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

[confus-ed]

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 .. ). 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 ... & my sister & my uncle & my cousins, as they now all want backups of their collections, too, or am I asking too much ?

[CeeBee]

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

[confus-ed]

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

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'

[CeeBee]

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...

[Archer]

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

TMPGenc make a few useful applications.

[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...

[confus-ed]

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...

I have been sucessfully turning main movie only dvd's to svcds for yonks ... but oh no like a numpty 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! , 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 !

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 ?

[gtiseb]

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.

[NooNoo]

Ed, you made yer bed....

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.

[slgrieb]

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.

[athlon]

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

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.

[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.

[NooNoo]

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

[slgrieb]

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

[tommo666]

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.