Multi-Episode DVD to DVD-R

[Buttwidget]

I have seen some tutorials as to how to make a DVD video that is larger that 4.3 GB fit onto a DVD-R, but I have yet to see how to do this with a multi-episode DVD. As an example, I have a copy of Sex in the City on DVD and would like to make a backup of each of the DVDs so that if the kids get ahold of them I have a replacement. The problem is that each DVD has 6 episodes on it and is roughly 6.5 GB in totaly size. What I would like to do/think I need to do is to keep the existing menu and menu structure and just re-encode the episodes at a lower bitrate. So here's the questions that this line of thought creates for me:

1. Am I conceptualizing this correctly? Is this the right way to do this?

2. How the hell do I get the episodes into a format that I can re-encode them at a lower bitrate?

3. How do I keep the menu and allow it to still link to the various different episodes?

4. Is there anything else that I am overlooking?

Thanks for any help that you all can provide...


Buttwidget

[drewson99]

i think you can encode from the vobs in tmpgenc, i've tried it and had success.

Andy

-I'm not sure if they will work with the pre-existing menu after you have altered them, etc. What I did for this was just create a simple menu of my own with Ulead dvd factory (not as nice as the original, but I didn't want to getinto some of the deeper software needed to mess with the pre-existing stuff)

[AntnyMD]

Use a ripper to rip by episode. The Sex and the City series (1, 2 and 3 so far) are all encoded so that each episode is one chapter in length. You can fit 4 episodes per DVD-R without re-encoding, plus you can keep the Spanish audio track. You'll need to re-author your DVD-R; you will not be able to retain menus (which arent all that great anyway).

At a certain point, though, with these packages costing about $37 on amazon.com, backing up 18-24 episodes per season on DVD-R will cost you $20 - $30 in blank DVD-Rs. Thats bordering on hardly worth it.

[buckonine]

not sure about sex in the city, but i do know the sopranos and both being from HBO dvd i'm going to guess they are authored in the same fashion. you will probably have a VTS with PGC's equaling the number of episodes. you need to rip each pgc into it's own dir, and then encode each seperately. when you are done you can re-author them with scenarist and then merge back with the original ifo's and the rest of the disc, burn and enjoy

[Buttwidget]

you will probably have a VTS with PGC's equaling the number of episodes. you need to rip each pgc into it's own dir, and then encode each seperately. when you are done you can re-author them with scenarist and then merge back with the original ifo's and the rest of the disc, burn and enjoy

This makes it seem both easy and hard at the same time... I hate to sound like a dweeb, but the terms vts and pgc confuse me, what are they? I know there are vob files on the discs, I am assuming that I rip the vobs and then use something to strip out the info contained in them? Also, I don' t have scenarist, is there another program that I can use to re-author the re-encoded files with?

I have built several DVDs that work very well (including menus etc.), but I have never worked with an existing DVD or its files. I have always built and encoded my own content so far. That being said, I know how to do most of the required stuff (encoding, burning etc.) except when I actually deal with the files on an existing DVD. I hope that this makes sense.

I think that this might be a good opportunity for me to write a how-to based upon learning how to do this. At least it would be a good way to give back to the community based on the help that you all are giving to me... Being such a virgin at it may give me enough of a layman's view that I can put it in easy to understand language for other noobs. Thanks for all of the help so far...


Buttwidget

[buckonine]

VTS=Video Title Set - basically any group of VOB's and the corresponding IFO/BUP
PGC=ProGram Chain - a video stream with it's own title designation inside of a VOB

a VTS can contain tons of PGC's and to re-author correctly you have to make sure that each is seperate. i use dvd decrypter when ripping and if you rip in IFO mode you can rip just a PGC. after doing this you can then re-encode the PGC's and keep them seperate. then by correctly setting up your project you can have the final VOB's with the same setup as the original. i'm not sure what other authoring apps can do, i have always used scenarist and it's the only one i can really give advice about

[Buttwidget]

Do the PGCs consist of a bunch of MPEGs? If so can I just encode them with TMPGEnc, or do I have to convert them first? Or is there a different encoder that is used for PGCs?

Thanks for the great info so far...


Buttwidget

[buckonine]

roughly a PGC is an mpg, not a bunch of them. so not exactly, but you can chain together multiple mpg's and have them play in a certain series. it's not really how it works, but it'll give you an idea of the setup. if you open your IFO in ifoedit you can see how many PGC's are in each VTS and then you'll know what you're dealing with as far as re-authoring.

[Seir Cram]

buckonine.. when you say:

... use dvd decrypter when ripping and if you rip in IFO mode you can rip just a PGC. after doing this you can then re-encode the PGC's and keep them seperate. then by correctly setting up your project you can have the final VOB's with the same setup as the original...

Could you be more specific after using dvd decrypter via IFO mode?

What do you use to re-code the PGC's (and I assume, to different directories as well)? I.e., DVD Decrypter -> ? -> scenarist?

Thanks

[Vejita-sama]

You need to read some more info on the DVD file structure and format. Take a look at:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvd

This gives a breif outline of VIDEO_TS, VTS_xx, vobs, ifos, etc.

Here's a guide for making backup of a DVD-9 disc while keeping the original menus and extras:

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/maestro2.htm

This guide lists all the programs you need. Scenarist is a good program but I think fairly advanced, you might want to check out DVD Maestro instead. Guides for both can be found at:

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/scenarist.htm
http://www.doom9.org/mpg/maestro.htm

Here's the basic idea/outline:

You DVD will have a VIDEO_TS.IFO file. This file is 'the master table of contents' of the disc. Then there will be several VTS_XX files (where XX = some number from 01 -to- 99).

Some discs only have one video per VTS group, but others have PCG with multiple videos in each VTS_XX structure.

For a multiple eps DVD-9 disc you can either re-encode the eps to all fit on one DVDR or just put fewer eps per disc without the menu's extras. I normally just drop the menus/extras (as this is easier and you don't have to re-encode which takes a fair amount of time).

The 'problem' is that if there are a lot of PCG it becomes a pain to re-author everything correctly. But it can be done (see the doom9 guide).

[orbital517]

I'm wondering if you can just use DVDShrink for multi-episode TV series DVDs. Wouldn't DVDShrink just compress it a little while still giving you the menus and all?