Getting ready for DVD9 copies

vbimport
#1

I’ve just discovered DVDFab and I think it’s fabulous! (Pardon the pun.) This is my first attempt at copying a commercial dvd for backup. Actually, I’m doing all this for my daughter. Her computer only has a dvd reader. So I read up on the process and the idea of running some kind of decrypter in the background while running another program to copy it, and another to burn…well, it just all seemed too much for me. So I went looking for something that would do it all; not even knowing if there were such programs available.

I tried a couple of others before DVDFab and the results were less than stellar. One problem or another came up. I can’t remember now what they were because I’ve deleted them and my notes.

My burner will do DVD9, but I didn’t want to end up with a bunch of expensive coasters while finding a program that works. Actually I haven’t even tried my burner yet with DVD9’s for anything. So I experimented first with just the Main Movie. I burned it to DVD+R. I spot-checked it on my dvd player in the living room and it looked fine. Gave it to my daughter and she said it played fine on her tv and the quality was great. So now we are ready to invest in the DVD9 discs so I can make her a backup of the complete movie. It’s a concert, actually.

When I did the Main Movie, I left DVDFab at the default settings. I didn’t change a thing. But I’ve read through many posts here and people have mentioned some settings changes in Common Preferences that seem to be preferred. So, should I make these changes and leave them as default, just in case they might be needed another time?

They are:
Write Speed…4x or 8x
Write Type of DVD-R Media…SAO Writing
DVD Writable Media (DVD-5) Size…4464 (use customize in drop down )
Set Booktype to DVD-ROM…(put a check in the small box)

Also, I am curious about the choice to remove DTS audio. Her dvd had it and another sound file (I didn’t write it down but it was PMI or something like that.)

What/why would someone want to remove the DTS sound? What does that do?

And then lastly, I’ve been reading up on the kinds of dual layer discs. Somebody said this in one of the threads here:

I wonder how many people realize Double Layer is DL+R and Dual Layer is DL-R?

I believe the Double Layer DL+R is the newest technology and there’s the booktype setting to make it compatible for older players. So would that be the best to buy? (My LG GSA-H221 can use both.) Most people here vote for Verbatim. So, should I go for them in the Double Layer+R?

I know there’s always a chance of a bad disc or even a bad batch of discs from time to time. But I’m confident that DVDFab will do its job. I’m just trying to get my all my ducks in a row before I venture into the DVD9 world.

Thanks.

#2

Why not try to burn it on a SL disk, try to put it on DVD5 and see what the compression is, I have gone to 53% and still gotten good quality burns, DL disk are not cheap and yes Verbatium’s or TY are the best disks, good luck and welcome to the forum
Jim

#3

H mommabear,

DTS = Digital Theatre Sound is the [B]least[/B] compressed of all the audio encoding systems and as a result lays claim to the best overall sound quality. Personallly, I have no informed opinion on this (I suspect it may be true…makes sense) since I don’t have a home theatre system and don’t know beans about it.

On a standalone player, you’ll need a player with a DTS digital output. If your daughter is playing it on her pc, she’ll need a proper player (software) with the correct codecs. I don’t believe WMP is capable.
VLC will work (just click on the link…it’s free and IMO it’s the best player out there…a little gem for sure)
I understand powerdvd and will work also.

I gotta run, my mommabear (wife) is calling me to brunch…one of my college brats is home on break… :bigsmile:…and I best not be late, but as a mommabear, I’m sure you understand … :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ll be back…

btw, welcome to the world of DL burning… :clap:
Definitely stick with verbatim DL

A trial burn to a SL disc is a good idea as Jim pointed out. Do you know the file size ot the amount of compression?..this would be seen as "Quality % "

#4

I did try it without actually burning on a SL. I played the video_ts on my computer. Saw lots of pixilation (?)…splotches. The quality wasn’t near the Main Movie video folder. Anyway, I decided not to burn it. Or now that I think about it, maybe I did that with one of the other programs instead.

I know I definitely looked at compressing the whole movie in DVDFab pro and the quality came up at 55% (I think my notes are correct.) The main movie came in at 63%. But I’m not sure I went so far as to actually compress it in DVDFab and look at the video_ts and see how it played.

Maybe I should try that again. :rolleyes:

For some reason I couldn’t get my reply to maineman to work in the normal ways. I kept getting this message: “1. The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 1 characters.” So I’ve resorted to editing my first reply.

Thanks for the welcomes!

#5

mommabear hello there
You will find that DVDFab Platinum is the best software program on the market for doing backups and I don’t think you will find any better support

#6

O…o

At that point, you’d get much better quality video by reencoding to XviD. If you’re using a transcoder, going past 20% is even a little much by my standards. Of course, to watch this on a regular TV you’d have to get a dvd player that supports it, but there’s more than a handful that will now, like the ones made by phillips.

If you want to have the highest quality backups and burn to DVD5 I would suggest learning how to use DVD Rebuilder in conjunction with CCE or HC encoders, and learn how to strip all of the potentially bitrate-decreasing adware
and warnings and virtually worthless motion menus with DVD ReMake.

#7

mommabear look through some post by StormJumper and try the settings he recommends or else maybe he will pop back in and give you some settings to try and I am sure you will be happy with them, and stick with DVDFAB as you don’t need to get another program :slight_smile: Here they are I found them thanks to StormJumper the MAN
JimThey are:
Write Speed…4x or 8x
Write Type of DVD-R Media…SAO Writing
DVD Writable Media (DVD-5) Size…4464 (use customize in drop down )
Set Booktype to DVD-ROM…(put a check in the small box)

#8

Thanks StormJumper. I also have taken note of your settings recommendations that I’ve found throughout the forum. So I assume it’s a good idea to go ahead and set those as default even though my first Main Movie turned out just fine without them.

Jaminsd: Thank you. I had already found them when I started reading up on DVDFab here.

#9

mommabear, you are very welcome and don’t be a stranger to the forum, just pop in and say hi once in awhile, we also have a fab discussion thread where you can talk about anything or just say hi
Jim

#10

Don’t think I would burn DLs at 8X:) .
Mommabear I think you will find that the amount of compression you can tolerate in the output of DVDFab will vary from movie to movie. I actually have some that look OK at 65%, others are bad on a bigscreen at 82%. It has to do with the type of content and the quality of the original transfer from film to DVD by the manufacturer. Common compression artifacts are a “busyness” around some objects and a loss of fine detail (a sunset will have bands of color instead of a smooth change from one color and light level to the next). If you are seeing large square blocks on the screen it is most likely read errors caused by the inability of the player to correct all the errors on the disc, a frequent result of burning at too high a speed or on blank media that is not well suited to either your burner or player or both. And I don’t think you would be happy with the results of burning at 55% on any size screen.

#11

Thanks for the tips. However, one of the reasons I’m so pleased with finding DVDFab is because I think it will do all I need right from the get-go, without all the steps you just talked about. On those rare occasions where I’d want a backup of the entire DVD or just the movie, uncompressed with the absolute best quality, I think I can trust DVDFab to do the DVD9 copies just fine. My inquiries here have been to more or less confirm my confidence in DVDFab before spending the money on the DVD9’s and clear up a few settings questions.

#12

Thanks for all the information about the variables that can occur even with a good percentage of quality. It’s all good to know. I’ll keep it in mind that if one burn looks bad it might not hurt to try another disc brand, just in case, before I throw everything out.

#13

Your LG should default to the approprite speed for DL burning…I don’t think the “selected speed” in Fab impacts this. As a matter of fact I seem to recall Fab prompted me to selected “write speed” with a new install or 1st time DL burning…hard to remember that far back though…getting old is not pretty… :bigsmile:
Personally, my selected speed is 12X for 16X media (verbs) and essentially writes at 9-12X. With 8-12X media, I write at 8X. These settings produce flawless bkups for me with my Benq 1655.
My DLs always default to 2.X, again optimum speed and flawless bkups [B]for me[/B].
BTW, I absoluely agree with signals’ caveat:

Hope this helps…

#14

Forgot to mention…
Typically, verbatim DLs are rated at 2.4X or 4X and although your LG is capable of burning DLs at 8X, I don’t think your burner will try…left to itself, unless you flash to 3rd party firmware and even then I’m not sure. 8X DL verbs are available though…I’ve never used 'em and I suspect they’re a bit pricey and now I guess Ricoh has launched a 16X DL… :eek:

I’ll continue to plod along with my perfect 2.4X bDL burns…for a while anyway

Again, stick with verbatim +R DL

#15

The cheapest Verbatim Dual Layers I found were about 16 bucks for ten and I found 100 Verbatim DVD5 discs for 29.99 and the first spindle you order on newegg.com will give you an 11.00 mail in rebate so that comes out to 19 cents a disc I think the DVD9s were about 1.50 to 2.00 bucks a disc. So its all about what you are comfortable spending, I use DVD9 for certain movies that I want all the features on but for the most part Main Movie is enough for me.

I just checked and they got even cheaper for the DVD5

Here are the DVD9s, You can also get great deals at B&M stores if you catch a sale.

#16

Thanks to all for the great information. I imagine we’ll start smart with something like a 3pk of Verbatim to make sure my burner likes them. I’ll give this information to my daughter since she’s doing the buying…this time anyway. :wink:

#17

Okay and don’t forget to pop in and let us all know how it went and good luck
Jim

#18

FYI Verb DVD5s on sale this week $12.99 at BestBuy. No deal on DLs.

#19

100 disc spindles? I’m all over that one lol, can’t beat 13 cents a disc.

#20

Sorry…brain thought: picture of a 50 disc spindle, fingers typed what you saw. Still no stinking rebate hassle though.:slight_smile: