How to rip CSS-protected DVD to AVI format for DVD backup?

First of all, to rip CSS-protected DVD to AVI format is possible with DVD decrypter program, but is confined to legal use of the DVD only. CSS-protection measure has long been the practice for preventing commercial DVDs from being copied to hard disk or cloned to reproduction. But we are allowed to use DVD decrypter to clone our expensive store bought CSS-protected DVD for DVD backup. As for DVD backup, it only makes sense to rip DVD to a format with DVD-like quality, smaller size and high portability. So this is why we are going to rip DVD to AVI format for the best DVD backup effort.

Normally, we need a DVD decrypter and a DVD converter to accomplish the task. But now we have an integrated program with comprehensible interface. It is called Leawo DVD Ripper.

Leawo DVD Ripper is highly compatible with any CSS-protected DVD. CSS-protected DVD will be recognized and automatically decrypted without our interference. So let’s focus on how to rip DVD to AVI format in high quality, that is, DVD-like quality, smaller size and high portability.

Here is the Download link to the software. Need more checkups, please visit the DVD Ripper’s page.

This is a very comprehensible DVD decrypter/ripper program. Feed the CSS-protected DVD in the DVD-ROM drive and use the "Load DVD" function on the program main interface. Then you will see the complete titles and chapters rolled out on the list more or less like the screenshot below.

Click open the "Profile" dropdown box, navigate to "Common Video" to make a choice on AVI profiles. We are going to use "Xvid Movie (*.avi)" profile, for the DVD-like picture quality and excellent sound quality. Based on MPEG-4 compression, it can guarantee the best ratio of quality to file size. As Xvid is an open-source codec, Xvid encoded AVI video is highly portable to be played on other PC easily.

Then click "Settings" to open codec control. You will see a list of codec parameters: Video Codec, Quality, Bit Rate, Video Size, Frame Rate, Aspect Ratio, etc.

There are quite a number of parameters set to "auto". It means to program will conduct the Xvid encoding with optimal settings. For beginners, this is a very handy design. But for veterans, it might not be enough to meet your picky demands. So let’s explore the optimal settings for ourselves and gain a better understanding of how the DVD to Xvid AVI conversion works. I am going to manifest the difference among the settings of Bit Rate, the key factor which influences the video quality and file size, by a field-test experiment. Feel compelled to follow me?

In this experiment, I will rip a 9 second segment of DVD to Xvid AVI in different Bit Rate settings. It is a repetitive action and I think it makes more sense to jump to the conclusion now.

It is all right if this conclusive data table confuses you. It got me, too, in some senses. LOL. What is behind these data is an equation: File Size = (Video Bit Rate + Audio Bit Rate) * duration /8. If you are perceptive, you would notice this is not an accurate equation and there is small discrepancy between the custom video Bit Rate and the actual video Bit Rate. It is because the Video Bit Rate is vibrant but constant. The actual Video Bit Rate reflects the average of Video Bit Rate. The longer duration of the video is converted, the more approximate the actual Video Bit Rate is to the custom Video Bit Rate.

Take a 2 hour DVD movie for example, you can be assured to count on the custom Video Bit Rate, say 600, with 128kbps Audio Bit Rate to come up with a 650MB AVI video. ((600+128)*7200/8=655200) By doing this, you have reduced the 4GB DVD movie to 1/6 in size!

Of course, DVD backup won’t be a valuable one if it doesn’t have DVD-like picture quality. Take a look at the comparison of the screenshots from 600Kbps Video Bit Rate setting, Low Profile, Medium Profile and High Profile.

Click the links to view the screenshots in full size 720*406.

• 600Kbps Video Bit Rate setting
• Low Profile
• Medium Profile
• High Profile

600Kbps and Low Profile have just been crossed off because of interior picture quality, while Medium Profile and High Profile are almost the same. If you take the 1.5 times file size multiplication lightly, High Quality Profile is your best choice. Otherwise, Medium Profile is the optimal choice for ripping DVD to Xvid AVI format for DVD backup, with good balance of video quality and file size.

In conclusion, rip CSS-protected DVD to Xvid format with Medium Profile in Leawo DVD Ripper is the optimal choice for DVD backup. However, this article encourages you to look deeper into the video conversion and use the DVD decrypter/ripper program well. It gives you a picture of how picture quality is in connection with Video Bit Rate. Try to experiment with any Bit Rate setting you want, then you can get the most desirable DVD backup copy of your CSS-protected DVD!

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How to enjoy Christmas movies and videos anytime and anywhere?

Christmas movies and videos are must have Christmas entertainments. With portable media player and video converter, you can practically enjoy Christmas movies and videos on the go. This article will show you an easy and fast way to realize that with Leawo’s nice products.

People usually go to see Christmas movies and videos during the Christmas season. It is so hot in spirit of seeing films, the seats of cinemas, theaters and opera houses are booked out fast. Christmas film tickets become scarce goods in this time. How do you like when you are told to come tomorrow after shuffling along a long queue before the ticket counter? Sadly, this is the truth.

But you don’t have to punch your way through the crowd so as to see a Christmas film. You can enjoy the Christmas HD movies and HD videos in a very relaxed way, as long as you possess some things needed to play the Christmas movies and videos: a portable media player like iPod/iPhone or a home theater with an Apple TV and a DVD Ripper or a Video Converter for format conversion.

So, without further ado, let’s cut to the point to get things work.

First of all, get DVD copies of the Christmas movies and videos from local video shop or online mall like eBay. It is better if you have already got an MP4 or MKV copies of the Christmas HD movies and videos. We are going to use these video sources as templates to convert to formats that are friendly on iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune, Apple TV and the like.

Secondly, use Leawo DVD Ripper to decode and encode the Christmas movie and video DVDs. The nifty software has all essential functions such output profiles, parameter settings and video edit. They are clearly displayed on the home interface as is shown below.

Take converting DVD to HD MPEG 4 Video (H.264) for example:
1. insert DVD to your DVD-ROM.
2. Open Leawo DVD Ripper and "Load DVD"
3. Select "HD Video -> HD H.264 MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)" profile.
4. Click "Settings" to tune codec parameters like Bit Rate, Video Size and Aspect Ratio.
5. Click "Customize" to edit the video in effect, length, size and watermark.
6. Click the Rounded Arrow button to start the DVD to HD MPEG4 video conversion.

Getting hang to Leawo Video Converter is as easy as to Leawo DVD Ripper.

Take converting Christmas HD videos to iPod touch MPEG 4 Video (H.264) for example:
1. Open Leawo Video Converter and "Add" HD videos.
2. Select "iPod -> iPod touch H.264 Wide Screen (720*406)(*.mp4)" profile.
3. Click "Settings" to tune codec parameters like Bit Rate, Video Size and Aspect Ratio.
4. Click "Customize" to edit the video in effect, length, size and watermark.
5. Click the Rounded Arrow button to start the HD video to iPod touch MPEG4 video conversion.

Last but not least, with Leawo’s fast video convert engine, the processed Christmas movies and videos are soon hot and ready for being transferred to your iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune, Apple TV, Blackberry or other handsets. For iPod or iPhone, use iTunes to sync the Christmas videos easily. For PSP, Leawo DVD Ripper and Leawo Video Converter offer a free PSP video manager plugin to ensure a convenient video transfer. For other devices, there are always manuals for video transfer to refer to.

Now you can settle down to enjoy Christmas movies and videos without wearing out your patience waiting in queue. Using the video converters well can cover the boring journey on a bus or a plain with myriad Christmas happiness and fun. As Christmas is getting close, Leawo has specially held a special Christmas discount for its video converters. You can get one immediately from Leawo’s website before January 1st with pleasant discounts.

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Five recommended Christmas Movies to watch around Christmas holiday

Note: Want some tips on Christmas movies? Here are 5 recommendations. To watch them in house, you can rent the DVD from video shop or just download the video from the video site. You can also rip the DVD or convert the video to playback on your portable players with Leawo’s Christmas discounted video converters.

Christmas is the most appealing gift-giving and happiness-sharing holiday of the year. The best Christmas gift for your family especially your children is to stay with them, take them along with you to a hiking camp, a pleasure ground or just sit back with them in a cozy sofa to watch Christmas themed movies. It is a good time for your curious kids to learn more into Christmas legend stories and develop a joyful and positive character influenced by Christmas truth. As grown-ups, the movies can recall your fading dream of Christmas and the happy moments you ever have in your childhood. Just open your heart and enjoy the sentimental influence of these good movies.

Here are the top 5 Christmas Movies we recommend:
The Santa Clause 1994

This is a cheerfully corny family comedy which binds the theme of Christmas and Santa Clause. It tells about a story of Scott Calvin who transformed from the role of an ordinary divorced father to the worldwide beloved Santa Clause. The story sheds lights on secrets of toy factory and the elf town in the North Pole. It depicts how Scott Calvin overcame the difficulties of assuming Santa Clause’s job and finally decided to act in line with a qualified Mr. Santa. This is a magical movie aimed at the children to extend Christmas joyful sentiments. The introduction of the part of the parents adds to the success of this Christmas comedy.

The Polar Express 2004

This 3D computer generated motion pictures describe the extraordinary journey to the North Pole. It conveys the pure crystal dream of children in which they believe the elf world and Santa Clause do exist in the North Pole and they would receive gifts made in the toy factory and deliver by Santa Clause. The movie also appeals people to keep a pure belief in Christmas legend so as to have a happy time over Christmas.

Bad Santa 2004

This is an exception of the movies which give good pictures of Santa Clause delivering gifts on his reindeer sleigh. It has nothing to do with the Christmas legend and North Pole, but the story of two misdoers committing all kinds of bad things one can imagine in the cover of Santa Clause and an elf. Finally they were awaken by an eight-year-old boy and came to realize the truth and spirit of Christmas. They forwent the bad deeds and became good people.

Love Actually 2003

This is a good film with an affectionate theme. It tells the stories of love affairs happened on different people in different places in the days just before Christmas. With the scenes of success, joy, luck, sincerity and harmony, the movie is brimming with love that actually can be spread like a fire to all people whether they know each other or not. Watching the movie can also ignite the fire of love in your heart and have everything done smoothly with love around Christmas.

Elf

Elf is a warm-hearted Christmas comedy that tells a story of a baby boy who was mistakenly brought to the North Pole in Santa Clause’s bag. He grew up in the elf world and had a wish to go back to his true family in New York. When he returned, he discovered the world was not as peaceful as he had imagined. The Christmas was losing its influence on the busy and lack of affection New Yorkers. He decided to help the world resume the sentimental path which the world was walking off.

Having got the titles but don’t know how to get the movies? There are multiple ways:
1. Get the movie DVD by purchase in a video shop or online movie supermarket. It is the best way to obtain the best audiovisual entertainment. You can play the DVD on computer with a DVD-ROM or a HDTV set with a DVD player, either could output to a wide and large screen for group watching.
2. Download the movie from the internet P2P sharing network. This is an alternative when the DVD copy of the movie is hard to get. The video quality is usually very near that of the DVD copy and the video can be easily shared again via home network or portable storage devices.
3. For portable media player users, if you are looking for software to transfer the movie to your iPod, iPhone, Zune, PSP and even mobile phones and ensure a smooth playback.
To convert from DVD movies, Leawo DVD Ripper is a cutting-edge solution. It can convert DVD to all kinds of popular video formats easy and fast, and it has a build-in library of 100 on-demand profiles plus extensive customization features.
To convert from videos, Leawo Video Converter is the right solution, relieving your worries upon handling troubles and extending the ability to play the movie anywhere you want.

Get professional solutions from Leawo now can save your money up to 40%. Visit Leawo Christmas offer for more information.

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Get inspirations on Christmas tree decoration, and join the world contest with your ideas!

Note: Short of ideas on Christmas tree decorations? Scroll through the pictures of beautiful artificial Christmas trees below. Get inspired, buy Christmas ornaments and decorate your own Christmas tree. If your decorated Christmas tree looks great, you can also join the world’s first artificial Christmas tree video contest and compete for its $1,000 awards!

Have you just bought a Christmas tree, and start to brainstorm on how to decorate it to be something special this year? If you are reading this post, I guess you must be short on the ideas for decorations. And this is what I am going to help you with, to inspire you with some fascinating Christmas tree pictures each connected to a different theme. The right pattern and style of the decorations should soon occur to you, as you check through the artificial Christmas trees below crafted by some creative people.

The theme of this Christmas tree is pale silvery mauve, sage-green and silver. Gold mesh ribbon has been wound through the branches to act as a garland. Sprays of dried flowers, painted silver and used as decoration add interesting texture to this classic Christmas tree design.

This is a white artificial Christmas tree that has many wonderful white ornaments to compliment the theme. Notice the icicles, white angels, white roses and pine cones. Decorate the tree with this snowy theme as a fun way to evoke the comfort of a wintery wonderland. White Christmas trees are easy to decorate and brighten any room!

This beautiful artificial Christmas tree is a fantasy for baby’s first Christmas! Baby’s ornaments include baby snowmen, baby slippers, stuffed rabbits and more. The soft blue and pink colors are perfect for baby boy or girl!

This classical theme artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with vintage ornaments in gold and red and is accented with carolers singing Christmas songs! This design is really in the favor of traditional Christmas people.

A truly deluxe design to sore eyes- this is a fabulous purple peacock feather and blue butterfly theme! In this somewhat unconventional use of peacock feathers accented by bluey-green and gold shades are repeated in the ribbon and ornamental glimmering gold balls.

This snowman and candy cane theme artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with snowmen, elves and candy canes… and it’s all loaded with them! Children will especially love this design. Red, white and green are favorite traditional Christmas colors for decorating your tree and home at holiday time.

This traditional themed artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with birch-bark ornaments, mini knitted sweaters, and plaid garlands! This cozy Christmas tree theme is sure to evoke feelings of a quaint country cabin.

This silver and blue iced theme artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with silver and white icicles, silver ribbons, and icy ornaments that accent the deep blue ice color of the tree. Another exotic design with pure white ornaments in the winter theme.

This gold and white theme artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with white flowers, Santas in white parkas, golden butterflies, and glittering gold ornaments! A theme for the up-scale holidayer!

This pre-decorated artificial pre-lit Christmas tree features many glittering tree ornaments that are surrounded with little elves and beautiful angels! The sheer green mesh ribbons add to the classy look of this tree. The overwhelming load of the ornaments symbolizes a fruitful end of the year.

This classical themed artificial pre-lit Christmas tree is decorated with vintage green, gold and silver ornaments that give a happy, comfortable feeling to any living room!

What a dazzler among all traditional designs! This artificial Christmas tree is topped by a Victorian young lady dressed up with a fur hat and fur trimmed cape of silk. The rustic autumn colors used are copper and gold with generous amounts of turquoise and splashes of pink. A very warm and inviting theme!

How do you like the designs above? Maybe you have realized there are plenty of substitutes you can get from the local dollar stores, which is similar to but much cheaper than the deluxe ornaments in the pictures. Do it yourself and enjoy more fun decorating your Christmas tree. If your decoration is great, don’t miss the chance to join the world’s first artificial Christmas tree decorating video contest and compete for the $1,000 award! This is a video contest, but don’t worry. With Leawo’s professional video converters, you can easily customize and convert good entertaining videos to upload for the contest. Save your money with Leawo’s Christmas offer here.

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Christmas blockbuster: Leawo kicks off up to 40% discount on all video converter products

Note: Leawo debuted Christmas offer with up to 40% discounts applied to all of its products, including Leawo Video Converter, DVD Ripper, Mac Video Converter and a series of AVI, MP4, 3GP, iPod/iPhone and PSP converters. It is a real boon to those who are searching for video format solutions.

As a professional media format solution provider, Leawo Software today debuted a full-scale discount on all of its video converter products, boasting an up to 40% rebate rate for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Leawo applied discounts to all of its video converters for Windows, DVD rippers and converters and video converters for Mac. The discount is available through direct online purchase page on Leawo official site. The offer will last till Jan 1st. For those who would like to convert their holiday videos, it is the best opportunity to get an effective solution yet with great savings.

"We have received compliments and good suggestions from our Thanksgiving promotion, which has been our confidence to do it better in this Christmas offer. All of our products are embraced in this discount. We wish all of those who have selected us a merry Christmas with our offer and welcome any valued suggestions to help us work out much better products." Said the manager of Leawo Marketing Department.

Product discount information and pricings:

Leawo all-in-one Video Converter, which features Windows 7 compatibility, over 100 convert profiles, HD video conversions, convert parameter settings and edit & trim & crop & watermark customizations, is now at $19.95 per license.

Leawo DVD Ripper, which features Windows 7 compatibility, copying and converting protected & commercial DVD, subtitle and soundtrack selections, convert parameter settings and edit & trim & crop & watermark customizations, is now at $29.95 per license.

Leawo Mac Video Converter, which features Snow Leopard compatibility, over 100 convert profiles, HD video conversions, convert parameter settings and bi-window customizations on edit & trim & crop & watermark, is now at $29.95 per license.

Buy more, get more. More discounts are available for bunch purchase. Please contact Leawo to request the value you deserve.

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