Newbie needs help/advice on backing up

[squale247]

Hey all, new to the forum and semi-new to backing up my dvd's.

I'm sure this has been covered but i cannot seem to find it and truthfully i have been hunting for the right way and chewing through DVD+R DL's like a champ trying to back up my dvds with minimal success.

To make a long story short, i've had some success with DVD Shrink and NTI DVD Fit but the quality is nowhere close to the original disc.

DVD Shrink is set to no compression, DVD-Fit i assume is compressing 40% according to the little slide which will not adjust lower than 40%.

I'm hoping some of you would be able to direct me in the proper direction of software to use for decoding and burning so i can keep the same quality as the original disc. I'm hoping to use freeware but i accept that it's cheaper to spend some money on software vs replacing 1000's of dollars in dvds.

As i said, i'm sure this has been covered before and with some more searching i could find this information but i'm just at my wits end with searching and was going to give up until i found this forum so hopefully after some well earned ball-busting you could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

[Noahtuck]

chewing through DVD+R DL's like a champ trying to back up my dvds with minimal success.

To make a long story short, i've had some success with DVD Shrink and NTI DVD Fit but the quality is nowhere close to the original disc.

Okay, i am confused....
If you are using DVD+R Dual Layers, then why do you need dvdshrink or dvdfit ?

DVD Shrink is set to no compression, DVD-Fit i assume is compressing 40% according to the little slide which will not adjust lower than 40%.

There should be NO need to shrink or compress anything if you are using DVD+R DL's.

Use DVDFab HD Decrypter to rip the disc, then use Imgburn to burn to DVD+R DL.

You also are not real specific on what you are doing but i assume you are wanting to do a 1:1 backup of a commercial dvd so i am confused as to why you say

but the quality is nowhere close to the original disc.

Unless you are converting to another format as ripping is basically copying the original DVD disc to your hard drive and just removing copy protection.
Then burning back to a DVD+R DL will make it EXACTLY the same quality.

Also HOW are you chewing through DVD+R DL disc's ?

You need to use QUALITY DVD+R DL disc's and you do not state what brand you are using or HOW you are burning them.

[jagabo]

If you're shrinking your DVDs to fit on a single layer DVD why are you burning dual layer discs?

[Noahtuck]

Jinx!!!!!

Lol!!

[steptoe]

Have a look at DVD-RB

http://www.jdobbs.com/Pages/DVDRebuilder/DVD-RB.htm


This still is one of the better bits of software, and the donation fee is quite small when compared to some, and a very helpful forum for all your questions no matter how many times you ask without any sarcastic or neewbie responses. It can handle all DVD menus, episode DVDs and also copy just the main movie if you want so you don't have to sit through endless adverts on your converted DVD

Its one of the better ones because it doesn't try to reduce the size by stripping out things it thinks you won't miss, much like MP3, but rebuilds the video to match the bitrate so getting the best quality it can from the source. The others are faster, but they manage this by dropping video quality it 'thinks' you won't notice, which on small screens you probably won't, but if you watch on HDTV or 60" screen you will


There are a few freeware packages that can manage the same, but I couldn't really get them to work fully where this will work pretty much straight after installing it as all software needed is included and installed for you, unlike some that whine and fail to run because you haven't got or have installed some software it also needs to run, that they assume you already have so don't bother telling you this until you get errors

DVD-RB will take pretty much any ripped DVD from your hard drive and rebuild and even burn it for you. For ripping ANY DVD you really need to be looking at a separate ripper whose sole purpose is just that. Have a look at DVD FAB Pass key or ANY DVD HD to rip pretty much everything. Both offer free updates, and both are updated a couple of days after new protections are found on DVDs, so can be updated 3-4 times a month or sooner

If you are ripping ONLY DVDs, just go for AnyDVD but if you also have some HD discs you'll need AnyDVD HD, there is also an 100% functional trial version of this so you can see if its doing what you want

http://www.dvdfab.com/passkey-for-dvd.htm
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html


As DVD-RB also uses AviSynth, which is a very very powerful piece of software, you can if you wish also apply various filters to your video. So if its a very old movie that has quality issues you can apply a couple of noise filter to clean it up quite a bit


Be warned though its not quick, as it rebuilds the source DVD from scratch which takes time, but if you want the best quality then this is really the way to go. Its entirely dependant on how fast your computer is. It could take an hour per DVD or 2-3 hours or longer if its an episode DVD or DVD-9

You could always try the freeware version of DVD-RB, which IS 100% fully functional, before you decide to donate for the PRO version, that way you can see if its what you want. But the freeware version is updated very rarely, but should give you an idea if its want you are looking for




Plenty to read, but should hopefully point you in the right direction without having to ask multiple questions and getting single answers

[squale247]

Sorry for the confusion, i am using Verbatim DVD +R DL

Noahtuck - As much as i managed to confuse you, you actually addressed all of my issues. I've used DVD Shrink out of pure frustration of trying anything to get this to work.
And yes, i'm trying to make backups of all my commercial DVDs, my collection is about 500dvds and i've noticed some of the older ones are having some issues from scratching and abuse and the idea of re-buying all my movies is just not something i am lookin to think about.

To clear this up quickly. I was using DVD Shrink to rip to a Video TS and NTI DVD-Fit to burn to a DVD +R single layer. I thought i was using DL but when i went to check something last night i remembered NTI wouldnt even burn a DL. But that setup isnt really a concern to me.

My goal is exactly what you said Noah, 1:1 Exact backup of my Commercial DVD onto a Verbatim DVD +R DL (8.5gb, 2.4x speed, 240 mi), I'm going to try the programs you've listed and see how they work for me.


Steptoe - Thank you for your very detailed response, i'm also going to try the DVD-RB and the other programs you've listed and between these hopefully i'll finally be able to get these backed up and be done with it. Until i need to bakup my bluerays lol.


Thanks guys, i really really appreciate this and i'll let you know how i make out.

[jagabo]

My goal is exactly what you said Noah, 1:1 Exact backup of my Commercial DVD onto a Verbatim DVD +R DL

Then I agree with Noahtuck: use DVD Fab and ImgBurn.

[squale247]

So i've tried the DVDFab and Imgburn and it's working beautifully. Thanks so much for the help and direction.

Not sure if i should ask here or start another hunt but i will anyways, anyone have some advice on the best way to burn avi's to a DVD for playback in a standard DVD player?

I've tried using DVD Styler and although it works there are menu issues and sound problems. The files i have are .avi, and i'm more than happy to make multiple discs to fit them and keep quality up but the issue i have is the video is slightly glitchy (not enough to not watch it) and the sound will become slightly out of sync if you pause/rewind/ff. it does correct itself if you press stop and play again.

Also i've noticed the sound seems amplified once it has been burned which when playing the file directly through my pS3 is sounds perfect.

I know there are many types of avi files but i'm not sure how to check.

Either way, thank you again for the perfect advice on backing up and thank you in advance again for any help with this.

Cheers