Recommendations on DVD software, Video capture hardware/software

[arameth]

Hi,

I am just getting started with burning DVD'd and archiving my video collection from VHS to DVD and bunches of other projects.

I have a few newbie questions, and wanted to draw on the experiences and opinions of everyone here....

1. What software would you recommend to copy DVD's (DVD to DVD copy)? I want something easy to use. I don't mind paying for this software, but as always, free is better. I've heard that some formats that a DVD is saved to are not compatible with some players? I want a perfect copy of the DVD's I copy, and would like a easy to use interface.

2. Is there any software that you'd recommend that can pull the data from DVD and store it in a playable format on hard disk? I've heard Divx is the best way to go here...any comments? I also may want to burn that image to a regular DVD later on, so I'd want it saved in a format that will play on my DVD player.

3. I'm going to be moving all my VHS movies (mostly home stuff) to DVD...which hardware/software combo would be best for this job? Price is important, and I don't need too many bells and whistles...anything that can just get the video off of VHS and onto DVD will do just fine, and cheaper is better

Thanks for any responses...I just want to try to avoid making mistakes since others have been down this road before me...

 

[Mnementh]

Head over to www.doom9.org they have loads of guides available to help you do what you want to do.

FYI divx will not play on 99.9% of dvd players out there as it is not a dvd standard, there are a few players that will play them such as the Kiss DP450 but they are few and far between.

Mnementh

 

[egale]

I think DVD X Copy is the only software that will copy commercial DVD's in their entirety. There are other ways of just copying the main feature without the extras but DVD X Copy Platinum I believe does it all.

You have to remember that most commercial DVDs are dual layer where the DVD's you burn are single layer. That means that if you copy a commercial DVD, you will need two blank DVDs.

 

[Doodoo]

Most Dvds out now are Dvd9 so you'll need two dvd's to copy them unless you shrink them, or remove certain things like extras and unwanted soundtracks. Best programs i've used are DvdShrink and Pinnacle Instant Copy 8. A few people say that Nero Recode is also good since its done by the same guy as DvdShrink...but in my experience it showed much more pixelation. DvdShrink is free, so I suggest you get that. DvdShrink, IC8, DvdDecrypter, along with Ifoedit should be all you need.

 

[VicodiN]

As stated in a previous post, it would be a good idea to download both 'DVDdecrypter' and 'DVDshrink'...

DVD Decrypter
This is a freeware DVD ripper... I use this to specifically make an exact DVD rip to my harddrive(either uncompressed VIDEO_TS, or image), and it can also be used to burn created DVD images to a blank DVD.

DVD Shrink
Yet another great tool to keep handy (also freeware). With this ingenious little tool, you are basically able to author your own DVDs.. Meaning - after you rip a DVD onto your harddrive (with DVDdecrypter), you are able to decide exactly what info you want to burned onto your blank DVD media. Without getting into specifics, most of the new DVD's for sale are in whats called a DVD9 format(which is about 8.5 gig of info)... As im sure you know, the largest current availible blank DVD media is 4.7gigs (known as DVD5)...
Ok, now - what DVDshrink enables you to do, is you can choose to just encode the 'movie' itself, or you can choose to add some extras that are on the retail DVD... You can also compress the actual DVD9 small enough to fit the whole DVD on a blank DVD5... The possibilties are endless.. After you 'reauthor' your wanted DVD, you can then encode it - to be burned on your blank media. I should mention that the newer versions of DVDShrink now support burning, although - I prefer DVDdecrypter since I feel it does the best job of any program Ive used.

I usually use Nero to burn my DVD's since I havent had one bad burn with it since ive been doing this...

NOTE:
Do yourself a favor, and do NOT be cheap when it comes to buying blank DVD media discs... Ive heard many horror stories about data being lost after time being burnt on some no name disc....

Now, converting DVD to Divx is a slightly more difficult task to do, and the results arent as crisp with both video and audio with the divx format as it would be for a dvd (duh)... Me, being a stickler for quality and the current state of Divx not being fully portable (not yet anyway..) prefer DVDs... Divx is great, although (as a previous poster has stated) the mass market isnt there quite yet for Divx players... Granted, there will be a time when Divx or a similar codec will be fully supported. I enjoy being able to pop in a created DVD on 99% of players (older players sometimes cannot read DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW)...
Again, (as previously stated) www.doom9.org is a great site full of guides to do both conversions...

Unfortunately, Im not too familiar with VHS to DVD/divx converting... Ive seen guides on it though...

Some helpful sites... Start reading! =P
DVDRHelp.com
Doom9.org

DO NOT pay for any information or programs involved with doing anything Ive stated. They are all for free, as well as the info... Many people are trying to rip people off with selling known/free info, and freeware...