Problem ripping home made DVD

[Maz1000]

Hello, I am new here. I make DVDs for holidays, events etc with Pinnacle Studio. I downloaded Handbrake as I have lost my original DVD disc image that I made for a particular video but I have the DVD that I burned at the time. Everything seemed to be going fine but when I played the converted footage back it had cut out at 43 minutes when the full piece of footage is 1 hr 34 minutes. I tried it several times but the same thing happened. What am I doing wrong?

[ProWo]

Try my clever FFmpeg-GUI. If it fails, then try IsoPuzzle.

[Maz1000]

Thank you, but do you happen to know why I cannot rip the whole footage. 3 times I have tried. It must be something I am doing wrong.

[ProWo]

I think it's the DVD.

[OldMan64]

Does this home made DVD have a paper label? Many times the label will cause problems latter on. If it does, use a solvent ( GooGone or WD40 work well) to loosen the label glue, let it soak, and then carefully remove the label. Then clean and try again. Isopuzzle, as mentioned by ProWo, can recover what is still available on the DVD, if the disk is failing.

[johnmeyer]

I think the explanation might be much simpler. Some of the early DVD authoring tools created DVDs with very strange structures. In particular, they often ended up creating a DVD with multiple titlesets. There is nothing wrong with this, but it can make trying to reassemble the original video a little more challenging.

You can tell if this is the problem by looking at the files on your DVD. How many VTS_.IFO files do you have? As an example, there is one DVD I created that has twenty-one titlesets and I have:

VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_02_0.IFO
VTS_03_0.IFO
...
VTS_21_0.IFO

Each of these titlesets contains a separate video VOB, and that video is not broken across titlesets. However, I remember some of the tools I used twenty years ago would create video which, within a given video, would jump to a new titleset. When you rip such a disc, depending on the settings you use in your ripper, you will only get the portion of the video from one titleset.

I still only use the old DVD Decrypter. With that tool you can use either file (F) or IFO (I) mode to extract the video. You might play around with those settings in whatever ripper you are using to see if you can get it to join together the video that is from more than one set.

You should also look at the settings for the maximum size of the VOB created by the ripper. The DVD spec limits the size of each VOB to 1 GB, and it splits a 4 GB video into 3-5 VOBs. When you bring this video back to the computer for re-use in another project, it is a good idea to have the ripper create a single VOB. There is a setting (in Preferernces, for DVD Decrypter) that will force the ripper to do this.

[hech54]

I think the explanation might be much simpler. Some of the early DVD authoring tools created DVDs with very strange structures. In particular, they often ended up creating a DVD with multiple titlesets. There is nothing wrong with this, but it can make trying to reassemble the original video a little more challenging.

Exactly.
It's an authoring process problem with the disc.

[Maz1000]

Thanks everyone! I think it is the disc. There is probably a small glitch (fault) which is not enough to prevent playing on a DVD player, but it is preventing ripping the disc. The reason I think this is when I video my brother's brass band concerts (this is one of those) and the camera is on the trip for maybe 2 hours non-stop, I have noticed when editing the footage there is sometimes a stoppage. None of the footage is lost but there is a definite glitch. Most of you have said it is probably the disc (being home made) and it also has a paper label on it. So it would seem the disc cannot be copied and, as I said, I no longer have the original disc image in order to burn more discs. Thanks very much.

[ProWo]

So it would seem the disc cannot be copied

Give IsoPuzzle a try.

[october262]

Thanks everyone! I think it is the disc. There is probably a small glitch (fault) which is not enough to prevent playing on a DVD player, but it is preventing ripping the disc. The reason I think this is when I video my brother's brass band concerts (this is one of those) and the camera is on the trip for maybe 2 hours non-stop, I have noticed when editing the footage there is sometimes a stoppage. None of the footage is lost but there is a definite glitch. Most of you have said it is probably the disc (being home made) and it also has a paper label on it. So it would seem the disc cannot be copied and, as I said, I no longer have the original disc image in order to burn more discs. Thanks very much.

since the disc is a home made dvd, have you tried to manually copy the
files of the disc "drag & drop"

[johnmeyer]

since the disc is a home made dvd, have you tried to manually copy the
files of the disc "drag & drop"

+1

This is exactly what the OP should do if that person thinks they have a disc readability problem.

If you have a LiteOn DVD, you can also use DVDSpeed to get exact information on the readability of each portion of the disc. I just used this multiple times yesterday because I'm delivering a big project on thumb drive, but backed up to DVDs because the project needs to be preserved for future generations. However, it is impossible to purchase quality DVD blanks anymore, so I test every single burn before delivering it, just to make sure I'm not creating DVDs that will barely play today and are likely not to play in 30-40 years.

[Maz1000]

johnmeyer. I agree but that is a whole lot of work when I am producing 20+ discs for members of the brass band when the performance is 2 hours or more. I do this as a hobby and don't ask for money so that would be a huge task for me. I agree. I must ditch around 3 blank discs for each video project I do. October262. Thank you but if I cannot transfer the footage from the disc there is nothing I can drag & drop. I have tried importing to my video editing software but it is not responding - probably because of the glitch I mentioned. ProWo. I don't know what IsoPuzzle is but I will look into that. Thank you very much! Maz xx

[davexnet]

johnmeyer. I agree but that is a whole lot of work when I am producing 20+ discs for members of the brass band when the performance is 2 hours or more. I do this as a hobby and don't ask for money so that would be a huge task for me. I agree. I must ditch around 3 blank discs for each video project I do. October262. Thank you but if I cannot transfer the footage from the disc there is nothing I can drag & drop. I have tried importing to my video editing software but it is not responding - probably because of the glitch I mentioned. ProWo. I don't know what IsoPuzzle is but I will look into that. Thank you very much! Maz xx

Have you tried dragging and dropping the video_ts folder from the optical disk to the desktop? I believe
this was inferred

[johnmeyer]

I don't understand the hesitance to do any of the several things I recommended. As davexnet says, for a homemade DVD, all you have to do is drag and drop the VOB files to your hard drive. You can then use any one of a number of small utilities to re-combine them. I would do that first to determine if you have a disc problem, or if you have a titleset issue that is causing the video to end at a VOB boundary.

Heck, you don't even need to copy the files: just drag each VOB onto VLC or other media player and note where the video ends. Is that ending point the same as what you are observing from the rip, where the video stops playing at a certain point?

Also, if you have a disc readability problem, you should get some sort of error message from the ripping software. The same thing will happen if you drag and drop the VOB files.

Finally, you have not mentioned whether you can play the entire one hour and thirty-four minutes of the DVD when you put the DVD into a set-top player. If that plays, the DVD is good.

[lingyi]

Thanks everyone! I think it is the disc. There is probably a small glitch (fault) which is not enough to prevent playing on a DVD player, but it is preventing ripping the disc. The reason I think this is when I video my brother's brass band concerts (this is one of those) and the camera is on the trip for maybe 2 hours non-stop, I have noticed when editing the footage there is sometimes a stoppage. None of the footage is lost but there is a definite glitch. Most of you have said it is probably the disc (being home made) and it also has a paper label on it. So it would seem the disc cannot be copied and, as I said, I no longer have the original disc image in order to burn more discs. Thanks very much.

Remove the label. As stated above, labels are known to cause issues due to imbalance or warping that disappear once removed. Soak the disc in warm soapy water and carefully peel the disc off then try again.

[steptoe]

As stated, you NEED to remove that paper label. It causes disc imbalance. Discs spin at quite a high speed and if that label if off center by just a small amount will introduce wobble and make the disc very hard to read

Have a look for IMGBurn for ripping your disc again, it doesn't appear to be updated anymore but was/is one of the better FREE tools and produces high quality burns and more importantly correctly.

Also, try burning your DVD at most x8 or slower if you can. Gives the burner chance to burn it correctly rather than x16 that might introduce errors

Bin the paper labels, DO NOT use them. I have a canon printer that also prints CD labels directly onto the disc, but you need special plain white faced disc. Same price as GOOD DVD blanks, but they are getting harder to find. Pay a little bit more and reduce your scrap discs. Don't buy 100 discs for $10, they are cheap for a reason

[Maz1000]

Hi johnmeyer. Yes I know you are trying to be helpful but I don't see how I can drag and drop the files if they are not already on my computer. When the ripping failed I deleted them as they are no good. When I put the disc into the optical drive it just starts playing automatically and there does not seem to be a way of looking at the disc properties. Unless I can import the disc I cannot get to the Video_TS folders in order to drag and drop on to my desktop. I am not very good at the technical stuff as I used to ask my brother but he died last month. I know you will all think I am thick but if someone could tell me how to get the TS folders off the disc and into my laptop I would be grateful - and where do they get stored. Incidentally, I will ditch the paper labels from now on. I just thought they were helpful when looking for discs. Thanks! M xx

[Cornucopia]

Isobuster.


Scott

[johnmeyer]

Hi johnmeyer. Yes I know you are trying to be helpful but I don't see how I can drag and drop the files if they are not already on my computer. When the ripping failed I deleted them as they are no good. When I put the disc into the optical drive it just starts playing automatically and there does not seem to be a way of looking at the disc properties. Unless I can import the disc I cannot get to the Video_TS folders in order to drag and drop on to my desktop. I am not very good at the technical stuff as I used to ask my brother but he died last month. I know you will all think I am thick but if someone could tell me how to get the TS folders off the disc and into my laptop I would be grateful - and where do they get stored. Incidentally, I will ditch the paper labels from now on. I just thought they were helpful when looking for discs. Thanks! M xx

OK, you are indeed pretty new to computers.

I don't know if you have a Mac or a Windows computer, but while both of them feature the "autoplay" feature, both of them also let you look at the contents of the file so that it can be treat in the exact same manner as the main disk drive on your computer or any external drive. In Windows, just open up Windows Explorer (not to be confused with the built-in Windows browser which is called Internet Explorer). You can bring this up by pressing and holding the Windows key on the keyboard and then pressing the letter "E" (upper or lower case). On the Mac, you simply bring up the Finder (I think that's what it is still called; it's been almost twenty-five years since I ran my last Mac company).

You then simply drag (or copy and then paste) the VOB files from your DVD onto the folder of your choice on your computer.

[zing269]

When the disc starts playing just close the player. Then open file explorer and click on the dvd, probably D:\ or it may show the name of the dvd. Once you have found it you sill see a folder called VIDEO_TS, drag that to the desktop. IF you get errors then there is a problem with the disk, if no errors use something like vob2mpg to create a video file.

[johnmeyer]

When the disc starts playing just close the player. Then open file explorer and click on the dvd, probably D:\ or it may show the name of the dvd. Once you have found it you sill see a folder called VIDEO_TS, drag that to the desktop. IF you get errors then there is a problem with the disk, if no errors use something like vob2mpg to create a video file.

+1

[Maz1000]

Thank you johnmeyer and zing269. I have 2 laptops both Windows. One is an old one with Windows 7 and the other is Windows 10. I will give this a go tomorrow and let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed!

[abolibibelot]

IsoBuster is a good suggestion as it tries hard to do a flawless copy of the disc's contents, and reports read errors if any, and as a bonus it preserves the original timestamps of both files and folders.

As for opening the disc's contents, a method that hasn't been mentioned is right-clicking on the device and left-clicking on "Open" (you should notice that the default option in bold characters is “Play”, this can be changed somewhere in the system's underbelly, don't remember where exactly). Generally speaking, right-clicking gives access to a wealth of options which are not made readily accessible through the basic menus, because someone, somewhere, thought that it would make people's lives easier. And it seems to be getting worse every year -- one reason why I do not want to install Windows 10, which seems to follow that trend at least as much as Windows 8, which almost drives me insane each time I have to deal with it (like when I do a TeamViewer session on my mother's computer). Everything nowadays seems to be designed for idiots first and foremost (the fact is that there are a lot of them so it may be a reasonable decision from a strictly commercial standpoint).

[Maz1000]

Hi everyone! I have successfully dropped the VIDEO_TS files on to my desktop. Then I dropped it into VLC media player and everything was going great guns. The timeline at the bottom of the picture was showing the footage to be 1.37.09 so it seemed to me the whole of the video had been included. I started to play it through and it dropped out at 1.15.00. I went back and replayed around that point and it dropped out again at the same point. Remember though, the ripping dropped out at 43 - 45 minutes into the footage. It's a shame because this Brass Band Christmas Concert was the very last one my brother played in before he died in June from cancer. If it wasn't for this I would not be bothering my ass about it to be honest. However, we do have others of him playing so it would not be a great loss, its just I promised the rest of the family I would give them a disc of his final concert. If not, so be it. It would seem some of my software seems to have croaked it along with my beloved brother. I am now wondering if the video itself is somehow corrupted. The other thing it could be is I have a very powerful laptop and an IT guy who helped recently said you can get too powerful, even for video editing and the fan is constantly going trying to cool it down. It sometimes gets quite loud. Thinking I should get a desk top. What I am going to do now is follow the same procedure on my old laptop which is Windows 7 and see what happens. If I get the same results then the video itself is corrupt. Incidentally, the video was produced on my Windows 7 laptop as my video editing software is not compatible with Windows 10 and to learn a new suite of video editing is more than I can be bothered with at the moment. Pinnacle Studio changes every year and gets more and more complicated. Anyway, I would like to come back here and tell you what happened. Thanks all of you for your input. Maz xx

[johnmeyer]

If you can play the disc in a set-top DVD player (i.e., a DVD player that connects to your TV) then the video on the disc is OK. If you cannot, then the problem is with the disc.

[abolibibelot]

Did the DVD player slow down at the end of the copy ? Was there an error message ? Have you tried IsoBuster ?
Another possibility : create an ISO image with ImgBurn (VLC Media Player can play ISO images of DVDs just as well as VIDEO_TS directories).
Yet another possibility : creating a MKV file with MakeMKV (the process is lossless, the quality stays the same, if the video data is valid the complete video should be in the resulting MKV file).

Another thing to do (that would not require any extra tool) would be to read each .VOB file individually, instead of the whole VIDEO_TS directory. My knowledge of specific DVD video intricacies is fuzzy, but there could be something wrong in the way the files are indexed in metadata structures, even though the complete footage is there. If for instance the last .VOB file can't be played, then there's a problem, either with the disc, or with the original authoring (creation of the DVD structure before it got burned onto the DVD).

The other thing it could be is I have a very powerful laptop and an IT guy who helped recently said you can get too powerful, even for video editing and the fan is constantly going trying to cool it down. It sometimes gets quite loud.

Unlikely to be because it's “too powerful”, but these days the room temperatures can be high, and accumulated dust can make the air cooling less efficient, so fans have to run faster to compensate.

[Maz1000]

Thanks abolibibelot. What happened was I had dropped the VIDEO_TS folder into VLC media player and it indicated the whole of the DVD footage had transferred. However, when I watched it through from media player it cut out at 1.15.0 leaving around 15 minutes footage still to watch. No error message came up at all. I haven't tried isobuster or any of the other suggestions yet but the ultimate aim is to be able to burn more discs of this video footage rather than just keep in on my hard drive. This would have been my next step had the footage not stopped early. I may have another go at it before moving on to some other solution and see if it stops in the same place again when viewing from Media Player. If it stops at a difference point maybe I have a fault somewhere in my computer. My laptop is upstairs in a small room and the hub is downstairs where my partner's desktop computer is. Unfortunately he won't let me use his for this type of stuff. I do sometimes get drop out/stoppages/loss of connection and have to reboot. I have always blamed BT but it could be something to do with that. The laptop is only 2 years old!

[Cornucopia]

I will reinforce the suggestion to use ISOBUSTER.

Scott

[Maz1000]

Thank you. Will give it a try. Maz x

[lingyi]

Once again, if you haven't already done so, remove the label and try again. It's been discussed and proven in hundreds of posts here (including my own experience) that paper labels cause warping and imbalance of the disc that can lead to errors. Especially at the outer part of the disc (which is read/burned from the inside out) which is where you're currently having issues.

Also, being able to to play through the disc with a software or hardware player is meaningless unless the data on the disc (either at the burning stage or through bad media) is truly corrupted as software and hardware players spin at 1X speed and have much more robust video error correction. When ripping or copying the data from the disc, your optical drive may spin up to it's 16X speed and is trying to send a bit for bit copy of the data, leading to failure.

Also try another or more drives if possible. Some drives do better than others, especially if your drive is old as the laser may be dying and weak.

While ISOBuster is great, but you may have to buy the program to actually recover the data. Try ISOPuzzle which is completely free first. In either case, part of troubleshooting is eliminating possible issues, which in this case is removing the label first.