Copy DVD Ram Discs?

[eyanosa]

Ok, so I'll try to keep it simple. I have a Hitachi VCR/DVD recorder that I’ve used to copy home movies to a DVD Ram disc. After copying it I’ve added chapters and titles. So here's my question; if I purchase a DVD burner that supports Ram discs will I be able to make a copy and retain all the features that I've put on the disc such as the Titles and chapters?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[yoda313]

Hello,

If it supports dvd-ram specifically then yes you can make a simple 1:1 copy keeping everything. And since its home made you'll just do a normal copy and won't need to rip it.

Kevin

[eyanosa]

THanks Yoda. I appreciate your answer. didn't want to go and buy another DVD burner if it wasn't going to work.....

[JLDVD]

Not quite! Home DVD-RAM deck record VR video format, not standard video DVD format, so if you make copy of the DVD-RAM on the PC's DVD-RAM burner, then the DVD-RAM copy can only be playback on home deck with DVD-RAM compatibility (such as most newer Panasonic DVD players). Even if you transfer DVD-RAM content to DVD-R/+R disc, the content is still VR format, not compatible with most home DVD players.

You should get TMPEG DVD Author (see tools section) download a 30-day trial copy. To read DVD-RAM into PC, you will need DVD-ROM drive or DVD burner that can read DVD-RAM format. Some DVD-ROM drives from Liteon (HD166S), Toshiba, LG and DVD-burners from LG, Pioneer (A107/108/109) , etc can read DVD-RAM discs.

You can copy all your DVD-RAM data to hard drive, then use TDA to author a new standard video DVD. TDA will retain all your chapters from your home DVD recorder deck. It can help you create better menu and can also add/remove chapters if you wish.

[eyanosa]

JLDVD,

If I understand you correctly; your saying that without reauthering the file if I do a 1:1 copy of the RAM disc to a -/+ R Disc then the player playing it will still assume it's RAM because of it having to record in VR mode?

So assuming that the answer is yes you said to get TMPEG DVD Author but you said to use "TDA" to do the encoding? What's the difference between TMPEG DVD Author and TDA? And also would DVDShrink work for ripping the RAM disc to my HD? Thanks in advance for your help.

[JLDVD]

First of all, TDA = TMPEG DVD Author

Second, yes, video content recorded on DVD-RAM is DVD-VR format which is slightly different than DVD-Video format, so most standard DVD players do not know how to play them. Newer Panasonic DVD player will play DVD-RAM (VR mode) discs.

Here's the structure content of a standard DVD-video disc:

ROOT folders:
AUDIO_TS
VIDEO_TS

VIDEO_TS folder contains the following files:
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VIDEO_TS.BUF
VIDEO_TS.VOB
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_0.BUF
VTS_01_0.VOB
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
....

Here's the structure content of DVD-VR disc:
ROOT folder:
DVD_RTAV

DVD_RTAV folder contains:
VR_MANGR.BUF
VR_MANGR.IFO
VR_MOVIE.VRO


DVD-RAM discs are not encrypted like Holywood DVD movie discs so you just copy the DVD-RAM content to your hard drive. DVDShrink can not read VR-mode content, TMPEG DVD Author can and it works great.

[eyanosa]

Great. That explained it perfectly. I really appreciate your help. Got all my ?'s answered.