newbie just wants to to make backup copy of protected dvd

[rogerdc]

have good pc and mac skills but am completely illiterate to video (files, formats, conversions). would like to copy the movie only, without all the trailers and other junk.
from reading some of the previous posts (gunslinger and others), it looks like AVStoDVD is one of the better softwares, so i
downloaded it and i dont have a clue as to what to do first, let alone how to take the newly converted files and burn a dvd with
nero 9 vision. is there a good(step by step) tutorial that would show me how to remove the copy protection (i'm assuming this is what AVStoDVD does) and take the newly converted file and burn it to a dvd that i can view in my stand alone player that outputs to my TV. if there is no such tutorial, could someone (knowledgeable with AVStoDVD) tell me how to accomplish this. i'm
not opposed to doing a little homework- is there a link, website, forum or community that you could send me to that might ex
plain some of this greek to me

the previous posts that i read advocating AVStoDVD were over 5 years old - there may be something better now. i know "free is better" but i woulld consider a paid program in $40 or less range.

ANY HELP GRATEFULLY APP

rogerdc

[jman98]

Answer honestly - do you think it's likely that you are REALLY going to want to get into this and learn to do it the highest quality way or do you just want to do it quickly with as little effort as possible?

If it's the latter, DVDShrink is probably what you really need. It runs on Windows. Here's one guide
http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_copy_dvd_with_dvd_shrink.cfm

Assuming that "TN" means Tennessee, which means USA, you should be aware that while DVDShrink can rip your DVD to a hard drive where it can be processed to extract just the movie, some American DVDs use a type of copy protection that DVDShrink doesn't understand. Sony and Disney are the most likely to do this, but other companies may as well. You'll need to find a different ripping program in such cases. I'd recommend AnyDVD. It's not free, but you can pay for lifetime updates. Once you get something to correctly rip the DVD to your PC, DVDShrink can do exactly what you want easily enough. The quality it produces is good enough for most people, but there is another program that's more complex called DVD-Rebuilder that can give you better quality.

Don't even bother with trying to do any of this on a Mac or you will be wasting your time. EVERYTHING is harder on a Mac. And I say that as a Mac user myself.

[hech54]

is there a good(step by step) tutorial that would show me how to remove the copy protection (i'm assuming this is what AVStoDVD does)

No. That's not what it does.

[redwudz]

You might spend a few moments and read 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. That will give you a bit more understanding of the DVD structure, format and specifications. Most commercial DVDs are about 7GB in size. And a full backup will sometimes fit on a dual layer DVD. The main movie will often be smaller, but often not small enough for a single layer DVD. DVD Shrink is handy for this.

Almost guaranteed you will need a decrypter if your DVD was made in the last ten years. There are still some free ones if you only need to do a few backups. https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/decrypters-dvd-rippers

If you plan to use a dual layer DVD, then I would recommend only Verbatim discs if you want a lower chance of failure. For burning I would only recommend ImgBurn. Nero is problematic, IMO.

And welcome to our forums.

[rogerdc]

jman and company- hey guys many tks 4 taking the time to help a newbie. jman, if i had to answer your question honestly, it would be"do
it quickly with as little effort as possible. in the interim(between my post and the replies), i downloaded a trial program to my Mac called MacXDVD and have been trying rip and burn a copy of a dvd. in the hype on the webpage, they say it will even decrypt Disney and some of the others that are supposed to be a real challenge. Does anyone know anything about MacXDVD.

based on your advice, i think i'll ditch the Mac and Nero 9, and try AnyDVD, ImgBurn, and DVD Shrink.