Completely automated DVD insert-rip-compress-eject workflow

I have just answered a similar question on my website.

I have taken the concept of Adam Pash's DVD Rip a few steps further. I wanted to be able to get the movie's title and associated metadata and cover art, and rip the file using the right title. This means the ripping is completely automatic and a few short hours after a disc is inserted the movie will appear in Media Center complete with cover art and metadata.

To achieve this I've cobbled together several tools and a few scripts to glue them together.

The overall process is as follows:

• Use Yammm to automatically retrieve the ID from themovidb for any DVD loaded into a drive.
• Use EventGhost to watch the directory that Yammm populates with metadata and launch an AutoHotkey script.
• Within the Autohotkey script, invoke DVD Shrink to rip the DVD contents to the hard drive.
• Once the DVD has been ripped, invoke Handbrake to create an MKV file.

There are a few issues with this setup that I'd like to refine.

• The EventGhost-Yammm integration is a bit flakey. It would be neater if Yammm could be invoked directly or invoke the script when metadata is found.
• If there is no entry in themoviedb.org for the film, then the ripping process won't launch.
• Once Handbrake completes a command prompt is left lying around. It could be closed, but I'm wary of clashing with user interactions.
• The VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders are left lying around. Once the MKV is created they aren't really needed and could be deleted.

As far as your question's requirements are concerned there are a few additional tweaks to be made.

• The Xbox doesn't like MKVs, you can tweak the parameters in the EventGhost script to tell Handbrake to rip using the "Normal" preset which will output an MP4 file. The Xbox 360 reads those just fine.
• The disc isn't ejected after processing completes, this could be added fairly easily using AutoHotkey's Drive, Eject command

You can download the scripts and see the full instructions at home4film.com.

My next step is to build a robot to load DVDs from a spindle so I can rip more than a couple a day.

Handbrake is a great app for automating the ripping of DVDs. It can script & handle batch jobs, and handle single-file movies and single files just fine.

DVD Rip Automates One-Click DVD Ripping seems like what you're after. It's an open-source AutoHotkey script, so if it doesn't do what you need, you can modify it