Is there a dvd ripper that can export files as really high quality .avi's? I've seen movies where the quality looks like it was captured from an HDTV.

GordianKnot - although I'm not 100% sure I understand the question

Gordian Knot is the ripping software of choice.

The quality you'll end up with depends on

a) the quality of your source material
b) the ripping methods/filters you use

It takes some trial and error to figure that stuff out.

You can find all sorts of guides/software on:

http://www.doom9.org

rips can only at best match the source (or in rare circumstances applying filtering to clear it up). Its compression.

DVDs never look like HDTV, HDTV has far higher source bitrate and resolution. UNSEEN rips are excellent examples of good rips for the most part. These are DVDrips, large filesize, slight filtering and a custom matrix.

If your new to ripping, you need to do a lot of reading to first buff up on the basics

thanks for the explanation and for the program