This is some of the programs that i use when i encode, its hard to say exactly what you need, its all about what you prefer and what you want to do and how much time and effort you want to put in to it and last but not least what quality you want achive when you encode your DVD-rip.
DVD2AVI
FlasKMPEG
SmartRipper
DVD Decrypter
VFAPIConvEN
VirtualDub
GraphEditor
No short answer to your question, but i can tell you this.
It is not hard if you give it some time, and i would recomend this site for beginners .
Nickys
just take your time learning, and have fun i promise you its worth it.