Hello everyone. I'm brand new to these forums, so I hope that I am posting this in the right place and that this question hasn't been brought up a million times. If so, I apologize in advance. Basically what I am wondering is quite simple... Is it possible to burn an entire DVD (1 sided, not a double disc), including menus and bonus features, etc... Onto a standard DVD-5 disc or other standard media (Excluding 2 sided discs, obviously a 1 sided could be split onto a 2)? As I understand it, DVDs are already heavily compressed, correct? So as to fit all the video onto the DVD disc. When a DVD is copyprotected though, one has to decrypt the information and then reburn the videos back onto a DVD, compressing all of the information yet again (otherwise it wont fit on a DVD-5 disc). This results in, as you all well know, a certain amount of quality loss. Sometimes it is not an issue, but often one has to remove menus, bonus features, additional language tracks, etc... In order to fit the main film onto a DVD with tolerable quality. I backup every DVD that I purchase, but I want to back them up with the same quality! I have been able to backup non copyprotected DVDs entirely with no quality loss, so I know its possible... But how do I do so with a copyprotected DVD? Am I missing something here? Do I need a different type of DVD-R? Do I need to purchase a new program to do this? Is there some secret I am missing? Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Most movie DVD's that you buy are infact DUAL layer. To backup the files without any loss at all, your going to need dual layer blanks. Makes sense...yes? As dual layer discs are expensive compared to single layer discs, most people choose the DVD-5 and NOT the DVD-9. Essentially it boils down to copying a DUAL layer (DVD-9) to a single layer disc (DVD-5), and as you may appreciate there has to be compromises made. To gain sufficient viewing quality, it's often necessary to go without certain items (as you mention) to achieve this goal. To keep all data, there has to be heavy compression, and to this, most people say no. As a rule of thumb, back up the movie only. If you really want the animated menu or other specific items, then disregard other languages, audio files that aren't required etc. As for software that's needed, tell us what you have so we can reccommend others appropriately. Cheers.
Thanks Onya, you gave me exactly the info I needed! I think what I will do is go out and purchase some DVD-9 discs for those instances where I really want 100% of the entire thing backed up, and the rest of the time I will just use DVD-5, compressing the info. As for the software I currently use, I typically use DVD Shrink, DVD Dycrypter, and Nero. I also have Alcohol 120% that I sometimes use instead of Nero. Once again, thanks for your info!
Your most welcome. Try HERE for other software AND guides. (Thanks as always to "the team") On a personal note, you really can't go past SLYSOFT and it's products, they are worth the outlay. PS: Keep all software you currently have, and use Alcohol 120% as much as you can. Build your arsenal bit by bit and there should be nothing you can't accomplish.
If you use DVDshrink in combination with the advanced options, like Deep analysis & Adaptive Motion correction you will often find that it is difficult picking the reduced copy from the original. Sure, you'll see artefacts if you look for them but in general..... DVD9 ( or DVD+/-R DL) are not only expensive but unreliable as well. There are a lot of players that will just not read them at all, and you cannot get RW versions. If in doubt about the artefacts of compressing to single layer, try the process out first to an RW disc. Use Shrink to build an image on the HDD, and write the image to an RW. If it looks good, amke a real one.
