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Copying a DVD help

B

Blink7551

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
45
0
Hey guys,

I have a DVD that I want to burn onto a blank DVD WITH MENUS. I know I can rip the contents using Handbrake and then use VisualHub or Toast to convert to DVD, but that doesn't give me menus.

Is there any way to do this? What is the most reliable? (Please offer a free solution). Thanks
 
Alright. So I just got Mac The Ripper. The dvd I put in is 6.64 GB . My blank DVD isnt that big, obviously. I want menus. I want everything on the disc. Any solutions?
 
Okay, here is what you do. As stated above, Mac the Ripper will rip a DVD with folders and all. What you want to do now is make a functionally identical DVD video, right?

Well, what you need to do is get a copy of DVD Imager by Laine D. Lee. Here's the introduction from the Help file:

Description

DVD Imager is a user friendly interface for creating Video DVD disk images that hides the complexities of Jörg Schilling's mkisofs tool.

IMPORTANT: DVD Imager doesn't have the ability to defeat commercial DVD video copy protection methods, so it can't be used to copy commercial DVDs.

After creating the disk image, you use either Disk Copy or Disk Utility to burn the disk image to a DVD-R or DVD-RW to create a Video DVD that you can give away. You can also copy the disk image to another computer (even a PC) to burn the disk image.

DVD Imager can create a Video DVD disk image using one of these two methods:
1. a VIDEO_TS folder (created using iDVD, copied from an iDVD created Video DVD, etc)
2. the contents of DVD including the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS, and additional files and folders (created using iDVD, a Video DVD created using iDVD, etc)
Click to expand...
Once you make the relevant folders into a DVD video image you can use Disk Utility which is bundled with OS X. It's all free.

But what about images greater than 4.7GB? Easy: dual-layer DVD writer. They're cheap now.

Even though they are cheap, it would be nice if OS X had DVD Shrink (PC only ATM). Still, dual-layer drives are inexpensive enough not to worry about this too much.

EDIT: I haven't yet tested using DVD Imager with a DL burner yet. I assume there won't be any problems. If you want I can do a test for you (just give me a day or so).
 
Ok so here is my next problem. I ripped the DVD with Mac the Ripper. The rip is successful and plays in my DVD Player app on my computer. It's 6.65 GB which means I need to compress it. I have DVD2OneX 2 and Toast Titanium (newest version). I've heard burning with Toast is ideal, even though DVD2OneX 2 can also burn. I couldn't figure out how to export a Video TS from DVD2OneX 2, so I created a .img file that was 4.34GB and burned that with DVD2OneX 2. The DVD plays fine in the DVD player (menus and all), but select scenes that include fire, or bright lights seem to pixelate and glow way more than normal. Anyone know a solution to this problem? Anyone know how I can export a Video TS from DVD2OneX 2 so I can burn it as a UDF in Toast Titanium? Thanks for the help.
 
"The DVD plays fine in the DVD player (menus and all), but select scenes that include fire, or bright lights seem to pixelate and glow way more than normal. Anyone know a solution to this problem?"

Sounds like compression artifacts... the solution is to not compress as much (as in use the 6.65GB file on a dual layer DVD) or use a very high dollar compression tool.

In the end, there's no free lunch... :(
 
Blink7551 said:
The DVD plays fine in the DVD player (menus and all), but select scenes that include fire, or bright lights seem to pixelate and glow way more than normal. Anyone know a solution to this problem?
Click to expand...

That is normal. You shrunk a 6.65GB movie down to 4.3GB, this creates blocking and pixelation. What program did you use to shrink the DVD, Toast?
 
Exman said:
That is normal. You shrunk a 6.65GB movie down to 4.3GB, this creates blocking and pixelation. What program did you use to shrink the DVD, Toast?
Click to expand...

I used DVD2OneX 2. Any way to get around these artifacts?
 
Exman said:
The only way is to make a 1:1 copy of the disc, i.e copy it onto a dual layer.

There is a method which will give you near original quality, but this involves using Windows and a couple other great programs, namely DVD Rebuilder with Avisynth and HCEncoder or Cinema Craft Encoder. See here.
http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?forumid=75
Click to expand...

The Cinema Craft encoder is now available for Mac but is spendy (I think $750 a copy.) Staggeringly good results. They say it runs faster than real time on a MacPro... :)
 
RatVega said:
The Cinema Craft encoder is now available for Mac but is spendy (I think $750 a copy.) Staggeringly good results. They say it runs faster than real time on a MacPro... :)
Click to expand...

$750, is that the SP2 version? Because the SP2 version is only a few bucks shy of $2k. :rolleyes:
http://www.visiblelight.com/cinemacraft/

CCE is the fastest and the most brilliant, best quality mpeg2 encoder I know of. However, one major flaw on the Windows version is no support for Quadcore or 8-core. It still runs mighty fast on a dualcore.

I think it is only a Final Cut plugin on Macs too. You cannot use it to copy DVD's as you can with DVD Rebuilder (in Windows). However, HCEnc is freeware, some people even say, the quality is nearly as good or on par with CCE. I've used HCEnc, it is a very good encoder, better than the expensive commercial offerings of Edius Procoder and Mainconcept's (Adobe Premier) mpeg2 encoder. I have yet to compare it to Final Cut Pro's Compressor engine, but I might do that soon.
 
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