Handbrake Lite has been introduced to help the technically “challenged” among us. Thanks to the guys that gave us iSquint here is your holiday gift. This simplified free OS X ONLY application does ONE thing. It rips a DVD to MPEG-4 for use on the new iPod. This is for those who found the “real” Handbrake to hard to use or do not want its advanced features.

Settings Handbrake Lite Use
320×240 (or whatever the aspect ratio gives you for height)
MPEG-4 SP, ffmpeg, 1000kbps avg, 48000KHz 128kbps audio
If you want other settings, use Handbrake instead.

This is the only screen Handbrake Lite has, one word…SIMPLE!

HandBrake Lite was created by Tyler Loch and is based on HandBrake 0.7.0 by Eric Petit.

Here is the announcement information for Handbrake Lite:
HandBrake Lite is a horribly-mangled abomination of HandBrake, jettisoning its non-crucial features with the one-track goal of creating iPod-sized movies from DVDs.

Features:
You only really need to click two buttons to rip a DVD for iPod. It’s as easy as that.
Less stuff to read, and fewer confusing words.
All videos are automatically re-sized to 320px wide. Wide-screen movies are properly cropped before conversion.
Smaller interface, easier to stash away on your screen somewhere.

Limitations:
Want to use H.264 or bigger image sizes for better TV playback? Tough.

Directions:
Put in your DVD, quit DVD Player if it starts up.
Launch HandBrake Lite.
Click “Open” on the sheet. HandBrake Lite will find the movie files. (If you already ripped the DVD using another utility, click Browse and locate its folder.)
Make sure HandBrake Lite chose the correct title. If the running time makes sense, you’re good.
Change the name of the finished file if you want.
Click Rip.
Wait.
When done, drag finished file to iTunes.
If you can’t figure out the rest, you’re not allowed to use an iPod.

FAQ:
Q: …can you add this featu–
A: NO. HandBrake Lite is done. I can’t add any features because I don’t know how to write Obj-C code – only blind mangling of existing code. It’s a miracle this even works at all. In fact, I can’t even build HandBrake on my system anymore for some reason…

Q: I don’t know how to do this. Can you help me?
A: Go ask your mom.

Seriously, this is a great simple free solution for ripping DVDs for iPod use. If you are a the “tweaker” type or want more use the “real” full versioned Handbrake.

See my detailed post Video and the iPod for Mac Users

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