[TheIceMan]

Ok, I know there have been posts regarding how to backup DVDs to your hard drive. But what I'm about to share with the MacNN commnity is a step-by-step guide on how to have the Apple DVD Player play these DVDs from your hard drive. Since I'm new to doing DVD backups, my research and trial-and-error experience have resulted in this. Hope you find it useful/helpful.

Mac: Backing up DVD -> Hard Drive Guide

Purpose:
To back up your DVDs to your Mac hard drive.

Softwares:
1. DVDBackup 1.3 -- For backing up the DVD to your hard drive
2. DVD2OneX -- For DVD Compression
3. DVD Imager -- Allows DVD2OneX to create a "disk image" of the DVD.

Step 1: Apple's DVD Player
1. Pop in the DVD. The default DVD Player will start playing it.
2. Let the DVD run for about 20 seconds or so.
3. Now Quit the DVD Player.
* This is necessary for the DVD Player to authenticate the DVD.

Step 2: DVDBackup
1. Open DVDBackup 1.3 and drag your mounted DVD to the left window.
2. Make sure that all 3 boxes are checked:
--Change Region Control Coding (New Region: "Region Free")
--Remove Macrovision Protection
--Remove CSS Encryption

3. Click the "Process Files" button on the bottom right of the window. When the window comes up, simply click "Save". A folder called "VIDEO_TS" will result and show up on your Desktop (you might need to click on the desktop for this folder to come up). This will take about 30-35 minutes depending on DVD length. When it's done, you can Quit DVD Backup and Eject the DVD from the drive.

DVD Imager
1. Before using DVD2OneX, one of the program�s key features � the ability to output a disk image file � must be enabled by installing MKISOFS. I don�t know what it means or stands for, but it is in the DVD Imager program
(http://lonestar.utsa.edu/llee/apples...dvdimager.html). This download will include a �Source� folder, inside of which can be found MKISOFS. This needs to be installed as a part of the DVD2OneX package.
2. To do this, locate DVD2OneX, then control-click on its icon and select �Show Package Contents�� to reveal its hidden structure. Find the folder called �Resources� and copy MKISOFS into it.
****MKISOFS needs to be setup only once. Subsequent uses and launches of DVD2OneX will already have MKISOFS installed. So, SKIP this "DVD Imager" section once MKISOFS has been copied into the "Resources" folder of DVD2OneX.****

Step 3: DVD2OneX
1. Now launch DVD2OneX. Click the Select button next to the Source box and find the VIDEO_TS folder you just created using DVDBackup. It should be on your Desktop.
2. Do you want just the movie or everything on the disk to be included?
3. If you decide you only want the movie simply set the Copy Mode to "Movie Only." Then click the Audio (usually "AC3 6ch" is fine) and Subtitles (if you want subtitles) button on the bottom left of the window and select the audio and subtitle tracks you want included.
4. If you decide you would like all the extra features and menus included on your disk change the copy mode to "Disk Copy" and select the audio streams you would like included on your disk.
5. Check the "Create image" box and type in name of DVD (all CAPS, no spaces).
6. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it the same as the DVD movie.
7. Click "Start"
8. A drop down window will appear. Select the destination location to be the new folder you just created on the desktop.
***It is VERY important that this new folder is blank. Now click "Select" and it'll start. This step will take about 23 minutes (15 min. processing, 8 min. creating the image) depending on DVD length.

Step 4: Disk Image & Mounted Disk Image
1. When it's done, you should have a disk image of the DVD on your Desktop (and I think also in your Home folder). It should look something like this:
NAMEOFDVD.img

Once you have this, you can trash the DVD folder you created and the VIDEO_TS folder on your Desktop.

2. Double-click on the NAMEOFDVD.img and you'll get the mounted disk image on your Desktop.

3. Now launch the Apple DVD Player.

4. Your new DVD movie should play automatically just as if you had inserted an actual DVD.

5. When done watching, simply "Eject" the mounted image. But keep the NAMEOFDVD.img (in your Movies folder) because every time you want to watch your DVD movie just repeat Step 4 #2 and voila.

This is how you can quickly get DVD-quality movies saved onto your hard drive in about an hour!

[Arkham_c]

If you have Toast, you can skip the DVDImager section. Just do DVDBackup, DVD2OneX, then burn the VIDEO_TS folder (in a folder with the name of the DVD) to a Toast data DVD. Voila.

[TheIceMan]

Arkham_c: Absolutely. Thanks for that tip. I forgot to say that this is for those without Toast.

[Uncle Skeleton]

why do you have to make an image? why can't you just open the VIDEO_TS folder that DVDBackup gives you straight from DVD Player?

[Eug Wanker]

Yeah, it's MUCH easier just to leave the VIDEO_TS folder on the hard drive than making a 4.4 GB image with recompressed data. For simply copying the disc to the hard drive for viewing in DVD Player, DVD2one and DVD Imager are completely redundant. DVD Player will just play the VIDEO_TS folders directly.

What I do is just use DVD Backup and decrypt the entire disc without additional compression onto the hard drive. Why recompress if you don't need to waste the time? I do this when I want to watch movies on the plane on my laptop. After I've watched the movie then I just erase it to regain back my laptop's hard drive space. It sure beats carrying DVDs around on business trips.

[TheIceMan]

Eug Wanker: I compress the DVDs down to 4GB to save space. I store these 4GBs on my hard drive, and if I want then later on I'll burn them to DVD-R. Like you I also don't like lugging around the actual DVDs in case I lose or damage them.

Question. I've tried to get the DVD Player to play the VIDEO_TS files, but it doesn't. However, once the disk images are mounted the DVD Player launches and plays the DVD fine.

What am I doing wrong?

[cnelson87]

Easy! DVD Player - File - Open VIDEO_TS Folder - hit the play button. A VIDEO_TS Folder won't play automaticaly, like an actual DVD will.

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
Eug Wanker: Question. I've tried to get the DVD Player to play the VIDEO_TS files, but it doesn't. However, once the disk images are mounted the DVD Player launches and plays the DVD fine.

What am I doing wrong?

[TheIceMan]

cnelson87: I have already tried that. Still doesn't work.

[vancenase]

will any of these methods give the DVD menus?

i have a friend who wants to backup a user-made cd (non-commercial; personally made), but i'm worried the dvd menus will not copy/backup/write again ...

[TheIceMan]

vancenase: I believe that DVD2OneX does offer the option to include the menus.

[Eug]

DVD2one will maintain menus. Mind you if want to maintain the integrity of the disc (eg. menus and extras) for archival purposes on your hard drive, then it might make sense to save the entire disc without additional compression. Hard drive space is cheap.

That said, the results from DVD2one most of the time is very good, esp. if you strip out the extra audio tracks you don't need.

[starman]

Wow. Such complicated sh*t.

Or, use DVD Decrypter on Windows which is a ONE-CLICK backup solution (well, maybe 2 clicks if you want to tell it the directory of the image file).

I got a headache reading all these "steps".

Mike

[starman]

Originally posted by vancenase:
will any of these methods give the DVD menus?

i have a friend who wants to backup a user-made cd (non-commercial; personally made), but i'm worried the dvd menus will not copy/backup/write again ...

If you don't mess with the .BUP, .VOB, and all the other files in the VIDEO_TS folder, you're OK.

Just make an image and you should be OK. When you start messing with the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder, you're asking for serious trouble.

Mike

[starman]

Why even suggest compressing the image?

Everyone...think about this.

You're trying to compress...compressed data.

It's like people that .zip up JPEGs. The best you'll get is a whopping 2%.

Mike

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by starman:
Wow. Such complicated sh*t.

Or, use DVD Decrypter on Windows which is a ONE-CLICK backup solution (well, maybe 2 clicks if you want to tell it the directory of the image file).

DVD Backup does pretty much the exact same thing as DVD Decrypter.

Why even suggest compressing the image?

Some are, but I'm not.

Everyone...think about this.

You're trying to compress...compressed data.

It's like people that .zip up JPEGs. The best you'll get is a whopping 2%.

You can easily recompress JPEGs, for a huge space savings.

Similarly you can easily decrease DVD file sizes. With DVD2one (on both Windows and Mac OS X by the way), the results are actually very good. The reason one would do this would be put a dual-layer DVD on a single DVD-R, hence the name of the app.

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by starman:
Why even suggest compressing the image?

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The idea is to compress a DVD (normally 8-9GB) into 4GB so it can be burn on a DVD-R.

[starman]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
You can easily recompress JPEGs, for a huge space savings.

Obviously you could recompress the JPEG, but I'm talking about Zipping/Stuffing the JPEG - that's silly. It's the same with MPEG-2.

Mike

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by starman:
Obviously you could recompress the JPEG, but I'm talking about Zipping/Stuffing the JPEG - that's silly. It's the same with MPEG-2.

My point was that these programs don't work like zipping/stuffing, so the comparison is not really relevant.

[kovacs]

Thanks IceMan for this great tutorial, I already knew most of the things but it helped me with some problems I was having ( mainly with DVDbackup )...

[TheIceMan]

kovacs: Glad I could help. My sig (your design) still looks as great as ever.

[HodyOne]

Originally posted by starman:
Obviously you could recompress the JPEG, but I'm talking about Zipping/Stuffing the JPEG - that's silly. It's the same with MPEG-2.

Mike

JPEG and MPEG-2 are lossy compression schemes whereas Zip/Stuffit are lossless compression schemes. Recompressing a JPEG at a lower quality level can result in MUCH lower file sizes. Similarly for MPEG-2, adjusting the quality can result in a significant decrease in movie size. But you're right about recompressing a zip archive, it doesn't result in much of a savings. But of course that's completely irrelevant to the current discussion.

[macintologist]

This is too complicated. This is all you do...

Softwares:
-VLC
-0SEx

1)insert DVD
2)Launch 0SEx, Press 'Begin'
3)When ripping is done, double click on file.
4) VLC will launch, enjoy! (Press F for fullscreen)

[Preciousss]

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
cnelson87: I have already tried that. Still doesn't work.

Regarding just clicking the Play button in DVD Player after opening the VIDEO_TS folder....Don't you also need to create an empty AUDIO_TS folder to sit alongside VIDEO_TS to "trick" various DVD players to play your ripped files?

I recall reading this somewhere in my research some months ago. It's worked for me, at least with watching the ripped movies off my hard disk with Apple's DVD Player.

Thanks for the steps IceMan. It's been hard revisiting all of the research I did and trying to sort through everything. This is really helpful.

I've been meaning to purchase DVD2OneX. Does it work in Panther? Not that it matters for me right now since I still have to purchase Panther too.

[Eug Wanker]

Apple's DVD Player does not require an AUDIO_TS folder to play the contents of a VIDEO_TS folder. If it doesn't work with just the VIDEO_TS folder either there's something wrong with what you're doing. eg. Contents, permissions, structure, etc. I find Apple's DVD Player to be more strict that DVD players on Windows, but the AUDIO_TS folder business isn't one of the requirements.

However, if you're burning a DVD-R, it is advisable to burn an empty AUDIO_TS folder though since a few players out there apparently require it to work.

[anticon]

I have used DVD back up and DVD2ONEX to back up and compress the file. I am left with a video_ts folder and an audio_ts folder inside my main folder. I had'nt installed that disk imager at the time i was backing up the dvd.
What option to i go to in toast 6 to burn the disc.? I am only able to drag the folder to the create data disc option in toast but i don't think this is correct.
thanks

[bimmerphile]

Toast 6>Data>DVDROM(UDF) or something like that

drag the audio_ts and video_ts folders over (both names should be all caps, audio_ts should be empty), name the DVD (no spaces, all caps), remove any .DS_Store files that might be in those folders, and burn.

[anticon]

thanks i will give that a try.

[superfula]

It helps to name the burnt cd as the same name of the original. IE...When you instert the original dvd of the movie Mystery Men, the name on the desktop is MYSTMEN. Use that as the name you use in toast.

Like others have said, if you are just backing up to the hd, there's no need to mess with image mounting.

[BoulderDash]

Originally posted by TheIceMan:
Sorry, I should have been more clear. The idea is to compress a DVD (normally 8-9GB) into 4GB so it can be burn on a DVD-R.

Hey there,
I don't have a SuperDrive or DVD Burner, but for when I do, will the following be true:

- Will Kano's double-sided DVD+R media render it unnecessary to compress a DVD since you'll have media that'll be able to fit everything in?


That way you can just burn instead of compress and burn (would that lead to higher quality and not having to leave extras out?).

Thanks,
BD

[CIA]

The simple way:
Download DVD Backup 1.3
Pop in the DVD you want to "Backup" For this instance, let's call it "Movie A"
Quit DVD player when it auto-launches, no need for it to play at all.
Launch DVD Backup 1.3 and drag the DVD from the desktop as described below. I find it's easy to create a folder in advance called "Ripped DVD's" and inside that create another folder titled after the name of the movie (In this case, "Movie A"). Rip the DVD to disk using the instuctions provided below.

Now you have some options. If the Video_TS folder that was ripped to disk is less then 4.4GB, you can drop the "Movie A" folder right into toast 5.2 or above and burn right to disk.

To burn a back up of a disk that is larger, (most are) download dvd2OneX. I highly recommend you steal this product as the guy who runs the company is a dick. (More on that later)
The latest version is 1.3, but you can find 1.2.1 and a serial on Limewire.
Process the Video_TS folder of the movie as needed and burn the resulting ripped/processed Video_TS folder to disk in Toast.

Other Option: Use a program that turns Video_TS folders to quicktime movies. I haven't used it, but I know DVDxDV does this, here is the description from version tracker:

DVDxDV is a program designed to extract your movies off of a DVD. After a DVD is created, the original source material can get lost or damaged. When this happens, there is no easy way to get the video off the DVD and back into the computer where it can be re-edited. DVDxDV makes it easy to get at your video when it's on DVD. With DVDxDV you can quickly convert the DVD video back into any Quicktime video format. From there, it can be re-edited and burned onto a new DVD.

I haven't used this program though, so I can't attest to how well it works. (again, the only program I recommend stealing is DVD2OneX, I have paid for everything else I use, including DVD2OneX, but again, more on that later.
Also, once it's in quicktime, you can convert to DIVX, which has small file size, but high quality, (you need a fast computer for playback tho) or any other format using Media Cleaner Pro or some other conversion program.

Mac: Backing up DVD -> Hard Drive Guide

Purpose:
To back up your DVDs to your Mac hard drive.

Softwares:
1. DVDBackup 1.3 -- For backing up the DVD to your hard drive
2. DVD2OneX -- For DVD Compression
3. DVD Imager -- Allows DVD2OneX to create a "disk image" of the DVD.

Step 1: Apple's DVD Player
1. Pop in the DVD. The default DVD Player will start playing it.
2. Let the DVD run for about 20 seconds or so.
3. Now Quit the DVD Player.
* This is necessary for the DVD Player to authenticate the DVD.

Step 2: DVDBackup
1. Open DVDBackup 1.3 and drag your mounted DVD to the left window.
2. Make sure that all 3 boxes are checked:
--Change Region Control Coding (New Region: "Region Free")
--Remove Macrovision Protection
--Remove CSS Encryption

3. Click the "Process Files" button on the bottom right of the window. When the window comes up, simply click "Save". A folder called "VIDEO_TS" will result and show up on your Desktop (you might need to click on the desktop for this folder to come up). This will take about 30-35 minutes depending on DVD length. When it's done, you can Quit DVD Backup and Eject the DVD from the drive.

DVD Imager
1. Before using DVD2OneX, one of the program�s key features � the ability to output a disk image file � must be enabled by installing MKISOFS. I don�t know what it means or stands for, but it is in the DVD Imager program
(http://lonestar.utsa.edu/llee/apple.../dvdimager.html). This download will include a �Source� folder, inside of which can be found MKISOFS. This needs to be installed as a part of the DVD2OneX package.
2. To do this, locate DVD2OneX, then control-click on its icon and select �Show Package Contents�� to reveal its hidden structure. Find the folder called �Resources� and copy MKISOFS into it.
****MKISOFS needs to be setup only once. Subsequent uses and launches of DVD2OneX will already have MKISOFS installed. So, SKIP this "DVD Imager" section once MKISOFS has been copied into the "Resources" folder of DVD2OneX.****

Step 3: DVD2OneX
1. Now launch DVD2OneX. Click the Select button next to the Source box and find the VIDEO_TS folder you just created using DVDBackup. It should be on your Desktop.
2. Do you want just the movie or everything on the disk to be included?
3. If you decide you only want the movie simply set the Copy Mode to "Movie Only." Then click the Audio (usually "AC3 6ch" is fine) and Subtitles (if you want subtitles) button on the bottom left of the window and select the audio and subtitle tracks you want included.
4. If you decide you would like all the extra features and menus included on your disk change the copy mode to "Disk Copy" and select the audio streams you would like included on your disk.
5. Check the "Create image" box and type in name of DVD (all CAPS, no spaces).
6. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it the same as the DVD movie.
7. Click "Start"
8. A drop down window will appear. Select the destination location to be the new folder you just created on the desktop.
***It is VERY important that this new folder is blank. Now click "Select" and it'll start. This step will take about 23 minutes (15 min. processing, 8 min. creating the image) depending on DVD length.

Step 4: Disk Image & Mounted Disk Image
1. When it's done, you should have a disk image of the DVD on your Desktop (and I think also in your Home folder). It should look something like this:
NAMEOFDVD.img

Once you have this, you can trash the DVD folder you created and the VIDEO_TS folder on your Desktop.

2. Double-click on the NAMEOFDVD.img and you'll get the mounted disk image on your Desktop.

3. Now launch the Apple DVD Player.

4. Your new DVD movie should play automatically just as if you had inserted an actual DVD.

5. When done watching, simply "Eject" the mounted image. But keep the NAMEOFDVD.img (in your Movies folder) because every time you want to watch your DVD movie just repeat Step 4 #2 and voila.

This is how you can quickly get DVD-quality movies saved onto your hard drive in about an hour!

[CIA]

Why the guy who runs dvd2OneX is a dick.

I think dvd2oneX is a great program. Great shareware deserves your money if you use it. So I purchased a copy (for about $60 US) from the DVD2ONE web site. I got my name and serial number, and used it with only minor problems over late summer and early fall last year. (it had a HUGE memory leak issue that has since been fixed)
When I upgraded to Panther in October, I re-installed all my apps. I lost my serial number to DVD2OneX though. No problem, the website has a form! Enter your email address that you registered with and they will re-email you the serial. I punched in the address I used to register, and up pops a page saying "We have emailed you your serial number."
Log into the email program and wait... And wait.... And wait... OK, try again. Same result. Nothing. Not in a rush, so I waited a few days, then tried again. Still, zilch. So I emailed the company, explaining the situation, and the next day, got a short response saying, "try again." I tried again, and still nothing.
At this point I was a little ticked, I re-emailed the guy, saying "Please, this isn't working, can you just send me my serial? Check, I am legit, this is the email address I registered with." I was even emailing using that address!
His response was "Contact AOL, the problem is on their end, if no one complains, they won't ever fix the problem."
What problem? All AOL jokes aside, I've never had emails not show up when requested. and I've had the same email address for 10 years!
(long story short, I use Adelphia Broadband here in VT, but my parents in NH have no broadband options, so they still use the AOL account they have had since 1992, and I still use that for my email)

Anyway, I did contact AOL. They of course were no help. But I posted the responses to my requests back to the guy hoping he would understand I was trying to solve the problem, and maybe he would finally send me my serial as requested. His response was again, "Keep hounding AOL, the problem is on their end".
At this point I blew up. So F*CK this guy and his company. He has a great product that I suggest everyone go out and steal.
I bought GraphicConverter as well. That has been a wonderfull experience. I highly recommend the program, and if you like it, pay for it!

The kicker is yesterday I tried again on a whim (also finally noticed that ver 1.3 is out). This time it worked, and I got my serial. Too bad the guy was such as prick the first time around.