Is Frameserving using CladDVD XP bad for my DVD Burner?

[mikewg]

I'm confused, I hear people talking about going straight from DVD to VCD is bad for your DVD-ROM or DVD Burner drive. I just bought a new DVD Burner and don't want to mess it up... my question is, if I'm using CladDVD XP to rip a movie, should I put the VOB files on my computer first, or is it alright to frameserve the files directly to TMPGEnc and have it encoded as a VCD format? Will that hurt my DVD burner? Thanks for the replies!

Mike

[dick_p_t]

The Vob files on a DVD are encrypted with Macrovision, Region Codeing, and also another encription method that I can't rember the name of.

So before you frame serve it you will need to remove all this protection.
This process is called Ripping.
There is lots of software to do this, SmartRipper(Recomended), CladDVD, DVD Decrypter and so on.
Some software does this on the file to help people with limited Hard Drive space, but i do not recoment it at all. It's just asking for problems.

Once you have riped the files to your hard drive you need to decode the audio. This includes DownMixing Dolby Digital, Dynamic Rage Compression(DRC), Sample Rate Conversion and Normalisation.
Last Time I checked, CladDVD XP did not support Sample Rate Conversion and the resalt when encoded was like a low bitrate Mp3, all the Top End (Trebble) sounds gargly and stufed up, it is most noticable on dialog.
You can get a plug in for TMPGEnc that will handle the Sample Rate Conversion for you. It's called SSRC(Shibata Samle Rate Converter).
Once you download it you go into Enviromental settings in TMPGEnc and you see it sample rate thing there.

Now for that short answer.
Yes, put the vob files to your HDD first useing SmartRipper then frame serve it with DVD2AVI.

None of this will hurt your DVD Burner (Unless Smartripper has a BaseBall Bat and is in a bad mood).

But your best solution is to use the software on my website (it's freeware).
Eazy VCD will automate this whole process for you and give you a Mpeg file read to burn to your DVD-R's (you can file like 4 movies on a DVD-R)

Sorry for the long winded post =8-)

[jkl]

I'm confused, I hear people talking about going straight from DVD to VCD is bad for your DVD-ROM or DVD Burner drive.

the reason why that method is so bad is that your dvd drive's laser is on "continuously" during the whole process. the amount of heat created can burn out your drives laser head and/or destroy the dvd you are ripping from. this is a chance you take every time you rip with this method whether or not your drive is new and top of the line or if your drive is old and cheap.