[Zoom]

I'm trying to combine some short DVD's into a single DVD where each short movie (Charlie Brown special) is it's own menu option.

I thought it was as simple as dragging multiple VIDEO_TS folders into Toast and burning them, but I keep getting some sort of encoding error: "could not record the disc because there is a problem with the source material" (error -18774)..

I can play the two movies in the DVD Player app. Is there really a problem with the source material, or am I doing something wrong?

[Zoom]

One more thing. These videos are 25 minutes long, but when I put two of them on the Toast window, the little "full" meter reads about 2/3 full. I should be able to put two hours on a DVD, shouldn't I?

[a holck]

if you are burning a DVD video you can only have one Video_TS folder

[Zoom]

Originally posted by a holck:
if you are burning a DVD video you can only have one Video_TS folder

Yeah, I would have figured that, too, except that Toast let me do it.

Okay, so assuming Toast just isn't catching that mistake, how do I do this? How do I combine multiple VIDEO_TS files into one? Would iDVD do this? Or is there some other app for this? Hopefully some other app will do, because I don't have iDVD and even if I did, it wouldn't work on an external drive.

I've got DVD Backup and dvd2oneX, if they can be used for this.

[codywalton]

Originally posted by Zoom:
Yeah, I would have figured that, too, except that Toast let me do it.

Okay, so assuming Toast just isn't catching that mistake, how do I do this? How do I combine multiple VIDEO_TS files into one? Would iDVD do this? Or is there some other app for this? Hopefully some other app will do, because I don't have iDVD and even if I did, it wouldn't work on an external drive.

I've got DVD Backup and dvd2oneX, if they can be used for this.

You can't do what your'e asking. It's not possible. Once a DVD project is multiplexed into a VIDEO_TS folder it cannot be modified. You would need the original source videos, re-encode them as MPEG2, and recreate the menu's you are wanting.

there may be a way to "rip" the video out and combine them, but then you would be converting MPEG 2 to quicktime, then back to MPEG 2, so you WILL get some image quality loss, plus you would then need to recreate the menus. iDVD would do that easily... but it wouldn't be as cool as a custom menu (Say from DVDSP2)

[codywalton]

[Zoom]

Originally posted by codywalton:
You can't do what your'e asking. It's not possible. Once a DVD project is multiplexed into a VIDEO_TS folder it cannot be modified. You would need the original source videos, re-encode them as MPEG2, and recreate the menu's you are wanting.

there may be a way to "rip" the video out and combine them, but then you would be converting MPEG 2 to quicktime, then back to MPEG 2, so you WILL get some image quality loss, plus you would then need to recreate the menus. iDVD would do that easily... but it wouldn't be as cool as a custom menu (Say from DVDSP2)

I didn't quite follow the last part, but yes it sounds like we need a way to rip the audio and video from the DVD, then master a new DVD with various A/V files.

This is obviously easy with an audio CD. What's stopping this from happening with a DVD? Why is it so hard to rip a DVD and combine it into a custom DVD with multiple "tracks"?

[codywalton]

It really has to do with MPEG2 Encoding and the multiplexing of the VIDEO_TS folder. Once a file is encoded and multiplexed, it's not meant to ever be edited or changed in any way. That's why you can't just combine multiple TS folders and have it work. DVD is a "fixed" format. Also most DVD's have copy protection that either hides some of the files, or simply won't let you copy them off of the DVD.

To accomplish what you're wanting to do. there are two ways.

A. Better way. Use the original video files to encode new MPEG2 files to compile a new DVD. It seems you don't have the original files, so this option wouldn't work.

B. Worse way. Use a "DVD ripper" to extract the video and audio out of the DVD's you are trying to combine. Then compile a new DVD using the extracted files. This is the way you are going to have to do it. Like I said before, this will cause a small bit of video degredation. If you're not a big videofile you may not even notice this, but I'm just warning you.

I can't tell you how to rip a DVD since that's kind of illegal, but once you do you should be able to use an app like iDVD or DVDSP to create the combo DVD you are looking for.

Another consideration is the file sizes. I assume the DVD's you are trying to combine are "professional" DVD's? As in you bought them, not made them? Hollywood style DVD's can contain much more information than DVD-R's one can burn at home. Professional DVD's can contain 4, 9, 11 or 18 GB's of data depending on the format. DVD-R's can ONLY hold 4. So depending on how the original DVD's you're using are formatted you may not even have enough space on a DVD to accomplish this.

[Zoom]

I understand the size limitations. dvd2one will actually re-encode a VIDEO_TS folder to fit a single DVD-R (4.7GB), which is very nice, and it does a very good job at it. That said, does anyone know the time limit of a DVD? Is it variable based on the encoding? If so, what are the ranges?

I do have the source DVDs. Most of these are DVDs I own that I'm either making backups for my daughter (because she likes to handle them and doesn't handle them nicely) or often to remove the extra crap like trailers and even the menu so you just drop it in and it plays the damn movie. In this particular case, I'm trying to combine a bunch of short films onto one DVD for efficiency. All legal actions, as far as I know.

So, given that I have the source material, are you saying there's a way to turn a DVD into a single MPEG2 file (audio and video), and then use that as the basis for mastering a DVD? I need to read up on how these disks are structured, but until then, please give me an overview. If the A/V is split, then aren't there issues trying to sync them?

Anyway, let's say we do that. Can Toast 6 take these MPEG2 files and master a DVD with menus? Or do I need iDVD?

As for method B, I have that, too - I think. DVD Backup "rips" the files and gives you a VIDEO_TS folder, with the VOB files and so on (whatever they are). Are you saying there's a way to take those files and master a DVD with Toast or iDVD that has multiple titles (movies, not chapters) with a menu?

Again, I'm primarily interested in Toast since I already own that. But if I have to have iDVD to do this, then I need to know that, too, as I'll be upgrading my system in the next 4-6 months. Or, if Apple finally supports external DVD-R drives, I'll just buy iDVD.

This is too damn hard. Where aren't the software people making apps that do all this stuff? I'm sure this is like the initial days of CD-R, but I would think that we'd be able to progress much faster now with that as a model. Other than the decryption part, which no American company will touch thanks to DMCA, the rest should be a piece of cake. Sure, it's harder than CDs, but the piece parts are all out there now - it's just that no one has an integrated solution.

Or does iDVD do all of this? Maybe I just need to get that.

[codywalton]

It sounds as if the program you're calling DVD Backup just copies the VIDEO_TS folder to your HD. Let's clarify some things. You CANNOT modify the VIDEO_TS folder in any way shape or form. You CAN use a ripper to extract the video and audio out of this foler into a usable format


Just for clarification, here's a little overview of how DVD's are made.

1. The video is captured or created into a Quicktime compatable file. Usually a .mov file.
2. That file is then encoded into a MPEG2 (.m2v) and an audio track (.aiff). Most of the time the aiff is then converted to an .ac3 file.
3. Menu graphics are created with app's like Photoshop and After Effects.
4. An authoring program like iDVD or DVDSP2 is used to compile the Audio and Video into "tracks", and the graphics into "menus"
5. The authoring program exports these files into a format ready for DVD burning. Combining all the audio, video and graphics into these files (vob and other files in the TS folder) is called "multiplexing". These files are placed in a VIDEO_TS folder wich is what your DVD player looks for when you insert the disc. Once a project is multiplexed it CANNOT be modified. You would have to modify the authoring or original video and audio files, then re-multiplex the project.



So.... if you want to take elements from a DVD that is allready multiplexed (in a VIDEO_TS folder) you will need to "rip" the video and audio out of the TS folder into quicktime files, and basically start the process over from scratch.

I can't help you with the "ripping", since I've never done that myself, but I know it is possible. Once you've got ripped quicktime video and audio files you will need a DVD authoring app to comple a new disc. The easiest on to use is iDVD. That's what I would suggest for you.

[voodoosand]

I am trying to do something similar with Gangs of New York (wasn't part of the purpose of DVD's to avoid changing discs mid-movie? What the F?) I have the same tools and am determined. I will let you know if I have success and how to do it.