difference betwen burning rip files and image files to DVD-R

[blee]

Hi Everyone,

I don't quite understand the difference between burning all the rip files (like *.ifo, *.vob) directly to DVD-R and burning an image file (created by Instant Copy) to DVD-R. I have a P3 700 (kinda slow, but it works) and I was wondering whether the risk of making coasters is higher when burning the rip files to DVD-R or is the risk higher burning the image file to DVD-R. Or it doesn't matter?

[MOVIEGEEK]

I use both methods but burning an .iso is foolproof.

[mrbass]

I agree .iso is the way to go and for shrink users there's a new boy in town that allows for this...will be soon.

[blee]

Sorry guys, but I am kind of a newbie in burning DVDs. What is .iso way? How do you get .iso? Is it a type of file or a method of burning DVDs?

[FulciLives]

Most programs like authoring software (such DVD-Lab or TMPGEnc DVD Author etc.) and transcoders (such as DVD2ONE or DVDShrink etc.) will output your DVD files into a DIR called VIDEO_TS

At this point you can use a freeware program called ImgTool to create a single large IMAGE file with an ISO extention such as FILENAME.ISO

After creating the ISO IMAGE file you can then burn it to your DVD-R using the freeware DVD DECRYPTER.

Please note that ImgTool comes in more than one version. The best version seems to be the CLASSIC VERSION.

This is how I burn ALL of my DVD-R discs.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[MOVIEGEEK]

I agree .iso is the way to go and for shrink users there's a new boy in town that allows for this...will be soon.

I can't wait!
Can you tell us more or will Dr.Shrink get mad?

[blee]

Thanks guys. I'll try this out. BTW, what version number is the classic version for imgtool? Or is it simply call the "Classic version"?

[FulciLives]

Thanks guys. I'll try this out. BTW, what version number is the classic version for imgtool? Or is it simply call the "Classic version"?

I just downloaded this (an update for me) a few days ago. The most current version now (unless it changed within the last few days) is ImgTool Classic Version 0.90 Build 7

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Metaluna]

To expand on what FulciLives said...when you burn a DVD directly from the VIDEO_TS folder, the burning program is responsible not only for copying the video and audio to the disc, but also for creating the file system on the disc and getting all the details just right. Some programs (e.g. Nero) are notoriously buggy and/or inconsistent about this and people have often complained of problems with discs burned using Nero.

With an .iso file, on the other hand, you have a complete, raw, sector-by-sector image of the disc. The .iso file itself contains not just the video and audio streams, but all the file system structures and everything else, and the burning program just copies this data to the disc without knowing anything about what it contains. So you should in theory get exactly the same disc whether you burn the .iso with DVD Decrypter, Nero, RecordNow Max, etc.

Of course, you still need some kind of tool (such as ImgTool) to create the .iso file, and in theory this tool is just as susceptible to bugs as the recording software (e.g. Nero) is. But ImgTool is pretty reliable and seems to be very good at creating fully DVD-compliant discs. I haven't heard of any compatibility problems that could be traced to ImgTool. Also, going the ImgTool + DVD Decrypter route is completely free. The downside is the extra time and disc space it takes to build the .iso image.