Burn DVD

Can't use handbrake. Try to get MactheRipper or DVDBackup.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/91068/

heres a new one from Roxio, and its pretty cheap too. Haven't used it though. Roxio Popcorn. other wise, i have used MacTheRipper then DVD2OneX and haven't had any problems before.

I'm a bit confused as to what you're doing that will take another 3 hours to go on copying on a new iMac G5 - it shouldn't take anything near that time to copy it from the DVD.

I would agree that Mac The Ripper is what you need to rip it - what is preventing you from getting it from here? Again, on a new iMac, it should take much less than the total running time of the DVD to rip it.

For burning to a DVD, I strongly recommend Toast (either 5 or 6). It works like a dream, and 5 is pretty cheap when you can find it. As mentioned above, it looks like Popcorn has Toast tech (same company), so I'd assume it also works very well. And it includes compression, etc. For less money. If you'll be doing much of this, the $50 will be well spent.

brobson said:

That sounds good but the movies are purchased and I want to back them up and so Popcorn won't copy them because of encoding.

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MacTheRipper and Toast, used together, will do this (MacTheRipper converts to an "open" VIDEO_TS folder, and Toast will burn that folder to a DVD).

brobson said:

"Rather than go through all those complicated steps...

What I would do, is run the included audio/video cable out of my iBook and into a standalone DVD recorder. Then I'd play the videos in full screen and just record them in real time.

...But that's just me."

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No. Get MacTheRipper. Get the VIDEO_TS folder ready, then you can do the above step if you want (use DVD Player, and open the VIDEO_TS folder from the appropriate DVD Player menu choice - it's something like "Open VIDEO_TS", but I'm on a PC at work now and don't remember).

But Toast is a nice app and works fine.

Another nifty MacTheRipper feature is the ability to rip only the feature presentation - no menus, etc., just the movie - which is a much smaller file, is what you care about 95% of the time, and almost always fits onto a DVD without further compression.

brobson said:

I DON'T KNOW WHY I CAN'T DOWNLOAD IT!!!
I can download everything else. When I click on it, it just has characters across the page. I guess the site's down.

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Try right-clicking (or control-clicking) on the link (it goes directly to a .dmg file) and selecting the "Save" feature from there. Don't click on the link directly. For some reason, Safari's showing the dmg contents on your screen. (??)

If Safari has been messed up, you might also want to consider downloading FireFox until you can get Safari straightened out.

brobson said:

Will Toast convert this MPEG4 to a DVD?

I think I must've selected 700 MB instead of the Custom (kpbs)
if that makes any sense.
Thanks,
Brenda

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I'm not sure (again, sorry, at work at a PC and don't have Toast handy and haven't burned an MPEG4 with it - only VIDEO_TS folders).

However, I'm certain that a MacTheRipper-created VIDEO_TS folder will (a) play via DVD Player on your Mac, and (b) burn to DVD via Toast.

brobson said:

I couldn't download it in AOL, or IE but Safari worked. It never occured to me to try. Ahhh.
Oh well.

I am going to get toast.


Brenda

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If you plan on getting a new DVD burner in the near future (probably not), I HIGHLY recommend getting the LaCie dual-layer 16x d2 burner (as seen at the Apple Store), as it comes with Toast 6 Titanium and costs $199. So, basically, you get a separate burner for $120 or so over the cost of Toast itself. And the burner can handle 8.5GB DVDs when burning, so you could copy DVDs of larger movies without any recompression or data loss. But it also works like a dream with 4.7 GB DVDs. I got one last week and love it.

jsw said:

If you plan on getting a new DVD burner in the near future (probably not), I HIGHLY recommend getting the LaCie dual-layer 16x d2 burner (as seen at the Apple Store), as it comes with Toast 6 Titanium and costs $199. So, basically, you get a separate burner for $120 or so over the cost of Toast itself. And the burner can handle 8.5GB DVDs when burning, so you could copy DVDs of larger movies without any recompression or data loss. But it also works like a dream with 4.7 GB DVDs. I got one last week and love it.

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Will this work with an iMac G5 and iDVD? Although, I suppose that doesn't matter since you now have Toast.

brobson said:

I can't imagine needing anymore than this computer can do.

I am looking at Toast on ebay and they have a Roxio Toast 6 Lite
Is that the one? Because there's also a Toast Titanium for $65.
One thread on here suggested not getting toast because IDVD can do it.
Thoughts?

Brenda http://search-desc.ebay.com/toast_A...Z1QQsotextsearchedZ2QQsotrtypeZ1QQsotrvalueZ1

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iDVD can't burn a copied DVDs as far as I know. It can - again, as far as I know - only burn iMovie DVDs, etc, not copies of commercial DVDs.

I'd look at Roxio's site to see what Toast 6 Lite leaves out - I can only verify that Toast 6 Titanium works flawlessly, but that doesn't mean that Lite doesn't.

brobson said:

So a regular 135 minute movie won't work fine on a DVD+R because they are designed for 120 min?
Do larger DVDs exist?
I guess maybe I should investigate this burner, I don't see it on the Apple Store page though.
SOrry to be such a bother,
Brenda

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Go to the Apple Store and search for "LaCie DVD" - it's the only one that comes up.

What matters as far as burning a DVD isn't the movie time, it's the size of the VIDEO_TS folder (which is based on run time and compression settings). If it's 4.3GB or less (no, strangely, not 4.7 GB or less, but around 4.3 GB or less), it'll burn. If not, something like Popcorn or DVDRecom...something or other (again, at work, forget the program, could look it up at home in an hour or two) will need to be used to recompress it - which takes time, but produces good results.

Also, as mentioned, MacTheRipper can extract the feature only, which usually is small enough to fit onto one DVD - they often add extra features just so people can't copy onto standard DVDs.

I didn't mean to imply that you needed the LaCie, just that, if buying Toast Titanium, it's something to consider. Plus, Toast will let you copy from your iMac DVD to the external one to duplicate as many copies as you want, and the external burner could be connected to other computers. again, just a suggestion, not an implication that you need it!

brobson said:

In addition to copying movies I am wondering if I could somehow record VHS videos from my camcorder (not digital so I don't know how I'd do it) to Disk. That would certainly justify the $.

Brenda

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Sadly, no, not directly - you'd need an analog->digital converter, and those usually run $200 or more. It'd let you plug in any analog source (camcorder, VCR, etc.) and input the video directly.

Edit: not a recommendation, as I've never used it, but the Apple Store (search on "analog DV") has a Pinnacle converter ($199). You could use that and Toast to import from your camcorder (or VCR, etc.) to a file to burn onto a DVD. How much is that old video worth to you?

Also, the Elgato EyeTV USB lets you do the same thing - and watch TV on your Mac - although at a slight loss in quality as it's just USB1.1-based and so won't import the video perfectly (but it'll do a pretty good job of it).

brobson said:

I wonder why the Elgato is $329 at the Apple store and $149 refurbished at the maker's site. (reg. is $169) out of stock.

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Different models - the $329 one is the 200, which runs over Firewire and provides superior video quality. The $149/$169 one is the EyeTV USB, which has lower quality. I've had that one - the USB - for two years, and it works fine for regular watching purposes; although the quality isn't "perfect", it's fine.