What's the advantage of ISO mode??

[franco]

I have some dvd-r discs I am in the process of authoring that I will need to copy every so often to send out to people, but I just seen in TMPgenc DVD author that you can create an ISO image and on this forum a lot of people seem to recommend burning in ISO mode etc.

I have just written my first disc normally and was going to copy from that, but if it is better doing it in ISO mode could someone let me know why this is the case so I don't have to go bak and do it all again??

[absinthecarolinas]

You can do it either way. An ISO image is simply just that: an "image" of the DVD you are creating. In other words, instead of creating the 2 folders with files (the DVD structure) that you would normally burn to DVD, creating an ISO is sort of like going ahead and creating the DVD. It's like a "snapshot."

Think of it this way (this is how I usually explain it). I think of items on a shelf. You create your DVD folders (items) from your authoring program, and then you can burn them (put them on a shelf -- i.e. a filesystem). Creating an ISO straight out of the authoring program is like creating the items and the shelf all at once! The only difference is that the disc is on your hard drive and not on a DVD.

What's cool about this? I'm glad you asked Many things, actually. You can use a program like Nero Virtual Drive (and there are others, maybe even some free ones, out there) to "mount" the image. This is like having another drive on your computer. In fact, it will even show up in your file browser! (i.e. Windows Explorer). Mount the image, and you can play your DVD (on the computer anyway)! Yep, you never even had to burn it! Now you can see if it works, and what it looks like, before you take the time or waste media to burn it.

(By the way, when you do go to burn an actual "real" disc from the image, you'll need to use a program, like Nero, that will burn an image. You should see this as an option on the main menu in Nero Express, for instance. It's easy as pie. If you just try to burn it as usual, like you burn any other file(s), your DVD will just contain one file -- yourimagename.iso ... or .nrg [image files generally have an .iso extension; or when made with Nero, Nero has its own image format and the file has an .nrg extension]).

Also, if your authoring software doesn't output ISO images, just create the folders as usual, and then you can use ImgTool (available for download in the Tools section -- FREE) to create your own .ISO from the folders.

But wait ... there's more!

*ISO's aren't just for DVDs. Oh no. You can make an ISO out of any damn thing you please.

*ISO images are often used for transporting files over the Internet. That way, the whole file structure is always perfectly intact. No need to worry if something got lost in a zip file or if the formatting got screwed up ... you will be getting/send a perfect copy (an "image") of the disc or files.

*ISOs are also great for archiving purposes. The reason I'm posting all this, in fact, is that just before I saw your post I received a phone call from my ex (my "baby's mamma") who said that she lost a DVD+RW I had given her which I had put a lot of work into. NO PROB! I kept the image! She can just buy me a new DVD+RW (or rather I can buy it, since she'll just use child support money anyway), and in fifteen minutes I'll have my disc back! Ta-dah.

-abs

[edit] Oh, yes, and in answer to your question, if I were you, since you're going to be making multiple copies again and again, I'd definitely make an ISO. You can make perfect, identical copies again and again. Poof! Poof! Poof! That's just what an ISO is for

[franco]

Thanks for that abs, very detailed and just what I needed. So in other words it doesn't matter how I make the original disc as this won't affect the compatibility with standalone players or duplicating the disc in future??

My hard drive isn't that big so I think I'll use the ISO method to duplicate in DVD Decrypter.

[absinthecarolinas]

Thanks for that abs, very detailed and just what I needed. So in other words it doesn't matter how I make the original disc as this won't affect the compatibility with standalone players or duplicating the disc in future??

Now that I'm not entirely sure of. Some burning software has some advanced settings for "compatibility." I can only tell you that I almost always burn from images and I never had a problem ... never, ever once! Maybe someone else here can advise you differently. But as far as I can see, try burning your first disc from the ISO ... and if that one works then there's no reason others shouldn't work equally well.

My hard drive isn't that big so I think I'll use the ISO method to duplicate in DVD Decrypter.

Ah yes, DVD Decrypter will serve that purpose nicely. Don't know why I didn't think to point that one out ... I just used it myself for that very purpose the other day.

-abs