Copy recorded DVD-RAM to DVD-RW?

[Trollheart]

Thing is, I'm getting rid of my Panny HS2 at the weekend and buying a Philips 3595, which comes highly recommended but does NOT do DVD-RAM. I have a lot of programmes on DVD-RAM and would ideally like to be able to watch them again, so I'm wondering is it possible to copy (not edit/rip or anything, just pure copy) the DVD-RAM disc to a blank DVD-RW/+RW or even +R/-R? All I want to do is be able to copy the progs on the disc onto another disc which my new DVD recorder will be able to read, preferably with the least hassle possible.

If it means ripping/editing, using TmpGenc or something, ok, but I'd prefer to be able to just copy the whole disc and dump it onto a DVD as above.

Anyone know if this is possible? (This obviously assumes I'm using at least a DVD drive that can read RAMs, I know....)

Thx
TH

[wtsinnc]

I have done exactly what you are describing and a lot of programs will allow the transfer. Provided the optical drive can read RAM discs (as you mentioned), you can transfer to DVD+/- R or +/- RW. You didn't include information regarding what software you currently have access to for the transfer so I will assume you currently have none. Based on my experience, I would download DVDFab Decrypter to rip to the hard drive and Imgburn to burn to DVD. Both programs are free and along with DVD Shrink (also free) will also serve for future DVD backup of encrypted as well as non-encrypted discs. Excellent alternative programs for this project which are offer a free trial period and that I have experience with are Alcohol 120%, CloneDVD 2 (use with AnyDVD HD for encrypted discs), and DVDFab Platinum. Every program listed in this post can be downloaded via links on this website (see the Tools section).

This is only a start; others are sure to post with these and other recommendations.

Good luck !

[usually_quiet]

You can't just copy DVD-RAM to DVD-RW and get a playable disc as they use different file formats. The VRO files on DVD-RAM discs lack navigation packets required by most DVD players.

Some claim that copying the VRO files to one's hard drive, renaming them to .mpg and re-authoring them works, but I have not found that to be a reliable method, especialy when the discs have had multiple recording sessions and multiple erasures of individual programs.

I once used a program called VRO2VOB to convert RAM disc files (VRO format) to VOB format. It's shareware from Japan, with a Japanese user interface, but not hard to figure out. The bad news is, after its trial period is over, it is disabled. If you google VRO2VOB, you'll find there are cracked versions of it around, but I would recommend that you avoid them (warez). Here is a link and a discussion about the legit version that you may find helpful:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic302272.html

The pay version of ISO Buster could also be useful to you, but I haven't tried it.

However the method in the post above seems worth a try. Also TmpGenc, as you wrote, if my memory hasn't failed me regarding its features.

[ks47]

This may be what you are looking for:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic269728.html

TS

[OneSickPup]

This may be what you are looking for:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic269728.html

TS

TDA is money well spent. They do have a full-featured trial version I think.

[Trollheart]

Thx guys, but this is a little more trouble than I'm prepared to go to. I have about 40 - 50 DVD RAMs that I'd have to convert, and to be honest, it would be quicker and cheaper for me just to buy an external DVD RAM drive and watch them through my PC when I need to.
Thx for the help anyway. I just had hoped I could make direct copies. Now that I know I can't, it's not worth the hassle.
Thx again
TH

[frankeye]

usually_quiet's points are well-taken.

wtsinnc: I found that DVDFab Decrypter did NOT work (reading DVD-RAM from drive). The full DVDFab Platinum version is 49 Euros.

I tried TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA), trial version - it definitely works, but trial version limited to 30min video. Full version is $89. The Source Wizard of TDA will let one point to a DVD-RAM source. Point to its DVD_RTAV folder. This will extract all the titles/chapters. Within TDA, titles become “clips”, and any chapters are carried as (initial) chapters within the any clip. Upon each “suck-in” of an entire DVD-RAM, one is presented with all the clips, with option to include/exclude them – in comprising a “track”. I suppose sucking in multiple DVD sources creates multiple tracks, any/all of which can be included in a project. Now, if we take default TOP&Track menuing, each clip/chapter becomes a chapter in the track. The track is evidently what we have been calling Title, for the destination DVD. TDA will create a VIDEO_TS folder, containing the .IFO, .BUP and .VOB files.

From here, use ImgBurn, in Folders-to-Disk mode. Do folder-select (not file-select), and select the entire VIDEO_TS. (Can also create an .iso image file on disk, if wanting to burn multiple DVDs – this is the Build, or folders-to-image mode).


I'm trying Corel (formerly Intervideo) DVD Copy 6 (basic, not the Plus version), which has trial download, and is $29.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1185293056448
The trial is huge (~300MB), but fortunately their pipes are fast (~900Kb/sec). Use the manual download - their download manager didn't verify for me after several tries.

Will see if this works, i.e., reads the DVD-RAM and produces a burnable DVD-R image, preserving titles/chapters...

[frankeye]

Continuing my post...

DVD Copy 6 does NOT preserve the (rudimentary) Menus (coming from Panasonic DMR-EZ17 DVD-RAM), but the title/chapter structure remains in place. For me, that's not very satisfying.

In case anyone cares, here's how I worked DVD Copy 6. Source: Point to DVD drive; Target: by default, My Documents/My Videos; Profile: DVD Image 4.7GB (otherwise, if you say DVD, it will want to write to a drive forthwith). I suppose you could subsequently use DVD Copy’s own write-to-disk facility (say if you didn’t want to babysit). But I like using ImgBurn. This leads to an annoyance: Now the stupid program, during its copy doings, creates a temporary My Documents/Movie folder, which contains a well-formed VIDEO_TS folder and contents. On its 2nd-pass (can see this by watching its progress bar, as well as by watching the contents of the Movie/VIDEO-TS folder) the goddamn program then writes a .cdi file (I suppose it is its own image format) into My Documents/My Videos and then deletes (!) the Movie folder. It does so even if you try to foil it by opening a separate folder window – the window gets smacked-down! What evidently can be done is during its “2nd pass”, hit the Stop button – it prompts you “Do you want to stop it?” – before answering, copy the VIDEO_TS folder to someplace safe.

[Disco Makberto]

Frankeye,

Just to let you know, "AVS Video Copy" claims to be able to copy a DVD-RAM disc (with or without menus) directly from a PC drive to a DVDR disc on another PC drive (among other combinations). However, there is no information about how it deals to make the resulting DVDR disc DVD-Video compatible.

Best of luck,

CAL
D-Mak

[oldfart13]

Nice for the Philips but why didn't you just buy a Panny DVD player? Even the older ones play DVD-RAM. Players from several other manufacturers also play DVD-RAM. Gotta be cheaper than trying to convert 50 or so discs. The Panasonic Movie Album software can read the DVD-RAM discs in a compatable drive and either copy the individual programs to the computer HDD or else author a DVD with the built-in authoring software. Your choice...

[orsetto]

Another alternative would be to check if anyone you know has a 2006 or later Pioneer DVR (models 540, 640, 450, 550, 650). These have very good RAM/DVD integration: you can high speed copy a RAM disk onto the Pio hard drive, then insert a DVD-R and high-speed copy the titles back onto that. Presto. Actually, I'm kind of surprised your existing Panasonic DVR will apparently not let you do this: its the simplest solution? Instruction books are notoriously useless, but maybe if you look thru yours it might mention some obtuse backhand way you can trick your HS2 into doing the conversions itself?

[LJB]

Try the demo of Ulead DVD Movie Factory, or NeroVision Express.
Nero does have one or two good qualities to it, and reading .vro files is one of those rare positive qualities.