So I'm too stupid for all this bitrate stuff ...

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I 'cracked' & bought myself a dvd writer, without really being aware of how hard all this can be.

I'd only been copying 'ancient' dvd's (less than the 4.7gig 'limit') so I thought it was 'oh so easy' ... ha-ha-ha ! 'ed ... ain't you a dummy !

Ahh but a bit of diligent googling turned up some tools, to un-confuse me !

Currently I'm using DVDShrink (cos its free & simple) & nero 6 to burn & am about to give nero's recode a bash, however I'm getting pretty sick of whizzing around half a dozen folks houses to test my backups for compatibility (the whole idea was to share my dvd collection with my family without any hassle or danger of originals being 'lent' without further trace, why can't people respect others stuff ? I do, but that's a whole different issue .. :rolleyes: ). The results with this are okayish, definately completely fine on any pc, but even though the movies work, jumping between segments keeps getting it stuck on the 'majority' of players I have access to, so less than perfect ...

Are these the only choices I have to deal correctly & simply with menu type dvds ? Every other 'backup' app only seems to do 'main movie'...

I want something so simple even I can use it :D ... & my sister & my uncle & my cousins, as they now all want backups of their collections, too, or am I asking too much ?

DVD X Copy from www.321studios.com
No shrinking, no quality loss, "large" dvd's are being split into 2 discs.

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Originally Posted by CeeBee

DVD X Copy from www.321studios.com
No shrinking, no quality loss, "large" dvd's are being split into 2 discs.

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Oooo! sorry looking for 'freebies' really (thought you'd get the idea ;))!

what's retail for this ? I have the feeling I will need to pay ! .... however I need to try before I buy (compatibility! or is that all in the writer?) & I can't get a demo of this only 'express'

Then check out this resource collection: www.afterdawn.com
I've tried few of them, bust since besides the ones made I own only 1 (one) DVD that was on sale for $2.97 and I don't plan buying any other soon I didn't have any reason to bother with copying...

Have you had a look round http://www.dvdrhelp.com/ Confused?

TMPGenc make a few useful applications.

Confus-ED I only let them have cdr's - 10p each! Yup they only get the main movie!

Depends what you want really, but when I first learned to rip a DVD and my home movie stuff, I think it must have taken me about 3 months to go through all the various utils and freebies people offer...

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

Confus-ED I only let them have cdr's - 10p each! Yup they only get the main movie!

Depends what you want really, but when I first learned to rip a DVD and my home movie stuff, I think it must have taken me about 3 months to go through all the various utils and freebies people offer...

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I have been sucessfully turning main movie only dvd's to svcds for yonks ... but oh no like a numpty :rolleyes: I had to go show that I could do episodic stuff like TV shows, complete with menus, now pressing fast-forward is beneath them ! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! :eek2:, they all have internet access too so I can't even lie & say the media cost too much, as my beloved sister now seems to know more about computer consumable pricing than I do !,' compatibility issues' is such a 'weak' lie ! :D

I need something dead simple otherwise I'm doing it all, for about 5 relatives & that's about 450 different dvds !

All the stuff I've tried seems to work virtually flawlessly with any setup involving a pc, but no where near as sucessfully with standalone readers - Is this the s/w I'm using or the writer(s) ? besides my own optorite I have access to a TDK writer (whose model escapes me) but both produce equally patchy results, I'm using 'supposedly' good media (branded) & I've varied that in an attempt to fathom which bit of the equation ain't just so, but I'm more & more convinced that the s/w I'm using is at the bottom of it somehow...

Anyone used nero's recode? I have a copy downloaded of that at the moment but it doesn't want to install, I pressume the copy that came with the writer is unit locked & that's whats stopping it installing, before I 'play' & get it working is it any good ?

I gotta Agree with Archer and Noonoo. I usually just convert the DVD to VCD (the main movie) and burn it to 2 cd-r's. They play in any DVD player that less than 4 years old and the quality is good enough to watch. If my Family members want a full quality version to watch over and over again then they go buy the dvd.

TMPGenc is a great piece of software that is free. It's unbelivable what it can do and the latest versions have wizards that make the process a whole lot easier. Couple that with a good dvd ripper and converter and the processs becomes a snap :
1. Rip dvd .vob files to HD
2. Convert dvd to avi with DVD2AVI
3. Re-encode to vcd (mpeg1) with TMPenc, usually you have to encode the first half of the movie, then the second half to get 2 files depending on the length of the film.
4. Burn files to VCD using nero

Did the same with our wedding and birthday videos that I caputered straight to MPEG1 and burnt to about 25 cd's. Sent them out as thank you cards to all our guests.

Ed, you made yer bed.... :D

Compatibility issues with standalone players are rife...

Media, authorship, type, firmware all add to the chaos

look at the player list here

That site is probably got the best collection of freeware/shareware available.

Hello -ed! Another site worth a look is http://www.doom9.org/ The mpeg2 encoder with Nero 6 supports automatic variable bitrate encoding and that should take care of most issues fitting your stuff to disc. TMPGenc is a really great encoder, but it has some drawbacks. Copyright limitations preclude TMPGenc's free version from including a mpeg2 encoder. TMPGenc Plus will do the trick, but it isn't free. Even with plus you still have to have some kind of DVD authoring software like NeroVision Express or TMPG DVD Author to create those pesky vob and ifo files. Think you'll find Nero provides an adequate toolbox, though.

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Originally Posted by CeeBee

DVD X Copy from www.321studios.com
No shrinking, no quality loss, "large" dvd's are being split into 2 discs.

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Don't be silly. No one wants to split DVDs unless it originally came on 2 discs. 9.4 to 4.7 is always going to be quality loss. and sometimes extra content loss too.

I've searched everywhere to no avail. Does anyone know where I can find SINGLE-SIDED 9.4 GB discs? Its not for DVD copy, the discs(if i can find them) would be too expensive for that purpose. It for my home videos. I would pay $3, $5, even $7 per disc if i could find them. Splitting the discs or using Double-sided discs blows.

I didn't think you could get single sided 9.4s....drives can't hack it.

Athlon, what software are you using to encode your DVD's? Toshiba's specs for DVD's permit them to be encoded at anywhere from 2 to 10 megabits per second. So the appropriate software should be able to fit as much home video on a standard disc as anyone would want to endure ;)

Check out this site: http://www.digital-digest.com/index.html

Has most programs, commercial, shareware and free. Plus sections dedicated to the major formats, divx, dvd, mpg etc.

I can't say that I've even seen a DVD over 4.7gig yet. ..nothing I've ripped anyway.

Well, file size of the finished product is pegged to DVD capacity, 4.7 GB, but when you encode an original video file, you may have to fudge a bit to get it to fit. Most of the bundled software you get with DVD burners only supports fixed rate encodiing at 8 or 9 megabits per second, and the ISO standard DVD format, which is only (believe it or not) good for a maximum file size of 2 GB!

There are more sophisticated products available such as Nero 6 Ultra (which includes NeroVision Express editing and DVD authoring software) and TMPGenc Plus which will permit, you either automatically or manually, to adjust the bitrate at which the file is encoded. You can also choose from options such as automatically adjusted constant bitrate encoding or automatic variable bitrate, and they will also alter the file format to burn files in excess of 2 GB

Ed,

I know you'd really like to go down the Free route, but the more I look into DVD XCOPY XPRESS the more I am drawn to it and it's meager $59.99 price tag (US after rebate) with unconditional money back guarantee if you buy it from their website.

it's single click copy and it compresses the video a bit to fit the entire disc, (menus features etc) onto one blank DVD media. they have a forum where you can download tdf files (title definition files) that define the correct title layout for difficult to backup movies like finding nemo. and according to most I've read, backup time can be right around 1 hour ---- which aint bad at all.

it's not free, but for the ease of use the price is pretty cheap!

a burner and Xcopy Xpress are on my Xmas list this year.

I run DVD XCopy Express for DVD backups. I also have NERO 6 since I burn more than just DVDs. Both work well. Express will rip an entire DVD now instead of just the main movie. Nero allows you to capture streaming data up to 9716Kbps. I love the menu and recoding features in nero.

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Originally Posted by silencio

I run DVD XCopy Express for DVD backups. I also have NERO 6 since I burn more than just DVDs. Both work well. Express will rip an entire DVD now instead of just the main movie. Nero allows you to capture streaming data up to 9716Kbps. I love the menu and recoding features in nero.

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what are you're backup times with Xcopy Xpress generally. I'm looking at the NEC 1300A (dual format 4X) and getting a liteon 166 just to do the ripping. I'm hoping for around an hour to complete the whole process. Is this realistic?

also how is the quality. . . . anything over VHS is just fine for me. . . . thanks

The quality is pretty good. They look just like DVDs to me. I haven't actually timed it but with a 4x writer I'd put the time at about 45 minutes to rip and write. A couple things to note, the last version of DVD XCopy Express didn't work on episodic DVDs. I haven't tried one with this version. Also, I do get the occasional DVD that it won't read at all (errors out on some sector during the read). Overall though it works pretty good.

It's not free, but it will copy a long movie onto one DVD-/+R. I burnt Gladiator on one DVD with DVD Xcopy Xpress and by viewing either one you couldn't tell which DVD was the copy. And with the latest update it even includes the menus and bonus features that are on the disc. Compatabily isn't an issue either, unless you try to view on one of them older DIVX/DVD players. You can try to pan it out with all of them free players, but by the time you figure out which free utility works best on which movie you'll be going through a bunch of DVD Rs which aren't cheap. Not all DVD players play CD-Rs either. Right now I'm gonna burn Finding Nemo so the kids don't scratch the crap out of the original.

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Originally Posted by silencio

A couple things to note, the last version of DVD XCopy Express didn't work on episodic DVDs. I haven't tried one with this version.

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The currently available to download version don't do episodic stuff either ;), well it got the menus & the first episode, but forgot about the rest ! :sad: ... I think I needed to go get a 'tdf' .... however having to do 'that' is now pushing this product out of my definition of 'simple' ;)

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Originally Posted by 3D Prophet III

Not all DVD players play CD-Rs either

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Don't they ? I ain't found one yet that don't, though I think I've only tried 8 different models ... mmmmm !

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

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Originally Posted by: 3D Prophet III
Not all DVD players play CD-Rs either


Originally Posted by: confus-ed
Don't they ? I ain't found one yet that don't, though I think I've only tried 8 different models ... mmmmm !

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I'm not talking about computer DVD players, I'm talking about home entertainment equipment. I've had a lot of people complaining that their unable to play music they've recorded on CD-Rs on their home DVD players. The status window on the DVD player would say "No Disc".

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Originally Posted by athlon

I've searched everywhere to no avail. Does anyone know where I can find SINGLE-SIDED 9.4 GB discs? Its not for DVD copy, the discs(if i can find them) would be too expensive for that purpose. It for my home videos. I would pay $3, $5, even $7 per disc if i could find them. Splitting the discs or using Double-sided discs blows.

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Im pretty sure that these arent available at the moment, im sure i got told at work that these are pressed, this was a while ago, so things might have changed mate.

Mick