Heartland

Hi people, something strange happened: Somebody gave me a DVD (DVD+R, 4,7 GB, 120 Minutes) with 2 Sisters gigs (each about an hour long) to copy.
If I put this dvd into my player (Mac G3 ibook, 800 mhz processor, OSX 10.4.3.) it plays fine. If I want to burn a copy of it though, my burner, or rather Toast Titanium 6.1. tells me there are 7,3 GB on this dvd. And I can neither copy it onto a normal dvd nor onto a double layer one, because regularly at the end (last 2 minutes to copy) my player can't read it anymore. But it plays it fine from beginning to end.

I've tried two ways:
1. "normal" burn copy of dvd_ts (or something the like, as no other format would work)
2. direct copy.

Question: How come a 4,7 gb dvd can contain 7.3 gb?

What can I do?
I've already "made" a clone of it with "Silverkeeper", so I've got the content on my hd...

Any help, suggestions, knowledge greatly appreciated...


Cheers, Eva.

Sounds like you have a DVD-9 instead of an expected DVD-5 (with the 4.7 GB). You may wish to try DVD Shrink and DVD Decrupter (if that is still available. You also should get a second opinion from the experts on the subject around here.

You're on a mac aren't you Eva? Look for Mac The Ripper and DVD 2oneX (somewhere like macupdate.com)

Mac The Ripper copies any DVD (including dual-layer 9GB ones) to the hard drive; DVD 2oneX shrinks the file structure so you can burn it onto one DVD-R (or DVD+R) in Toast.

Perfect for copying DVDs and makes more accurate copies than Toast's on-the-fly copying (IMO)

And of course Toast can't copy copyright protected disks like this process can (purely for backup purposes you understand )

Thanks a lot to both of you!

@Petseri: I guess DVD-9 are either those you buy as "original" officials, or then double layer DVDs. The one I was given is an unofficial, marked as 4,7 GB (single layer)....

@MarkFiend: I don't have that DVD anymore, but I've made a clone of it, which is on my hd. The software I used was "Silverkeeper", which came with my dvd-burner (lacie...)... Is Mac the Ripper something similar to the sw I have (which is said to be something for back-ups and for checking different files for differences)? And if I shrink/copy the clone with that dvd 2oneX, will I have a loss of quality?

Cheers again...

Eva.

Eva wrote:The software I used was "Silverkeeper", which came with my dvd-burner (lacie...)... Is Mac the Ripper something similar to the sw I have (which is said to be something for back-ups and for checking different files for differences)?

I guess so. Mac The Ripper will backup commercial DVDs too; I don't know if Silverkeeper lets you do that?

Eva wrote:And if I shrink/copy the clone with that dvd 2oneX, will I have a loss of quality?

It can lose quality, yes. But not so that you'd notice really. Chances are that your DVD was sourced from VHS anyway, so it's not going to make a visible difference. Like making a 80% quality JPG into a 60% quality one. (It also allows you to get rid of soundtracks you don't want (commentaries, foreign languages etc.) which leaves more room for the video track.)

Also, it doesn't change the audio, just the video.

Eva wrote:Cheers again...

Eva.

no problem

Funnily enough DVD2oneX (any version) refuses to settle on my mac ("incompatible cpu subtype" it claims). Do you know of any other freeware I could use?

Um. The documentation for MacTheRipper mentions something called "Popcorn" but I know nothing about it.

I'm watching this with great interest as I copied a 'cough' DVD to my HD via MTR, but couldn't burn it to disk as it was too big. I still don't know what files to copy to get it onto two disks or if that is even possible.

James Blast wrote:I'm watching this with great interest as I copied a 'cough' DVD to my HD via MTR, but couldn't burn it to disk as it was too big. I still don't know what files to copy to get it onto two disks or if that is even possible.

i had that problem with a "back-up" i was doing. i ended up going through all the individual files and removing the superfluous ones.now the copy just goes straight into the start of the film, so no menu but the complete film.

can anyone point me in the direction of a free .wmv and/or .avi to dvd convertor? all the ones i've found so far are trial versions which put a watermark on the picture.

1. ta Lee
and
2. have you Googled those words yet?

googled ,yahoo'd and jeevesed...i have downloaded and installed 3 of the "free" convertors so far which do not mention the watermark until installed -just so as i can uninstall them again
if you know of freeware that is purely that and not a trial then could you let me know please.

The only compressing software I've found which would certainly run on my mac is Roxio Popcorn - which must be the one MarkFiend mentioned as an alternative to DVD2oneX. The only BUT there is is that it's not freeware (about $ 44). But maybe you, James, can use DVD2oneX?

eastmidswhizzkid wrote:googled ,yahoo'd and jeevesed...i have downloaded and installed 3 of the "free" convertors so far which do not mention the watermark until installed -just so as i can uninstall them again
if you know of freeware that is purely that and not a trial then could you let me know please.

I had the same experience when I was looking for a converter for the Sisters concert footage which I have saved as .mpegs. No luck, though. (Anyone interested, or is it best simply to be on the lookout for versions converted directly from a VHS source?)

I did find DIKO which could handle .avi files (which I was going to use to put some grandchild video clps onto a DVD for a Chriistmas gift), but the free version would not handle so few (15) frames per second. It may work for your needs, though. http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DIKO is one place to find it. majorgeeks may have it too. Let me know if it helps. Al;so let me know if anyone can suggest something for my video clip project. )

Martin

Kinda off topic - what's the difference between a DVD-R and a DVD+R ?

robertzombie wrote:Kinda off topic - what's the difference between a DVD-R and a DVD+R ?

Not much. Different makes of machine record to them them but all (well most) players play them. My old Philips (spit) DVDR used +R, my nice new Panasonic uses -R (and DVD-RAM, just to add further confusion, lol). My Pioneer burner in my PC records to both. Most +R machines have some simple onboard editing controls, which I kinda miss actually.

you can get answers to all this kind of nerdy stuff at
http://www.videohelp.com

although nobody has any suggestions to my post about pc programs
to convert dvd to divx for an ipod? any suggestions ??

Ocean Moves wrote:nobody has any suggestions to my post about pc programs
to convert dvd to divx for an ipod? any suggestions ??

you posed your question on a Saturday O M

geeks and nerds only use their pooters during the working week...sort of like a rebel without a clue wanting to surf the untamed waters of My Heartland while they should be working

weakends are generally geek free

and you're still on here, Andi

i have never caimed to be a geek...or a nerd

wanker perhaps...but not the other two

Professional derailer(s) I'd rather say... With a subtle strategy just gradually leading this thread astray...

Eva wrote:Professional derailer(s) I'd rather say... With a subtle strategy just gradually leading this thread astray...

ain't nothing gradual about it Eva...

if i could have my way it would be like a runaway freight train...

*pops off singing The Psychedelic Furs Into You Like A Train*