Ripping/Stripping/Copying Audio Track from movie DVD

Case: The MASH theme song, “Suicide Is Painless”, as recorded on the MASH movie Soundtrack CD is different from the song as actually sung on the movie DVD. I would like to have the movie DVD version as a WAV file.

Question: What computer/Audacity settings must one use to record the audio track froma movie DVD?

Comment: I played the DVD and attempted to record the song in question. Regardless of the settings, Audacity did not seem to recognize the audio from the DVD.

Further Comment: I have successfully used Audacity to digitize about two dozen LPs, so I am somewhat familiar with the basic settings and techniques. Any help with copying an audio track from a movie DVD will be appreciated.

Thanks, J.P.

For this one we really are going to need to know the computer type, operating system, and Audacity version.

Koz

And the soundcard details …

WC

Computer: Toshiba A105-S2001 laptop. Operating system is Win XP SP3. All updates are current.

Cut and paste the following link to get detailed specifications more complete than I could type in a month:

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/home.jsp?nav=Download

Next, select PORTABLES; SATELLITE; A105-S2001 and click GO

On the following page select the DETAILED SPECS tab for complete information.

Note: Deviation from above specifications - (1) Original 60GB hard drive has been replaced with a Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320GB hard drive. (2) Memory has been expanded from 512MB to 2GB. And (3) Original CD-RW/DVD-ROM has been replaced with UJ-841 DVD+RW drive.

As of 1400 hours EST on 01-28, I have not had time to do any additional testing.

Again, any help, or hints, as to how I might go about recording the audio from a movie DVD will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, J.P.

Audio can often be ripped from DVD’s in much the same way as ripping CDs, but with different software, though copy protection can make it quite tricky. See Doom9 forum for more information.

To “record” a DVD that is playing on your computer, you need to either be able to record “Stereo Mix” (a setting that will either be available, or not, in your sound card control panel).

If Stereo Mix is not available, the easiest way on your computer will be to use an external (USB) sound card with “line level” inputs and connect the audio out from a stand alone DVD player to the inputs of the external sound card.

Total Recorder will capture any PC sound and make files. If you’re careful with your preferences, the files drop right into Audacity for cutting.

Koz