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General discussion

Am I doing something wrong?

Jan 23, 2006 11:20AM PST

I've been backing up my dvds on to 4.7GB DVD+R disc. Now I've been reading up on the ways to back up a dvd, the thing is that all the guides leave you with only the main movie. They say all this bull about why you can't fit the whole dvd (menus, extras, main movie) on to the disc. I've successfully managed to backup an entire dvd onto a dvd+r. I've done this with several dvds including seasons also. So I want to know why all the "experts" say this can't be done. Am I doing something wrong? Are my DVDs going to self destruct or something? I've made perfect backups, no loss of quality, full menu function...but everybody says it can't be done without using dvd-9 dics or either have 50 programs. I use two programs to make a perfect copy in like 45 minutes which includes ripping, encoding and burning. I don't understand why everyone says it can't be done.

Discussion is locked

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It's simple. If the source disk is dual layer, it will store
Jan 23, 2006 3:15PM PST

roughly 9 gigs of data. You can't back up 9 gigs onto 4.7 gigs. Thus, if you're going to fit all the material, you've got to use a higher rate of compression. If you do that, there will be some loss of quality. If your TV doesn't show the higher quality to begin with, you won't notice any difference.

BTW, making copies of such disks is a violation of federal law.

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Re: Am I doing something wrong?
Jan 23, 2006 10:30PM PST

Not sure which 'experts' you have been listening to but it is possible to back up a 9 gig dvd to a 4.7 gig dvd. Check out www.videohelp.com. Howver you need to use compression and this causes loss of quality. You say you do not notice any loss and maybe on your tv you do not, but the fact is the more you compress the poorer the quality. Of course not all dvds are a full 9 gig. Some are only 5 - 7 gigs so less compression is needed. You can drop to 80% with probably no visible loss of quality.
There are lots of guides at videohelp.com which which show you how to back up the entire disk. Not sure why you say 'everybody' says it cannot be done, I would say the opposite. Software such as dvd shrink, clonedvd2, oneclickdvd, and others all give this option.
So, you are not doing anything wrong, in fact you appear to be doing it right.
The legality of this depends on the country you are in.

SF

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Great Site
Jan 23, 2006 10:57PM PST

Thanks for the site videohelp. They seem to know what they are talking about. I hadn't checked that site out. I've mostly been on afterdawn, doom9 and a few other sites that gave worse information than the first two I mentioned. I use DVD Shrink myself. Now you say maybe my tv doesn't notice the quality loss but I've tested the dvds on every type of tv I came across, except for a plasma, and still no notice of quality loss. I hope they still look good on plasma, because I plan to get a plasma tv very soon and would love to use the dvds I made for daily use and keep the originals locked away.