Making a backup copy/rip of your DVD

[NecroJoe]

Originally Posted by parvenu74

This may seem like a dumb or off-topic question, but if I live in the middle of the United States, how would I go about getting legal DVD of the Top Gear series, including the back catalog? I looked on Amazon.com's UK site and all they seem to be carrying are the "Best Of" DVD's. I want to get the everything from Season 1 up to date and I would like to do it legally if that's a possibility.

Unfortuantely, it doesn't exist.

[Thraxes]

Can add this to your guide, I actually prefer using this over Gordian-Knot because it is 100% multithreaded and incredibly fast on modern multicore CPUs: Handbrake (for Windows and Mac)

http://handbrake.m0k.org/
Tutorial & General Info: http://handbrake.m0k.org/trac/wiki
Requirements: Just Handbrake and a source (DVD or locally stored VOB files)...

Supports XVID and H264 video compression with subtitles, deinterlacing etc... . Audio can be two AC3, MP3 or AAC tracks. Container formats can be AVI, MKV and MP4.

It is very fast as I already mentioned. A 1:20 DVD takes about 45-50 minutes to encode in XVID with 2Pass and 2 MP3 audio tracks on a CoreDuo 2.16 laptop (average encode speed was 50FPS with peaks at 60FPS - fast enough?)

[mads]

downloaded the software suggested here but i cant figure out what to do. Basicly i want to rip some of my dvds in x264 .mkv in full or 768x432/576x432 resolution and the best possible quality. i just started to get interested in this stuff and i know extremely little about how to, anyone know of good easy to read guides(ripping for dummies), or easy software?

Edit: Gotta love handbrake, works like a charm ones you read up a little on their website!

[Viper007Bond]

I've heard good things about Handbrake, but I've yet to try it.

[argatoga]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

I've heard good things about Handbrake, but I've yet to try it.

I've used the mac version of Handbrake quite a bit, it is easy to use and does a good job.

[wlmmn]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

Well, of course DVD Shrink reduces the quality, that's the point of the software. Even at 60% I've never received a complaint about the quality...most people can't tell when watching the DVD on their old-ass CRT.

But hang on a minute...another post said that DVD Shrink makes a 1:1 copy of a DVD. If there's quality loss, it's not exactly 1:1 is it?

How do you make a true, lossless 1:1 copy of a DVD?

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by wlmmn

How do you make a true, lossless 1:1 copy of a DVD?

Use dual-layer DVD+R discs.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

Use dual-layer DVD+R discs.

Which requires a special burner and the discs are f'ing expensive.

Simply put, best to strip out previews, some menus, etc. and then lower the bitrate on the main movie until it fits.

[IceBone]

Not to mention there are often plenty of secondary audio tracks, which you simply don't need. English 5.1 (and maybe sometimes stereo commentary) are all you need. Subtitles don't make much of a difference, but if you're 20 mbs or so short, it just might.

[chilicoke]

There's no need for dual-layer DVD+Rs. Like Viper said, strip out everything except for the default audio track and subtitle. Make sure you enable both features in DVD Shrink's "Quality Settings" tab. (both settings will increase the overall back-up time, Ripping to HDD first would greatly speed things up)

Video quality stays top notch with both quality settings enabled, I have many movies that were compressed down to 68-70% quality, yet they still look great on my PS3 + 60" SXRD.

[NecroJoe]

I picked up about 75 DL dvd's at Office Depot last week. $60 for 75. Not bad for DL, name-brand. I'll spend under-a-buck- to make a lossless perfect copy of a DVD. 80 cents-a-disc is as much as I've paid for CD's only a few years ago.

When copying onto a single layer DVD, I'll often times crank the quality slider all the way down to 50% on the menus and special features. If there are a lot of special features, it can give you a significantly higher quality on the main movie.

I have a in-mind flow-chart for making the decision on how to burn.

1) Can I get the Main movie % above 75 by lowering the quality of the features or menus?
Yes: Burn onto a single layer
No: Proceed to step 2.

2) Decide: Do I want the special features? Are they that good, or worth keeping?
No: Copy "Main Movie" only.
Yes: Copy on Dual Layer.

Movies who's only special features are Director Commentary, or "Sneak Preview Trailers" get stripped to the main movie. Rocky Horror Picture Show, however, gets burned onto dual....(say it...say it)...layered. (thank you)

[Viper007Bond]

Honestly, I don't even deal with DVDs really anymore.

I mostly stick to 4.3GB (so it fits on a single layer DVD-R) 720p versions of a Blu-Ray rip. Much better quality, fits on a cheap DVD, etc. It'll only play on my PC, but I can deal with that.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Simply put, best to strip out previews, some menus, etc. and then lower the bitrate on the main movie until it fits.

Originally Posted by IceBone

Not to mention there are often plenty of secondary audio tracks, which you simply don't need. English 5.1 (and maybe sometimes stereo commentary) are all you need. Subtitles don't make much of a difference, but if you're 20 mbs or so short, it just might.

Originally Posted by chilicoke

There's no need for dual-layer DVD+Rs. Like Viper said, strip out everything except for the default audio track and subtitle. Make sure you enable both features in DVD Shrink's "Quality Settings" tab. (both settings will increase the overall back-up time, Ripping to HDD first would greatly speed things up)

Video quality stays top notch with both quality settings enabled, I have many movies that were compressed down to 68-70% quality, yet they still look great on my PS3 + 60" SXRD.

I agree with all of you, but he asked how to make 1:1 lossless copies. You need to use a dual-layer disc unless the movie is really old and was pressed on a single-layer disc.

[db2450]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

I agree with all of you, but he asked how to make 1:1 lossless copies. You need to use a dual-layer disc unless the movie is really old and was pressed on a single-layer disc.

The only closest thing to that would be to use something like DVD Rebuilder with CCE (Cinema Craft Encoder) and set it on 4-5 pass encoding. If you are on Vista, CCE doesn't work anymore, I tested with a trial.
I use Quenc with 10 passes now and the only reason I would go back to DVD Shrink is to get encoding done faster.

[avanti]

Can anyone recommend a good alternative to nero, I have used it for years without problems but now its giving me a hard time saying "illegal disk" and "could not perform start of disc at once". have tried to un/re install it.

[db2450]

Originally Posted by avanti

Can anyone recommend a good alternative to nero, I have used it for years without problems but now its giving me a hard time saying "illegal disk" and "could not perform start of disc at once". have tried to un/re install it.

It seems like you want a One-Click solution.
You could try one of DVD Fab's products: http://www.dvdfab.com/fab-compare.htm I reccomend Platinum, in case you ever want to Rip a DVD to a different format, like h264 or XviD.
Both do take a few minutes to get used to, but as long as you use the "Full Disc" tab, you should have no problems.


If you don't need a One-Click solution, I would reccomend DVD Decrypter and DVD-RB, with the QuEnc "2-pass. You will immediatly see the increase in quality from any one click solution, including Nero and DVDFab.

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

Originally Posted by parvenu74

This may seem like a dumb or off-topic question, but if I live in the middle of the United States, how would I go about getting legal DVD of the Top Gear series, including the back catalog? I looked on Amazon.com's UK site and all they seem to be carrying are the "Best Of" DVD's. I want to get the everything from Season 1 up to date and I would like to do it legally if that's a possibility.

Unfortuanately, BBC never released any sets for TG.
I have had to tape or torrent them. Don't ask me why, TG is "hot" property and DVD collections would probably sell like little else, but sadly nothing yet

[matt2000]

Originally Posted by freeferrarisdonotexist

Unfortuanately, BBC never released any sets for TG.
I have had to tape or torrent them. Don't ask me why, TG is "hot" property and DVD collections would probably sell like little else, but sadly nothing yet

It's because the BBC don't want the trouble of changing all of the music.

[zaybxcwd12]

Originally Posted by wlmmn

But hang on a minute...another post said that DVD Shrink makes a 1:1 copy of a DVD. If there's quality loss, it's not exactly 1:1 is it?

How do you make a true, lossless 1:1 copy of a DVD?

I find the quality differnce using shrink to be acceptable. no it is not 1:1 but the price difference is substantal as viper pointed out. Like Viper I tend not to use DVD's anymore because a AVI played though a 360 is perfectly aderquite for my needs and it is a much easier format to deal with, no disk means no disk protection and no cleaning, you know b4 you start watching you are going to get a "clean" viewing without stoppages or jumps, perfect. I do however still use both DVD 5's and 9's and as stated again by Viper the price difference is huge. I will only use a media I am accustomed to. Now picked up 50 DVD-R 5's for £10, and (I know I could by cheaper but decide not to) 10 DVD+DLR's for (wait for it) 10 for £15.

[Dr_Grip]

Originally Posted by parvenu74

This may seem like a dumb or off-topic question, but if I live in the middle of the United States, how would I go about getting legal DVD of the Top Gear series, including the back catalog? I looked on Amazon.com's UK site and all they seem to be carrying are the "Best Of" DVD's. I want to get the everything from Season 1 up to date and I would like to do it legally if that's a possibility.

*BUMP*
Straying even further off topic: The illegality of downloading TV rips is questionable, afaik there is no final legal descision on their status yet (That's why there are torrent links only to TV shows, not to Clarkson DVDs and the like on this very site). DVD rips (including those of TV shows) and any ways to get movies onto the internet before their DVD release (Camrip, Telecine, screener, you name it...) are clearly illegal and it's hard to argue for their legitimacy, too.
But if you record a TV show and give it to a friend, who gives it to a friend, who gives it to a friend and so on, it's clearly fair use. This never was a questioned by the TV stations as long as VHS was the primary distribution media, cause every copy of a VHS loses quality in relation to the original.
With DVDs and Harddisks the quality stays the same and instead of trading tapes you exchange files over the internet, and all of sudden it's piracy? I don't think so, and afaik no Network has ever tried to press charges in such a case.

Of course we are only talking about non-commercial copies of free-tv shows here. Premium cable and pay per view are clearly illegal, as is making money off said copies.