is there a program that is aimed at doing full disc backups?

[sybariten]

Is there a program that just makes ISO backups of DVD movies, and makes it simple, without any risk of compressing anything or generally "changing" anything on the disc?

I have a couple of DVDs really dont want scratches and errors on, and i dont know what kind of backups i am going to do with them (dvd, svcd, etc) . Some of them probably fit on a dvd5-disc, some dont.

I was wondering if there is any tool that just zzzwwwooooop, makes a perfect image of the disc, and then i can have those ISOs lying around and experimenting with them a bit later, and get forget about the original discs now. HD storage isnt a problem at the moment.

i have now tried vobcopy for linux .. (i run both linux and win) .. with a simple vobcopy -m command. perhaps this is the best solution?

peace

ps. and to the helpful fellow that pointed out that i could be facing thousands of dollars in fines, or even years in jail: well, fortunately we don't have your legislation here..... we don't have "jails". Hell, we don't even have dollars! Can you imagine....

[RDS1955]

DvdDecrypter

Who?!?! ME?!?!

[ZippyP.]

we don't have "jails". Hell, we don't even have dollars! Can you imagine....

What is this strange Utopian place to which you refer?

[handyguy]

dvddecrypter & use some DL disks

[sybariten]

we don't have "jails". Hell, we don't even have dollars! Can you imagine....

What is this strange Utopian place to which you refer?

Well, its called Sweden, and we call it Sverige ....

dvddecrypter & use some DL disks

Ah.... i was just about to write that i didnt understand what DL disks meant, but i guess you mean dual layer ....
Are DL disks those that still are "a bit too expensive" ? And the same as DVD9, more or less?

It actually seems as many of these videos can fit on regular consumer single layer disks ... the directories when doing vobcopy are sometimes smaller than 4.7 Gb.
Is that common for feature films? These are very cheap releases with not much extra material, if any, and also they seem to be non-CSS-protected.

[mecg]

It actually seems as many of these videos can fit on regular consumer single layer disks ... the directories when doing vobcopy are sometimes smaller than 4.7 Gb.
Is that common for feature films? These are very cheap releases with not much extra material, if any, and also they seem to be non-CSS-protected.

I wouldn't say "common", but not unheard of. Even so, dvddecrypter will still be your best bet for creating the ISO's - just use the single layer disks if it will fit.[/quote]

[sybariten]

OK, what sizes should i think of when it comes to single layer discs? 4.7 Gb for an ISO or the whole DVD dir? I know that when making ISOs of some certain things for CD, the ISOs can grow bigger than the theoretical 700 mb that fits on a CD, but thats normal.

i now have some ISOs on a linux machine that i made using Vobcopy and mkisofs. Is it a problem that my main machine (Win XP) uses FAT? Considering file sizes. I have a vague memory that it cant use too big files.

cheers

[whitejremiah]

another tool that can do this...though its still in a semi early stage of development is ratdvd...it DOES compress the video some, but if you want to keep menus and such intact and not have to mount the image EVERY TIME...and also, just like ripping the movie to iso, it keeps it in one file.......for straight out backups without reguard to filesize (just use the highest quality settings that they give you...dont cut the extra audio tracks..or you can if you want to) thats the way to go...at least in my opinion....no, its not QUITE as good as 1:1 ripping like with dvd decryptor or anything, but it still looks very good...only thing is to play it back, it requires a BUNCH of processing power...and like i said, the program is relatively new, so it may still have some issues to be worked out with it............i DO wish they would throw in a zero compression option though.....

[sybariten]

OK, moving on here .... as i said, some of these vids i am trying, end up being around or smaller than 4.7 gb which i GUESS is the limit i should be looking for.

However, Kentucky fried movie and The Octagon are both closer to 8 Gb. None of them are especially long. Both have some extra material but its just some off-the camera documentary and some documentaries, none of them very long. In the case of Kentucky, i can chose in the beginning of the disc whether i want to see it full-frame or widescreen. I have a theory that they have added the film two times to the disc, in those two formats, and thats why the ISO is so big.
In the case of The Octagon though, i cant really see why its significantly bigger than most other ISOs i have. Any ideas? Or do these things dont follow logic?
Is there a program i can feed the Octagon ISO / Disc to, and try to determine where the "weight" is ?

cheers

[BSpielbauer]

...However, Kentucky fried movie and The Octagon are both closer to 8 Gb...
In the case of The Octagon though, i cant really see why its significantly bigger than most other ISOs i have. Any ideas? Or do these things dont follow logic?
Is there a program i can feed the Octagon ISO / Disc to, and try to determine where the "weight" is ?...

First things first, determine which of your original (store-bought) discs were pressed on single layer discs, and which ones were pressed on dual layer discs. (You can usually tell quickly, if the total size is more than about 4.3 MB, it is a dual layer).

You need to approach these two types of discs differently.

The ones that are on single layer discs will (obviously) fit onto one of your single layer blank DVDs -- with no additional compression. You can use DVDDecrypter, and do a straight ISO rip and ISO burn. You could also use DVDShrink to rip, and just choose to back up the "whole disc" (do not choose to reauthor). There are also several other options for these discs... they represent the easiest type of backup there is. You can end up with a backup copy which is identical to the original, in every way, except it no longer has the copy protection or any region code restrictions on it.


The ones that exceed around 4.3 MB are a dual layer DVD, though. This is a whole other ball-game. You now must make some tough choices...

-You can compress, and keep everything, and usually lose a LOT of video quality, due to the amount of compression. DVDShrink in whole disc mode is popularly considered one of the best tools for compressing. There are others, too.

-You can compress, and try to eliminate stuff you do not need, such as foreign language sountracks, subtitlles, previews of coming attractions, copywrite warnings, THX calibration stuff, and anything you consider expendable. Then, you can compress what remains, and you will typically end up with a better picture quality than the above. However, it will still end up being compromised from the original. DVDShrink in reauthor mode is popularly considered one of the best tools for compressing. There are others, too.

-You can compress, and try to do only the movie (if you do not care about extras), and you will typically end up with a much better picture quality than the above. However, it will still end up being compromised from the original. DVDShrink in reauthor mode is popularly considered one of the best tools for compressing. There are others, too.

-You can split the movie over two single layer blank DVDs. It is possible with this option to end up with the same quality as the original (no compression), although you will often have to get up and switch to a second disc in mid-movie. Not always, but more often than not. On a very few, you get lucky, and the movie will fit on one disc and all of the extras can fit onto a second disc, and nothing is compressed.

DVDShrink in reauthor mode is popularly considered one of the best tools for this type of splitting, too. Although it will cause you to lose the menus, if you split. There are other tools that can either put the menus back in, or that can handle the splitting without losing the menus at all.

-You can reach into your wallet and purchase some dual layer blnks, despote the fact that they tend to sell for $4 to $7 (American) per disc, depending on the source. If you do this, you can fit everything, with no compression, and lose nothing. Your result will be just like the very first type of backup I discussed above, where you have a "bit for bit perfect copy" only there is no longer any copy protection and no longer any region codes to worry over. If you do this, DVDDecrypter in ISO mode is a great choice. There are a few other tools that can also handle this.

I do suggest some reading on the specific topic of "single layer" and "dual layer," as it appears you need to learn and understand about these, based on your posts. Do a search, there are literally hundreds of posts here on this. And, the FAQs also discusses and defines these two radically different types of discs.

-Bruce

[sybariten]

First things first, determine which of your original (store-bought) discs were pressed on single layer discs, and which ones were pressed on dual layer discs.

[...snip...]

I do suggest some reading on the specific topic of "single layer" and "dual layer," as it appears you need to learn and understand about these, based on your posts. Do a search, there are literally hundreds of posts here on this. And, the FAQs also discusses and defines these two radically different types of discs.

-Bruce

I think you may have misunderstood my question a bit, but thats cool. On the subject of single/dual layer though, i dont think i need to read a lot more - you pretty much summed it up there!
(my actual question was more on the issue of why a film such as Octagon, although not much longer than any of the other films and only with a few short interviews as extra material, becomes as big as 8.5 Gb. Some of the others were just 4 Gb or something. Maybe its just a bitrate issue.)
Seriously though, i'm impressed that you gave such a thorough explanation. This feels like issues that are perhaps discussed a lot at this place, perhapseven explained in the same way over and over again. But thanks anyhow.

I did notice that DVD Shrink seems to loose the menus whenever you choose to re-author and delete stuff. Thats a shame, because i would like to do as you suggests in one of your cases there:
* take a (commercially pressed) DVD9, and copy it,
* duplicate the output dir,
* make one burn where the extras are deleted and it all fits on one single layer DVDr,
* make another burn where the main film is deleted and it all fits on one single layer DVDr.
That way, i could make a "perfect" copy of a DVD even if it exceeds 4.7 Gb. Guess i will have to look around and see if there are other tools that can do this.

peace

[ntscuser]

" I did notice that DVD Shrink seems to loose the menus whenever you choose to re-author and delete stuff. Thats a shame, because i would like to do as you suggests in one of your cases there:
* take a (commercially pressed) DVD9, and copy it,
* duplicate the output dir,
* make one burn where the extras are deleted and it all fits on one single layer DVDr,
* make another burn where the main film is deleted and it all fits on one single layer DVDr.
That way, i could make a "perfect" copy of a DVD even if it exceeds 4.7 Gb. Guess i will have to look around and see if there are other tools that can do this. "

It can be done bit is not for a beginner. If you make even the tiniest mistake when re-authoring the menu the disc will lock up. I speak from bitter experience.