[mackandproud]

I've burned most all my dvd collection to a backup hard drive. It's so much nicer watching dvd's from a drive: the whirring of the drive is absent, and the computer consumes less energy, when I'm not plugged in.

I've been using mactheripper and ripit.

Can I rip dvd's back to disc from my hard drive from backups I've created from both programs? Ripit creates a "button" you click on which automatically open the movie in dvd player. Mactheripper makes you drag the file to the dvd player icon to start playback.

I think it would be nice to tote around a backup that cost pennies to make rather than my originals and risk losing or scratching those.

Oh, and yes, all the backup dvd's are from my own collection, in case you were wondering.

[chabig]

First, let me gently correct your terminology. You "rip" data from optical discs to your hard drive. You "burn" data from your hard drive back to optical disc.

That said, don't tote discs at all. Just copy the movies you want to watch to your hard drive and watch them. However, to answer your question, there is no way that I know of to burn those images back to DVD in such a way that they can be played.

Now if you want to make the files smaller, look into a program called HandBrake that will encode the ripped discs into regular movie files instead of DVD images.

[exca1ibur]

If the files are standard VIDEO_TS folders, you can burn them back as a data disc. If they are just files (AVI, MP4, MOV) you can use Toast, or better LiquidCD (Free), which will convert them to a VIDEO_TS format to burn. Just note it will take a while to do so.

LiquidCD

[mackandproud]

chabig, you're right, I meant burning dvd's and tried to change it in my thread title, but couldn't edit the original title.

excalibur, if i understand correctly, most movie dvd's are dual layer, with 7 or 8 gigs of data. However, single layer blank dvd's encode up to 4.7 gb's maximum.

Can a 2008 blackbook (2.4 ghz) burn dual layer dvds (8.5 gbs)?

[-Q-]

It most likely can, but you can check for yourself: go to the Apple menu in the upper left and hit "About This Mac," then press the 'More Info..." button and Apple System Profiler will launch and give you a summary of information about your machine. Select "Disc Burning" and you'll see what the drive is capable of.

[Oisín]

According to Apple History’s page on the early 2008 MacBook, it did ship with a Dual Layer drive, so it should be possible to do.

Originally Posted by mackandproud 

chabig, you're right, I meant burning dvd's and tried to change it in my thread title, but couldn't edit the original title.

Thread title fixed.

[mackandproud]

ha ha, thanks oisin and q. Much thanks.

I am going to go with Verbatim DVD+R DL:

Amazon.com: Verbatim 95310 8.5 GB 2.4x-6x Double Layer Recordable Disc DVD+R DL, 20-Disc Spindle: Electronics

Great reviews at amazon. If you think there is something better, I am open to suggestions.

[mackandproud]

Yes! My macbook supports DVD+R DL burning. I'm good to go.