Converting 2 dvds to 1

[prybar]

I have a movie (just the movie, no extras) that is spread over 2 dvd's. What is the best way to convert this to a single dvd, keeping menus and everything intact? Is there a way to "merge" the menus, so that one menu picks up the chapter points from the 2nd disc?

Thanks

pry

[jimmalenko]

DVDShrink in ReAuthor mode.

[prybar]

but will that keep the menu that's already there and all the chapter points from both discs?

[johns0]

Nope,all menu`s and chapter points will be lost.

[prybar]

anyway to save it/them, with any other program?

[johns0]

Not that i know of,tried myself and its too difficult.

[jimmalenko]

I musn't have been thinking properly. As pointed out, DVDShrink will lose the menus.

In theory, IFOEdit and VOBEdit will do the job, but it will be pretty complicated. I haven't tried this before, but as I said, in theory it should work. I would be interested to hear opinions from all the gurus out there as to whether this would work in practice or not. Anyway, here goes:

1. If the discs are originals, rip both to hard drive into folders disc1 and disc2 respectively. If the discs are a backup just copy the files into these folders using windows explorer (no need to rip since they are already unencrypted).

2. In disc1 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_001.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_002.VOB,...etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc1. Leave VTS_01_0.VOB as is.

3. In disc2 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_006.VOB (assuming that VTS_01_5.VOB was the last VOB in step 2), VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_007.VOB,... etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc2.

4. Copy VTS_01_001.VOB - VTS_01_00n.VOB from disc1 and disc2 folder into another folder called complete. Make sure you copy because then you still have them on your HD if you stuff something up down the line.

5. Open VOBEdit and Open VTS_01_001.VOB. Go to Edit > Join Clips and it will prompt you for the stating ID (which is 1), and the name of the outputted movie and suggest VTS_01_1.VOB. This is OK, just press Join button. This will go through and join the VOBs from disc1 with the VOBs from disc 2.

6. Copy VTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_0.BUP and VIDEO_TS.VOB, VIDEO_TS.IFO, VIDEO_TS.BUP from disc1 folder to complete folder. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOEdit and press Get VTS Sectors button. This should then update the chapter points.

7. Open IFOEdit and hit the Create IFOs button. It will ask you to specify the VOB file. Point it to VTS_01_1.VOB in the complete folder. This will now create IFO and BUP files for your VOBS.

8. As a check, open the newly created VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOEdit and hit the DVD Play button. This will emulate what your desktop DVD player would do. If the menu comes up no worries and you can navigate to the movie, happy daze !!! Burn to DVDR and the job is done.

As I have mentioned, I have never actually tried this but in theory it should work. What does everyone think ?

EDIT: 9. DVDShrink ! How could I forget !

The more I think about this, the more I am worried about step 7. I don't know whether we need to specify VTS_01_1.VOB as the first VOB or VTS_01_0.VOB. I'm worried that if we don't specify the menu VOB then it might not include it in VIDEO_TS.IFO. I wonder whether we should use the Create New IFOs setup or try to modify the existing IFOs.

We really need someone to try it I guess.

[cafetimer]

Great tutorial jimalenko. I'll try this with Stargate DVD Original Version which comes on a flip (two sided disc). As for the DVD Shrink approach, I've read some posts recommending it, but being honest, I'don't quite understand how the reauthoring procedure can help in joining two discs DVD....

[prybar]

Great job Jimm!!

Thanks for the help. I did it, it seemed to work, but the menu was gone, and when i tried to shrink it to fit onto a DVD, DVDshrink said there was an error in the VOB file (didn't say which one). It's probably an error on may part, so i'm gonna try re-doing it. Thanks again for the step by step help.

pry

PS-the chapters were all there, and they all worked perfectly!!!

[jimmalenko]

Sounds like something went amiss with the IFO - check my edit in my original reply. I had a feeling the menu might have been lost. I'm really gonna have to backup one of my own DVDs with menu only and span it over two discs to test my theory and fine tune it. I'll keep you posted.

[Supreme2k]

Much easier solution that I have found:

from this thread

1. Rip the DVDs with DVDDecrypter.
2. Load them into TMPGEnc DVD Author. If you want to join them, put them in the same track. If you just want 2 movies on 1 disc, import them as separate tracks.
3. Create DVD folder(s).
4. Use DVDShrink if the resulting folder is too big.
5. ???
6. Profit!

[jimmalenko]

1 problem...no menu. Poster stated he wanted to keep menu.

[prybar]

Hi Jimm, here's an update

I tried both way (processing the _0 and _1 files) didn't make a difference. I have given up on the menu, but i am still very grateful for teaching me how to merge the 2 discs into 1.

thanks again

pry

[matthewmalay]

I wanted to merge 2 DVDs onto one DVD-R and make my own menus using TMPGenc author but one audio only and no subs.

Are there any easy to use DVD authoring programs that can handle 2 audio tracks and subtitles? I tried Maestro (always freezes when I try to import a media asset) and Scenarist seems so daunting. Is it possible to rip the menus from the orginals and then just redo the structure and buttons of them when I re-author?

[cafetimer]

The same happened to me when trying to join the flippable Stargate disc. The VOB's where joined and played fine using the IFO EDIT DVD play button, except no menus or subtitles. I checked the IFO Edit tutorial for joining two discs at http://ifoedit.wh.fr0zen.com/joinclip.html and it seems there is a difference between the approach used by them and jimmalenko's in checking the last VOB on disc 1 (or A).

What do you think about this jimmalenko? Any suggestions from anybody? Soon I'll be trying the tutorial's approach but any comment before I embark myself on this tedious "adventure" will be appreciated

[cafetimer]

Much easier solution that I have found:

from this thread

1. Rip the DVDs with DVDDecrypter.
2. Load them into TMPGEnc DVD Author. If you want to join them, put them in the same track. If you just want 2 movies on 1 disc, import them as separate tracks.
3. Create DVD folder(s).
4. Use DVDShrink if the resulting folder is too big.
5. ???
6. Profit!

What if I use Clone DVD instead of DVD Shrink? Clone will leave menus intact, if the joining process doesn't get rid of them. Suggestions on this one too, please....

[petar]

There is no easy way to do this (put two DVDs on one and keep the menus).

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=210482

If the DVDs contain only the movie with no extras you may be lucky and have only one VTS per DVD and have the menu in the same VTS. You can tell this if you have various VTS_01_*.VOB files and the VTS_01_0.VOB file is relatively large (i.e. bigger than the VIDEO_TS.VOB file, for example) and there's no VTS_02.

With IFOEdit browse through the PGCs of the VTS_01_0.IFO file and check if there are any jump/call commands to the VMG. If there are none (except maybe in the post command section of the movie PGC) you can put the two VTSs together (rename the files in the second one from VTS_01* to VTS_02* first) in the same VIDEO_TS folder. Then create a new VMG with two buttons, one for each VTS. You can do this with TMPGEnc DVD Author. Create two dummy tracks, compile and copy the VIDEO_TS.* files to the previous VIDEO_TS folder. Finally in the post command section of the movie PGC add a call command to the title menu. There are also couple of tables in the VIDEO_TS.IFO file to update (for the attributes of the VTSs) but it should play OK on a software player without this.

What you get here is that after playing each title the DVD will go back to the title menu from where you can move to the menu of each title. You can make it to play the next title but it gets more complicated. You need another PGC in the VMG to route between the titles (TMPGEnc DVD Author should create one for the "Play All" button) but for putting it all together you need to know a bit about the DVD commands.

If you're lucky this will work. I say lucky because many things can cause a problem. The original VMG maybe jumps to each VTS via different PGC than the root one. Also maybe it assigns some values for the GPRMs which each VTS uses in the menu navigation hence if you don't recreate them in the new VMG your menus may not navigate as in the original. Without looking at the structure of each original DVD I'm affraid there's no easy way to do this.

[cafetimer]

What if I eliminate the extras when ripping with DVD Shrink and leave menus of both discs intact. Will this facilitate the joining process in order to keep menus?

[petar]

You can't eliminate the extras and keep the menu with DVD Shrink nor with any other application that I'm aware of. Some, like CloneDVD, allow you to replace the extras with dummy videos and keep the menu but that won't do. They don't re-author the DVD structure when you keep the menu. If you look at the VIDEO_TS folder after compressing with CloneDVD, all VTSs are still there; it's just that the ones you chose to remove are very very small (few KB). The DVD structure is still the same as the original one.

In order to put two DVD structures together you must re-author them both and make each VTS independant of the VMG. With each commercial DVD being fairly unique in the way it's authored (though you can spot patterns when looking at two different DVDs from the same producer) I'd say it's difficult for someone to come up with an application that can do this and work 100% on all DVDs.

If you really want to try this I suggest you first learn the DVD structure well (at http://www.dvd-replica.com/DVD/) and then follow the link in my previous post for a guide on how it can be done.

I've noticed that "joining two DVDs with their original menus" to be quite a popular topic so maybe when I have a few hours free I'll try to write a more detailed guide with perhaps an example. But trust me, once you do it couple of times, though it will look cool, you'll give up. It's so complicated that unless you have plenty of free time it's not worth it, especially that DL discs are not out yet and putting two movies on one DVD5 is a bit of an overkill anyway. A good learning exercise though.

[cafetimer]

Hmm, it seems I'll have to leave those menus out

[jimmalenko]

UPDATE:

As mentioned a couple of posts above, it does seem like a bit of a pipedream to get join two titlesets together and keep the original menu, unless the menu is in VTS_01_0.VOB.

I have played around with numerous things over the past two weeks in an attempt to update my instructions above, but have not had any success. Illegal commands have been the most common cause. I don't know enough about IFOEdit to try to fix them.

I think I'll have to withdraw now.

[The Stinger]

UPDATE:

As mentioned a couple of posts above, it does seem like a bit of a pipedream to get join two titlesets together and keep the original menu, unless the menu is in VTS_01_0.VOB.

I am having the same issue, but my menu is in the VTS_01_0.VOB. Can you explain how I would go by doing it then?

[jimmalenko]

1. If the discs are originals, rip both to hard drive into folders disc1 and disc2 respectively. If the discs are a backup just copy the files into these folders using windows explorer (no need to rip since they are already unencrypted).

2. In disc1 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_001.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_002.VOB,...etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc1. Leave VTS_01_0.VOB as is.

3. In disc2 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_006.VOB (assuming that VTS_01_5.VOB was the last VOB in step 2), VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_007.VOB,... etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc2.

4. Copy VTS_01_001.VOB - VTS_01_00n.VOB from disc1 and disc2 folder into another folder called complete. Make sure you copy because then you still have them on your HD if you stuff something up down the line.

5. Open VOBEdit and Open VTS_01_001.VOB. Go to Edit > Join Clips and it will prompt you for the stating ID (which is 1), and the name of the outputted movie and suggest VTS_01_1.VOB. This is OK, just press Join button. This will go through and join the VOBs from disc1 with the VOBs from disc 2.

6. Copy VTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_0.BUP and VIDEO_TS.VOB, VIDEO_TS.IFO, VIDEO_TS.BUP from disc1 folder to complete folder. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOEdit and press Get VTS Sectors button. This should then update the chapter points.

This should do the job.

[The Stinger]

1. If the discs are originals, rip both to hard drive into folders disc1 and disc2 respectively. If the discs are a backup just copy the files into these folders using windows explorer (no need to rip since they are already unencrypted).

2. In disc1 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_001.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_002.VOB,...etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc1. Leave VTS_01_0.VOB as is.

3. In disc2 folder, rename VTS_01_1.VOB to VTS_01_006.VOB (assuming that VTS_01_5.VOB was the last VOB in step 2), VTS_01_2.VOB to VTS_01_007.VOB,... etc. for each VOB in titleset 1 on disc2.

4. Copy VTS_01_001.VOB - VTS_01_00n.VOB from disc1 and disc2 folder into another folder called complete. Make sure you copy because then you still have them on your HD if you stuff something up down the line.

5. Open VOBEdit and Open VTS_01_001.VOB. Go to Edit > Join Clips and it will prompt you for the stating ID (which is 1), and the name of the outputted movie and suggest VTS_01_1.VOB. This is OK, just press Join button. This will go through and join the VOBs from disc1 with the VOBs from disc 2.

6. Copy VTS_01_0.VOB, VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_0.BUP and VIDEO_TS.VOB, VIDEO_TS.IFO, VIDEO_TS.BUP from disc1 folder to complete folder. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOEdit and press Get VTS Sectors button. This should then update the chapter points.

This should do the job.

Tried it, word for word. Step for step. Worked well when viewing it on my PowerDVD software. But when I tried to shrink it with dvd2one it couldn't read all of the vobs.

[jimmalenko]

Try DVD Shrink.

[cafetimer]

jimmalenko, apologies for my ignorance , but I haven't been able to spot any difference between your first method and this last one.

Will this last method preserve menus?

[jimmalenko]

jimmalenko, apologies for my ignorance , but I haven't been able to spot any difference between your first method and this last one.

Will this last method preserve menus?

You shouldn't be able to spot any difference - it is the same thing word for word !

It looks like it won't work when there is a VIDEO_TS.VOB with the main movie in it. If your movie is in VTS_01_0.VOB, then it should work. Kapeche ?

Follow points 1 to 6 and you should have success.

[jimmalenko]

Tried it, word for word. Step for step. Worked well when viewing it on my PowerDVD software. But when I tried to shrink it with dvd2one it couldn't read all of the vobs.

If PowerDVD played it no worries, then we should be able to get it onto a DVDR. Try DVD Shrink. Maybe even try ripping it (even though it is unencrypted) with DVD Decrypter or smartripper. Then Shrink or dvd2one it.

[downer]

Does anyone know why when I do step #5 VOBedit doesn't do anything??

I open it up then hit open and select the first file, i do edit-> join clips and it comes up with a "save as" box. I rename it to be vts_01_1.vob then hit ok. Then it asks for the ID number and i leave it at "1" and hit ok. Then it does nothing. Just goes back to the original screen????

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

You must rename your source files to VTS_01_001.VOB etc. first as specified in steps 2 & 3. It will do nothing unless you have them in this format. You shouldn't have to rename just before you input the ID number - all you do is press enter or click OK and let it name it to whatever it wants.