Backing Up the Descent DVD

[Shannafey]

Has anyone tried to backup The Descent yet? It is kicking my butt!! I have tried upgrading DVD Fab. It will rip it, and I've shrunk it with DVD2One, but the discs don't play. They either can't get past the menu or will lock up players. I even tried to reauthor the VOB files and got no sound? Any recommendations?

[fritzi93]

Sounds like structure protection. Have you tried running FixVTS on the ripped files before shrinking? Or you could do it over from the beginning with RipIt4Me.

Good luck.

[Jonathan]

AnyDVD and CloneDVD worked fine for me.

[Shannafey]

Thanks for the posts guys. Believe it or not, it did work, except that you can't skip past the warning and Lion's Gate ID. You have to wait and sit through them, and then everything works fine! A bit of a pain, but not a big deal! I have my backup! I used DVDFab and DVD2One.

[test_drug]

Figured since there was pretty much a topic concerning this DVD, I'd just pose a question here.

I'm trying to make a backup of my Descent DVD, I go through the process of RipIt4Me > DVD Decrypter > FixVTS > DVD Shrink > ImgBurn

Anyways, I noticed after doing a Deep Analysis in DVD Shrink that the DVD had 4 Audio tracks. One of them being AC3 5.1-ch English and the other 3 all AC3 2-ch English (all the same file size).

So my question is should I remove any of these to help lessen the compression or keep them all? I usually remove all languages except for English to help maximize the quality, but unsure whether any of these would be useless, how do you know?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[TJohns]

In DVDShrink's preview window in the bottom left, play the main movie then right-click on the video ... you have the option to select which audio track to use, allowing you to decide which to keep (the 2 channel tracks are often director/actor/etc commentaries)

Trev

[SingSing]

"can't skip past the warning and Lion's Gate ID" Should try vobBlanker.

[Prince Ali]

I was able to rip the movie using DVDFab, but when I try to make my backup using Nero 7.5, I get a warning telling me the disk may not be playable on my DVD player. I ran FixVTS and it finished normally, but I still get the same message. Then I tried a fresh rip using ripit4me/dvddecrypter/dvdshrink using 1-click copy. Again the rip is successful, but Nero gives me the same message. For some reason, dvdshrink did not compress the files; it is set to make it fit on DVD-5.

I have had the same problem with other Lionsgate DVD's such as Crank and Saw 3. With Crank, I just backed up the main movie, but I prefer to backup the entire DVD. Has anyone been able to make a backup after the files have been ripped to the computer?

THanks,
Ali

[fritzi93]

using Nero 7.5, I get a warning telling me the disk may not be playable on my DVD player

Don't include Nero in your process of backing up DVD-Video. Seriously. Use it for data. Why?, you ask. It's ironic, Nero, does not leave a 32k gap between IFOs and BUPs, so if you happen to get a bad sector, you can lose both, killing the navigation. (BUPs are "backups" for the IFOs). So much for Nero wanting to ensure you have "playable" discs. Along the same lines, Nero is notorious for insisting on re-encoding already compliant streams when authoring. And it re-encodes them badly. Really, they should stick with what they do competently.

There's nothing wrong with your procedure otherwise. If DVDShrink can run through it, the rip is good, but use FixVTS first. Just run FixVTS by default from within RipIt4Me, and set DVDShrink to output an ISO. (Use the latest version of RipIt4Me). Then burn with IMGBurn.

Good luck.

[EDIT] For technical ifo regarding "32k gap", see below:

http://www.digital-digest.com/~blutach/pgcedit_guide/burning_with_pgcedit/burning_with...2.htm#TechInfo

[ntscuser]

"can't skip past the warning and Lion's Gate ID" Should try vobBlanker.

Don't use VobBlanker, it plays havoc with some machines. Use PGCedit to jump straight to the main menu as explained in Blutach's guide here:-

http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/blutach/How_to_use_PgcEdit_new_macro.htm

[ntscuser]

Figured since there was pretty much a topic concerning this DVD, I'd just pose a question here.

I'm trying to make a backup of my Descent DVD, I go through the process of RipIt4Me > DVD Decrypter > FixVTS > DVD Shrink > ImgBurn

Anyways, I noticed after doing a Deep Analysis in DVD Shrink that the DVD had 4 Audio tracks. One of them being AC3 5.1-ch English and the other 3 all AC3 2-ch English (all the same file size).

So my question is should I remove any of these to help lessen the compression or keep them all? I usually remove all languages except for English to help maximize the quality, but unsure whether any of these would be useless, how do you know?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Well you could try listening to the tracks first!

As far as I remember they are all commentaries so it is matter of personal choice whether you think they are worth keeping or not.

[t0nee1]

I backed up The Descent using DVDFab decrypter full movie> DVDRB pro>IMGBurn...
Also did same movie DVDFab> DVDRB>vobBlanker>shrink>burn with Nero..... 8)

I prefer using IMG over Nero,I just keep Nero around for data and audio burns!!!! and for test purposes! and no, I'm not bashing Nero fanboys.......

[Prince Ali]

Thanks for the tip. I have been using Nero and always thought it was a very good burning software. I guess every software has its strong and weak points and Nero's seems to be burning DVD movies. I used DVDShrink to make an ISO and burned it with Nero. I assumed since the ISO was like data, Nero would be able to burn it correctly and it did. For compressing video, I use Nero Recode. Is DVDShrink better than Nero Recode? By better I mean better quality, not necessarily faster.

using Nero 7.5, I get a warning telling me the disk may not be playable on my DVD player

Don't include Nero in your process of backing up DVD-Video. Seriously. Use it for data. Why?, you ask. It's ironic, Nero, does not leave a 32k gap between IFOs and BUPs, so if you happen to get a bad sector, you can lose both, killing the navigation. (BUPs are "backups" for the IFOs). So much for Nero wanting to ensure you have "playable" discs. Along the same lines, Nero is notorious for insisting on re-encoding already compliant streams when authoring. And it re-encodes them badly. Really, they should stick with what they do competently.

There's nothing wrong with your procedure otherwise. If DVDShrink can run through it, the rip is good, but use FixVTS first. Just run FixVTS by default from within RipIt4Me, and set DVDShrink to output an ISO. (Use the latest version of RipIt4Me). Then burn with IMGBurn.

Good luck.

[EDIT] For technical ifo regarding "32k gap", see below:

http://www.digital-digest.com/~blutach/pgcedit_guide/burning_with_pgcedit/burning_with...2.htm#TechInfo

[ntscuser]

Is DVDShrink better than Nero Recode? By better I mean better quality, not necessarily faster.

In my opinion yes. Recode doesn't have the "Maximum smothness" adaptive error compensation option that Shrink has. Also it outputs in proprietry .nrg format rather than .iso or Video_TS folder which means you also have to burn with Nero which I would rather not do.

[fritzi93]

Probably should add, the 32k gap "problem" also affects reauthored discs using Shrink & Recode. In that case, might as well use IMGBurn to build the ISO. Tools -> Settings -> Build -> DVD-Video -> IFO/BUP 32k Padding. Not exactly a huge deal, what are the chances after all? Nevertheless...

Nero is fine in its proper sphere. (Forgot to add, Nero also does not handle DL layer-break properly). Don't use it for DVD-Video.

[Prince Ali]

I downloaded IMGBurn and installed it. I like to go through the settings when I install a new program just to see what's available. Wow, there are so many options here with almost no help. I tried burning a movie ISO that was processed by DVDShrink, but IMGBurn tells me the movie hasn't been authored properly for a double layer disc. Is there an option in DVDShrink or IMGburn to correct this?

Probably should add, the 32k gap "problem" also affects reauthored discs using Shrink & Recode. In that case, might as well use IMGBurn to build the ISO. Tools -> Settings -> Build -> DVD-Video -> IFO/BUP 32k Padding. Not exactly a huge deal, what are the chances after all? Nevertheless...

Nero is fine in its proper sphere. (Forgot to add, Nero also does not handle DL layer-break properly). Don't use it for DVD-Video.

[guns1inger]

Do you want it to be a double-layer disc ?
If so, why use Shrink ?
Imgburn can happily burn from a video_ts folder.

If you click on Help -> Visit support Forums you ca read through the guides and FAQs

[MovieDud]

I prefer Nero recode 2 over Shrink and yes it does contain the AEC, which can be changed, based the sorce, by using a neat little app. called Nero recode AEC Changer v 1.0. I will let Recode do the analysis and see how much compression is needed, uncheck the things I do not need, clip the end credits and use that number to change the AEC. You have to close out of Recode 2, open the AEC Changer, select the max. smooth, smooth, sharp etc. and then hit apply---open back up Recode 2 and find the previous file and go ahead and run the program. I do not like Nero Iso making abilities, so I have the video ts folder and then I use Img Burn and make the Iso Image, or I will burn the video folder using ImgBurn.
MovieDud