Need advice: Double-sided DVD --> Dual-Layer DVD

[dablob]

I have a double-sided DVD - each side is a complete DVD5. I've copied each side to my hard drive using DVDFab 9's HD Decrypter so I have, in effect, two complete DVD5 discs. I want to burn both sides to a dual-layer DVD9 disc. I typically use ImgBurn to burn DVD9's. Are there any potential issues (e.g. menu incompatibilities, etc.) with putting both disc directories on one dual-layer disc?

[nic2k4]

DVDshrink in re-author mode. Both movies will play in sequence without menu.

[Kerry56]

Check the sizes of your DVD movies. If they are 4.35gb each, then both will not fit onto a double layer DVD. Its capacity is only 7.9gb or so.

And you'll not be able to put two separate DVD-videos onto one DL disc and play them both with access to the original menus. You could reauthor them, and make a new menu where you can select each movie, but even then, you'll need to re-encode them to get them to fit.

There are a lot of different ways of combining them and making a new menu. If you want to keep extras, and not just the main movies, it gets more complicated.

[dablob]

Thanks for the replies!

Side 1 is 4.14 gb, Side 2 is 3.80 gb. I was hoping to keep both sides completely intact.

[Kerry56]

Completely intact? With original menus? I'm not sure that will ever happen.

You'll be right on the edge of what will fit. Make sure to use Verbatim brand DL +R discs, and burn at a medium speed...I'd recommend 4x.

[dablob]

Maybe I'll run them thru DVDShrink to remove a language track or two. Other than space considerations, do I have anything else to worry about if I just plunk both disc directories onto one dual layer disc?

[johns0]

You can't just plunk both directories onto a dual layer disc and expect a dvd player read it,the discs have to be reauthored so there is only the parent directory that is a VIDEO_TS folder and an empty AUDIO_TS folder which some older players require.

Also only use verbatim dual layer disc.

[turk690]

There are at least two problematic things with this situation.
First, like kerry said, there will be no menus. DVDShrink may manage to string them one after the other after language tracks are removed. That's it. To get menus you have to laboriously reauthor them yourself and re-introduce menus and all the appropriate links, hardly a one-click solution.
Second, it's hard to tell if there will be an appropriate cell to put a layer-break in. DVDShrink can output to *.iso, which you can submit to ImgBurn, which will in turn tell you if there are any satisfactory layer-break cells. If ImgBurn reports it can't find acceptable layer-breaks, like the first issue, the only thing left is to re-author and introduce chapters around the area where ImgBurn didn't find any to layer break with.

[dablob]

Thanks. I get it now. That's the answer I was looking for (or rather, afraid of).

[Kerry56]

If I were doing this, I'd rip each movie to the hard drive, then use PGCDemux to separate the video, audio and subtitle streams from each movie. You'll get an .m2v file for the video from each movie. Import the first .m2v file into AVStoDVD, then right click on it in the main window of AVStoDVD and you'll get a list of options where you can import the appropriate audio and subtitle streams for this movie. Do the same sequence for the second movie. It is possible to import DVD-video straight into AVStoDVD and let it index it, but I've had better luck when making compilations by importing them as m2v or mpeg files.

Set output size in AVStoDVD to DVD9. Use the HCenc encoder in a two pass mode if it needs to be re-encoded to fit, but otherwise, AVStoDVD will let compliant video and audio pass through without re-encoding.

Make a menu by clicking the Menu Wizard and click on Run Editor. You'll be able to select each movie from the menu.

AVStoDVD makes chapter points at 5 minute intervals by default, so you should have at least a decent chance of making a complete DVD-video with an appropriate layer break position.

[johns0]

It's easier to use dvdshrink,just add each folder and output as a new dvd folder,and then burn with imgburn.No need to re-encode or do any other thing as long as the output is under 7.9gb.

[videobruger]

Or you could use DVDReMake to get a top menu, keeping the original menus, removing anything unnecesarry and see if the resulting size will fit a DL disc.