Of all the free OS X utilities out there, this is one of the coolest (in my opinion). HandBrake is an application that allows you to convert a DVD source to MPEG-4 format. Sources include DVD images, a VIDEO_TS folder (created using MacTheRipper or some other DVD ripping software), or a traditional DVD. According to the developers of HandBrake, it also removes encryption from DVDs.

When you open HandBrake for the first time, it may look slightly daunting. There are a lot of options. Your best bet to learning how to use it is to just try it a few times. Below is a screenshot of what you will see, followed by a few tips and tricks on what to look for when converting to MPEG-4:

One of the options you may find useful is in the "Video" section... "Target Size (MB)". This feature allows you to specify how large the end-result file will be. HandBrake automatically adjusts its other settings based on this target size. This is especially useful if you only have a certain amount of space to fit your file (on a thumbdrive or CD for example). One thing to note about this feature is that if you make the file size to small, you will compromise quality.

Another feature to note is the button called "Picture settings...". By clicking on this, you will have another window that allows you to crop the video to fit a certain space.

To get a good feel for how this utility works, I would recommend leaving all the settings as they are for the first time you use it. I compressed the movie "AntiTrust" directly from DVD (using the default settings) on my PowerBook G4. It took about 3 hours and 20 minutes (about 15 frames per second during compression), and the final MPEG-4 file was 877 MB. The same movie being converted from a VIDEO_TS folder on an iMac G5 took about 45 minutes, so you can see some advantages there. The quality? Fantastic (even at full screen)!

Download this application here for free. Remember, it's not legal to copy movies that don't belong to you.