Which blank DVD to use.

[bdj]

I just bought a Sony DVD burner model DRU510A. It is a +- R/RW burner. My questions are;

1. What format is used by commercial DVD players + or -, so if I want to make a DVD from old family videos, I know which format to use?

2. Will commercial DVD player read a RW disk or just an R disk?

bdj

[Gettinbye]

There has been a good deal of debate over which format is "better". The -R format is the older, the +R is the newer, and both formats are usually compatible with newer DVD players. To find out supported formats for a specific model, try a google search.
Most DVD players read RW disks, and you can "force" most older players to read RW's as R's (specific to your burning technique).

[Martoch]

To keep this short & sweet, -R is the most compatible with DVD players, followed by +R.

Use +/-RW's for data backups.



Which software are you using to copy your DVD's?

[bdj]

Right now I have Nero 6.x and DVDXCOPY Gold. I have video editing software which works through my firewire board to my Sony minidv camcorder, I just don't remimber the name, it's home and I'm at work.

One other question, is it possible to make archival backups of DVDs that you own to one disk? So far the info that I have read point to two disk copies. I do not mean double sided.

bdj

[Martoch]

Originally posted by bdj

One other question, is it possible to make archival backups of DVDs that you own to one disk?

Absolutely!

From 321Studios website...

DVD X COPY GOLD:

Burns DVD movies to DVD-R(W) and DVD+R(W) Discs.

Simple, One-Click Interface

Copies Special Features (Movie Trailers, Commentary, etc.)

Copies Full Multi-Channel Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS)

Copies Every Language Available on Original DVD Movie

Copies DVD Movie to One Blank Disc (No Need to Split)

Copies Episodic DVD Movies (The Simpsons, The Sopranos, etc.)

Specifies Which Special Feature to Keep or Remove

Includes Advanced Compression Technology

Automatically Prepares Blank DVD Disc for Burning

Didn't ya read that on the box?


YGPM...

[Dooin' it]

Just an FYI........after reading 'til my eyes bleed, I've noticed that there are plenty of folks who are not entirely liking the whole family of 321 studios Xcopy products.

That said, DVDShrink and either Nero or a combo of IMGTool/DVDEncrypter work as well or better. DVDShrink is amazing for freeware.

I have 2 DVD "+" burners as they seem to work in all the players in my house whereas the "-" do not always work. I'm just trying to figure out which will produce the best/simplest results. I'd like to use as few programs as possible but don't know if JUST DVDShrink & Nero will do it.........(and ta' boot, if Nero Express will cut it or if $$$ version is needed) ???

[Martoch]

Originally posted by Dooin' it


That said, DVDShrink and either Nero or a combo of IMGTool/DVDEncrypter work as well or better. DVDShrink is amazing for freeware.

Agreed...one thing I don't like about DVD X COPY is that it puts a "DVD-BACKUP" splash screen on every DVD it burns.

Phenious will have an article on backing up DVD's legally in the Articles section soon...he's the man when it comes to this sort of thing.

Here's a quote from a PM he sent to me:

I use DVDShink which is free and can be found on google to copy the movie to the HDD.. I just copy the movie with no compression. Then I use DVD2AVI to make a dv2 file that TMPGenc can read so It can encode the VOBs DVDshrink made into a MPeg2 file... from there I use my favorite program to make a cool menu and do what ever I want... you can stop at the ripping with DVDshrink and use the built in compressor and after its done ripping just use Nero to burn or whatever you want . You can use DVDshrink to make an exact back up of the DVD and just compress a lot to make it fit onto one DVD.

Hope it helps...

[phenious]

The articles should be posted tonight Tuesday - 9 Dec.

I got thrown by your qoute at first Martoch. LoL I was scrolling up to see who had said basically what I had PMed you oh well just need to read the fine print a little more carefully.

-: phenious :-

[Dooin' it]

phenious,

I'm liking you more & more every day!! he he!

Formats his Dell HD for a fresh install of XP and breaks it down for us laymen in the dvd world.

Here's (at least for me) the most useful article I've found regarding MY PERSONAL INTEREST in backing up my DVD's. I like the KISS principle......(keep it simple, stupid!) I just wasn't sure why the author didn't forego IMG/Decrypt for Nero to simply/consolidate the process........?????...........

http://www.short-media.com/article.php?101.0

[phenious]

why thank kyou dooin' it.

I tried to keep the basic copy process in the first artcile as simple as can be with pictures illustrating the whole thing. The second article takes it a step furthur so you can try to get the best quality out of the video. The following articles will be geard twords making DVDs with Adobe Encore.

-: phenious :-