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schalliol · Nov 27, 2005, 12:44 PM

I'm sure that someone posted this, but I was unable to find it in a search. If you take a dual-layer DVD movie and want to make a copy of it, can you do that with a DVD+RW DL drive, like the Pioneer DVR-110D? I know that people take DL videos and compress them to fit on a single layer, but what I want to know is if you can make a real copy onto a DL DVD. What I don't know is if there's something in the software that tells a movie to switch to the next layer and determine what goes on each layer. I assume Toast can probably do it, but I have no idea how. Thoughts? Thanks!

sray · Nov 27, 2005, 12:56 PM

Yes, you can do this. Use MTR to copy the original DL dvd to your hard disk and remove the copy protection. Then you can archive it to a blank DL dvd using Roxio Popcorn.

Popcorn will handle the DL dvd seamlessly, meaning that you don't have to tell it that you are working with a DL dvd. It automatically recognizes it as a 8Gb disc and does not compress the video any further.

stevesnj · Nov 28, 2005, 12:46 AM

any similar program for Windoze? free and just as good?

schalliol · Nov 28, 2005, 01:04 AM

I'm not sure about such a Windows program, but I thought I'd report that in fact it does work.

sray · Nov 28, 2005, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by stevesnj

any similar program for Windoze? free and just as good?

Yes, in fact, my understanding is that there are *more* programs available on the windows platform than the mac, not that it matters, since we have excellent programs on the Mac.

However, since I'm not a windows user, I don't know what the program names are. Please google.

mduell · Dec 3, 2005, 10:35 PM

I like Nero. The (fully functional time limited) demo is free, but the program is not.

You may or may not be able to fit a full DVD on a DVD+/-R DL disk. Full DVDs can be up to 9.4GB while the burnable DL disks are only 8.5GB.

schalliol · Dec 4, 2005, 11:10 PM

That may be (that some DVDs can be bigger). I've yet to see any greater than 8.5GB though.

BRussell · Dec 5, 2005, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by sray

Yes, you can do this. Use MTR to copy the original DL dvd to your hard disk and remove the copy protection. Then you can archive it to a blank DL dvd using Roxio Popcorn.

Popcorn will handle the DL dvd seamlessly, meaning that you don't have to tell it that you are working with a DL dvd. It automatically recognizes it as a 8Gb disc and does not compress the video any further.

Why do you have to do use Popcorn? Can't you just get rid of the copy protection and then burn it? That's what you can do with a single-layer to single-layer copy anyway.

lenox · Dec 6, 2005, 02:34 PM

Yeah, I don't own popcorn...I just use toast to burn the movies after mtr's done it's business.

kidtexas · Dec 15, 2005, 01:31 PM

I think popcorn functionality was integrated into toast 7.

Dec 27, 2005, 04:06 PM

You can also use this free tool:

DVD Imager

And then use OS X's Disk Utility to burn the image. Total cost: $0.

But Toast is still a worthy purchase since it incorporates Popcorn and does many other things.

Also, it should be mentioned that 8.5 GB DVD+R DL discs usually only have 8 GB actual capacity...

JPSparks · Dec 28, 2005, 09:54 AM

I have a 2 GHz 20 inch iMac (the one just before the iSight iMacs came out). I was chuffed to discover this had a DL DVD Burner built in. I have tried it out bu burning 7 Gig of data onto a blank DL DVD. Its not very successful at passing Verification but I;m sure thats cos Im using poor quality Dual Layer blanks.
My problem is if I have a DVD image (A Video TS folder) that is say 7 Gig including all the features, then POPCORD will not need to compress anything as it should all fit onto an 8 Gig Blankd DL DVD.
Popcorn is still applying 38% compression when I go to burn. This is the same compression I get when I insert a single layer DVD so somehow Popcord isnt aware that it is an 8 Gig DVD inserted so therefor it still gets compressed to fit on a single layer. Any suggestions? Could I just use TOAST to burn the Video TS file onto a blank DVD?

BorisZ · Jan 8, 2006, 09:03 AM

I had the same issue with Popcorn - put in DL DVD blank and it still wanted to compress the content (7GB). Roxio's website says Popcorn can compress 8.5 GB of video onto a 4.7GB DVD (same for Toast 6 & 7); they're pretty vague on actually burning to dual layer disks. Here's something from the Toast 7 Features page: "Create 9 GB disc images with iDVD 5 and your double-layer SuperDrive, and burn to affordable 4.7 GB DVDs with Toast 7." Doesn't sound good.

I'll give Popcorn a try with a DL disk and hope for the best.