Two DVD-9s to one DVD-R?!

[Murrdawg045]

I'm trying to back up Gangs of New York, which is on two DVD-9s, and put it on a single DVD-R. Yeah, I know it sounds a little crazy, but its really not that big, theres a ton of extras. I think the total just-movie-size is around 8 or 9 GB.

What would be the best way of doing this? I'd like to use TMPGEnc if at all possible. But I remember not being able to get a working dvd out of that program...but that was when I first started.

[JohnnyCNote]

This is precisely what I'm trying to do, too. I've tried some of the guides, but I'm having problems getting ifoedit to work. When I click on the button to combine the files, nothing happens. (I haven't fooled with this for about a week, so maybe it's vobedit, in case I got them mixed up). It's not a big deal, but it would be nice to save a disk and not have to switch them in the middle of the movie....

[iooi]

Try dvd Shrink will do just what you want to do...As i have just done.

[M.AD]

I had trouble with TMPGEnc once - was it, by any chance, the audio? Do not change the audio bitrate, and it will work. If that was your prob, anyway.

Oh, and I will also recommend DVDShrink - great free bit of software for your needs. Easy to use too.

[Megahurts]

Yet another way to do Gangs of New York

1 Use DVD2One to transcode each disk to a seperate folder (movie only - 2.1g ea).
2 Delete all VIDEO_TS files and rename all the disk 2 files and move to disk 1 folder as such.

VTS_01_0.BUP (disk 1)
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
VTS_02_0.BUP (disk 2)
VTS_02_0.IFO
VTS_02_1.VOB
VTS_02_2.VOB

3 Run DVDToolbox, source = disk 1 folder, click 'Create video manager (VIDEO_TS.IFO)'. Takes about 1 sec. Close DVDToolbox.

The next steps are to automatically play disk 2 after disk 1. If you choose not to do them, select the 2nd disk with the player remote (Title = 2).

4 Open the VTS_01.0.IFO with IFOEdit > VTS_PGCITI > PGC_1, scroll down to "There is no PGC Command Table"
5 Right click and choose "Add Post Command"
6 Right click on 1.Post Command > edit command
7 Command: (CallSS_VMGM) Call VideoManager PGC, PGC Nr: 2, Resume Cell 1
8 Click Save


One annoying thing about this movie is the 3 sec delay between disk 1 and 2 due to the 3 sec of black at the end of disk 1.

Hope this helps

[FulciLives]

Well try RIPPING the DVD using DVD Decrypter in FILE MODE. The default should select JUST the MAIN MOVIE from the original DVD. I have seen some DVD discs that don't work so nicely (ANIMATRIX comes to mind) but it works like 99% of the time.

After you are done RIPPING run the VOB files through DVD2AVI so that you get a PROJECT FILE (filename.d2v) and seperate AC-3 audio files. Chances are there are more than one audio file so figure out which one you want to keep (such as the 5.1 AC-3 track). You can check which AC-3 track is which using a software DVD player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD etc.

Once you have decided what AC-3 track you want simply DELETE all the other tracks. Now you will see that the file name DVD2AVI gives to the AC-3 track will have a delay value. If that delay value is 0 (as in ZERO) then fine otherwise run the program AC3Delay on the original AC-3 file. This will create a new COPY of the original but it will now have a DELAY value of 0. Make sure you rename it to something simple like AUDIO.AC3 and you can now delete the original AC-3 file.

Now you have a D2V project file. If you have TMPGEnc set up correctly it should have NO PROBLEM what-so-ever opening up the D2V project file. You then encode the video into a M2V file.

Since this is such a LONG movie and you are trying to fit it on a single DVD recordable I highly suggest you try using HALF D1 resolution. Simply start by using the WIZARD MODE in TMPGEnc but at the end of it where you get to the file size prediction part (page 4 of 5 of the WIZARD if I recall) you can change the resolution from FULL D1 720x480 to 352x480 which is HALF D1 NTSC resolution. PAL would be 720x576 to 352x576

Let the file prediction part of the wizard help you to determine the AVG bitrate. The wizard will ask you to import an AUDIO file. Don't worry about it. Just set the bitrate of the audio to equal that of the AC-3 audio track. So if the AC-3 audio file has a bitrate of 448kbps set the audio to the same (actually you can only set it up to 384 but you get the idea).

Now try to set the file size to somewhere around 4100MB and maybe even as low as 3900MB if your audio is 448 (since you are predicting at 384 which is the highest setting in TMPGEnc but your audio is bigger at 448). Start the encoding. Once it starts STOP it. Now under STREAM TYPE (lower right hand corner of the main TMPGEnc screen) select "ES (video only)". Now start the encoding again. This time don't stop it because now it will make a single M2V video file whereas before it was making a single MPEG file with NO AUDIO (dont' forget to delete the MPEG file it started to make). Why do this? Because you can use the WIZARD MODE including the FILE PREDICTION part of it. When you are done your final M2V and your AC-3 should match roughly the same size as what the WIZARD told you. I guess I should have mentioned that you need to pick MP2 sound for your template and not LPCM sound.

As for your bitrate you should select 2 pass VBR for best quality. I like to use a MIN of 2000kbps and a MAX of 5000kbps when doing HALF D1 resolutions. You will get acceptable quality if your AVG bitrate is at least 2500kbps. Assuming the movie is around 3 hours (I'm not certain of the actual running time) you should be able to set your AVG to around 3000kbps but of course that depends on the size of your AC-3 audio file. Again anything around 2500kbps or higher should look good.

After all that you can use an authoring program to import your M2V and AC3 audio files (make sure they have the same name such as MOVIE.M2V and MOVIE.AC3 and that they are located in the same DIR on the HDD). Some authoring programs will only accept MPEG files so if that is the case with the program you are using then you can use the MPEG TOOLS in TMPGEnc to MULTIPLEX the M2V and AC3 into a single MPEG file (filename.mpg) then author using that single file.

Some authoring programs have a BURNER application built-in while others do not. You are probably best served by letting the authoring program create an IMAGE file first to your HDD then simply burn it with your burning software (DVD Decrypter works great and is free). If your authoring program only creates a VIDEO TITLE SET (which means a VIDEO_TS folder with your DVD files in that folder) then use ImgTool (classic version only!) to create an IMAGE file from the VIDEO_TS folder then burn that IMAGE file with DVD Decrypter.

There are many guides both on this website and the doom9 website on how to do each of these steps if you need a more STEP-BY-STEP approach with MORE detail.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
The reason for using HALF D1 is because it looks better at lower bitrates than FULL D1 and the lower resolution will still look good on a normal TV unless you have a giant sized 50" plus screen. Then the lack of resolution might start to be noticeable. There is simply no way you can get a 3 hour movie on a single DVD recordable using FULL D1 because the bitrate would be SO low as to degrade the image to a point where you would be pissed off watching it

** EDIT ***
OK I see the problem now ... didn't realize that the movie was actually spread out over 2 DVD discs. ME BAD. You can still use the process above and do each DVD seperately so you end up with two sets of M2V and AC-3 audio files (one for disc one and one for disc two). Just make sure you keep each half under 2000MB (assuming the movie is split up roughly in half). You MIGHT be able to join them using TMPGEnc or just make each DISC a seperate part on the DVD so when part 1 ends part 2 begins. After all you could use a break half way through a 3 hour movie anyways. If you want just one big file then you might try renaming the second disc VOB files to follow the first disc. For instance if the last VOB file on DISC 1 is VTS_06 or whatever just rename VTS_01 from DISC 2 to VTS_07 etc. and DVD2AVI should work in that it will create a single long D2V and AC-3 audio file. I never did that but I've read about it. Sorry I missed that part to begin with

[Gizmogajet]

The simple way...

First Use DVD Decrypter to rip only the movie parts of both discs. Then open DVDLab. Import the vob files from both disks. You can make a menu or just let it play. Output the new DVD to a folder and then open with DVD2ONE and shrink it down to the size of one DVD R

[Gurm]

Yep. The drawback of using an authoring program to patch the two parts of the movie back together is that some of them don't support all the soundtrack options.

- Gurm

[FulciLives]

I use DVD2ONE somtimes but if the entire movie (movie ONLY) takes up 8GB or more (as the original post indicates) then my experience is that ANY transcoder programe (such as DVD2ONE) will NOT give acceptable quality.

The best solution is to re-encode with something like TMPGEnc or CCE or MainConcept etc.

And since this movie is so darn long I think it would be best to use HALF D1 resolution since the original POST indicated wanting to fit the ENTIRE movie on a SINGLE DVD recordable.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[vance43211]

Yet another way to do Gangs of New York

1 Use DVD2One to transcode each disk to a seperate folder (movie only - 2.1g ea).
2 Delete all VIDEO_TS files and rename all the disk 2 files and move to disk 1 folder as such.

VTS_01_0.BUP (disk 1)
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
VTS_02_0.BUP (disk 2)
VTS_02_0.IFO
VTS_02_1.VOB
VTS_02_2.VOB

3 Run DVDToolbox, source = disk 1 folder, click 'Create video manager (VIDEO_TS.IFO)'. Takes about 1 sec. Close DVDToolbox.

The next steps are to automatically play disk 2 after disk 1. If you choose not to do them, select the 2nd disk with the player remote (Title = 2).

4 Open the VTS_01.0.IFO with IFOEdit > VTS_PGCITI > PGC_1, scroll down to "There is no PGC Command Table"
5 Right click and choose "Add Post Command"
6 Right click on 1.Post Command > edit command
7 Command: (CallSS_VMGM) Call VideoManager PGC, PGC Nr: 2, Resume Cell 1
8 Click Save


One annoying thing about this movie is the 3 sec delay between disk 1 and 2 due to the 3 sec of black at the end of disk 1.

Hope this helps

my way is almost like this

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=167382&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

i need to borrow your idea about making the 2nd movie play after the 1st one ends though

[JohnnyCNote]

Success!!!!

I used DVD Shrink on both disks, renamed the 2nd disk files, then I had to use DVD Fab to create the video manager file, and burned it with DVDToolbox. For some reason DVDToolbox didn't have an option to creat the video manager file, which is why I used DVD Fab. I had to shrink the files down 50%, but they still look great. The only thing I didn't try was using IFOEdit, so it took me a little bit of experimenting to get to the 2nd title. I finally was able to use the GO TO function (APEX 1500).

I'm going to experiment with some of the other methods and see what combination of steps seems to work best for my setup.

Thanks mucho to everyone!

[poopyhead]

if you have to compress that much just to fit the entire main movie only on 1 DVD-R, then you might as well rip/burn each disc separately to 2 DVD-Rs and be able to keep all the menus and extras.

i guess that's just me....getting up once might be too much to ask for most ppl

considering most ppl need to get up for bathroom breaks or more food....

[FulciLives]

I just can't even IMAGINE that a transcoder could do a 50% reduction and yet the picture quality is still ... and I quote ... "I had to shrink the files down 50%, but they still look great"

I don't buy that.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[JohnnyCNote]

Well all I can say is that it looks just fine. Having worked in broadcasting and video production, my standards are as high as anyone's. I will confess that I'm surprised it looks as good as it does. It's better than if I'd have captured it directly from the DVD player (mine is hacked).....

[poopyhead]

I just can't even IMAGINE that a transcoder could do a 50% reduction and yet the picture quality is still ... and I quote ... "I had to shrink the files down 50%, but they still look great"

I don't buy that.

i have to sometimes do that with commercial DVD9 if i wanna keep everything. they still look great on my 32" TV from 8' viewing distance. keep in mind these movies have a really high bitrate to begin with, so removing 50% still leaves a lot of bitrate.

only problem i have is w/ extras because they aren't encoded with a high bitrate to begin with, so when i compress them by 50%, i can really tell the difference...but again, my main concern is with the movie..and most of the time, they look great because they have really high bitrate to begin with.

some movies are transferred poorly that even when i don't have to compress them (commercial DVD5), they still look horrible (i.e no digital remastering, etc...) so, 50% compression can still look great depending on the source.

[Renegade6]

Great tips from everyone. I had big time problems because I was using ifoedit and combining the vobs, some how dvd2one would freeze when trying to compress Gangs of New York

[kizer8]

JohnnyCNote,

Can you post the exact steps you used.

Thanks.
Kizer

[JohnnyCNote]

First you need to extract the .vob files using something like DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink, then use DVD Shrink to compress them to a size that will fit on one disk. I haven't tried it this way yet, but you could probably use DVD Shrink to do both steps at once.

Then I used these steps provided by Megahurts:

2 Delete all VIDEO_TS files and rename all the disk 2 files and move to disk 1 folder as such.

VTS_01_0.BUP (disk 1)
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
VTS_02_0.BUP (disk 2)
VTS_02_0.IFO
VTS_02_1.VOB
VTS_02_2.VOB

3 Run DVDToolbox, source = disk 1 folder, click 'Create video manager (VIDEO_TS.IFO)'. Takes about 1 sec. Close DVDToolbox.

The only difference was I had to use DVDFab instead of DVD Toolbox to create the video manager file because my version of Toolbox didn't have an option for this. Finally I created the disk with DVDToolbox.

The key steps are to:

1. Rip the DVD
2. Compress the files
3. Rename the 2nd disk files
4. Remove the VIDEO_TS files
5. Rebuild the Video Manager files (VIDEO_TS files)
6. Create the new disk


How you do this depends on what software works best for you. It's also clear that there is more than one way to accomplish this, but this produced good results for me....