Can't make a copy of home-burned DVDs even with MacTheRipper

[kingdrako]

Hi, a while ago I burnt a number of DVDs from footage that was shot on Mini DV. For half of them I imported the footage into FCP until I realised I could burn the footage as it played in real time straight fom the Mini DV deck to Toast Titanium 7, and for some Toast Lite. I have a Mac.

Now I am trying to make copies of the DVDs, but a note comes up saying it cannot be done and that the DVDs are most likely copy protected. I downloaded MacTheRipper but every time I try to convert a note comes up saying "failed opening IFO for titles set 0" and "Mirror of VMG failed" and "Mirror of DVD failed". I tested burning a commercial DVD with MacTheRipper and that worked fine. Plus I can copy other DVDs that I have made, it's just this one batch that originally come from a mini DV wildreel.

What could be wrong with the original burn of these DVDs that makes them un-copyable?

Thanks in advance - this problem is driving me crazy!

[pianoman719]

If you're lucky, there's something about the DVD structure that Mac The Ripper doesn't like, but hopefully the actual footage is okay. You might try opening the VOB files directly from the burned DVD using MPEG Streamclip 1.7. If Streamclip is able to read the VOBs, then use Streamclip to convert the titles to MPEGs. Then remaster the MPEGs to DVD using Toast. Do a short test first to see if this results in a new DVD which does not suffer from the same problem you started with.

A simpler solution is to try and use Toast 7 to copy the DVDs, or did that already crap out? Toast customer support might be worth a try.

Another simple solution which maybe you've already tried is to copy the VIDEO_TS folder from the DVD to your hard drive (just a simple finder copy). Then try burning a new DVD in Toast from the copied VIDEO_TS folder.

If a finder copy doesn't crap out, you could use a utility like DVD Imager to turn the VIDEO_TS folder on your hard drive into a disk image file that you can burn with Disk Utility. This bypasses both Toast and Mac The Ripper, in case the problem lies with either of them.

http://lonestar.utsa.edu/llee/applescript/dvdimager.html

Your complaint is a cautionary tale, and suggests that where possible, it's better to transfer DV footage to your hard drive first. Then give Toast the time it needs to master a proper DVD "to spec." You might even get better quality if Toast has time to analyze the footage and use a non real-time compression algorithm.

-Pianoman

P.S. You could also try using Toast's media browser to extract the video from the DVD. Then re-author it. Maybe something like what Frobozz wrote here:

"Place a VIDEO_TS folder on your desktop. Go to the Toast 7 Media browser and choose DVD. There you will find your video. Drag the video to the Toast Video window (this will extract the MPEG file from the VIDEO_TS folder). ... You now will have [video] in the Toast Video window ready to author to a new video DVD. Choosing Never Reencode should work presuming your MPEGs comply with video DVD specs."

[kingdrako]

Wow thank-you so much for taking the time out to give me such a thorough reply. It is very much appreciated. I will try all your bits of advice and hopefully one will work.
Many thanks.

[Russ Black]

To make copies of the DVD's that I make. I use Toast and make a disk image and then burn the image. Since there isn't any copy protection on the DVD and you are not trying to re-edit the video. You do not need to rip it.