I have the same setup. My question was because it seemed like you were not using a Mac & iTunes. It would be useful if there was an ATV app that streamed directly from a hard disk and included iTunes purchases - but I guess that doesn’t fit Apple’s business model!
I recently purchased a Synology dual drive NAS which has the capability to act as a “Media Server” and comes with apps to do that. I have not reached the point where I want to try this, but it does sound interesting.
Another app for ripping DVDs is RipIt by The Little App Factory. It does only one thing, rip the DVD to a .dvdmedia file that can then be processed by Handbrake. (It has the option to compress the DVD into a playable file, but that feature has been labeled as beta and I’ve never tried it.) I don’t do a lot of ripping, but it has only failed on one movie over the years. It also hasn’t been updated in a long time, and the web page has a copyright date of 2015. Still, it works, it’s Catalina compatible, and so it might be a less expensive solution for someone who just needs this basic feature.
1 Like
I’ve been using that feature for many years and it works great. On a few discs it’s failed (in which case you can just use Handbrake), but generally works really well and the whole process is one step: insert the DVD in your computer and when it ejects, you have dvdmedia file and .mp4 (which I put on my Plex server). You don’t even have to push a single button!
1 Like
@LarryR Thanks Larry for the reminder about RipIt. I purchased it back in 2010 and forgot all about it - so went to the website and downloaded it again and my registration still worked! It is a nice program and so glad it saves as .dvdmedia. Nice to have back an oldie goldie - just like me 
I have collection of VIDEO_TS folders since I ripped my DVD collection many years ago. The most convenient way to access them by AppleTV is, as many have written, to encode the movies using Handbrake.
The only App that supports watching VIDEO_TS folders directly in AppleTV is as far as I know Infuse. To have that functionality a subscription is required but it is far cheaper than Plex so I find it OK.
Many of the files were ripped using MactheRipper but as written in a previous reply the licensing is incredibly complicated so I have not reinstalled it for years. The Windows App AnyDVD have worked better using Parallels. But for the last couple of years I have only used MakeMKV. Today most of the movies I watch is from streaming services so the DVD collection is mostly collecting dust, even if it is ripped movies 