Copying DVDs

[petesamprs]

My boss who lives in manhattan just bought a second house in CT and wants to create copies of his DVD collection for this second house. He was going to buy a new comp with two DVD drives, and was wondering whether he could copy direct from one DVD drive (reader only) to the other DVD drive (a burner). If not, he'll buy a comp with just one drive (reader and burner), but then he wanted to know what software he needs to accomplish this. He'd want the easiest setup possible (ie, no manual work of syncing video/audio or anything like that). He basically wants to hit a button and have it do it automatically.

any suggestions? I told him i'd check w/ you guys. any guides for this online would be helpful as well.

thanks.

 

[wedi42]

dvdshrink

 

[BlueWeasel]

1) Download/install DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter
2) Use Shrink to reduce the movie size down so it will fit on a single DVD+R/-R disc
3) Backup using the "Create ISO file and burn with DVD Decrypter"

Basically, once he clicks start, DVD Shrink will compress the movie (if necessary) and create the ISO file. DVD Decrypter will start up automatically and start burning the ISO file (assume a blank DVD is in the drive). From start to finish, it should take about an hour and requires no user input except at the beginning.

 

[MustISO]

HTPC.

 

[1Cheap2Crazy]

Originally posted by: petesamprs
My boss who lives in manhattan just bought a second house in CT and wants to create copies of his DVD collection for this second house. He was going to buy a new comp with two DVD drives, and was wondering whether he could copy direct from one DVD drive (reader only) to the other DVD drive (a burner). If not, he'll buy a comp with just one drive (reader and burner), but then he wanted to know what software he needs to accomplish this. He'd want the easiest setup possible (ie, no manual work of syncing video/audio or anything like that). He basically wants to hit a button and have it do it automatically.

any suggestions? I told him i'd check w/ you guys. any guides for this online would be helpful as well.

thanks.

If he can afford two homes, have him buy two DVDs.

 

[mitchafi]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy

Originally posted by: petesamprs
My boss who lives in manhattan just bought a second house in CT and wants to create copies of his DVD collection for this second house. He was going to buy a new comp with two DVD drives, and was wondering whether he could copy direct from one DVD drive (reader only) to the other DVD drive (a burner). If not, he'll buy a comp with just one drive (reader and burner), but then he wanted to know what software he needs to accomplish this. He'd want the easiest setup possible (ie, no manual work of syncing video/audio or anything like that). He basically wants to hit a button and have it do it automatically.

any suggestions? I told him i'd check w/ you guys. any guides for this online would be helpful as well.

thanks.

If he can afford two homes, have him buy two DVDs.

Just because he has money doesn't mean he should spend it foolishly on a second copy of all of his DVDs when DVDshrink gets the job done just fine...

 

[petesamprs]

Blue - that's really helpful, thanks. I'm curious why any compression would be required if you're just going from DVD to DVD? It's not like you're ripping the dvd and trying to cram it on a 700mb cd?

1CHeap - Some people can afford two homes because they don't *waste* their money.

 

[pcmax]

Originally posted by: petesamprs
Blue - that's really helpful, thanks. I'm curious why any compression would be required if you're just going from DVD to DVD? It's not like you're ripping the dvd and trying to cram it on a 700mb cd?

1CHeap - Some people can afford two homes because they don't *waste* their money.

Retail DVD movies are what they call Dual Layer or essentially 9.x gigs in size. Your garden variety blank dvds are only 4.7 gigs capacity. There are now Dual Layer burners and media but the blank Dual Layer discs are still like $5-$10 bucks a piece, not saving you much in the process compared to 20-40 cents a piece on the single layer blanks. What I usually do is reauthor the movie with dvd shrink and take out everything but the main movie which if it is under like 1hr and 40 minutes will copy without compression, otherwise compression is needed but this involves a little bit more than one button click.

 

[0roo0roo]

only possible with more expensive dual layer discs. most movies are dual layer. about 8.5gb. splitting requires softwrae like dvdshrink or clonedvd. each has its advantages. clonedvd is better for retaining menu options. shrink is simple and gives you more compression control. though i find compression a waste of effort really..to me its wasting a disc on a less then perfect copy. not a true backup. most movies are about 6-7mb alone minus menus, so you see why they don't fit on single layer. bitrate is important for picture quality, especially on a larger tv. audio tracks like dts also take a lot of space. commentaries too.

retarded easy method is to simply use a program like dvd decryptor or whatever ripper to rip all the dvds to harddrive. use a program like windvd to playback full dvd with menus and full features. harddrives are cheap these days.

 

[petesamprs]

Good points. I'll check with him whether he really wants a second DVD or just wants to leave the backup on his harddrive. That will eliminate the need for compression or limited content.