is equipped with the richest outputs (rip DVD to MP4, MOV, MKV, WMV for iPhone iPad Android with 420+ readymade profiles), fastest speed (only 5 minutes to finish the DVD to H264 conversion due to the hardware acceleration tech), widest DVD support (almost all DVDs are ripped with 100% success). Just follow the steps to copy DVD to MKV on your Mac or PC.

Step 1: Free download free DVD to MKV ripper on your PC or Mac, install and run it. Click "DVD Disc" button to import the DVD file after you insert the DVD. You can also load DVD ISO image or Video_TS folder to be ripped by clicking "ISO image" or "Path" button.

Step 2: Select the output video you desire. After a few seconds DVD analyzing, it will choose the right title. And Then you can select "Backup full title to MKV" as the output format in case you want to rip DVD to MKV.

Step 3: Click the "Browse" button to choose the output folder where you want to save the movie in.

Step 4: Click the "RUN" button to start DVD to MKV conversion.

Note: you can check the hardware encoder to ensure a dramatically fast DVD to MKV ripping speed, and view the conversion progress at anytime. The ripping frequency reaches up to 300 fps, depending on your computer configuration.

Author: Bella Brown | Updated on Dec. 10, 2018