Can AnyDVD do main movie only
For ripping by itself? No.
However, Anydvd doesn't limit me to using one ripping interface or UI as a front end
unlike almost all other decrypters.
or do I need Clone DVD for that?
Just a little background history . . .
Anydvd's biggest strength has always been for HTPC use, and the reason for that is because Anydvd decrypts on the fly at the driver level for Windows so that the entire system sees the disc as being decrypted. You don't need to rip first in order to watch discs from other regions for example. And, in fact, with some original dvds, you can't even watch them on your computer without Anydvd running in the background (Das Parfum from Germany is one example . . . or try watching the original Germany Region 2 dvd release of Silent Hill with WMP or Zoomplayer without Anydvd running in the background) due to the structural protection on them. Also, Anydvd allows for subtitle transparency on the fly when I want to watch dvd movies on my computer.
So, Anydvd was never intended as a ripper. It's just simply the most versatile and, consequently, powerful decrypter. Period.
In order to provide functionality with some third party reauthoring programs that can not handle structural protections properly, such as Dvd Shrink, Anydvd ripper was created ("rip video-dvd to harddisk").
Now, in answer to your question,
1. Clonedvd would be the best option to help ensure compatibility with Anydvd. Clonedvd also rips slightly faster than Anydvd, and, of course, you can remove unwanted material before ripping with Clonedvd. But you don't
need to use Clonedvd. The power of Anydvd is that you can use almost anything you want.
2. You can use other third party programs to rip the main movie with Anydvd running in the background with pretty much any dvd. You can find some of them listed in step 3 from
here.
3. If you use "rip video-dvd to harddisk", you can use pretty much whatever program you want to afterwards. Yes, doing so does rip the entire disc. You only need to use "rip video-dvd to hardisk" with discs containing structural protection--and only if the reauthoring program you're using can't handle the structural protection properly with Anydvd running in the background.
4. If the dvd doesn't contain structural protection, you can use whatever you want with Anydvd running in the background.
That's why Anydvd is extremely versatile. With most other decrypters (there's maybe one exception, but it doesn't handle structural protection on its own; and it's extremely limited with respect to what it can do), you can, well, use their program to rip, and that's pretty much it. And you
always have to rip first no matter what with those programs.