VLC HowTo/Rip a DVD
Here is an example. You'll need to type this at the command prompt (windows) or terminal (linux), all on one line. You may also need to give the full path to vlc (ie, replace vlc with "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\vlc\vlc.exe", or wherever you installed vlc)
This is how to rip the "raw mpg" from a DVD, assuming you want to rip your DVD's title "1" to filename dvdout.mpg
$ vlc dvdsimple://d:\@1 --sout "#standard{access=file,mux=ts,dst=dvdout.mpg}" vlc://quit
the vlc://quit at the end just tells it to start, complete the rip, then exit. You can also add a --qt-start-minimized to that, if desired.
Note that the above doesn't do any transcoding on the video stream, it just basically dumps a verbatim copy to your hard drive.
You may have some luck ripping the DVD from the GUI, as well, though this is a bit tricky [1]. See also note at bottom. Using the GUI may be easier for if you want to both rip and [transcode] simultaneously, as the above commands only do a raw copy. NB that if you use the GUI you will need to name your output filename with the correct extension for your mux type or VLC will silently ignore your desire to convert, and just display the video instead. Silently, mind you. (If it is working right it won't show you a video by default). You will also need to check the 'no DVD menus' option, which instructs it to use dvdsimple:// instead of dvd:// which loops back to the main menu after playing the title.
If it stops halfway through, cleaning your disc might help. If it still fails half-way through, it may work better to use dvd:// (in the GUI, that's not check 'no DVD menus') instead of dvdsimple:// but it will loop back to the main menu forever so you will have to stop it manually.
$ vlc dvd://d:\@1 --sout "#standard{access=file,mux=ts,dst=dvdout.mpg}" vlc://quit
It might also help to set the cacheing value either higher or to 0 (in the GUI: under advanced options).
Further reading
Handbrake is a free user friendly open source tool for ripping DVD's. Unfortunately it only transcodes from DVD to a file (not a raw rip), but it does it well. It uses VLC by default for ripping if installed on OS X. For windows users handbrake can use VLC's libdvdcss if you install it.
