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  1. I want to copy Star Trek Original Series DVDs. Unfortunately they only put 2 episodes per DVD which to me is a waste since you can obviously fit 4 or more. So, whats the best way of doing this? Do I rip the episodes to SVCD mpgs first? then put about 4 per DVDr? Or can I rip them directly as is in DVD form with no re-encoding and no loss of quality? Not sure how to go about this.

    Thanks
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  2. Um, I don't see how it's a waste -- you can't "obviously fit 4 or more" unless you encode at a much lower quality than most people want to do (encoded at high quality you can just about fit 1 hr. and 40 minutes, assuming you're using AC3 sound. With uncompressed sound you're lucky to be able to get 90 minutes on a single DVD).

    When series episodes come 4 to a DVD they are using double sided DVDs -- DVD9 (which are really two DVDs pressed together). Since no home burner can handle these (nor ever will) if I were you I'd just back up each disk to one disk -- you'll get the best quality that way.

    If you are bound and determined to put 4 on a disk and don't care how they look then you can just demux the VOBs and reencode them at a much lower quality -- say 2mbps (shudder). To each his own.
    "Like a knife, he cuts through life, like every day's his last" -- Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
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  3. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    May 2003
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    Hello

    Although this will degrade quality you could try the follwing:

    Rip each episode seperately (using DVD Decrypter in IFO mode) and re-encode them using TMPGEnc (or CCE). If you want to get 4 episodes on a single DVD-R disc then you should encode at what is called half D1 resolution (which is 352x480 for NTSC). This will still give you acceptable quality at lower bitrates. For instance, if you keep the bitrate around 3000kbps then you should be able to get 4 episodes per DVD-R disc (when using 352x480). For best quality you should try to use 2-pass VBR encoding (although it takes a LONG time). The final outcome will be 4 episodes per disc in lower quality than the original but I bet you WILL find the quality more than acceptable unless you have a very large screen TV (let's say bigger than a 36").

    HOWEVER ... having said that ...

    If the original STAR TREK DVD discs are single layer discs then I would just back them using DVD Decrypter ISO mode. Not only will the quality be perfect (bit-for-bit) but the entire proceedure will be MUCH faster since all you will be doing is ripping and burning (no re-encoding). Only if space and money are a concern would I try to reduce the amount of DVD-R discs by putting 4 episodes per disc.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
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  4. Retired from video stuff MackemX's Avatar
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    theres a great way to do it

    just use DVDSHrink and reauthor DVD ripping as many episodes as you require

    then use the 30 day trial of DVD Lab and simply just drop the VOB's into assets box

    only thing is u can only have one audio track , so maybe its no good for you as STNG may have subs u want or extra audio

    but its just worked great fpr me putting the Friends series together onto one DVD and creating a simple menu scanned from DVD Cover

    it had 4 episodes per side but now I have all 8 on one DVD

    all of 5 mins usertime using DVD Lab then I'm using IC to shrink it just a little

    when u can use more audio and import subs it will be a great app but it will do for now backing up my Friends collection cos that will take a while
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