Straight copying

[Jozone]

Im sorry, but im a newb, and am gonna try and contribute to this conversation.

But how about these? They are 9gb DVD-Rs possibly used to "straight dvd copying", the only thing I realized is that its probably because they are double sided, if they werent however that would be sweet.

[gd_nimrod]

"if they werent however that would be sweet." ...it would

[cplevel42]

RE: hammernuts5150

hammernuts5150, there is another way of copying these 9 gig dvds, and its a lot quicker. Its the process of capturing the the video stream to your hard drive using a capture card like the new ATI All In Wonder 9700 Pro. The ATI AIW 9700 pro is the top card on the market, for both capturing and gaming.

Forget 5 hrs to copy a dvd. Ripping a dvd is great and it works fine if you have time to burn abd are good at guess-work, but capturing is the way to go for a quick copy that has good quality. Now remember, capturing does NOT make an exact copy, but usually looks very close to the original. Also, the extras scenes and other bonuses will be excluded as well, but if you are copying your brothers dvds for free, who cares.

Another advantage to using a capture card is the ability to convert analog VHS tapes to digital DVDs. For Example. You have an old VHS tape that is out of print in every format and was never released as a dvd. You connect your vhs player to your capture card and capture the stream, then add chapter breaks and then burn to DVD. Real easy. If your VHS tape has macrovision embeded, you can stabilize the signal using a device like this - http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?cat...869fee1e73a24e This one is better than the rest because it has s-video inputs and outputs.

What you will need:

1. DVD-R or +R burner i.e. Pioneer DVR-104 ($200.00)

2. Video Capture card (mpeg2 ready) i.e. ATI AIW 8500DV ($170.00)

3. Fast Computer (1 ghz or better) with 80 gig HD i.e. www.ibuypower.com (cheap - $600.00)

4. DVD Authoring Software i.e. Ulead DVD Movie Factory $40.00

Steps and time Involved: i.e. (9 gig 2 hour movie)

1. Play the DVD in a set-top dvd player that is connected to the computers capture card - use s-video connection for better quality. Using the capture software that came with the capture card or the DVD authoring software, capture directly to dvd ready mpeg2. This will take 2 hours for a 2 hour movie. (the bit rate will need to be adjusted so that the completed file will be 4.3 gigs or less depending on if you will add motion menus or not. I use a bit rate calculator that I dowloaded from www.vcdhelp.com

2. Drop the mpeg2 file into the dvd authoring software and author the chapter breaks with menus. This usually takes me 15 minutes.

3. Burn the DVD-R using the Authoring Software that you made the menus with. I use Ulead DVD Workshop ($250.00) and Dazzle DVD Complete ($99.00) The time it take to do this will depend on your processor speed and dvd-r media. I have a 2.8 ghz P4 and use cheap 2x media that I get off of the net for a buck a piece. It takes me 30 minutes to burn a 2 hour movie at 2x. Slower systems may take an hour or two.

If you use this method, it should take about 3.5 hours, on average, to copy a 2 hour movie. The quality is usually as good as a straight rip using a dvd ripper.

[Jozone]

cplevel - your solution seems rather painful and expensive, not to mention I could see some quality being lost; big time. Ill stick with the software based way.

[nickyct]

It sounds good if you want to convert home video. But I want my 5.1 sound with my movie.

[cplevel42]

Painful? Not too bad.

The process is not really painful, but ripping is easier with regards to chapter breaks, because they are already there. The quality is not really any better with ripping. my 5.1 sound is intact because I'm using the 24 bit Sound Blaster Audigy sound card and the 5.1 is enable during capture. Expensive? Yes, so I do agree that ripping is more economical. But, if you already have a fast system with a good sound card and all you need is a capture card, getting a cheap one installed is a nice alternative. The software is expensive and I'm not rich. I had some friends at work burn me copys of theirs.

As for home video, a capture card is not needed for the process. I just use my IEEE1394 port on my motherboard for the mini DV stuff, then use preimere 6.0

Ripping works fine, but sometimes the ripped out movie alone wont fit on a single dvd-r, so you have to re-encode the whole thing anyway or put on 2 discs. Sometimes capturing can save some time.

nickyct and Jozone, maybe you could list your ripping and burning process if you have time. How long does it take you to do a 2 hr movie - including dvd burn time? Do you ever mis-calculate and have to re-encode the file?

I just played a version of Saving Private Ryan that I captured and then played the original. I seriously could not tell the difference. I encoded it at 8.0 m bit per sec. using variable bit rate for a smaller file. I had to use 2 dvd-rs.

[nickyct]

cplevel42 I rented a lot of movies from Netflix and I like to return them as soon as possible. I have a 16 times DVDR it takes about 15 for single layer and about 20 minutes for dual layer (Depending on the condition of the disc)

It takes about 15 minutes to Edit using IFOedit and about 1 hour to burn or about 1/2 hour if I burn with x2 media.


I re-encode movies couple time but not really satisfy with the result or it might even come out good at all. I re-encode " Murder by numbers" twice after ten hours or so. The picture came out pixellated when I burnt and play back on my DVD player.

My rule is, if the whole movie can fit on one disc then burn for keep and if it doesn't fit like dual lyers even after getting rid of all the menu and unwanted audio and subtitles. I'll split it. I would burn all my rented DVD on DVDR/W first . I would rather get up and swap the disc than re encode it.
IF I really like the movie I'll go check out my local store that sell previously view DVD for 10 dolllars. (Not blockbuster, that's a rip off. the price is only 2 or 3 dollars cheaper. I can get it cheaper when it's on sale and brand new) I got couple DVDs from them and it save me a lot of money.

[swanside1]

If the movie is too big to fit onto a DVD-R after it has been ripped and all the menus and extra stuff removed, burn it to two DVD-Rs, They are only about £0.80p each.
You could even get the whole movie onto 2 DVD-Rs complete with the extras.