How can I backup my DVDs for quick & easy access?

[JohnnyScience]

If you have to create a single .vob file, you may try this :
VOB Joiner - join VOB files, merge vob merger, combine vob combiner, Camcorder, MiniDV

I guess if I plan on usin Media Center more, there really isnt a reason in going through all of tha trouble to merge them into one file is there?

 

[JohnnyScience]

What file do I click on to make sure that dvdshrink copied the entire dvd properly and I'm good to go?

So even with DVDshrink I need to locate the movie poster online?

Why doesnt it pull all of the posters/images that are on the dvd itself?

 

[Frostmourne]

What file do I click on to make sure that dvdshrink copied the entire dvd properly and I'm good to go?

So even with DVDshrink I need to locate the movie poster online?

Why doesnt it pull all of the posters/images that are on the dvd itself?

Why don't you reecode the files to matroska and x264/aac? The films will be tiny - 300mb+.

 

[JohnnyScience]

What file do I click on to make sure that dvdshrink copied the entire dvd properly and I'm good to go?

So even with DVDshrink I need to locate the movie poster online?

Why doesnt it pull all of the posters/images that are on the dvd itself?

Why don't you reecode the files to matroska and x264/aac? The films will be tiny - 300mb+.

Uhh what?

What for? I'm not familiar with what you're talking about?

 

[Frostmourne]

You want to back up your files - why are you backing up the discs to 4GB+? You have the originals, and if you encode them this way, you can stream them from a server and easily back them up. The quality is fine if you know the settings.

 

[JohnnyScience]

You want to back up your files - why are you backing up the discs to 4GB+? You have the originals, and if you encode them this way, you can stream them from a server and easily back them up. The quality is fine if you know the settings.

because I want to easily view them on the computer. I've got a 500g media hard drive, so I'm not worried about space

 

[Frostmourne]

4GB+ each film so if you have over 150 films you will begin to run out of space, the quality will be fine. Do you want me to walk you through it?

 

[JohnnyScience]

4GB+ each film so if you have over 150 films you will begin to run out of space, the quality will be fine. Do you want me to walk you through it?

Ehh I dont think I'm going to have that many films. Plus HDD is pretty cheap these days.

There has to be quality loss if you go any smaller than what DVDshrink puts it at?

 

[Pikey]

You could try ripping each movie to .avi format instead .. here's a guide which uses free software to do the job!

.. AfterDawn.com: Guides: Converting DVD movies into .avi using AutoGK ..

Try experimenting a bit and see which format you prefer .. each has it's merits.

Several sites do some excellent guides for all the basics .. afterdawn , doom9 , videohelp ..

 

[Frostmourne]

4GB+ each film so if you have over 150 films you will begin to run out of space, the quality will be fine. Do you want me to walk you through it?

Ehh I dont think I'm going to have that many films. Plus HDD is pretty cheap these days.

There has to be quality loss if you go any smaller than what DVDshrink puts it at?

The quality loss is not what you would expect.

 

[MacGyvr]

I am looking to backup my dvds for quick & easy access on the computer instead of having to search through & load up each one.

What is the easiest way to do this in 7?

Use AnyDVD from SlySoft to rip the DVDs (any type) to an ISO image.

Use VirtualCloneDrive (also from SlySoft) to mount the ISO image as a virtual DVD drive. You can click on any ISO file and it will load up just like it was a disc inserted into a drive.

VCD is free, but you will need to buy AnyDVD. It is WELL worth it, trust me.

 

[unifex]

You can use DVDFab - this program has many options, you can copy everything without losing quality, you can transform to various formats for different players and so on. It's not free though. But you can try for a month - and be done with everything .

However, be careful with the copyright - even if you own a DVD that does not mean that you are allowed to copy the movie to your hard drive. In fact, in some countries including the US there is legislation in effect that explicitly forbids breaking the copy protection.

On the other hand, if the DVD is not copy protected, then you can simply copy the files in Windows Explorer.

 

[JohnnyScience]

This is one of the bad things about forums is that sometimes you get too many choices.

Everyone seems to have their own way and thats fine, but I dont need to worry about space so I dont need to compress them to worry about losing quality.

Dvdshrink seems to work fine for me.

I like being able to watch the movies in either Media Center or Media player. I dont want to have to worry about mounting an iso in another program when I already like MC.

I will be able to access the movies I copy with DVDshrink in both win7 64 & Ubuntu 64 correct?

Or do I need to do something different so that they are cross platform?

Also what is the easiest way to ensure that once I've copied the movie to my HDD that is is a perfect copy & ready to go?

 

[unifex]

Well, once you have removed the copy protection - if that's what you're doing (since without it you can simply copy and paste) your files on the hard drive are ready to go. Ideally you should have a folder full of vob and ifo files. In the DVD structure it's called VIDEO_TS, but on the computer you can call it anything.

The files can be played in any operating system, as long as you have the appropriate software. In Windows that can be WMP or Media Center or any of the gazillion players available. I don't use Ubuntu, so I'm not sure what's available there, although VLC should work. The only possible difference between different players that you are really interested in - some players require that you point them to the folder with those vob files and some can play individual vob files. However, a single vob file is often not the whole movie.

If you want to test the files, you can use the small app called MediaInfo - it will tell you everything about your files. If you are concerned about the DVD structure - the simplest way is just to play it and make sure that all menus work and so on.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Well, once you have removed the copy protection - if that's what you're doing (since without it you can simply copy and paste) your files on the hard drive are ready to go. Ideally you should have a folder full of vob and ifo files. In the DVD structure it's called VIDEO_TS, but on the computer you can call it anything.

The files can be played in any operating system, as long as you have the appropriate software. In Windows that can be WMP or Media Center or any of the gazillion players available. I don't use Ubuntu, so I'm not sure what's available there, although VLC should work. The only possible difference between different players that you are really interested in - some players require that you point them to the folder with those vob files and some can play individual vob files. However, a single vob file is often not the whole movie.

If you want to test the files, you can use the small app called MediaInfo - it will tell you everything about your files. If you are concerned about the DVD structure - the simplest way is just to play it and make sure that all menus work and so on.

I'm not sure if I'm removing the copyright or not, I'm just using dvdshrink?

So youre saying just load up the dvd & copy & paste it into the folder I want?

Why doesnt dvd shrink grab the artwork? Thats a real pain.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Man... I got through almost all of my P90x dvds with no problem now the last one (and my most favorite is not getting past 60%

This is the error I'm getting...

The disc looks fine, no scratches or anything.

Is there a work around so I can shrink this final dvd for the collection?

Thanks.

 

[Frostmourne]

Clean the disk and try again. Also, deselect the movie preview option. It slows things down.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Clean the disk and try again. Also, deselect the movie preview option. It slows things down.

Ok I tried to clean it a couple of times & once it stopped at 23% instead of the usual 60 & the last time stopped at 60% again.

Is there another program I could try that should be able to rip it? I'd hate to be short 1 dvd to the set & be it my favorite one.

 

[Frostmourne]

Clean the disk and try again. Also, deselect the movie preview option. It slows things down.

Ok I tried to clean it a couple of times & once it stopped at 23% instead of the usual 60 & the last time stopped at 60% again.

Is there another program I could try that should be able to rip it? I'd hate to be short 1 dvd to the set & be it my favorite one.

In DVD Decryptor there should be an option to create an .iso of the disc, choose that, then extract the .iso with universal extractor.

 

[JohnnyScience]

Clean the disk and try again. Also, deselect the movie preview option. It slows things down.

Ok I tried to clean it a couple of times & once it stopped at 23% instead of the usual 60 & the last time stopped at 60% again.

Is there another program I could try that should be able to rip it? I'd hate to be short 1 dvd to the set & be it my favorite one.

In DVD Decryptor there should be an option to create an .iso of the disc, choose that, then extract the .iso with universal extractor.

I dont think I have DVD Decryptor, I'll try and look for it now.

I have daemon tools, can I use that to create an .iso?