Key 2 getting DVD-/+R/RW’s 2 play on stand alone DVD players/recorders/not

[wetcamelfood]

Hi, hope you can help, I‘ve tried support at TVC, Ulead, etc. with no luck:

I have some PAL/Region 2 DVD’s that aren’t available as NTSC Region 1 DVD’s so I can’t rebuy them as region 1/NTSC discs.

So I ripped the contents through Decrypter as a PAL VOB file then converted it to a “NTSC DVD mpeg Normal (1.7 hour DVD)” file via Total Video Converter.

When I do this with movies that are under 2 hours, no problem, I can then burn the NTSC mpeg I created to a DVD-/+R and play them on my stand alone DVD players/recorders that are hooked to my TV.

However, these PAL/Region 2 DVD’s I just got have movies on them that are over 2 hours long and when I go through this process with programs this long, ULead says I can’t burn it because the files are too big (even then, just noticed some of them are only 110 minutes long but still deemed too big I guess) (even though I change the Project Settings in Ulead DMF3 (I must use this for burning since it’s the only burning software I could find that would accept the low resolution I must use on my ancient monitor, am saving for a newer one, but until then…) under “Change MPEG Settings” to “Long Play Approx. 180 min per DVD”.

So when I try to copy/shrink the mpeg with Total Video Converter under “NTSC DVD mpeg Lower Quality (4 hours DVD), I can then burn the movie to the DVD+/-R in ULead but then the disc won’t play on my stand alone DVD players/recorders that are hooked to my TV, just on my PC drives.

So what do I need to do to make it be so I can burn movies like this on to a disc that I can play on my stand alone players/recorders?

I know I can split the movie over 2 discs, but there's nothing lamer than that, I'd have done VCD's for a lot less effort if I wanted to go that route but I chose to invest in DVD for the sole reason of not having to split when you don't have to.

I do have “exact copy” software too like 1 Click DVD Copy etc. but of course it’s of no use when wanting to convert the copy you wish to make to a diff region/signal.

I know I could get a multi region DVD player but I want to show these movies to my friends and family and they want to see them at their leisure at their homes and they wouldn’t bother taking a multi region player I would buy and hook it to their TV’s to watch these movies and of course I can’t expect them to buy one to do it. It’d just be easiest if I could find out from you how to get over this hurdle so they can just watch them where they want when they want.

Also, I’m finding my stand alone players will now only play about 50% of my DVD-/+RW’s and they used to play all of them and I’ve been recording them all the same way since the beginning (& I have to use the RW‘s so I can add clips to them that I come across without reburing permanent discs until an RW is filled up, and as I say I‘ve been able to watch RW‘s on those at different stages in their contents length over the years without problems, but now, even though no change in how I‘ve been doing things…). Why do you think this is?

I’m just worried about putting discs with “shrunk” files on them in the stand alones now as I’ve had a few new stand alone players/recorders that wouldn’t eject the disc after putting it in so I had to remove the top casing to manually take the disc out after unplugging etc. to salvage it for the footage and then have to buy new players/records as after those instances occurred & I put the covers back on and replugged etc. they either wouldn’t play/record anything at all anymore or only play pre recorded DVD videos (which isn’t of use when you pay more for a recorder and you can get a “player only” for a lot less money if that was my interest but as discussed above, it’s not).

So let me know when you can what I need to do to get back to the good old days and master this shrinking thing (and yes, I‘m a novice as I‘ve tried DVD Shrink etc. with no luck).

Thanks in advance for your help on this matter.

[Baldrick]

I would use ConvertXtoDVD to convert to to NTSC directly from the PAL DVD. Not the best pal to ntsc but the easiest.

[lordsmurf]

Stop converting. Just copy the disc. Rip it with something that also strips region coding (try DVD Decrypter first). Make a new copy. Shrink or don't shrink, your choice. DVD+R DL media (with a good drive that bitsets to DVD-ROM already, like a Pioneer), or use DVD-R (not DVD+R). Most NTSC players do play PAL. PAL/NTSC and region is not the same concept. If that fails, buy a cheap $25-30 DVD player from Walmart, as those Chinese players almost always play PAL.

Converting takes time, and will never look as good as leaving it as is.

"my stand alone players will now only play about 50% of my DVD-/+RW’s and they used to play all of them"

DVD players -- or more specifically, the lasers -- die after just a few years (or after so many hours of play time). Discs last, players don't. A great many "my disc died" complaints are due to aged lasers, not the disc itself.

Always use good media! See www.nomorecoasters.com

[wetcamelfood]

Shrink or don't shrink, your choice. DVD+R DL media (with a good drive that bitsets to DVD-ROM already, like a Pioneer), or use DVD-R (not DVD+R).

The thing with this is that whether I have a disc inserted (even if DL) or not, ULead DMF3 still tells me it's too long (via the blue/yellow/red bar at the bottom (it's ithe red, will burn if only goes to the yellow, but not red).

Thanks for all the other suggestions by the two of you (which I'll definietly look in to) but my main thing is shrinking it to get it on the disc and being able to play it on a stand alone player/recorder so any help on that would be great.

[Krispy Kritter]

Shrink or don't shrink, your choice. DVD+R DL media (with a good drive that bitsets to DVD-ROM already, like a Pioneer), or use DVD-R (not DVD+R).

The thing with this is that whether I have a disc inserted (even if DL) or not, ULead DMF3 still tells me it's too long (via the blue/yellow/red bar at the bottom (it's ithe red, will burn if only goes to the yellow, but not red).

Thanks for all the other suggestions by the two of you (which I'll definietly look in to) but my main thing is shrinking it to get it on the disc and being able to play it on a stand alone player/recorder so any help on that would be great.

Don't use Ulead as lordsmurf already stated. RIP with DVDFabdecrypter, open in DVDShrink (remove region code and shrink to fit a SL disc if needed), and then burn. There is no reason to reencode the video...it takes a lot more time and reduces the quality. Only reencode if the steps outlined by lordsmurf don't work in your player(s).