Doesn't anyone use the guides before posting "how-to" questions?

ScubaPete
I have my eye on a dvd by mail-order. It is NTSC, region 1. Will dvddecrypter and dvdshrink enable me to convert it to PAL and region 2?
No point in buying a pig in a poke!

Many thanks for all help so far.

Eugeardee

 

Eugeardee,

DVDD will get you 1/2 there - Here's what I found from the aD archives . . . .

Rip the files using DVD Decrypter in stream processing mode.
Use TMPGEnc plus, input your PAL/NTSC video and simply set the output to the format you need to convert to.

All you really need to worry about is extracting the files using stream processing. Make sure that filesplitting is turned OFF, and use IFO mode. You'll get a separate AC3 file plus an M2V file. Bang the M2V file through TMPGEnc, and don't worry about the AC3 as it's already ripped.
Then I used EncoreDVD to put the 2 back together.

Cheers,

Pete

 

I am a newbie today and have spent several days reading through the incredibly significant guides and I am exactly where I started. Is there a simple guide somewhere on the great Cyberspace highway that will explain to me in, in mewbie terms, how I am to take the 2 part movies that I have downloaded from the internet and burn them on a DVD-R so that I can take them to my girlfriends house and watch them. All of the guides use terms and software, that I have no idea what they are or how to use them. Let me know so that I can start enjoying my movies on an actual television and not miniscule on my Desktop monitor.

 

Unfortunately, converting and then burning files to DVD is more involved than just backing up a simple DVD. The quality is for the most part not as good either depending on the source. Here's my top 3.

I like NVE 3(NeroVisionExpress)the best. It will allow you you to convert the files(It also converts faster than most of the other file conversion apps), add more than one file, create a custom menu for your compilation so you can navigate and go to any file you wish, set chapters, compress, and burn to DVD all in one app.

It even has a software remote control with which to preview your work and make sure it works and allows you to make any changes you wish before you burn to disc.

It comes in the Nero Ultra 6 suite, an entire suite of audio and video programs which you can use for free each and every month for the entire month til you decide to buy(which I highly recommend). You must reinstall it each month and then you are good to go for that month. I also have a NVE 3 guide if you wish to try it.

There is also DVD Santa which will just convert and burn the files to disc. A lot of people like it. It has a free trial, but I believe it does leave a watermark til you buy.

Finally there is Divx to DVD, this app is free. It's good for converting Divx files, which a lot of DL'd files are. It also just does a simple conversion and burn to Disc. You can get it here in AD under the software section. Be sure to get the newest 4.0 version. It allows adding multiple files to burn to one disc.

It would help to know what kind of files these are exactly. You say 2 part. Are they RAR files or what?

 

Hi there Big "O", I don't know where I've been but I just noticed a different "title" - CONGRATS !

Give a call when you can . . . . if you want . . .


Hi sdvanover,

I'm sorry but I had a hard time believing your post.

It is almost beyond belief . . .

Every Newbie I've run into has garnered some information from reading just the smallest amount here a bouts.

Typing in our "search" bar, say for instance your file type i.e., "AVI to DVD" yields sooooo much information it's beyond belief you couldn't find something.

Take for instance, "DivX To DVD" comes up . . Yep, that's a pretty hard proggy . . . Where it says "Source" you put in your files, and where it says "Destination" you make a folder and enter that . . . . then click "Convert".

A while later you grab those files and if they are less than a DVD disc, the size is printed on the disc, no research there, you burn to disc. If it's larger . . . well then, you know the answer there, don't you ?

PLEASE don't tell me you posted to this thread without bothering to read it - tell me you didn't see a super simple guide on page 2 . . .

My goodness, you didn't read this thread did you ?

Then don't tell us you did anything for a few days and came up empty . . .

I don't believe it . . .

BTW, Big"O's" suggestion about dvd Santa was the very first thing listed in that Search result you never ran . . .

Next time just come out and say, "I didn't look, could someone tell me where to start ?" Don't lead us around, it doesn't look good –

Tell the truth to your girlfriend at least. When she begins catching you in a bunch of lies, you'll be a has-been in no time flat. It's a lesson in life I'm giving you, free of charge. It would be a good time to learn it.

Next time, start off on a better foot, OK ?

Cheers,

Pete

 

Pete Sorry for bothering you, but I am a complete bafoon on the computer. I followed your guide and did everything no problems. But the thing is I have only one Drive, my dvd burner is built into my normal cd drive. So after I copy the DVD to my Harddrive and try to burn that onto a DVD I have no clue how to do it. I tried putting in a blank disc and just copying and pasting the DVD file on my HD onto the the Blank DVD. BUt it says no cd in drive. I am using Memorex CD's, could this be the problem?

 

You can get shrink 3.2 and decrypter here in AD. Both are free.

You can't just copy directly from the hard drive to the disc. Most are DVD 9 and you have to run it thru an app 1st to get it to fit on your DVD 5 media.

Rip the DVD to your hard drive using Dvd decrypter(free).

Open shrink(free) and use the "open files" option. Browse to your decrypter folder you just ripped.

Use shrink as you normally would and use your drive as the burner.

You must get DVD's, NOT CD's. Stay away from Memorex, it's very inconsistant, basically it sucks, unless you like your backups freezing, or not playing at all. Here's a good place to get quality DVD's for under .50 each with free shipping. Get +R or -R depending on your burner format.

http://www.meritline.com/ritek-dvd-blank-media.html

Here is a quickie guide I wrote for the new Shrink 3.2, more in depth guides can be found at AfterDawn and Doom 9, also an interactive guide in the help section of Shrink. I recommend reading the entire guide before starting.


This is a simple, easy to follow, basic Shrink 3.2 guide. You should have a fully functional working backup when done. Before you get started a couple of items of interest:

No.1- Make sure you get good media, this is extremely important! You can get Ritek G04 4x or G05 8x -R or get Ritek Ridata 4x +R here, for under .50 each and w/ free shipping. Make sure they are "branded" and never burn at over 4x!

http://www.meritline.com/ritek-dvd-blank-media.html


No.2- Also, before you get started, Shrink will automatically open nero or Decrypter or Copy to DVD to burn so you don't have to open them, however you do have to choose your burner in Decrypter if you haven't already....

For Decrypter:

Open decrypter, click on mode, drop down to ISO, across to write and then click on it. Then at the bottom choose your burner you want Decrypter to use.

That's it, close Decrypter, you don't have to open Decrypter anymore.

For nero: You will choose your burner in shrink for Nero,

For Copy to DVD: it will be opened automatically by Shrink and ask you to choose your burner when shrink is ready for it to burn your backup.

.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------

OK, here's the shrink guide, follow it to the letter, it's fairly simple:

1-open shrink (see #10)

2-click on open disc, then choose your source video(disc)from your drive/ if you're using files on your HD then click on open files and choose your folder with your source video files.

3-wait for shrink to analyze(about a minute) and the new screen will come up

4-here you can go into extras by clicking on the + mark.

5-You can change compression on each or substitute still image for each until done. Each can be previewed in the preview window below. There is a drop down window on the top right side that has your compression and substitute options.

5a- you can raise compresssion or substitute a still image on all extras at once before you hit the + mark if so desired. By using the still image you maintain a working menu.

6-if you only want the movie and don't care about a menu, hit re-author, when screen comes up click and drag anything from the right side to the left side that you want to keep and then you will go to set up the analyze and burn features.

7-To set up burn w/nero click on edit > preferences > fileI/O > enable burn with Nero. Make sure this is unchecked if you are going to use Decrypter or Copy to Dvd to burn automatically.


7a-Also here you can go to stream selections and choose english from both drop down menus, this will eliminate foreign audio tracks that can take up quite a bit of space.

7b-You also pick your DVD size here from the drop down menu. You can also choose custom and type in your size(I recommend 4300 to prevent burning to the edge. Shrink also handles dual layer burning now, for it I would choose 8100.) I would also recommend default for all other settings in the preferences window.

8-hit backup

9-under target device choose either file to your HD,or your burner. If you wish to burn with decrypter instead of Nero, choose ISO image file and burn with decrypter. You can also choose ISO image and burn with Copy to DVD, if you choose this option Copy to DVD will open and ask you to choose your burner.

10-choose your temporary folder/ shrink will create this or you can make one(before you start) and name it and put it where you can find it.

11- under quality settings(I use this if it's over 10% compression,you must make your own choices here, this will take much longer, but is worth every minute!)check deep analysis and adaptive error compensation. Some say extra smoothness delivers the best quality, overall, I tend to agree.

12-hit OK and come back to a finished DVD, leave your PC alone, do not do anything on it while performing backup. No multitasking!

I would add that leave menu alone if you want a working menu, and leave movie alone unless there are 2 movie titles, then pick the one you want(fullscreen or widescreen)and substitute a still image for the other one.

Good luck :>)

of note: If you wish movie and menu only, click on extras, and substitue still image, then go to backup and follow directions from step 8.

 

Wow thanks a bunch BioOrange I have to go to work in 5 mins but I when I get home I try it out and tell yah how it worked.

 

What a bummer :>( NFL playoffs start in an hour. I'd hate to have to go to work now.

If you have problems let me know and we'll walk ya thru it. Read the guide 1st before you start and you shouldn't have any problems if you follow it step by step. Start out simple with no editing and work your way up.

The important thing is to get you making a backup first.

 

OK this is crue guys girlfreind he phoned me from work, and asked if I could do this for him. So i used DVD shrink, followed the stpes and it encoded the DVD, then opend DVD Decrypter the source at the top says C:\453454545.ISO. In destination it says [1:0:0] NU DVDRW DDW-081 (D

and under the write icon (the one with the Cd and burner) it says Device not ready (medium not present)


whats should I do?

 

You don't have a blank DVD disc in the burner. CD will not work. I'll be gone for the football playoffs, be back after.

 

OK I figure thats it just these shitty Memorex cd's. I head to futureshop later today thanks for all your help

 

I can't stress how important quality media is in DVD backup. I can't count the people whose problems I have solved just by changing their media.

It's not just a quality issue as was the mindset in CD burning, or VHS, etc. It is the fact of a burn actually playing or playing properly. Bad or inconsistent media causes jumping, skipping, freezing, and not playing at all.

I mention inconsistent because a lot of media will use different manufacturers and thus different batches will vary in quality even though you're buying the same brand. By using quality media you also eliminate media as a possibility when you do encounter a problem with burning DVD's.

Memorex is among the worst for this. You can get good quality media for under .50 each, it doesn't have to be expensive. Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, Ritek, Ricoh are great. TDK, Maxell, anything manufactured by MCC will also work.

Make sure you get DVD's NOT CD's.

 

If you don't mind me butting in, I have read in almost every problem area about the quality of media being important. I don't doubt this at all. However, I bought memorex before I learned how to copy or create DVD's.

I haven't had any problems yet, but the real kicker was when I first started I couldn't make a dvd for the life of me.

It was all because the source DVD (Yes even from the video store) was crappy. I learned this when I tried to play the source DVD in my home player. What crappy luck.

Then, I'm burning DVD's like a madman, and all of a sudden everything crapped out again. I was puliing my freaking hair out.

So I got on AD, looked around, and saw a thread about cleaning DVD Roms and burners. Well Since I had never cleaned my burner or ROM drive since I bought them over a year ago, I thought it prudent to try a ceaner kit.

Bing the F*** O! I'm a happy camper again. Since I use my laptop all day, I have to clean it about once a week. You don't need any chemical solution, just a disc with those little brushes that clean the optical heads. They run 2-5 bucks.

Just my .02 Also, even though my memorex DVD's work fine now, based on what I read, I fully expect them to last no longer than 1 year. There goes my collection.

Oh, well, I'm almost out; I WILL buy the better quality media next time. It just rules out one of a million things that could be going wrong. And it may be the only thing going wrong in a million cases.

Nihilator.

 

Nihilator,

When it's working, don't bust it.

Memorex in spindles of 25 are made by RICOH and in fact are quite good. A few spindles of 50 and fewer yet of 100 are made by Ritek BUT the other 90% are made by CRC and while we do not and will not ever say that you will have trouble . . . What we do say is that many, many, many problems have been solved by changing media. (Yep, you did see correctly - there were in fact 3X "manys" there. We've seen a ton "O" problems.

I am saying that using about 40% of Memorex along with other no-name, el cheapo media has resulted in my losing approx 55 discs (out of approx 350 - 400 discs total) that have gone "Belly up." I'm sorry BUT that is a hell of a lously percentage - I have talked to other pple who have suffered the same fate and I'm just passing it along . . .

This articale ? I found it recently - and Yes, I was supprised and pleased that I wasn't going crazy and that my suspesions had some validlity -

This article was written about CD discs but DVD discs are exactly the same. I was miss-informed and this opened my eyes. Perhaps you'll find it as important as I did.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=513486

Cheers,

Pete

 

No, I did not read that article, it costs 1 Pound and the US dollar is too weak right now to invest a buck

Say, How do you know who makes the memorex's? Is it in that article? I bought a spindle of 50, (DVD-R) all it says on it is www.memorex.com. It may be on the plastic spindle case, but for somereason I ripped that out.

Any ways to confuse you even more, I have 5 Fuji -RW's and they are supposed to be good I guess? I had problems with those, but still being a newbie, I think it has something to do with Nero, or some other burning app that leaves it's scent on the disc to let other programs know "this is my territory." It's nothing different than a dog peeing on a tree. Know what I mean? This stuff is all too fun and confusing and time consuming, but I have about 25 backed up DVD's that are perfectly clear with no distortion skips, pic quality is excellent. Just don't know how long they will last.

I'm off topic
Pete, but could you direct me to your opinion of the best guide for making DVD's from 30 or so different mpg's? The files are fine, Nero burns it and itr craps out. I tried to use the add files from DVD scrink and then was going to use DVddecryptor, (because your guide was so helpful I could literally back up a DVD with my eyes closed) the open files button would not recognize the mpg's as "valid video files". I tried tpmgp or whatever it was called, but that was a bit too complicated for me.

I think Nero is messing everything up, seriously. It's just like easycd, it WANTS YOUR BURNER.

 

No1.-if you have Roxio on your PC, that's what is causing problems with Nero. Roxio hates Nero and is known for conflicting with all kinds of DVD software, but especially Nero. Uninstall Roxio if you want to use Nero. Completely, it leaves remnants in the registry which can cause problems too. Use Roxio zapper tool.

No.2-If you have Nero InCD installed, get rid of it. It also will cause conflict. It's packet writing software and you don't need it.

No.3- Download and install Dvdinfopro. It will tell you who your media manufacturer is, plus it has a great many other uses. I keep it on my desktop for easy access. The free version is all you need.

Programs I like, Intervideo DvdCopy 3-it's fast, and it's good, actually quality is excellent, even for compression over 40%. Also easy to use. It needs a ripper like AnyDvd or Decrypter.

DvdRebuilder and CCE basic-one of the best compression programs on the market. Setup is a little daunting, but operation is easy. Rebuilder is free, CCE Basic costs 58.00. Use decrypter to rip.

I'm a Nero fan also. Ultra 6 is a complete audio and video package along with useful programs like CD and DVD cover design, PC backup, Toolkit, etc. Recode needs a ripper also, but does the rest itself. NVE 3 is one of the best file converters, plus custom menu authoring, and burns to DVD all in one app. There is nothing wrong with Nero, I use it all the time. People are too quick to blame the software for their failure no matter what it is. There are so many other variables. Your PC and hardware, software conflict, media, not to mention operator error. Which is probably the biggest contributor to failed burns. These are just a few.

Best freeware-Shrink 3.2 and DvdDecrypter. Hands down.

 

Well I knew of Roxio's "proprietory" nature, (probably the reason I was getting "drive not locked for exclusive use") so I used the zapper program to get rid of some registry entries. I also upgraded to NV 3 and for some reason I have a bunch of chapters that look real cool, however I did not want them. Oh well, A "newbie moment" (kinda like a "senior moment" ...)

I also dumped the -RW an am currently burning to a memorex dvd-R at X4.

33 mpg files, so it's going to take awhile to see how it comes out.

One thing about Nero, when burning to the HDD, this seems like a waste. Once you go from HDD to Your burner, it recodes everything again, so in essence, there is no advantage to writing to your HDD, unless some other burning program can recognize what Nero did with the 33 files. But if Nero recodes it all over again, why wouldn't any other burning app.?

Thanks people, I will return later with the bad news. Remember. Murphy was an optimist.

 

I don't write to the HD unless I'm trying to solve a problem and I need to narrow it down to which side the problem is occuring. The software side, or the burn side. Or, if I'm doing some testing. Otherwise, I write directly to disc.

 

Nihilator,

Perhaps next time you won't "Know all about" something - If you don't mind learning I'll teach you something now -

As for your questions on discs, my "Big" friend has already given you the proggy to download -

As for your other questions -

I know you'd want to find it yourself sooo rather than give it to you, I'll try to help you around our rather confusing little known "Search" feature.

Here at AfterDawn we have a little known, super neat tool called a "Search" engine. It's loaded with stuff that covers your question - Here, I'll show you how to use it -
Now the following may seem confusing so stick with me, ~ ~> There is a box at the top of each and every page that is empty and has by it the word "Search." By typing in a request, in your case, "Mpg to DVD" - It should give you some "Hit's" from "Goggle" for helpful programs designed to aid you with the work you're trying to do. Under that, you'll see different threads throughout our forum that may answer in greater detail any questions that you may have dealing with your project. Answers to questions from people who are doing the same thing as you or something very similar. You'll find lots you can use, some stuff you cannot :<(- Take a lQQk around and see if something applies or not.
You with me up till now ? Good ! Now, after you've arrived at that page, if you can't find what you want (and that's unlikely), then, under the word "Forum" and "Forum Search," in some very small print, you'll see "Search options" then "Site-wide search" in really tiny print. Heh, heh, Ya still with me ? Anyway, by "clicking" on that "Site-wide search", you'll get a whole ton of Guides and related information about your topic, " Mpg to DVD". It requires a question and some mouse clicks on your part but now that you know where things are, it s/b pretty easy to do and we have a lot of information for you

Browse on through that and once you've begun using a guide, and you've become stuck, just stop on back and we'll try to help you over whatever "bump" in the road you've hit or are having trouble with.] -

There you go . . .

Perhaps the next time you have a question, search can help you there - It answers about everything I ask it . .

Enjoy -

Pete