There are two ways to do video conversion from your DVD to a file for viewing on your PDA:  direct from the DVD, or by ripping the DVD first and then converting the ripped file.  I have found that the best bet is to rip the DVD first.  This has two advantages:  it saves wear and tear on your DVD drive, and it allows you to reconvert your video if you find it necessary.

I have also found it a good idea to choose a few representative minutes of your DVD and rip and convert those.  This takes a bit of extra time, but it can save you (literally) hours of trouble by allowing you to tweak your conversion settings with a short 100-300 MB file, instead of the 3.5-5 GB file of a full film.  For my Zodiac, I have my settings down pretty well, so these days I usually don’t have to convert a clip for testing purposes, but for the Universal, I’m still at the clip conversion/testing stage.

For ripping DVDs, I use a free utility called DVD Shrink.  DVD Shrink lets you edit what you are ripping, so that you clip out the credits if you like, or choose your 3-5 minutes of test clip.  The interface is a little wonky and takes a few tries to get used to, but after you’ve done it a few times it’s really pretty simple.  Other folks like to use DVD Decrypt, but I personally don’t like it.  I find the interface too clunky, and you can’t do any editing, which is a deal-breaker for me.  Both DVD Decrypt and DVD Shrink get around the various copy protection software that are built into most DVDs.  The only DVD that I have been unable to rip so far using Shrink is “Sin City;” I have no idea why.

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