A Guide to Copying DVD Movies

[geekysage]

Alrite, digigans*, after months of research involving a lot of trial n error, I have found the best way to replicate Movie DVDs, or for that matter any kind of DVD.

Disclaimer: The author, geekysage, does not take any responsibility for the misuse of this information, namely to make illegal copies of rented or borrowed movie DVDs. It's legal to copy a movie DVD only if you own it and are copying to it keep it as a backup.

So i started with the most popular one at the time- DVDXCopy, unsatisfied with the quality i was getting, i moved onto CloneDVD. It gave me even worse quality but was able to copy protected DVDs without any hiccups. After that, i literally tried every other DVD copying software available out there just to discover that none were producing the image quality expected of a DVD.

Then i searched online to find that i could use GordianKnot ripping pack alongwith DVDDecrypter to rip the DVDs to XVid, DivX, x.224, or to any other format out there. After all the trial n error, i didn't have anything to lose but a li'l more of my time. So i tried it. It took about an hour and half to rip an 8.5GB movie DVD to two CDs in XVid format. The picture quality was far better than what i had seen before so i thought my search is over. And I copied about 10 DVDs using that process. I would just queue the movies and leave the ripping process on overnight.

Things were going alright until the insatiable me decided to explore further for better options that wouldn't take an hour and half and still give me the quality i need. Lo and behold, i did find something that kicks arse in DVD copying - Intervideo DVDCopy coupled with AnyDVD. The combination does magic, believe me! AnyDVD takes care of the copy protection and Intervideo's DVDCopy creates backup of a 8.5GB DVD movie on a 4.7GB disk in about 25 minutes without any quality loss, atleast nothing that i can notice.

So now you know what to use. Saved you a lot of time and frustating research, haven't I? Enjoy and don't forget to tell others you know.

*gan as in the national anthem "Jan Gan Man Adhinayak....". Hindi word with sanskrit origin that means people.

[drgrudge]

geekysage,
Good work. It's short and sweet.


Just want to add a few points:
1. Why can't you try ratDVD (google for the homepage), DVD ripped into 1.X gb, with all the features in the DVD and not just the movie alone.


2. If Intervideo DVDCopy (I have no idea abt this, never used it b4) is just gonna make a DVD 9 into a DVD 5, then why not use DVDshrink?

3. If you just want to make a DVDrip of one CD/two CDs then, DVDDecrypter and AutoGK is the best bet. AutoGK takes a lot of time and is to be used in new/"powerful" PCs only.

Give a ratDVD a try.

[geekysage]

Hey, drgrudge, thanks for dropping by.

First off, Intervideo DVDCopy makes a full copy of the DVD with menu and all the stuff. My aim wasn't to rip DVDs into smaller size files. But unfortunately i was stuck into doing that because that was giving me the best quality. You guys gotta try intervideo's application to appreciate the image quality you get. There's hardly any difference between the copied and the original DVD. I hope it's clear by now that i have written this tutorial for people who want the quality, not those who just want to fit a 8.5GB disk onto a 4.7GB one. DVDXCopy, DVDshrink, CloneDVD all do the same job but if you compare the image quality they produce with intervideo's DVDCopy output, you'll be amazed with the difference you'll see. Apparently DVDCopy uses superior encoding technology.

Oh and i found this article after a li'l search to back me up.

[go4saket]

Thanks geekysage for your research! I still have to use the softwares that you recommended, but trust on, I compressed a few 4 GB movies to 1.5 GB with DVD Shrink and the output quality was just like the original one. Atleast I couldnt find a difference.

Now as you have done so much of research, I am sure you can help me in this...

I have a few original Video DVD's and the problem is that I am unable to copy them. I even tried to make an image of it and also tried to go directly for DVD copy, but all options failed.

Is there any software with the help of which I can copy these CD's. I have tried Nero, Alcohol 120%, DVD Shrink, DVD Decriptor etc, but all failed.

[drgrudge]

Originally Posted by geekysage

First off, Intervideo DVDCopy makes a full copy of the DVD with menu and all the stuff. My aim wasn't to rip DVDs into smaller size files. But unfortunately i was stuck into doing that because that was giving me the best quality. You guys gotta try intervideo's application to appreciate the image quality you get. There's hardly any difference between the copied and the original DVD.

Even DVDshrink does a fair job. It's gets DVD 9 into DVD 5 with all the DVD extra features and in a little loss in the quality. I had used DVD shrink before and I must say it does a fairly good job. go4saket also backs me with the quality of DVDshrink, but yeah we are yet to use intervideo.

Anyways, I am yet to try out Intervideo, so let me see as which is better.
I have a question. Will we have to use the anyDVD to rip the DVD (which may be copy protected) and then work on with Intervideo DVDCopy?

Originally Posted by geekysage

I hope it's clear by now that i have written this tutorial for people who want the quality, not those who just want to fit a 8.5GB disk onto a 4.7GB one.

No, I don't agree with the fact that large file size/disk space means good quality. I have seen a 575 mb (yeah, less than 700mb) DVDrip which is as good as the DVD in terms of quality.

Also we can burn 3 two CD movies in a DVD, whereas we can only burn only one DVD 5 movie in a DVD. And believe me, we don't loose that much quality as well.

Originally Posted by geekysage

Oh and i found this article after a li'l search to back me up.

Yeah, it's a good guide, I might look into it and try out a few things.


Have you heard/know about ratDVD. I am impressed about the thing it offers. Can you imagine a DVD 9 within 1.X Gb with all the special fetures, menus and extras and very less loss in quality!!

[geekysage]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Will we have to use the anyDVD to rip the DVD (which may be copy protected) and then work on with Intervideo DVDCopy?

Well, yes and no. AnyDVD plays only one role in the whole process and that is breaking the copy protection. Most people who use multiple region DVDs and copy protected DVDs just let AnyDVD sit in the background. Whenever you insert a CD/DVD it unlocks the copy protection and lets you work with region locked DVDs, all by sitting in the background. You don't even get a notification! So no, anyDVD doesn't rip the DVDs but just unlocks them in the background so that you can just start DVDCopy and proceed with the copying without any copy protection notices.

Originally Posted by drgrudge

No, I don't agree with the fact that large file size/disk space means good quality.

Hey, i didn't say large file size means better quality. Please read what i said and maybe you'll get what i meant this time.

I notice that you are constantly emphasizing on copying a DVD to smaller size files for some reason. I don't clearly know what is so tempting in that but maybe it's saving the cost of DVDs that makes it worthwhile for you. For me it doesn't matter coz i got like 100 free DVDs sitting in my room. Yeah, i got them for free after rebates this black friday. Besides, i was already ripping the DVDs using DVDDecrypter and GordianKnot until i found DVDCopy. I repeat, it's the quality that matters to me, not the size! And yeah, the 2CD XVid rips were okay in quality but the DVDCopy rips are just great (DVD quality) and ofcourse the time - 25 minutes vs. 1:30 minutes makes it even more likeable for me.

I don't know...i might sound like a quality freak but since i have been watching HDTV for a while now, anything less than DVD quality gives me eye sores. Also, maybe i don't wanna settle for anything less than DVD quality on my dell 20.1" widescreen especially coz i watch from a distance of less than 2fts.

Lately I discovered that some guys in India are also watching US HDTV series like Lost, ask them if they would want anything less in terms of quality. I mean, once you see it, you wouldn't wanna go back to the low res, pixelated quality.

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Yeah, it's a good guide, I might look into it and try out a few things.

What?? Did you even look at that link? It's not a guide but a comparison of all the major DVD copying software out there. Their tests show Intervideo DVDCopy as the best.

@go4saket: You haven't mentioned any errors that you get. Anyway, i haven't come across a single DVD that DVDDecrypter wasn't able to rip. You better download that software soon coz the license terms have apparently changed and the new developers are shutting down all the download links. You might also wanna try AnyDVD if DVDDecypter fails, which by the way, would be a big surprise for me as well as for the huge number of DVDDecrypter fans out there.

[drgrudge]

Originally Posted by geekysage

Hey, i didn't say large file size means better quality. Please read what i said and maybe you'll get what i meant this time.

No, I thought you meant the same indirectly. You never mentioned that you need the DVD extras (by choice or preference), all you mentioned was about quality. So I infered such.

Also you said:

Originally Posted by geekysage

I hope it's clear by now that i have written this tutorial for people who want the quality, not those who just want to fit a 8.5GB disk onto a 4.7GB one.

So I wrote that we can get good qualities in Mbs itself and not necessarily that file size be in Gbs.
It was a inference, maybe it was misunderstood or misjudged.

Originally Posted by geekysage

I notice that you are constantly emphasizing on copying a DVD to smaller size files for some reason. I don't clearly know what is so tempting in that but maybe it's saving the cost of DVDs that makes it worthwhile for you. For me it doesn't matter coz i got like 100 free DVDs sitting in my room. Yeah, i got them for free after rebates this black friday.

Hmm.. yeah partly you'r correct. DVD cheapos cost 14rs. (even lesser but the probobility of burning a DVD into a coaster is high ) Other DVD medias with jewel box are costly. They cost some 40-45 rs. I dont think anyone will buy them for movie burning purpose.
I don't know abt other areas and places. As far as Chennai is considered, we get DVD medias in very few places. So I buy some 15-20 cheapos every time I visit the place.

Also I was mentioning the low file size as many don't make DVD rips from DVDs, they might download it. With the kind of "Broadband" Connection we have, we would want to download 700mb/1.4gb and not DVD-R.


What if you get a DVD 9 for free?
You prolly wont use all these softies, will you?

Originally Posted by geekysage

Lately I discovered that some guys in India are also watching US HDTV series like Lost, ask them if they would want anything less in terms of quality. I mean, once you see it, you wouldn't wanna go back to the low res, pixelated quality.

Count me in! The quality is good, if not great. But Where do me get them?

Lost isn't released in DVDs (as far as I know) and also only the first season was aired. The second season is yet to take off. Quality is desirable but not compulsory. What connections do the dudes in India have? At the max we have 1mbps in homes. Even 1mpbs is inflated, I would say 512kbps at the max. These dudes cant except *HIGH QUALITY HIGH RESOLUTION* DVD quality all the time.


What's the moral of the story?
Different ppl have different needs. It does not mean if one softie dumped by a dude is bad for rest of the pack.

Originally Posted by geekysage

What?? Did you even look at that link? It's not a guide but a comparison of all the major DVD copying software out there. Their tests show Intervideo DVDCopy as the best.

Yeah, I did take a look. It's a 9 page thing if I am not correct. I meant it was a guide (of comparison). That's why I said I shall take a look later and try out the softies.

[geekysage]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

What if you get a DVD 9 for free?
You prolly wont use all these softies, will you?

Oh buddy, i would still need two applications like now. Some like AnyDVD to unlock and Nero to burn, rite?

By the way, Lost Season 1 has been out on DVD for quite some time now. And we are already 10 episodes in season 2.

I visit www.isohunt.com to get the HDTV rips. And to make things simpler I've recently bought ATI HDTV wonder. Many HDTV channels are free over-the-air, atleast for now, so it would be awesome to watch them on my 20.1" widescreen. Oh yeah, if you like Lost, don't forget to check out 24 and Alias. You would prolly end up loving them as well.

[go4saket]

The error I am getting is something like this...



Now I am not sure why am I getting this error, because of data read error or some thing else. I dont think this is a data read error because when I watched this movie in my DVD player, there was absolutely no problem. So how is it possible that there can be a data read error in my computer.

Another problem I had with one of my DVD's was with it's file size. Check the screenshot below and you will mark that all .vob files except one is of 0 KB whereas the total disk space is more than 4 GB.




__________________________________________________ ________________________________________



Now, how is that possible. Even when I try to run those .vob files by double clicking on them, nothing happens. I try to check weather or not the DVD has the complete movie in DVD shrink, I found every thing to be there. Now this doesn't make sence to me... Can you figure it out?

[geekysage]

hmm...your DVD disk is prolly corrupted. Get another copy instead of breaking your head on this.

[go4saket]

But I am getting this error with most of my DVD's... Moreover how is it possible that it runs all fine in my DVD player then...

[geekysage]

go4saket, i could give you many reasons for that but here's the major one. DVD players have much better DVD decryption built into them and the error correction is way better.

Anyway, maybe you could get the DVDs to work if you try on a different computer (i.e. dvd writer.)

[coolendra]

vidomi isnt a bad choice either !!!!

[drgrudge]

Originally Posted by geekysage

I visit www.isohunt.com to get the HDTV rips. And to make things simpler I've recently bought ATI HDTV wonder. Many HDTV channels are free over-the-air, atleast for now, so it would be awesome to watch them on my 20.1" widescreen. Oh yeah, if you like Lost, don't forget to check out 24 and Alias. You would prolly end up loving them as well.

Its' a pain with my BB conection You know that BSNL ppl get only 6 hrs a day. BSNL made me a leecher also

I really don't know as which torrent (listing) site is good. For once I think torrentspy is good, then mininova.org looks cool. I used to check on isohunt, few months ago, now that I get only 6hrs, I stopped visiting it. Anyways let me check it out.

[raval_manoj]

Hi guys,

I need some help...

(1) I've bootable DVD of SuSe10.1. How can I make it multiple CD installation?
I want to install SuSe at other place, where DVD drive is not available.
I want to write CDs from this DVD. Is it possible?

(2) How can I write movies to CD from my movie DVD?

[abhinav]

Thats what I was looking for!

Thanks!

[bharat_r]

I have a DVD rip of a tamil movie in avi format.It's about 1.4 GB
I also have the menus of that movie DVD as VOB & subtitles seperately.
Now how do I reconstruct it to make the menus functional with the movie & fit it in a 4.7 GB disc.

[go4saket]

Hello geekysage! As per your recommendation, I downloaded Intervideo DVDCopy, but I have one doubt. Although the interface of the software seems to be quite good and has really good features, can you tell me how can I compress a DVD movie to the size of my wish. It has an option of compressing a DVD9 movie to a DVD5, but is there any feature to compress a DVD5 movie futher more, the way we can do it with DVD Shrink. Actually I want to compress a 4 GB movie to about 1.5 to 2 GB so that I can add two to three movies in a single DVD.

[geekysage]

@go4saket: First off, let me apologize for replying this late. Now to answer your question, no, you can not compress a DVD movie (with menu and other stuff) to less than the size of a DVD5 disk. BTW, the version i use - DVD Copy Platinum - does provide options to rip the movie to DivX, WMA, etc. That way, you can rip the movie to the size of a single CD or even around a 350MB WMA file but sadly you will not be able to play it on a standard DVD player unless it supports DivX/WMA playback.

@abhinav: Thanks buddy, i appreciate your feedback.

@drgrudge: I visited your blog lately, looks like you are hooked to the 2nd season of Lost. Welcome to the club, buddy

@go4saket Try using DVD43 3.7.0 its a plugin for dvd decrypter if you get some cylindical errors(remember dvd43 is just for error solving in dvd decrypter if you use this any way while dvd decrypter does not show an error always shut it off unless you would get an bad burned copy without noticing.) That goes for all of you who uses dvd decrypter and gets cylindical error for trying to rip dvd to hard drive.

[hsnayvid]

lovely discussion over here!!

Downloadind intervideo! Big file will take hell lot of time.

I'd also like to know which is the best s/ware to convert the files into divx or xvid formats so I can have 1.x GB files (or even less) with excellent quality.

[geekysage]

My first post i.e. the tutorial already contains links to good applications for ripping a DVD movie to DivX/Xvid. Also look at the linked tutorial for step by step instructions. I admit the process takes quite some time but you have the option to virtually change anything you want.

By the way, DVDCopy 4 Platinum does one click ripping to DivX, Xvid, WMV, etc. and i must say, it does a pretty good job. A WMV rip could produce file sizes in the range of 350-400MB, while a decent quality Xvid rip could take 1.x GB (i.e. 2 CD rip.)

Hope this helps. Good luck and thanks for dropping by.

I haven't tried any other application instead of nero 6 but im fine with dvd decrypter and I haven't got any errors from it except for cylindical reading error on movie called "Spanglish"(which requires dvd43 for the solution like what I said from the first reply to this topic.)

[geekysage]

@SignificantMind: My last post was a reply to hsnayvid's question. However, i could see how you got confused and defensive.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing and adding to the topic.

Maybe other forum members could post links to such softwares or tutorials to get rid of errors and I will append it to the original tutorial.

It's ok I apreciate your reply also .

[hsnayvid]

still waiting for it to download!!

.

[hsnayvid]

still waiting for it to download!!

.

[CyCo]

can ne1 tell me what 2 do ??

i have already copied the mov (copy-paste) and have only the VOB files with me .. and now i need to compress them just for storage purpose .. i dont want to lose the quality and sound but wanna get it down to smallest possible size ..

i tht it wd wrk as it does for dat files in vcds

ne suggestions of wat 2 do ??

[go4saket]

First of all Cyco, this is a forum where all kinds of people get along, so it is advicable not to use short words as we use in SMS. I am sure typing the whole word wouldn't be such a pain.

As for your problem, have one thing clear that if you compress the video file, you will loose quality. If the compression ratio is less, the loss is less and if more, the loss is going to be huge.

Try DVD Shrink to compress you DVD movies, but for that you will need all the files, i.e. the .bup and .ifo filies along with the .vob files. Incase if you haven't copied these files, try to regenerate these files with Nero Vision Express. If you want to store these .vob files in some other format, try InterVideo DVDCopy 4. Is has pretty good options.

[CyCo]

sorry about the short forms but this is the 1st post where someone commented on that ....

when i compress the dat files to 50% size in divx using virtualdub , the quality is the same and size half ...

ne other suggestions coz i got like 40 dvds waitin to b converted ....