Need help backing up dual layered DVD...

[banana_man]

I have 8 original dvd's that I want to backup. Each DVD averages 350mins running time. I originally used DVDX Copy Platinum and compressed one onto a 4.7gb disc. The problem is that the quality is so bad that it is pretty much unwatchable. This is due to the fact that the compression is around 49% and the original recording quality is not very good to start with. These DVD's are not movies, they contain episodes from a 1980's TV series. Each DVD contains 3 or 4 episodes. I suppose the only option I have is to split each one onto 2 discs. DVD X copy says it is unable to do this, don't know why. Is there an easy way to do this? I am not bothered about the menus or any of the extras. I was thinking about copying the actual episode VOB files manually to my hard drive and use Nero to burn a DVD video compilation with just these files. Nero appears to create the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders for me. Can I just dump the VOB files in order into the VIDEO_TS folder and burn this, or do I need to create the BUP and IFO files? I just want a quick and easy way round it if there is one! I don't want to spend hours and hours decoding and recoding etc. Thanks.

[hech54]

Look into DVDShrink and it's accompanying guides. Absolutely wonderful and free program. I'm assuming you do not know about this software since this is your first post...sorry if you already knew about it...

[dafreak]

if you want to split the disks to 2 dvd's than you should try using dvdfab.

[Phil Thomas]

"Can I just dump the VOB files in order into the VIDEO_TS folder and burn this, or do I need to create the BUP and IFO files?"

No you cant do this, as you need a VIDEO_TS.IFO & .BUP file and ifos & bups for each titleset.
You could, however run the vobs through IfoEdit to Create New Ifos & Get VTS Sectors. You could then burn, using Nero's DVD-Video option.

If you dont fancy this ..... as mentioned above, DVD Shrink (freeware) will do what you want.