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hsvgoku · Apr 22, 2003, 07:22 AM

Hi guys, i was reading about DVD and on a certain part states that you can copy DVDs. How can we copy it when the DVDs are 7.8GB in size?

Karim · Apr 22, 2003, 07:58 AM

Dual layer discs are that size. And the way the DVD copying works for those types is to use two DVD-R's.

melman101 · Apr 22, 2003, 08:23 AM

actually, if i am incorrect, please tell me, but dual layered dvd's can go up to 9.4 gigs. Single layered is 4.7gigs. so double that, you got 9.4 =). But like the previous reply stated, you can split it into two dvd's.

Sincerely,
Mel

Epicurus · Apr 22, 2003, 09:07 AM

How do you split it? Is there a specific program?

shrink · Apr 22, 2003, 09:25 AM

I've made a few back-up copies of commercial DVD's that I own on my 15" Powerbook with Superdrive. First, I ripped the DVD to my hard drive using a program called DVDBackup. This program unlocks the encryption codes and can make the DVD region free. Second, I use DVD2ONE, a Windows-only program (OS X version currently in development), to compress the DVD to 4.4GB. You do lose some quality, but I honestly can't tell. Then I use Toast to burn the file to DVD-R on the powerbook.

A couple of things to be aware of. First, the commercial DVD2ONE will not work in Virtual PC. However, there are a few hacked copies out there that will run just fine in VPC running Windows 98. Second, on the powerbook, it is a very long process. I would guess about 2.5 hours. It takes DVD2ONE about 60-70 minutes to compress the file in VPC, but only about 15-20 minutes on an actual windows box. The soon to be released OS X version is supposed to be just as fast. Finally, 1x burning on the powerbook can be down right painful and takes about an hour. So the whole process can take a long time. I usually set things in motion then do something else.

I think there are other ways, but this method has worked well (despite the time) for me. Good luck.

Check out the mac boards at: http://www.dvdrhelp.com for more discussion on this topic.

Eug · Apr 22, 2003, 09:30 AM

Originally posted by melman101:
actually, if i am incorrect, please tell me, but dual layered dvd's can go up to 9.4 gigs. Single layered is 4.7gigs. so double that, you got 9.4 =). But like the previous reply stated, you can split it into two dvd's.

Sincerely,
Mel

Not quite. The dual layer discs are smaller than what you'd expect. And there is no such thing as a dual layer DVD-R. There are double-sided ones (that are 9.4), but that's one DVD-R per side - you have to flip the disc over.

Shrink's method above works quite well. However, it does require the use of a Windows machine. Besides 42, I haven't tried the DVD-9 to DVD-5 methods on a Mac alone. 42 doesn't seem to work properly for that purpose though.

Usually kind of a waste of time though, esp. since you should own the original after all. However, it's good if you want to make backups of kids' movies to be handled by 4-year olds.

icruise · Apr 22, 2003, 10:36 AM

There are a couple of programs for the Mac that are supposed to aid in re-encoding dvds so that a dual-layer disc will fit on one DVD-R, but I haven't had any luck with them.

There are still a fair number of single layer discs -- these can be copied easily using 0Sex (create a DVD image and then burn it in Toast. Disc Copy should also work).

When I need to make a copy of a dual layer disc, the first thing I do is to check the size of the movie itself. I generally don't need any extras on a copy, and in many cases the movie itself is small enough to fit on on DVD-R (you need to have DVD Studio Pro to build a new DVD with just the movie though). If it doesn't fit, you can split it over two discs (or two sides of a double-sided DVD-r), but that gets a little more complicated, and in many cases it's not worth the time or effort.

Epicurus · Apr 22, 2003, 11:22 AM

Looks like the OS X version of DVD2one came out today

Download DVD2oneX

Eug · Apr 22, 2003, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by Epicurus:
Looks like the OS X version of DVD2one came out today

Download DVD2oneX

Kewl. This is a beta I presume? (I'm currently on an NT box.)

Epicurus · Apr 22, 2003, 11:47 AM

It says it is a 1.0 version, however, it also has a 30 minute limit as it is a trial version. You must pay for the full version.

icruise · Apr 22, 2003, 11:50 AM

It's apparently a 1.0 release, although to be clear it is a commercial product (49.99 euros -- how much is that in US$?) I notice that they charge 10 euros more for the Mac version than the windows version.

If it works like they say, it would be pretty cool, though.

Epicurus · Apr 22, 2003, 11:55 AM

49.99 (Euro) = $54.27 dollars

...that's a bit steep.

Eug · Apr 22, 2003, 01:19 PM

Originally posted by Icruise:
It's apparently a 1.0 release, although to be clear it is a commercial product (49.99 euros -- how much is that in US$?) I notice that they charge 10 euros more for the Mac version than the windows version. If it works like they say, it would be pretty cool, though.

I've played with the Windows version before. It works exactly as advertised - fast and reliable, and usually better video quality than a full 12 hour re-encode surprisingly.

I started a new thread here.

craigthomas · Apr 22, 2003, 01:36 PM

Originally posted by Epicurus:
49.99 (Euro) = $54.27 dollars

...that's a bit steep.

Man, I just bought the PC version of DVD2one a few weeks ago and have to network it to my PB to use it. I'm going to see if the developer will let me upgrade to the Mac version.

hsvgoku · Apr 22, 2003, 07:15 PM

Thanks for all the useful facts guys. Will have alot to play with now