DVD9 to 2 DVD5's

[tonofsteel]

I have been working on doing this for about a month now. I have tried out a few different programs, and all of them come up with issues. I have also tried searching for solutions to these issues on this site but could find no answers to my specific problems.

I want to backup a DVD9 to two DVD5's and leave out nothing, and as well i do not want to compromise video quality by re-encoding or shrinking. I have tried to use DVDXCOPY but that program is junk. DVDFab causes the video to restart at about 8 minutes into the movie, DVDShrink does not allow you to copy to two DVD5's and retain menu functionality.

Currently I am using DVDDecryptor in conjunction with IFOEdit and ImgTool. I have followed the guide at
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/ifoedit-2dvdrs.htm
step by step and did the option with making the second DVD start directly at the video and not go to the menu first.

The video will not play. PowerDVD will play the audio but there will be no video, WinDVD will not play it at all, as well as my standalone DVD player.

I have followed that page step by step, so if you want to know exactly what I did, its all there. Is there a now known issue in one or more of those steps on that page?

As well i burned the DVD using imgtool and dvddecrypter and not Nero or another program.

I am using a Plextor PX-708A burner, WinXP w/ SP1.

If noone can find a fault in this method, is there a way to do the DVD9 to two DVD5 method that is known to work reliably? I am getting tired of buying commercial software and using freeware tools that are complicated, i would not mind the complicated if it actually worked though.

Thanks

[jimmalenko]

https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=716#716 might be able to help.

[shelbyGT]

I'm more of a fan of using dvd decrypter to rip the whole thing to the hard drive, then using the free dvdfab to split to two discs (it keeps working menus)

[tonofsteel]

...
I want to backup a DVD9 to two DVD5's and leave out nothing, and as well i do not want to compromise video quality by re-encoding or shrinking.
....
DVDShrink does not allow you to copy to two DVD5's and retain menu functionality.

I have tried the DVDShrink method, but I dont want to create a DVD without menus, it just isnt an exact backup, and if i can retain full menus and everything that would be the preferred way. DVDShrink as of the version I was using cannot split a DVD9 into two DVD5's and retain the menus, it just turns the menus into a video, but does not work as a menu.

Anyways I found out that IfoEdit could be the cause of the problem. I followed the above mentioned guide and it did not explicitly say you had to save the IFO after changing the Pre Commands on the second disc to jump directly to the movie.

So i changed it as it says, and this time saved it, and now it seems to be working while still an image, i have burned 4 coasters already trying different stuff, but since i have narrowed it down to something in IfoEdit mabye someone has some experience with Pre Command editing.

Apparantly if i dont touch the pre commands, the disc *should* show the menu on startup. However if i dont touch them the disc is simply unplayable.

The menu is there and working, because if i set it up to start playing the movie directly, and then jump to the menu it works as it should.

So someplace in the split the pre commands are getting messed up, what pre commands do i need to display the menu, i can get the menu to show by messing around with them, but when i click on play movie the disc stops.

Originally, there are 4 Set GPreg commands, and then a Jump to VMG PGC: 15

Then i change the first one like it says in the guide mentioned above to jump to title one, and then it will play.

I know this post kinda jumps around a bit, sorry, but how do i go about setting up this DVD to show the menu on startup?

Ok, Just before posting this, i got PgcEdit and tried the new trace feature. And the DVD goes nowhere, nothing lines up properly, in summary: IfoEdit's Split to 2 DVD function does not correctly fix the IFO's for disc 2?? I dunno I am going in circles, i try to correct the links that it says are not there (since only the movie is on the second DVD and now instead of being VTS7 its now VTS1 (As shown in PgcEdit)?? WTF???

The first DVD seems to work fine however. And now i have messed up the IFO files nice and good and now must redo the whole split.... $@()*&%*(&$*(#$)(* I shoulda backed them up, but i wish there was a warning in IfoEdit stating that the 2 disc split does not work properly.

I have also searched for some info on pre command editing, but I just want to either jump to the menu or jump to the movie not put my own menu in or skip over warnings etc... which is what most questions/guides i have seen so far are about.....

[tonofsteel]

Ok, why would someone make a guide that does not work. IE. the one linked above. I would sure like a pound of whatever they were on cuz damn that sh1t musta been goood!

Anyways I have use imgtool and pgcEdit in every position possible together, and the DVD is just not compliant. Sure it will play using video lan, but my standalone DVD player unfortunatly does not run video lan player.

So i followed the guide, it did not work. I tried to open the files right after completing that guide in pgcEdit, and what do you know, it wont open disc 2's files. I thought to myself, hmmmm either I screwed up, or IfoEdit's split function is a piece of junk. So i retraced my steps, re split the dvd a few 10's of times, and came to the conclusion: IfoEdit's split function is junk! Ok, hmmm, what to do, I went outside and broke a few mirrors off of cars to feel better about the hours wasted and thought, damn, mabye its just me missing something. So another hour of reading about the DVD standard and how the code works i figure mabye you cannot jump from vts_00 to vts_07 with no 02, 03, etc.

Yayyy!! problems solved, i change all vts_07's to 02's and then did the get VTS sectors to try and shape it up, and now it did something!! Wow it said it changed stuff around, hopefully lining up the ifo's with the vts's that are actually there and I thought mabye it would work.

Nope, still just wont work. So i fire up pgcEdit once again, and wow it actually loaded the files, right on! So i try and trace the thing, and OMFG all the titles it tries to refer to are not there, and now the movie does not even have a title label anymore, it went from title1, to title16 then i dont know what the hell happened after that. And so I searched on how to name it a title, and I cant find it.

So i tried to edit the ifo files at various degrees of progress through the guide. And I could never get it to work.

I applaud the creator of IfoEdit for spending alot of time working on a program, but I really really really hate the sloppy functioning of it. Like it isnt even a bug, it just flatly does not work. (referring to the split function)

And so do I have to go and learn how to code a DVD player just to split a DVD into 2, and edit the ifo files by hand? I am getting closer to that point every day, but I really dont look forward to doing everything other people have done over again.

DVDFab, DVDXCopy, and DVDShrink are NOT options for me, so dont even mention to use one of them: my goal is to create an EXACT backup of a DVD including all menus and extra features, and here's the big one: Actually work.

Does anyone know how to do the above goal? Has anyone successfully reached this goal without useing the aforementioned programs. Has anyone gotten around the problems i am having? Like even give me a hint if you dont think i deserve an answer, i am willing to research and read but cmon someone please throw me a frickin bone already.

[djelimon]

Man

I keep reading these re-authoring threads and I try not to say anything but this just is too close to what I went through...

DVDFab has limitations. Cool concept, I bought it even.

It can't deal with multi-PGC DVDs last I checked. There could be other stuff.

Menus on both dvd's on the split? Since what release?
IFO edit split guide - IFO edit wuthor got bought out - the software has flaws.

I'm a splitter. Until double layer gets alot cheaper, I always will be.

DVDRemake Pro is what I use. Splits any damn thing, edits stuff real easily, you can check your results really fast. Costs $, but not that much.

takes as little as 6 mouseclicks to split a DVD, no coasters.

And that crappy menu your low-end authoring program restricts you to? Multi-PGC, multi-titles, merging stuff, editing menu commands even is easy-peasy.

VObblanker, I dunno, but from what I hear, it's a lot of work compared to a few mouselcicks and no calculators. Can it split PGC's easily?

How much time do you have? Is your time worth money?

[jimmalenko]

I've made a couple of "2 disc sets" from 1 DVD-9 using that IFOEdit guide and it worked fine. I'd suggest that you're doing something wrong.

VOBBlanker (or titlesetblanker, for that matter) makes a job like this pretty easy IMO, because on your first disc, you blank everything except the main movie, then on your second disc, you just blank the main movie and leave all the extras.

[djelimon]

yeah, BUT

not all movies are authored the same way.

For example, try splitting Finding Nemo using the IFOEdit guide, results will be less than stellar. Or try backing up Goldmember, again with the multi-PGC's in the main title. some software (like DVDFab) see this as the DVD having 2 main movies and being twice its size...

As well, not sure if you ever noticed, but some main titles are bigger than the 4.7 MB you have for a disc.

In reality, because DVD's are authored in many ways, one-click solutions for splitting may work most of the time, but never always.

Unless it can recognize multi-PGC's in a title, and can split them, the solution will be limited in what it can split..

[jimmalenko]

Well, I guess that's a conundrum for those who choose to split then, isn't it ?

[shelbyGT]

Well, guess I should shut up, because all of my split discs contained working menus, yet use programs you don't want mentioned.

so hmph!

[crazythunder]

i see alot of people hate dvd xcopy. but me personally, i have never had a problem with it. i could care less about the backup dvd warning in the beginning. have you tried xcopy with a clean install of windows? why do you say it's junk? what specifically goes wrong? have you tried "super dvd copy"?

[djelimon]

Well, guess I should shut up, because all of my split discs contained working menus, yet use programs you don't want mentioned.

Not sure if this is directed at me, but I'm just relating my experiences. I have split 'many' movies with DVDFab - but not all. I notice their gold version now has menus on disc 2. I have a paid for version that I upgraded to 1.8 around may until I got frustrated. At that point DVDFab gave you 1 menu, and barfed on multi-pgc discs. I notice they advertise menus on 2 discs with the Gold/Platinum versions starting at version 2.5 with "movie discs" being split (what's that mean)?, back in November. Maybe they split PGC's now. Once I found my proggy of choice, I lost interest, although it looks like I still get my free lifetime upgrade with DVDFab, so maybe I'll try it on a multi-pgc movie with button over video for fun, like my old nemesis, Goldmember, the one that made me abandon DVDFab (which I went to after abandoning IFOEdit) and abandon DVDStripper after that as well.

Anyway, for me, the solution is pretty simple.

[djelimon]

Well, I tried DVDFab gold edition against Goldmember, same old deal. How do you get a menu on disc 1 and disc 2?

[BogieV]

Thanks for this thread!
I've been wondering if I do something wrong with the free DVDFab - obviously not. On my first tryal I got Disc2 with PAL header identification that my DVD player Samsung doesn't play (JVC played it though but it seems multisytem). This happend with my second backup to 2 DVD-Rs again.
My workaround was to check the Disc2 while still on HD with IfoEdit and turn back the format identifier to NTSC.
But still no menus on Disc2 and seems a lot of work to repair all that stuff with IfoEdit.

So the confirmation that DVDRemake Pro would do the trick is very welcome. Is it easy to use as from the screenshot doesn't look very polished?

[MackemX]

@djelimon, I don't think it was directed at you . I know for a fact Finding Nemo creates issues using Ifoedit due to a bug (not sure if the latest version addresses it though). I also know DVDFab has issues with certain DVD's also but this doesn't make me think any less of the software just because of issues I experienced. I try to find a solution and I normally do using that software or not. I could name a few more softwares that have issues but I don't see the point. If I just gave up on software then I wouldn't even be on my PC

@anyone interested, what you should look at is the fact that if you have issues and you have paid for the software, what are the developers doing about it!. If you have paid for the software go moan on the official forums and get something done about it. I could bad mouth a few software companies for their lack of/pathetic aftersales support. Saying that even some of the freeware guys put them to shame!

anyway rant over

@tonofsteel, it looks like the DVD's you are trying to split contain more than a basic DVD structure. That guide above does work but not with every single DVD ever released. No software is that great . Before burning coasters you may want to try using Marks' DVD Tray player version 1.99a (Download) as this is a very good DVD playback checker with some very good features

here is my splitting guide using DVDRemake HERE that splits an episodic DVD. You can use the same principal to split a movie by using the cut feature instead of completely hiding a PGC. Basically you can control exactly what is on each DVD right down to cell level. To save time, I would remove alll the unwanted crap I dont want on any DVD and then save the project. Remove or split what I want for DVD 1 and save it as a 2nd project before exporting. Load the 1st project again and do the remove/split for DVD 2 and save project before exporting

you can also accomplish the same thing using a mixture of freeware tools such as Vobblanker - Titlesetblanker - PGCedit - Ifoedit - DVDStripper etc if you are comfortable using them

p.s. after reading a few threads recently, why are people so uptight about what software other people use these days, chill people 8)

[djelimon]

https://www.videohelp.com/guides?link=585

This splitting guide (uses wink) applies to any DVD really, although you may have to 'adjust', you'll get the idea.

How esasy? Read the guide, you can decide for yourself.

The guide was done in version 1. DVDRM is now in version 2, and is split into regular or Pro. You should double-check on the DVDRM forum http://www.cdr-zone.com/forum/index.php?c=10 to see which you'd need to follow the guide. I picked Pro because I also make home movies, and using it I can easily edit the crude stuiff my NeroVision Express produces, reprogram the menus, merge movies, chop off footage from the beginning/end of a chapter etc etc. Which you could do with other tools, but I'm shooting to simplify my arsenal, and get some of the uneccessary stuff off of my PC.

Also, while you don't have to be a guru to follow the guide, it might not be a bad idea to read up a bit on DVD architecture, so you have some idea what's going on/being demonstrated:

http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/ug_dvd_intro.php

http://www.mpucoder.com/

http://forum.doom9.org/

cheers

PS - if you have a problem because the movie isn't structured like the one in the demo, I can probably walk you through via e-mail with screen shots, or even on this board, although I'm not sure how management feels about using up the bandwidth.