DVD newbie

[cpgoose]

Hey everyone....well, I used to be on this site all the time for VCD stuff,
and had a pretty good handle on it. Now, with the DVD-R stuff taking
over, I feel like I'm back to square one.

Can someone point me to some of the articles and tutorials that I can
start reading to learn how to do this stuff (copy dvds, make dvds, stuff like
that?)

I see things like the $80 DVD+/-R +/-RW drives at Officemax each week,
but are those any good?

Thanks for any beginning pointers.

[andyp1]

First thing I found is that making DVD's using easy to use software doesn't come for free like making VCD's .

I can tell you what tools I use and you can look them up in the tools section and see what you think.

For a straight back-up of a commercial DVD I use DVD Shrink ( Freeware)
which takes either the whole disc or just the movie if you want better quality and rips it to your hard disc , then you simply burn the files to your DVD-R using Nero.

Encoding a file i.e. an AVI to DVD I use TMPGenc Plus (30 Day trial for MPEG2 encoding ) and use it just like I used TMPGenc to covert to VCD except choose to convert to DVD.
The you need to Author to create a file you can burn, I use TMPGenc DVD Author (30 day trial ) With this you can add menus and chapters easily and make your film act just like a commercial DVD.

Then I burn to DVD-R using Nero 6 Ultra Edition.

I found these tools easy to learn and have had excellent results.
I use a pioneer 106A burner and out of maybe 100 discs in the last few months I have only had 2 coasters and I know they were my fault not the software or the burner or the discs.

Another metod I found recently is ( and it saves on purchasing TMPGenc Plus - and you can use the free version of TMPGenc ) is to convert an AVI or MPG to VCD which gives you an MPEG1 file with 44.1K audio which you would have previously burned to a CDR as a VCD . The Take that file and run it through TMPGenc DVD Author which lets me add menus and chapters converts the audio to DVD compliant 48k . This way I can get up to 7 hours of film onto 1 dvd-r i.e 3 movies.

If you have been making VCDs successfully for a while the step to DVDs in not too bad.

[cpgoose]

Thanks andyp1! I took your advice, and have been checking out DVD
Shrink. Can I ask you a few more questions since you seem to have
quite some experience with this?

1. If the DVD burner is +/-RW, does that mean it can also do +/-R?

2. DVD Shrink talked about shrinking down a DVD so it can fit on your
blank media (maybe by removing the menus and stuff like that). Is
there a way to tell how big the original DVD is?.....I guess to determine
whether or not you have to shrink it in the first place?

3. Have you heard anything about these cheaper no-name dvd burners?

THANKS!

[richdvd]

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. LiteOn are the best burners period

[andyp1]

Yes as with cd-r and cd-rw dvd-r are write once discs and dvd-rw are re-writeable . I personally use DVD-r on my PC as when I back-up a DVD it is because I want to keep it. And I use DVD+RW on a stand alone DVD Recorder as I can record from satellite , rip to PC then reuse the disc . If I want to keep something I stick it on a DVD-R . I pay around 60p a DVD-R and 2.50 a DVD-RW.

There is a free programme called DVD Decrypter that will give you all you need to know about a DVD . Most commercial DVDs are called DVD-9 they are dual layered and have over 9GB capacity now DVDs we record on have 4.7GB capacity so we cannot do a straight copy. Also dvd shrink will remove any encryption and also any region code , so if a disk was for instance 7GB , 3GB may be the menus and extras so we can remove those leaving 4GB which is just the main movie and we can burn that to a DVD-r losing no quality whatsoever and on some discs the main movie may be 5GB which means we would have to shrink it to make it fit and may lose 10% of the quality which might no even be noticable. The more we have to shrink it the greater the quality loss . You'll only find out how far you can go by experimenting , What looks fine to one person may not be good enough for another .
BTW some people use DVD Decrypter to rip the disc to their Hard Drives.
Have a read up on DVD Decrypter as well.

As far as writers go I have only experienced two , mine and my neighbours . I have a Pioneer and he has a BTC . Mine has not missed a beat and has accepted every disc I have put in it , The BTC is very pickyand on has not read have the makes of discs we have tried so far. So for me I swear by the Pioneer 106 . Currently in UK at around 75UKP it is a 4x burner . Pioneer107 which is out now is the same except it burns +R at 8x and it is around 95UKP ( The pound sign on my keyboard doesn't seem to want to work) I don't know what you call a cheap burner but I think 75 is pretty good going.
If you go to the DVD Writer section on the left and tap in any models that are available to buy near you there are a lot of opinions by different people , it may help you decide which to go for .

Also don't forget that a DVD Burner is also a DVD-Rom , a CD-Rom and a CD-RW as well . They do everything . Some people prefer to rip the DVDusing their DVD-Rom to save the laser in their DVD-RW , some people find it faster that way . Also some people prefer to leave their CD-RW in place as they can burn to CD-R faster ie 48x or 52x , my pioneer burns to cd -r at 16x . Its all a matter of what is best for you , and how much space you have in your PC .

[Will Hay]

LiteOn are the best burners period

Thanks for that.
I'm in the market for a new burner, please be kind enough to post the results of all the brands you've tried (as you've obviously tested them all), so I can validate your research with mine.
Many thanks,
Will Hay

[richdvd]

Look to the left...and search LiteOn.

[Will Hay]

Look to the left...and search LiteOn.

Odd, becuase the feedback to the left indicates 'Pioneer' is the way to go.
My oh my, what is a man to do.
Will

[Will Hay]

LiteOn are the best burners period

What do you make of the Pioneer 107D?
I value your opinion.
Will

[VCDHunter]

LiteOn are the best burners period

What do you make of the Pioneer 107D?
I value your opinion.
Will

Just got a NEC2500a and its freakin brilliant.

[Denvers Dawgs]

If you want to make a dvd back up, of just the movie itself (no menus, extras) than try this

1. Dvd Decrypter (rip) - Free
2. Dvd2One (fit to dvd)
3. Copytodvd (burn) - Free 30 day trial/Full working version