Pixelated copies

Movie Copy Software
#1

Hi,
I’m trying out AnyDVD & CloneDVD on my own dvd collection so I can more accurately gauge the quality of the copies against the originals. My goal is to have backups of my better movies. So far I’ve been very happy with the results & I haven’t had any problems until today. I’ve made several copies of Twilight Zone 80’s season1 disc1 (no jokes please).

Regardless of which settings or brand of media are used all copies have come out very pixelated. I’ve tried +R & -R, RW & various speeds (etc) all to no avail. All of the copies show pixelated on 3 different DVD players as well as 4 different computers. I have AnyDVD 6011 & CloneDVD2 2899. Until today I’ve copied around 20 movies without incident (except for a few coasters while learning the programs & experimenting with various settings). But, the copies of the Twilight Zone disc are so heavily pixeled they are unwatchable.

The original disc plays flawlessly with crystal-clear video. Other DVDs I’ve copied since Twilight Zone have all turned out just fine. What do you think is going on? Could it be some sort of copy protection that is getting by AnyDVD 6011? I’ve tried everything that myself and tech-savy friend can think of but, the Twilight Zone pixels persist.
I’d appreciate any assistance in resolving this issue.
thanks
skaith

#2

The most common cause of this is usually poor quality media and /or too high a burn rate…

#3

Try ripping with DVDFab Decrypter (free version). Then use DVD Shrink to compress and burn. It could be that it is such a large file that it is being compressed too much.
You might have to remove some of the extras and additional sound tracks.
If you don’t have Nero to work with Shrink save the output files from Shrink as an iso, the use ImgBurn (free program) to burn.

#4

@ skaith

Rip the movie to harddrive and then view. This will tell you if it’s a rip or burn problem.

I am wondering, what is the % when you rip this movie?

#5

I’ve ripped the files to a temp folder & played them from there & they look just fine.
The compression with Clonedvd is 56%, could the be too much?
I’m using various brands of media including Taiyo Yuden, Prodisc & Verbatim. I tried burning @ 4x but, got the same result as before. When I get the time I guess I’ll try burning @ 1x ifClone DVD will let me. I also tried Nero which apparently copied movie without compression but, I don’t any dual-layer discs to burn to. I want to avoid the dual-layer stuff if I can, due to the cost. Friday is a busy day for me but, this weekend I’ll try other options such as those suggested above as well as some divx solutions a friend wants to try. I don’t know anything about divx but, it may be time to learn.
Of course, any addition help from the forum is always welcome as well
skaith

#6

I’ve never used Clonedvd but with DVD Shrink thats bordering the edge of too much compression. I would remove all you can to try to get it up to at least 70%.
It’s possible that you are burning too slow. With 8X and 16X media 8X and 12X seem to give the best results. Some are even getting best results at 16X.

#7

You need to isolate which step in the process is introducing the pixelation. The candidates are the output of the rip, the transcoding, the burning. You say the files were ripped to your hard drive and they look ok. I suggest you run CloneDVD2 and output to your hard disk as files ready to be burned (ie. let the transcoding occur). Then check those files. You may find the pixelation is being introduced in the transcoding process (that has happened to me with CloneDVD2 in the past). If these files have the problem, you need to experiment with things that effect the trasncoding process. As others have suggested, you may need to find a way to reduce the increased compression CloneDVD2 is trying to force. If you have multiple hard disc drives, you might also try running CloneDVD2 and having the transcoded output stored on a separate drive form the source files. I actually solved a similar problem to what you are describing by having the input and output of the transcoding process on separate drives/channels.
If the transcoded files look good, you now know the burn is most likely the issue. If the pixelation is most severe towards the end of the videos (ie. the outer rim of the burned media) there is a good chance you are burning at too high a speed, so slow it down a bit. You can always try different media, but it sounds like you’ve done that already.
I’m betting you will find the problem is being introduced in the transcoding process and your corrective actions will have to take place there.

#8

Since you were able to view with no problem then, that just leaves the burning issue. 56% is rather pushing it, even tho I have gone a little bit more at times with my kid cartoons(knowing they are gonna be scratched soon) but they didn’t have any problems and they turned out fine.

Maybe you should reinstall CloneDVD and try to burn again. If you are using RW’s and would like to test, try using the split feature with clonedvd(after you uninstall and reinstall)to see how they turn out.

#9

@ skaith,

In my opinion using CloneDVD 56% compression is rather a lot of compression especially if the original Commercial DVD Movie Title contains a lot of fast paced action scenes and viewed on a large TV screen and is most likely the cause of your pixilated copy problem. If using good quality DVD Media burning at half the Rated Speed of the particular DVD Media should be sufficient to prevent video pixilated copy quality problems. Burning at a speed slower than half the Rated Speed of the particular DVD Media should not be needed, not recommended, and could possibly cause additional problems.

If you desire to avoid using DL Media suggest using CloneDVD and splitting your Twilight Zone 80’s Season#1 Disc#1 project into two DVD-5 blank disc to avoid your excessive compression (56%) pixilated copy problem.

Best Regards,
bjkg

#10

On good quality media the burning speed is irrelevant to the video quality - In fact in those cases it would be better to burn at the rated speed when dealing with 8x.

I now burn ALL my TYs at their rated 8x speed and the result is clean, no pixelation or problems.

#11

Good afternoon everyone,
I appreciate all your suggestions. I’ve learned quite a bit for an old dog in just one day.
The only thing that seems to work is to divide the episodes up into two discs. I can burn at or near 100% so, there’s little or no compressions that CloneDVD has to do.
This works fine on a disc like this one where there are several stand-alone episodes or stories, that way there is no disruption of continuity. I suppose that burning a movie across two discs isn’t really all that big an issue since we usually end up pausing movies for bathroom breaks, snacks, answering the door/phone etc. We’re usually so busy around here these days I wonder sometimes how we ever get to watch movies at all. I just hate dividing movies up like that & DivX takes too much time. I’ll sure be glad when DL prices come down. Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I was mostly interested in trying out AnyDVD & CloneDVD for the 21 days trial period.
My time isn’t up but, I went ahead & bought the progs anyway. Overall, I’m very pleased with the results.
thanks again-skaith

#12

@ skaith,

I believe you will find that purchasing the AnyDVD-CloneDVD software combination was a good decision. You can’t go wrong with having the AnyDVD-CloneDVD software programs in your DVD copying tool kit.

Best Regards,
bjkg

#13

That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Split the episodes on to two different discs which will allow you more space in order to decrease compression. And get rid of any extras you don’t want.

As you know, the less compression, the better the quality. And with TV episodes, it’s convenient to split them up. I’m doing this with Fox TV show, The Shield as we speak. Yes, I will have more DVD-Rs to deal with than the original DVDs by the time I copy the whole 1st season, but that’s a small price to pay considering…

#14

I’ve got the same problem here with another DVD. Too many audio and subtitles problems with the otherwise good DVD Fab express, so i decided to try CloneDVD2. Although the overall compression rate indicated by CloneDVD2 is 62%, the bitrate screens give strange results while copying: some sequences are not compressed at all while some are heavily compressed. The result: a copy that is good during 80% of playback but is unwatchable 20% of the time due to pixelation levels unseen since the 80’s :-((

I also tried ripping to hard disk from AnyDVD then copying/compressing also to hard disk. Same awful result. This really looks like a conversion problem. Anybody got a clue ?

#15

@ Yog99,

Welcome to the Forum.

Strongly suggest completely reading this entire thread in its entirely noting comments in posting #9. CloneDVD transcoding compression rates more than 80% will cause noticeable degradation of video quality.

Best Regards,
bjkg

#16

Hi,

I’ve tried to copy the Twilight Zone (Original series, season 3 & 4), and the image is highly pixelated. I’ve used DVD shrink to export the files (no compression), and have then used Nero Recode to copy the files back to DVD, at 90% compression rate.

I’ve burn’t using SONY and Verbatim disks +R medium at 4X speed using a Pioneer burner.

What am I doing wrong? I’ve done this process very often and now have these difficulties. I don’t understand why. Is it related to the fact that these are B&W’s or where am I going wrong?

Thanks for all your help!

#17

to southskies, you might want to check the date the thread was created back in 2006? I now look at the original OP to make sure the thread is of most recent date and not a old thread…

#18

I thought the subject and content was similar… this is my first post to this forum… should I be starting a new thread?

#19

@ southskies,

Welcome to the Forum.

If you anticipate meaningful assistance with your problem suggest reviewing the AnyDVD Forum Read First posting titled “New posters with ripping/burning problems” (http://club.cdfreaks.com/f88/new-posters-ripping-burning-problems-182650/#post1451939) and provide all the information that is requested.

In seeing that this posting thread is over a year and a half old it appears that it is appropriate to start your own posting using the AnyDVD Forum Read First posting titled “New posters with ripping/burning problems” (http://club.cdfreaks.com/f88/new-posters-ripping-burning-problems-182650/#post1451939) as a guide and provide all the necessary pertinent necessary so that Forum Members will be able to provide meaningful assistance to correct your problem.

Regards,
bjkg