How To: Convert (rip) DVD movies to Zune

Would you like to be able to watch your favorite DVD movies on your Zune? This article will explain how to convert DVD video to a format you can upload to your Zune media player.

Choosing your conversion software

Many video conversion products are capable of converting DVD video to a format that can be played on the Zune. Many of these products are general purpose toolkits. They can convert almost any kind of video to almost any other format, but the number of different options they offer makes the process a bit complicated.

Some conversion tools perform the conversion in two stages. They rip the video to an uncompressed video (usually AVI format) and then convert the AVI video to the Windows Media WMV format used by your Zune. This takes twice as long, and also requires a lot more disk space, since the AVI file produced by the first stage of the conversion is much larger than the final output.

Therefore we recommend that you use Cucusoft DVD to Zune Converter. This tool has been specifically created to rip DVD videos to Zune format. It is easy to use and converts the video in a single pass, ready for upload to your Zune.

Download a free trial of Cucusoft DVD to Zune Converter
and try it for yourself!

Step 1: Start the software

Start DVD to Zune Converter.

The software displays a Quick Guide to help remind you of the conversion process.

Step 2: Start the movie

Load the DVD movie into your DVD player, then press and hold the Shift key. (This will stop Windows launching the default DVD player). When the disc is loaded, click Open DVD in DVD to Zune Converter. This will open a dialog box:

where you must specify where the DVD video files are stored. Usually, this is in a folder named VIDEO_TS in the root folder of the DVD. Select this folder and click OK. The video will start to play, and the software will fast forward it to the main menu.

Step 3: Select the content

Using the DVD menu, select what you want to record. You use the mouse to select items from the menu, just as you would when playing the movie on a DVD player. You can select subtitles, or a different language soundtrack, if you want. If the DVD contains several episodes of a TV series, you can select the episode you want to record.

When you select an episode, or the start of the movie, it will start to play, just as it would when playing the movie on a DVD player. Click Convert. This will start the recording process, just like pressing the record button on a video recorder. A dialog box will appear:

You can use this dialog to change the name if you wish. This will only affect the filename of the converted video file, so you can change it later using Windows Explorer if you want.

Step 4: Start the recording

By default, DVD to Zune Converter records from the beginning of the movie. The option Record from the beginning in the dialog box shown above is checked. But you can also choose to record from the current time. This allows you to use the DVD fast forward and back controls to locate a part of the movie you would like to record, and then record and convert a clip.

Normally, you will just click Yes to record the whole movie. DVD to Zune Converter will skip back to the start of the movie (in case you missed the first few seconds) and then start to record.

Depending on the speed of your computer, the video may be played faster than real time during the conversion. You will not hear any sound. On a slower computer, conversion and playback may actually be slower than real time. This is normal, as video conversion is quite a processor-intensive task.

Step 5: Uploading the movie to your Zune

When the recording is finished, or if you click Abort to stop the recording part way through, DVD to Zune Converter will display a dialog box to show that the conversion has been completed.

Select one of the options presented and click Next >>. DVD to Zune Converter will open the output folder in Windows Explorer, and you should see an MP4 file there, containing your converted video. If you chose the second option, DVD to Zune Converter will also have opened the Zune software, ready for you to upload the DVD video to your Zune. It really couldn't be easier to convert DVD videos to play on your Zune!