how long does it take to record a DVD ??

[soimcrazy]

I know nothing about DVD recorders, so you'll have to excuse my "lack of knowledge". I'm just wondering how long it would take to record a movie. If I were to take a DVD movie of ....1.5 hours, and put it in one of these DVD recorders that circuit city sells for $400-$500, how long would it take to make a copy of that movie?


Thanks !!!!

[ckdexterhn1]

1.5 hours.

Anyway, the DVD recorders don't work like that. If you want to keep the quality of the original, you need to rip it on your computer and...well, start with the guides on your left, read thru, then come back with more specific questions. People on this forum are happy to help, but you must show you've "done the work" and read some of the information on the site. Otherwise you may start getting smart alec answers from the "hecklers"!

[BobK]

A DVD recorder is similar to a VCR- it just uses DVD instead of video tape. So if you want to record a movie that's 1.5 hours long it's going to take about 1.5 hours.

[ncgoldwinger]

soimcrazy,

Assuming you are talking about a DVD movie (e.g. Shrek, Matrix) you can not copy those using a standalone DVD recorder due to the copy protection incorporated on the discs. The only way to do this would be to use a Macrovision disabled DVD player that was connected to the DVD recorder or by the use of a device that will bypass the Macrovision. Another reason you cannot do a 1:1 copy is that most DVD's contain over 9GB worth of data while a DVD blank will only hold about 4GB.

ckdexterhn1's response was correct that the DVD recorders do record in real time..

[soimcrazy]

ok....so its like recording from a VCR...you have to play the DVD on a DVD player, then record what you are playing?
Not like recording a music CD on the computer?

tell me more about the macrovision...what does that do? and cost?

and what would you all suggest would be my best bet to record DVD movies (e.g. Shrek, Matrix).

Thanks again !

[ckdexterhn1]

OK, guess we'll wait for the hecklers...gentlemen, start your engines!

[soimcrazy]

come on now !!

[ckdexterhn1]

OK, see you're on a site with A LOT of wonderful information. The reason you could not post for the first few days after registering is that the people that run the site want you to look around and read posts, guides, and other stuff here so that when you do start posting questions, they are not totally of the "newbie" type.

Like I've said before, people on this forum are happy to help, but you must show you've "done the work" and read some of the information on the site.

I lurked on this forum for SIX months before starting to post anything. Watch and learn!

[donpedro]

soimcrazy,

read, search, read, search, read, search, read, search....

[soimcrazy]

SIX MONTHES?
Between working 6 days a week, attending school at night, and the family, I dont have lots of time to scour this website. If I did I would. But I'm just trying to figure out how long it takes to make a copy of a DVD.

So far I found out that new DVD movies have copy protection and I wont be able to copy them. I would have to play them on a DVD player and then record from that....right??
What about a DVD without copy protection? How long would it take to copy one that had a 1.5 hour long movie on it??

[donpedro]

OK. Let me help you a little....

Do you see that green part of the column on the left of this website ? On top you can see "HOW TO". Right bellow that is "GUIDES". Click on that.

Then in search select from "How To category" option "How to rip DVD to DVD Recordable DVD+-R/W" and finaly click on "Search or List Guides" button.

Then read and read and read.... after you are done.... gon through "WHAT IS" and other guides. People here like to help but not if they see that you didn't spend some time learning.

[soimcrazy]

I went to circuit city today to look at the DVD recorders. The salesman was telling me that some record rw+, rw-, and RAM. And some DVD players will only play +,-, or ram...some play all three. The DVD movies at the store will play in any DVD player...REGION 1 ....I think they are called ???

Can I buy blank REGION 1 DVDs?

[jaxxboss]

Oh boy. Read.

[jaxxboss]

Sorry, I forgot this:
read some more

[ckdexterhn1]

Oh, and also...read some more...

[macleod]

What do you plan on using your dvd recording device for?

If you plan on making backups of your owned dvd movies (i.e. matrix), you are better off getting a pc based dvd recorder. The pioneers make a good line. At this point, based on price (you can get them between $100-$160), you'll be better served getting what is called a mult format burner. A multi format plays two different types, -R and +R.

I personally have a pioneer DVR-105, which is a -R burner. I have had no compatibility issues with backups that I have made on the dvd players that they have been used on.

To make sure that your standalone dvd player will play which format you choose, look on the left under players and put your model in and see what dvdr format it will play.

As far as software to backup your dvd's, there are a number of software packages that will do it, some better than others. My "now" only backup software is dvdshrinkiso, dvdshrink and dvd decrypter. dvdshrinkiso combines dvdshrink and dvd decrypter and will backup your dvd. Plus, it is all freeware.

If your primary goal is to back up home movies and non professional (i.e. matrix) vhs type sources, your best bet is a standalone recorder. I own the panasonic E30, which I purchased from ebay for $250. to do this, you must have a vhs player to hook up to the "panny" and then record onto dvd-r. The downside of the panny is there have been reports (read donpedro's posts) about dvd's not playing in other standalones. I have experienced this and what I do is take the dvdr and put it into my computer, reauthor it on the computer (using software like TMPGENC DVD author) and then burning it out on my pc dvd burner. You can use a product that disables the macrovision (sima) that hooks into the panny and defeats the protection.

The region one is saying that you can only play the dvd on a dvd player that is also region 1. Each country (not entirely correct, for discussion purposes) has a region associated with it. You cant take a region dvd player to europe and play it. To confuse you even more, there are ways to take off region codes, macrovision and CSS protection off a dvd player AND off a dvd (when you back it up).

to go back to your original queestion, which was how long it takes to backup a dvd. Depends. On average, using my methods on a pc dvd player and burner, it takes about 20 minutes to rip it to my harddrive, dependong on how big the dvd is, I may just be able to burn it back to a DVD-r, which at single speed is about 40-50 minutes. If I decide to just do the movie and not the menu and compress it all down to fit on a dvd-r(btw, most dvd's today are called dual layer 9.4 gig, and dvdr, for now is 4.3 gig), takes another 2-3 hours, and then burning takes about 40-50 minutes.

Now for the reality check. Having read your comments about working 6 days a week and dont want to spend time learning this. Here it is....you will spend COUNTLESS hours figuring out how to do this until you get it down to an exact science. If you dont have the time to do this, you may be better off hiring someone to convert your home movies to dvd (most charge between $25-$60 an hour) or get somebody who knows how to back up your owned dvd movies and let them do it.

[soimcrazy]

THANKS MAC !!!!!!!!!