Stupid Question for a Stupid Newbie...please help me out

[lakercl9]

I know this is probably a stupid question. I dont have a DVD burner, just a regular one, but could i still use burn to blank DVD's? possilby as an mpeg? where could i go to learn about this? Could i rip a dvd, convert it, then burn it to the dvd? thanks for any input.

[mob]

no, u cant write any sort of data/video to a dvd.

you could rip a dvd though, but definately not burn one.

[redwudz]

No, you can't use DVD's. Whole 'nuther format. But look into SVDC's or even VCD's. These can both be produced with a CD burner. Take a look at DVD2SVCD. It can copy a DVD with reasonable quality and is easy to use for novices. By all means study the guides on this site to learn more. This can be a fascinating (and frustrating at times) hobby. When you do get a DVD burner, you will be that much ahead of the game.

[ZippyP.]

where could i go to learn about this? Could i rip a dvd, convert it, then burn it to the dvd?

You've found the right place. All the information you need is right here at this site.

[lakercl9]

Is the quality really good when you rip a dvd and burn it?

[mob]

Is the quality really good when you rip a dvd and burn it?

well, it depends.

if it is a dvd-5 and u burn to a dvd-r then it will be exactly the same.

if it is a dvd-9 and you need to compress/re-encode the movie in order to fit to one dvd-r then depending on how much compression u need you will get loss of quality, most of the time its not noticible.

if u copy a dvd to a cd-r then yeah, you will see the loss in quality.

[redwudz]

If you are talking about converting a DVD to a SVCD, the quality is about as good as a commercial VHS tape. VCD will give you about the quality of a LP VHS tape. I watch SVCD's on a 4X6ft. projection screen and they are fine; of course not near as good as the original DVD or a DVD copy.