Copying DVD's

cullenswood

Just purchased a new PC which has a DVD re-writer on it, and decided to copy some of my nieces' dvd's as they are apparently used as ninja disks and the likes. A copy of them would mean they could be replaced easily. However I got the lovely YOU CANT COPY THIS DVD message. Is there any way around this. I appreciate this is to stop piracy and the likes, but that is not what I want to use it for.

Any tips?

koneko

http://www.dvdrhelp.com

Bear in mind copying DVD that are copyrighted is illegal blah-de-blah-blah so there is only so much you can discuss here on boards.ie

Khannie

Also, see www.doom9.net

It's banned by websense, so it /has/ to be good

Oh, and www.dvdshrink.org

Oh, and www.svp.co.uk for cheap blank discs.

That is all for now

Gurgle

koneko wrote:

Bear in mind copying DVD that are copyrighted is illegal blah-de-blah-blah so there is only so much you can discuss here on boards.ie

Isn't it OK to make backups ? ( )
And DVDXCopy is about the easiest to use, especially if you have a dual-layer DVD Recorder (9.2Gb).

cullenswood

Thanks guys.

Where would I get a copy of DVDXCopy? And is it idiot proof to use??!

koneko

Gurgle wrote:

Isn't it OK to make backups ? ( )

Actually, it isn't AFAIK. Decrypting DVDs is illegal from what I know on the topic, so making any copy of a DVD that is copyrighted is illegal. Even for backup purposes. Correct me if I'm wrong if there's any experts here but that's the way it is to my knowledge.

You can of course copy your own home movies that you have backed up onto DVD *cough*

netman

Try dvd shrink first, it's free and pretty much idiot proof.
There's a backup option, and if you want you can de-select parts that you don't want copied, such as foreign audio tracks and subtitles.
http://www.dvdshrink.org

DVDXCopy was made by 321studios which have closed down.
You can't buy it anymore. You might be able to find it for download somewhere on the web, but to be honest dvd shrink does the same stuff, and doesn't add an annoying screen to the beginnin of every DVD you backup.

If for some reason you're not happy with dvd shrink, Intervideo have a commercial product called DVD Copy that lets you make backups, and use single or double layer discs, or copy to multiple discs etc.
http://www.intervideo.com

Orion

I personally use AnyDVD and CloneDVD. Never had a problem with them.

koneko

I use DVD Decrypter, mount the ISO image with Alcohol 120%, and burn with Clone DVD

Kazu

I use DVD Decrypter, mount the ISO image with Alcohol 120%, and burn with Clone DVD


a good idea but i think there is other software the works in the backround that allows clone dvd to think the dvd isnt incrypted and would be faster



AnyDVDAnonymous writes "AnyDVD is a driver, which descrambles DVD-Movies automatically in the background. This DVD appears unprotected and region code free for all applications and the Windows operating system as well. With AnyDVD's help copy tools like CloneDVD, Pinnacle Instant Copy, InterVideo DVD-Copy, etc. are able to copy CSS protected Movies. With the help of AnyDVD you can watch movies with non matching region codes with every DVD Player Software you like! AnyDVD decrypts not just DVDs: AnyDVD allows you also to play, copy and rip protected Audio CDs! "

I use DVD Decrypter, mount the ISO image with Daemon tools, and burn with DVD Shrink

sceptre

koneko wrote:

Actually, it isn't AFAIK. Decrypting DVDs is illegal from what I know on the topic, so making any copy of a DVD that is copyrighted is illegal. Even for backup purposes. Correct me if I'm wrong if there's any experts here but that's the way it is to my knowledge.

You're correct (not that I'm elevating myself to the position of "expert" btw). It's not even the decryption - in Ireland you can't back up / copy your music or DVDs without it being a copyright violation wot is against de law. That includes making mp3s from your purchased but copyrighted music as well so you can see how well that's working out at times.

I may give dvdshrink a try myself. Was going to try out DVDXcopy (I haven't bought a DVD burner yet but probably will in the next few weeks) but if DVDshrink does as well or better then it's worth a look.

Mutant_Fruit

my advice, there are plenty of free tools out there that make high quality backups, don't go spending money buying commercial ones thinking that just because they cost money, they're good.

DVDShrink is probably the best transcoder out there, and its opensource!

robinph

sceptre wrote:

That includes making mp3s from your purchased but copyrighted music as well so you can see how well that's working out at times.

Which means that everyone who has bought and iPod, or similar, is breaking the law in Ireland seeing as you cannot buy from Itunes over here either. :rolleyes:

Syth

sceptre wrote:

You're correct (not that I'm elevating myself to the position of "expert" btw). It's not even the decryption - in Ireland you can't back up / copy your music or DVDs without it being a copyright violation wot is against de law. That includes making mp3s from your purchased but copyrighted music as well so you can see how well that's working out at times.

That's correct as far as I've heard. In the US you are able to backup you're stuff. Thank god they have some sense. Many many website explaining how to do this are in the US, many companies selling software to do this are in the US. Since it's legal there, they are able to do business, ie tell us how to backup stuff. If the US had similar laws then it would be very dificult to do this.

In the UK and Australia it's the same as far as I know.

robinph wrote:

Which means that everyone who has bought and iPod, or similar, is breaking the law in Ireland seeing as you cannot buy from Itunes over here either.

Unless you've got a recording of your own band, then yes. Isn't the law great?

jimi_t

What about backing up PS2 games? I'm trying to back up the (notoriously scratchable) GTA:SA and the ISO is over the capacity of my DVD. Can I shrink it somehow or will I need to burn it on dual layer disc - also, will the PS2 read a dual layer disc?

sceptre

jimi_t wrote:

What about backing up PS2 games?

For some reason (perhaps because some of us write software and very few of us make Hollywood movies) boards doesn't tend to discuss the backing up of games, even games like GTASA that tend to get scratched the minute it comes within a foot of a PS2. I'd suggest a google that doesn't involve boards, perhaps for GTA SA back up and you may find what you want (YMMV but I suspect you'll get the relevant info). Discussion of that issue will most likely get the thread locked. May be double standards but then I've never seen a thread on backing up a specific problematic movie either. I thought the SA disc was 4.19GB which should fit on a single layer disc (I don't own a PS2 by the way) but that's probably as good as you'll get on boards. Google.

Drag00n79

sceptre wrote:

I thought the SA disc was 4.19GB which should fit on a single layer disc.

Yup, GTA-SA is a single layered disc (4.38GB, commonly called 4.7GB).

Bodan

i just got a dvd recorder recently , and i too am looking to backup my dvd's . Im not sure i fully understand this but is your average dvd larger than 4.7gb because it includes special features (e.g. deleted scens ) and that in most cases if you just stripped the movie out you could probably fit it on a blank dvd .

Drag00n79

Bodan wrote:

i just got a dvd recorder recently , and i too am looking to backup my dvd's . Im not sure i fully understand this but is your average dvd larger than 4.7gb because it includes special features (e.g. deleted scens ) and that in most cases if you just stripped the movie out you could probably fit it on a blank dvd .

Most movies released on DVD now are on dual-layered discs (9.4GB). If you have a dual-layered DVD burner you could make a copy of one of these discs (of course onto a blank dual-layered disc). However, most people still only have a single-layered burner. In this case you'll need a progam like DVD Shrink to compress the movie etc onto a 4.7GB disc. The result after compression is usually very good. You can lose some/all subtitles and some audio tracks and perhaps some extras to reduce the level of compression.

*All of this is assuming you are (for safety's sake) just making a back-up copy of a DVD you have already purchased*

Bodan

I got a Nec 3500 which is a dual layer recorder . Blank dual Layer Disc's are like 9 euro so id prefer to buy the dvd again then spend that much
As a general rule , how much time wise do 4.7gb disks hold. Hour , hour and a half ?

*All of this is assuming you are (for safety's sake) just making a back-up copy of a DVD you have already purchased*

off course

netman

A single layer disc will hold nearly as many hours as you want.. 2.. 4... 6.. 8...
It simply depends on the compression. DVD is not a video tape, there's no fixed number of minutes. It also depends on the streams, DD Stereo will not take up as much room on the disc as DTS for example.

You can get a premium quality single layer disc for under 1 euro (Verbatim and the like), where the cheapest dual layer disc will set you back 9 euro. There's hardly any difference between the two, and my guess is that you won't be able to tell which is the original and which is the backup unless you got a 50" plasma screen and top range home cinema kit.

If it's a backup you won't be watching it anyway, you'll be watching the original movie and keeping this stored away in case something happens to it.

pickarooney

It's "illegal" (in the sense that it's not actually written in law, but if a company decides to sue you it will win through financial muscle) to even watch a DVD using any software or hardware that circumvents the DeCSS protection. Watching a DVD on a linux PC is against "the LAW".

koneko

You can get premium quality single layer discs for less than 1 euro (from the UK).

But yeah, my point on the legality wasn't just from the POV of "making a backup", but from the actual act of copying it. You're decryping a DVD. It isn't legal to make a back-up of it in the US either to my knowledge, because the act is illegal, unlike with MP3s (you're allowed make back-ups of those). It's breaking the encryption that's illegal, which is unrelated to copying something that's copyrighted. I hope that makes sense to everyone, but that's the issue as far as I understand it.

pickarooney

However, if you were to copy the DVD by capturing the output from your graphic card, provided you didn't use protection-cracking software to read it in the first place, that would be legal, even in the US. (I know the quality is reduced to s-video level, but it can also be done via a firewire port on the card linked to a hardware DVD recorder). I digress. ..

daveg

DVDDecyptor to rip. DVD2one to encode and Nero to burn.

daveg

koneko wrote:

You can get premium quality single layer discs for less than 1 euro (from the UK).

But yeah, my point on the legality wasn't just from the POV of "making a backup", but from the actual act of copying it. You're decryping a DVD. It isn't legal to make a back-up of it in the US either to my knowledge, because the act is illegal, unlike with MP3s (you're allowed make back-ups of those). It's breaking the encryption that's illegal, which is unrelated to copying something that's copyrighted. I hope that makes sense to everyone, but that's the issue as far as I understand it.

I wonder if you bought dual layer media and burned a 1-1 copy of a DVD without decrypting the DVD would that be illegal. Or for that matter copying a DVD-5 1-1. Are there progrma sout there that'll do a straight 1-1 copy without "decrypting" the material?

pickarooney

daveg wrote:

I wonder if you bought dual layer media and burned a 1-1 copy of a DVD without decrypting the DVD would that be illegal. Or for that matter copying a DVD-5 1-1. Are there progrma sout there that'll do a straight 1-1 copy without "decrypting" the material?

Dunno, do retail DVDs have a file-system?