Level 1: - DVD Copy Software Reviews

V 1.0
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LEGAL AGREEMENT AND STATEMENT.............................................................................................. 3
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 4
The free software we will use: .................................................................................................................. 4
User Pre-requisites .................................................................................................................................... 5
System Requirements................................................................................................................................ 5
Windows Vista Installation ....................................................................................................................... 5
Note on Compression of DVD Contents................................................................................................... 6
Backup Methods to be Used ..................................................................................................................... 7
Legend ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Install Software ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Rip Contents of DVD to Hard Drive Using DVDFab HD Decrypter ....................................................... 8
Introduction to DVD Shrink 3.2 ............................................................................................................. 10
The Anatomy of DVD Shrink for “Full Disc” Backup ....................................................................... 10
The Anatomy of DVD Shrink for “Re-Author” Backup .................................................................... 11
Understanding the Size Indicator ............................................................................................................ 12
All Green ............................................................................................................................................. 12
Green with Red ................................................................................................................................... 12
Green with Gray .................................................................................................................................. 12
Compressing with DVD Shrink 3.2 ........................................................................................................ 13
Burning the Contents to a Blank DVD Disk Using ImgBurn ................................................................. 19
BURNING TO DUAL LAYER DVD WRITABLE DISKS .................................................................. 23
What does Dual Layer mean? ............................................................................................................. 23
What is a Layer Break? ....................................................................................................................... 23
Media .................................................................................................................................................. 23
Burn Speed .......................................................................................................................................... 23
How to burn to dual layer Media ........................................................................................................ 24
CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................... 34
Configure DVD Shrink ........................................................................................................................... 34
Configure the Book Type in ImgBurn .................................................................................................... 39
Using ImgBurn to Change the Book Type.......................................................................................... 40
Changing the Book Type for DVD+RW Media After Contents Are Written .................................... 45
Trial and Error..................................................................................................................................... 46
TROUBLE SHOOTING ............................................................................................................................. 47
LEGAL AGREEMENT AND STATEMENT
PLEASE CONSIDER THIS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOURSELF (THE END
USER) AND THE PUBLISHER AND/OR AUTHOR OF THIS GUIDE.
If you do not agree with any part of this agreement, do not follow the instructions cited in this
guide and destroy any copies (soft and hard) of the guide.
USING SOME AND/OR ALL OF THE SOFTWARE AND/OR INSTRUCTIONS CITED IN
THIS GUIDE MAY BE ILLEGAL IN SOME COUNTRIES.
It is suggested that you obtain legal advice if you are not certain what the law is in your country
as it pertains to the information provided in this guide. If you determine that it is illegal to use
some or all of the software and/or instructions cited in this guide, then you are prohibited from
using this guide.
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS GUIDE IS TO BE USED STRICTLY FOR NONCOMMERCIAL PURPOSES.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This manual contains material protected under International and
Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission
from the author and except as set forth below in point 1.
1) One copy of this guide may be printed for your own use.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the
subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and the author are not
engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or any other professional advice. If legal advice or other
professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
LIMITS OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:
The author and publisher of this book and the accompanying materials have used their best
efforts in preparing this program. The author and/or publisher makes no representation or
warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents of
this guide, including but not limited to title, non-infringement and the legality in your country.
They disclaim any warranties (expressed or implied), of merchantability, or fitness for any
particular purpose The author and/or publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss or
other damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
You agree to defend, protect against loss, and hold harmless publisher and/or author from any
and all claims of infringement made by any party, resulting in whole or in part from your use of
this guide.
End users accept full responsibility for their actions and use of the material in this guide. Results
that you may get will vary from the examples in this guide as they depend on your knowledge,
ability, background and other factors beyond the knowledge and control of the publisher and/or
author.
Copyright © 2008 Backupmydvd.com. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
Ever since 2002-2003, when the popularity of DVDs surged and outpaced VHS
tapes, people have been building their movie collections. Although people have
always collected movies, somehow the popularity of DVD media introduced more
consumers to the idea of building a movie library. These people have invested
thousands of dollars in growing their DVD collections.
Unfortunately, DVDs are readily prone to damage. They can be easily nicked and
scratched, and if you couple this with a finicky player, you have problems. One
solution to this problem is to buy 2 DVDs of each title. You can use one and keep
one in a safe location. As you can imagine, this is an impractical and costly
proposition. The other, more practical way to protect your DVD collection, is to
make backup copies for frequent use. This way your original DVDs stay safely
tucked away. This guide will show you how to do this, with freely available
software that is next to none.
The free software we will use:
DVD Shrink
This will be used to compress contents, so that they are
able to fit on a standard 4.7GB DVD writable.
DVDFab HD Decrypter
This will be used to overcome copy protection and rip
contents from a DVD disk to your hard drive.
DVD Decrypter
An older ripping and burning program that is used by
Ripit4me to rip contents to the hard disk.
Ripit4me
This is a facilitator program that uses DVD Decrypter
by adding new functionality to it, in order to overcome
various copy protection schemes so that a backup can
be made. Sometimes this process succeeds where
DVDFab HD Decrypter may fail.
ImgBurn
This will be used to burn contents to a DVD disk.
It is important to note that backup discs are not guaranteed to work in all
standalone DVD players. This is especially true for lower cost and older players.
Vendors of DVD backup and DVD authoring software realize that there are just
too many variables to guarantee that all backed up and user authored DVDs will
play in all stand alone players, although you should rarely have any problems with
newer DVD players. If you are thinking of purchasing a new DVD player, make
sure it is one that can play a wide variety, if not all writable media.
See trouble shooting section for tips, if your DVD player is not able to play the
backup.
User Pre-requisites:
It is assumed that the user of this guide is reasonably computer literate. This
includes, but is not limited to:
¾ Knowing how to install computer applications
¾ Knowing how to run computer applications
¾ Knowing how to follow simple directions related to using
computer applications
¾ Knowing how to navigate the folders and files on your
computer
¾ Knowing how to access and use computer disk drives
System Requirements:
9
9
9
9
9
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista (in XP mode)
Pentium II 500 MHz or above
256 MB of RAM
12-15 GB of free hard drive space
A DVD+R(W) or DVD-R(W) drive if you wish to backup to
DVD disks.
Windows Vista Installation:
For Windows Vista, the software must be configured to be used in XP
compatibility mode.
Here are the instructions on how to do that.
1. Right-click on the icon of the program for which you to the change the
compatibility mode
2. Select and click on the Properties menu item
3. Click on the Compatibility tab
4. Select the checkbox “Run this program in compatibility mode for:”
5. Select Windows XP from the dropdown list
7. Click on the OK button
Note on Compression of DVD Contents
Most movie DVDs that people purchases for their collections contain between
6GB to 8GB of data written on to a DVD that contains 2 layers (also know as a
“Dual Layer DVD”). The longer and more ‘bonus’ filled DVDs can contain up to
9.4GB of data. The standard size of a writable DVD is a single layer of 4.7GB. We
need to find a way to fit 6-8GB of data onto a 4.7GB disk. This is where
compression comes in. We will use DVD Shrink to do this. The data will be
compressed to a level that will allow it to be recorded on to a 4.7GB writable disk.
When we do this, there is a quality compromise we must bear. The more we
compress the greater the quality loss. Mild to moderate compression barely makes
a difference in the viewing experience. There are 3 ways around this dilemma:
1) We can make various adjustments to the compression of individual
components of the contents we wish to back up. For example, we can
assign greater compression to special features and menus, while
assigning lower compression to the main movie.
2) We can choose the contents that we wish to backup. For example, we
may just want to backup the main movie and leave out the special
features. Or we can use 2 DVDs; One for the main movie and the other
for the special features.
3) We can burn to dual layer media. If we have a dual layer DVD writer, we
can use dual layer DVD writable media and backup our DVD to this.
This will, in most cases, eliminate the need for any compression at all.
The trade off comes in that Dual layer DVD writable media is somewhat
more costly than standard single layer DVD writable media and there are
more compatibility issues with stand alone DVD players. For this
reason, please note, that although instructions are provided for this
option, it is not fully supported by this guide.
Backup Methods to be Used:
We will look at 3 different ways of backing up DVDs.
They are:
1. Using DVD Shrink directly with movies that were recorded to DVD before
2005
2. Using a combination of DVDFab HD Decrypter and DVD Shrink for more
current titles
3. Using a combination of Ripit4me, DVD Decrypter and DVD shrink if none of
the above methods produce satisfactory results.
ImgBurn will be used to burn the output on to DVD R media for all of the above
methods.
We will be using DVDFab HD Decrypter to rip the contents of our DVD discs to
the Hard Drive.
Legend:
Designates an important item to which special attention should be
paid.
The sun symbol designates information that may enhance your
understanding of a concept. It is suggested that you look at and/or read
items marked with this symbol at your leisure.
This designates a decision point. Please read and make the appropriate
and/or desired choice.
Note: Symbols may be used in conjunction with one another
BASIC BACKUP
This section will outline the steps required to make a quick, basic backup of your
DVD.
Install Software:
1. Install DVDFab HD Decrypter
2. Install DVD Shrink
3. Install ImgBurn
At this point you will need to make a decision to see if you can take a short
cut:
¾ If you are ripping content that was recorded to DVD in the year 2005
or after, or if you are not sure when the content was recorded to DVD,
then continue with step 4 below.
¾ If you are ripping content that was recorded to DVD before 2005,
then, if you wish, you may directly rip and shrink the contents from
the disk by skipping all steps that involve DVDFab HD Decrypter and
going straight to step 3.1 of “Compressing with DVD Shrink 3.2”
after reading the “Introduction to DVD Shrink 3.2”. Please keep in
mind that this is a bit of a shortcut, but ripping by using DVDFab HD
Decrypter is still an option.
Rip Contents of DVD to Hard Drive Using DVDFab HD Decrypter:
4. Launch DVDFab HD Decrypter
5. Insert DVD into disk drive.
DVDFab HD Decrypter will begin reading disk. Once DVDFab HD
Decrypter has finished reading the disk, continue with the steps
below.
For steps 6-9 see Figure below:
6.
7.
8.
9.
Choose Full Disc from the options on the left side
Choose the source drive
Choose the destination folder
Click on the Start button on the bottom right hand corner
DVDFab HD Decrypter will start ripping the contents of the disk onto
the hard drive. If possible, avoid using the computer while the ripping
is being done.
This will result in a folder within which there will be 2 other folders named
“AUDIO_TS” and “VIDEO_TS”. The “AUDIO_TS” folder will be empty. The
“VIDEO_TS” folder contains the video information. DVD Shrink will work with
this folder in the section entitled “Compressing with DVD Shrink 3.2”.
Once the entire disk has been ripped to the hard drive, you have 2 choices:
™ Use DVD Shrink to compress the contents so that they may fit
on a standard single layer 4.7 GB DVD R disk.
™ If you wish to keep the contents on the hard drive and no
compression is desired, then you do not need to continue
further.
Note: There is actually a third choice, but it is not fully supported by this guide.
Nevertheless, I do give you instructions for your convenience. You can actually
burn the ripped contents to a dual layer DVD. The reason that this is not fully
supported by this guide is because dual layer technology is still new and
compatibility issues do tend to rise more often than single layer technology. Also
the cost ratio is about 4 to 1 at this moment. That is to say, that dual layer DVD
writable disks cost about 4 times as much as single layer disks. This makes it
impractical for most of your backups. You may wish to use it occasionally for
special content. One other issue is that there is a dearth of reliable dual layer DVD
writable media in the market. There is only one brand that is recommended for
dual layer backups and that is Verbatim dual layer DVDs that are produced in
Singapore. Other brands of media can be used, but they are far less reliable. If you
wish to burn to a dual layer 8.5 GB DVD R disk, then provided that the contents
are not greater than 8124MB, I have provided instructions in the section entitled
Burning to Dual Layer DVD writable disks.
Introduction to DVD Shrink 3.2
The Anatomy of DVD Shrink for “Full Disc” Backup
The Anatomy of DVD Shrink for “Re-Author” Backup
As you can see that there is only a minor visual difference in the
Full Disc interface and the Re-author interface. It’s mostly the
same, except that the DVD Browser is now visible as in the figure
below.
Understanding the Size Indicator:
The Size Indicator bar lets you know whether or not the contents can fit
on to the selected size of DVD. See below for the 3 possible states of the
Size Indicator.
All Green:
When the Size Indicator is completely green, it means that the
selected contents will fit on the preselected size of DVD with the
current compression settings.
Green with Red:
When the Size Indicator has red in it, it means that the contents are
too large to fit on the preselected size of DVD. Further
compression may be needed or certain contents may need to be
omitted or put on a different disk.
Green with Gray:
When the Size Indicator has Gray in it, it means that no
compression is required. That is to say, that the selected contents
will fit on the preselected size of DVD without being compressed.
Compressing with DVD Shrink 3.2
1. Launch DVD Shrink
2. Perform a one time configuration of DVD Shrink by following the steps
outlined in the “Configure DVD Shrink” section. This only needs to be
done once. When this is completed, continue with the next step. On future
backups, you can skip this step.
3. Click on the Open Files button. Now a dialog box named Browse for
Folder will open. Now continue to step 4.
3.1 If opening files directly from the DVD disk then click on Open Disc as in
the figure below.
3.2 Now a dialog box named Open DVD Drive will open. Choose the drive
that contains the DVD and then click on OK. Now continue to step 4.1.
4. Browse to the VIDEO_TS folder that was produced by DVDFab HD
Decrypter and click on OK.
4.1 DVD shrink will now perform a short, preliminary analysis of the contents
before displaying them in the main window.
Initial Analysis:
5. Click on the Backup! Button
6. A dialog box named “Backup DVD” will appear. Click on the Target
Device tab and select ISO Image File as per the figure below. Under Select
target image file, browse to the location where you would like the output
saved.
7. Go to the DVD Region tab and select the settings so they match the image
below. You don’t have to worry about the Provider ID. If there is
something in there, then it’s fine. If not, then do not worry about it.
8. Now click on the Quality Settings tab and select the settings as per the
image below.
Note: I normally do not check anything on this tab as it can more than
double the time it takes to shrink the content. If you do desire a slightly
better image quality then you may check Perform deep analysis before
backup to improve quality. Also check Compress video with high
quality adaptive error compensation, and in the drop down menu, choose
Maximum smoothness. Please note that selecting Maximum smoothness
may increase the output size of the file beyond what a standard writable
DVD can hold. You would have to do a trial and error process here by going
back to the Preferences Dialog box and decreasing the Target DVD size
value and trying again. This is why I normally stay away from this, but it is a
choice that it available to you. Also be aware that none of these settings will
be available if the desired content can fit on to a standard writable disk
without the need for any compression.
9. Click on the Options tab and choose the settings as per the image below.
Note: choosing Run the backup in low priority mode will reduce CPU
usage by DVD Shrink if you are doing other things while the content is
being compressed. You may wish to check Shutdown computer when
backup is complete at your discretion. Checking Play sound when
complete will do exactly what it says. If you do not want an audio prompt
on completion of compression then uncheck this option.
10. Click on the Burn Setting tab and provide a descriptive label for the disc in
the Volume Label field. All other options apply to Nero burning software
and can be ignored as we will be using ImgBurn to do our burning.
11. Click on the OK button to begin compression. This process will take some
time.
Once DVD shrink is done you can use ImgBurn to burn the contents to a blank
DVD disk.
Burning the Contents to a Blank DVD Disk Using ImgBurn
1. Load ImgBurn
2. Insert a blank DVD into the drive
You may configure ImgBurn at this point to give you burns that are more
compatible with standalone DVD players by going to the section entitled
Configure the Book Type in ImgBurn. It is suggested that you do this.
3. Switch to 'Write' mode by clicking on the Mode menu at the top and
selecting Write as in figure below.
4. Choose 4x as the write Speed. This is a fairly reliable write speed for most
media.
5. Select a file to write by clicking on the File menu and selecting the Browse
for file item.
6. Browse to the file created with DVD Shrink with extension .MDS or .ISO
Note: This is a bit of a technical note for those so inclined. The .MDS file
extension is created on computers running Windows XP with a FAT32 file
system. Since the FAT32 file system cannot handle single files that are
greater than 4GB, the file is split into 1GB chunks (see example below) and
an .MDS file is created with instructions for burning programs on to how to
burn the files. If your Windows XP uses an NTFS file system or if the file is
smaller than 4GB you should see a single .ISO file created. That is unless
the outputting program is predisposed to output only 1 type of file. Either
way, burning by selecting the .MDS file or the .ISO file will give you the
same results.
7. Click the Write button.
8. The Write screen will appear displaying progress bars.
Once this is done, congratulations, you have successfully backed up your DVD!
BURNING TO DUAL LAYER DVD WRITABLE DISKS
As mentioned before, burning to dual layer DVDs is not fully supported by this
guide, but I will provide you with the basic instructions on how to do so. It is
important you read the following information in order to understand the concept of
burning to a dual layer disk.
What does Dual Layer mean?
Dual Layer (usually written as “DL”) recordable DVDs have 2 recording layers,
one on top of the other. The laser can write to one layer without affecting the other.
Dual layer technology gives you double the recording capacity of a single layer
disk. Most Hollywood DVDs are recorded on dual layer DVDs, also know as
DVD9. For more information of dual layer technology you can go here:
http://www.burnworld.com/howto/articles/intro-to-dual-layer.htm
The article is a bit dated but it explains the dual layer concept fairly well.
What is a Layer Break?
A layer break is a point on the DVD where the laser switches or jumps from one
layer to the next. This is usually noticeable as a slight pause in the movie. This
pause happens because the laser is changing layers. It is important to manage or set
this point when recording to dual layer media.
Media:
Use only Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4x media made in Singapore.
Do not use DVD-R, -RW DL media for video work.
Burn Speed:
The suggested burn speed is 2.4x. This speed gives the best burns and minimizes
data burn errors.
Book Type:
It is important at this time to set the book type for your media if your drive
allows it, by going to the section entitled Using ImgBurn to change the book
type. This is particularly important for dual layer media.
How to burn to dual layer Media:
Here is the process to burn to dual layer media. Please follow each step carefully.
Make sure that you have set the book type of your DVD media if your drive allows
it.
1. Open ImgBurn and switch to Build Mode by clicking on the Mode menu
and then selecting the Build menu item. See below.
2. You should see the layout below. This is Build Mode.
3. Now we will set ImgBurn to output to the DVD writer. Click on the Output
menu and select the Device menu item. See figure below.
4. Under the Destination section (A), select your DVD writer and then click on
the browse icon (B) and browse to the VIDEO_TS folder created by
DVDFab HD Decrypter. See 2 figures below.
Browsing to VIDEO_TS folder:
5. The Source panel should be populated with path to the VIDEO_TS folder
as shown in the figure below.
6. Click on the Calculator icon. This will determine if the contents will fit on
a dual layer DVD writable. See figure below.
7. The disk space required will be calculated and the Image Information panel
will populated with the required information as per the figure below.
8. At this point the Create Layer Break Position window will pop up. You
will need to select at what point in the movie you would like the layer break
to occur when the contents are written to disk.
In General:
Select the option with the best rating as per the Legend Panel and one
that also has a “No” in the SPLIP column. See figure below. (For
further information read the Notes section below the figure).
Notes: The SPLIP column indicates weather a seamless playback is
possible or not. A “Yes” indicates that it is and a “No” indicates that it
is not. Whether a seamless playback will work for you or not depends
on your DVD player; some can take advantage of the seamless
playback and others cannot, therefore you may see a slight pause
when the laser switches from one layer to the other. This is normal.
You should always try to choose the best rated item where there is a
“No” in the SPLIP column, unless such an option is not available or
you are sure that your DVD player can handle a seamless playback.
Sometimes you will have many options available to you. The same
rule applies; choose the one with the best rating as per the legend
panel and preferably a “No” in the SPLIP column.
9. Click on the Device tab and select the Write Speed. It is suggested to use
2.4x for best results. See figure below.
10. Click on the Options tab and select ISO9660 + UDF from the File System
pull down menu in the Image Options section. See figure below.
11. Click on the Labels tab and choose a meaningful label for the backup and
enter it in both the ISO9660 and UDF fields. Do not leave any blank spaces
in the Label. Fill them with underscores. See figure below.
12. Click the Write button as per the figure below.
13. The Create a Layer Break Position will pop up again. Click on OK.
Notes: If your DVD player supports it, you may wish to checkmark the
Seamless item in the Options section and ImgBurn will try to make the
layer break seamless.
14. At this point you should see the window in the figure below. Click on OK.
15. ImgBurn will now start writing the contents to disk. Try not to use your
computer for anything else while the contents are being written.
16. When ImgBurn is done writing the contents to the disk, you will see the
window in the figure below.
Congratulations! You are now done backing up your DVD to dual layer media.
CONFIGURATION
Configure DVD Shrink
IMPORTANT: To quickly configure DVD Shrink, just select the settings so that
they match the screenshots for the various tabs. If you wish to learn a little
more about the settings, then you may read the notes section of each tab. I suggest
you do this when you have some time, as it will help you increase your knowledge
and allow you to make more informed choices.
1. Click on Edit and choose the Preferences menu item.
2. The DVD Shrink Preferences dialog box will pop up with various tabs to
select from.
3. Preferences tab: Select the settings so that they match the figure below:
Notes:
Using a Target DVD Size of 4.7 GB is ideal as it allows the contents to be
compressed to fit onto the most commonly used DVD Writable disk. This,
being the single layer, 4464 Mb DVD disk.
We do not need to Hide Audio and Subpicture Streams of Insignificant Size,
because as the option suggests, they are very small in size and will have
minimal affect on the end result.
A VIDEO_TS folder is part of the file structure of a DVD. It is where DVD
menu information and Video files are stored. Selecting Automatically Open
the VIDEO_TS Subfolder allows DVD Shrink to access the VIDEO_TS
folder created by DVDFab HD Decrypter by selecting the folder that
contains the actual VIDEO_TS folder. For example if you’ve used DVDFab
Decrypter to rip contents of a DVD disk to a folder named “My Movie”,
then DVDFab HD Decrypter will create a folder named VIDEO_TS in the
My Movie folder. When we select the My Movie folder in DVD Shrink, it
will automatically open the VIDEO_TS folder that DVDFab Decrypter had
created.
If you will be using the computer for other things while DVD Shrink is
compressing contents, then it is necessary to select Run Analysis and
Backup in Low Priority Mode to Improve Multitasking.
4. Preview tab: Select the settings to that they match the figure below:
Notes:
Checking the Enable video and audio preview option will allow you to
preview the contents of the DVD before doing the actual backup. This quick
preview is handy if you choose not to back up certain audio or video items,
especially in the “Re-Author” mode as demonstrated in the videos
accompanying this guide.
Selecting Stereo under the heading Select audio preview mode suitable for
your hardware configuration assures compatibility with the computer sound
systems of the majority of users. If you have a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound
card in your computer, you can choose to select 5.1 channel surround
sound value.
Selecting System Default Renderer under Select DirectX video renderer
allows DVD Shrink to use the currently installed version of DirectX on your
system for video preview purposes. If your computer has a legacy (older)
video card in it and you are experiencing issues with the video previews,
then it is suggested that you select Overlay Mixer. Selecting VMR-7 or
VMR-9 is not suggested unless you are fairly knowledgeable about video
modes and video hardware.
5. Output Files tab: Select the settings so that they match the figure below:
Notes:
Selecting the Remove macrovision protection option will allow DVD Shrink
to remove Macrovision protection, which in turn will allow you to safely
backup the DVD contents to VHS tape or other analog media if so desired.
The Remove P-UOPs (Prohibited User Operations) option when checked
will tell DVD Shrink to remove any restrictions on user operations.
Examples of these restrictions include not being able to fast forward through
certain features (usually previews) and not being able to select audio and
subpicture options on the go, but having to go the menu to do so.
Selecting the Remove layer break option will remove the layer break found
on dual layer DVDs. The layer break is the point at which layer 1 switches
to layer 2. We do not need to keep this layer break since we will be
“shrinking” the content to fit on to a single layer DVD.
For our purposes, it is best to split the VOB files into 1GB chunks. VOB
stands for “Video OBject”. These are files that contain the video information
on a DVD. If you do not have a need for the files to be larger than 1GB,
which most do not, the option Split VOB files into 1GB size chunks
(recommended) should be selected.
Uncheck the option Logical re-mapping of enabled streams, as it is not
required by most users. It is only used, and not always successfully, to
remap the subpicture and audio streams in the menu system. It is best not to
select this.
6. Stream Selections tab: Select the settings so that they match the figure
below:
Notes:
The Stream Selections options allow you to specify which audio or
subpicture streams will be pre-selected when you open a DVD in full disk
mode or when you drag and drop various titles into the DVD structure pane
in Re-Author mode.
Select the audio you would like pre-selected by choosing from the Audio
language and coding type drop down menu. You have numerous choices.
Since we will already be compressing a dual layer DVD to fit onto a single
layer DVD, it is best not to choose all languages, as this will require more
room on the DVD and will thus require the video to be further compressed.
Next to the Audio language drop down menu is the Coding type menu.
Select AC3 here, as that is most commonly used audio format for movie
DVDs. If you wish DTS audio to also be pre-selected then select the All
Types menu item. LPCM is rarely used in video DVDs, but is commonly
used in music DVDs. Select this if required.
In the Subpicture language drop down menu, select the language of you
choice. This chosen subpicture language will be pre-selected when you open
a DVD in full disk mode. If the language you selected is not actually
available on the disk, then all languages will be pre-selected.
Selecting the Disable all subpicture except menu and forced streams option
will exclude all subpicture streams from being pre-selected. Use this only if
you do not care for subtitles.
7. File I/O tab: Select the settings so that they match the figure below:
That completes all the preliminary configuration settings. Please save your
changes by clicking the OK button and shut down DVD Shrink at this
moment.
We are now ready to shrink the contents with DVD Shrink.
Notes:
Uncheck the Overlapped Enable I/O option as the improvement in
performance is questionable.
Uncheck the Read 32KB blocks as once again the improvement in
performance is questionable.
Leave the Check RPC2 drive region code when opening a DVD option
checked. The only time you may want to uncheck this is if you are having
difficulties related to the DVD region code.
We do not need to select Enable burning with Nero as we will be using
ImgBurn to do our burning.
Leave Always erase non-empty RW media without prompting as is. This
option is grayed out and is only enabled if we choose to burn with Nero.
Configure the Book Type in ImgBurn
First, a little bit of information:
What is a Book Type (also know as bit setting)?
In simple terms, setting or changing the book type of a DVD writable is a way to
make standalone DVD players think that you are playing an original DVD rather
than one you burned as a backup copy. This will increase the compatibility of your
backup with the standards set for standalone DVD players.
This only applies to DVD + R, +RW and particularly to DVD + R Dual Layer
(DVD+R DL ) media and not DVD-R or DVD-RW media (on occasion you may
see DVD-R and –RW media listed as book type changeable items, but it is not
suggested to do so, since a workaround is used and is not always successful) . Our
goal is to change the book type of a DVD+R, +RW or DVD+R DL to that of a
DVD-ROM, since original DVD Movies are DVD-ROMs. This is done by writing
bits of data to a specific area of the DVD+R media so that it is seen as a DVDROM by the DVD player.
The ability to change the book type is dependent on your DVD writer. Some drives
do not support this feature and thus the book type cannot be changed. You can see
if your drive has this capability by looking through the documentation, researching
on the internet or by trial and error as will be explained shortly.
Using ImgBurn to Change the Book Type
At this point we will assume that you know the manufacturer of your DVD writer
and that it allows for the book type of your chosen media to be changed.
Note: if the book type can be changed, then for DVD+R media, dual or single
layer, the book type must be changed before data is written. For DVD+RW, it
may be changed after, but it is still advisable to do it before.
Note: If you do not feel comfortable changing the book type, then you may leave
the book type as it is. Your computer will still play the backup DVD, but
compatibility with standalone players may be decreased. Ultimately though, even
if you are successful at changing the book type, there is no guarantee that that the
disc will work with all standalone DVD players, especially if they are low cost or
older models. That being said, most modern DVD players should not have a
problem playing any type of burned disks. At this point it should also be
mentioned that many current DVD writers automatically set the book type to
DVD-ROM for DVD+R Dual Layer media, but it is still advisable to go through
the procedure below, just to make sure.
1. Start up ImgBurn and go to the Tools menu and select Drive and then select
the Change Book Type… item. As an alternative to going through the
menu, you may click on the little book icon in the bottom right hand side.
See figure below.
2. You should see the Change Book Type window as in the figure below.
Note: There only a handful of drive manufacturers that produce product for most
of the electronics and computer industry. So you may not see the exact
manufacturer of your drive listed here, but chances are, depending on your drive,
it’s one of the manufacturers in the image above that has produced your drive,
although it may have been branded with a different name. For example, my drive is
branded as Sony, but I found out that this particular model was produced in
conjunction with NEC (NEC supplied the chip that runs the drive); therefore I
chose the NEC tab to see if I was able to change the book type. If you don’t know
who the actual manufacturer of your drive is, you can perform the trial and error
procedure discussed further down.
3. Go to the tab that represents the manufacturer of you drive and click on the
Change For drop down menu. Select the media you would like to change
the book type for. In this case I will be changing the book type for DVD+R
DL media. See figure below.
4. As you can see in the figure below, the Current Setting for DVD+R DL
media is the same as the media itself, that is, DVD+R DL. This means that
when this media is inserted into a standalone DVD player, it will be
recognized as DVD+R DL media, and depending on the player, it may
refuse to play it. We want to change this so that it is recognized as DVDROM media.
To do this, click on the New Settings drop down menu and select the DVDROM item.
5. Click on the Change button. See figure below.
6. If the change is successful then you will see the following window. Click on
OK in the “Success” window.
If the change is unsuccessful then you will see the following window. Click
OK in the “Failed” window. This means that you cannot change the book
type for the selected media on your drive. For example, I am able to change
the book type for DVD+R DL media on my drive, but I can not change the
book type for DVD+RW media. This is just something that is built into the
drive.
7. Click on OK in the main Change Book Type window.
Congratulations! If you got the “Success” window in step 6, then you have
changed the book type.
Changing the Book Type for DVD+RW Media After Contents Are Written
If you wish to change the book type of a DVD+RW after contents are
written to it, and your writer is capable of changing book type for this media,
then follow the steps outlined below:
1. Click on Change For pull down menu and choose the item marked as
Current Media (For DVD+RW Media) or one marked with
-Temporary for your media. If neither of these exists, you will not be
able to change the book type after burning.
2. Click on the New Setting drop down menu and select the DVD-ROM
item.
3. Click on the Change button.
4. If the change is successful then click the OK button in the “Success”
window.
5. Click on OK in the main Change Book Type window and you are done.
Trial and Error
If you do not know the manufacturer of you DVD writer, then you may go
through trial and error to determine this. This is how it’s done:
1. Click on any of the manufacturer tabs, such as NEC, LITE-ON, LG,
etc…
2. Select the media you wish to change the book type for in the Change For
pull down menu. For example, select “DVD+R DL” media if this is what
you wish to change the book type for.
3. If, when you make this selection, the Current Setting field displays
“Unknown (FAILED!)”, as in the figure below, then you are on the
incorrect manufacturer tab. Move to step 4.
4. Repeat the above 3 steps for each manufacturer tab until the “Unknown
(FAILED!)” no longer shows, and instead, the actual current setting is
displayed, as in the figure below. This indicates that either this is the
manufacturer of your drive or that the chip that controls the book type in
your drive is from this manufacturer. Therefore, this is the manufacturer
you should use. This should not happen for more than one manufacturer.
If the manufacturer still cannot be determined or the book type cannot be
changed, then just leave the book type as it is. Chances are that your
drive simply does not allow the book type to be changed.
TROUBLE SHOOTING
In this section we will look at some common issues you may come across. Most of
the solutions to any problems you may encounter can be solved just by reading the
entire guide and watching all the videos. The answers are in there, and it’s quicker
than having to wait for a reply back from support, that may, or may not solve your
issue. If after having read the entire guide and watching all the videos, you still
cannot find a solution, then please feel free to contact support.
Issue(s):
DVDFab HD Decrypter Has Trouble Reading DVD Disk and Can
Not Properly Load Content.
Resolution:
This is usually due to scratched, dirty or damaged disks. If the disk is dirty, you
can try cleaning the disk with a soft cloth, so that any smudges are removed and try
again. If the disk is damaged, you will need to replace the disk and try again.
Issue(s):
DVDFab HD Decrypter Has Trouble and/or Fails to Rip Contents to
the Hard Drive
Resolution:
This may be due to a previously unknown version of a copy protection scheme that
prevents the contents from being ripped to the hard disk. This should be resolved
by using the latest version of DVDFab HD Decrypter. If this does not resolve the
issue, you may have to wait for the next update of DVDFab HD Decrypter.
Issue(s):
DVD Shrink
1) Does Not Properly Load Content and/or
2) Does Not Properly Encode Content and/or
3) Hangs During Encoding
Resolution:
This may happen if you are trying to rip and shrink content directly from the
original DVD disk, without first ripping with DVDFab HD Decrypter. There are
some newer DVD content protection schemes that DVD Shrink will not be able to
overcome. In this case it is advisable to first rip the contents to the hard drive using
the latest version of DVDFab HD Decrypter and then compress with DVD Shrink.
If DVD Shrink is still not able to properly load or encode the content from the
VIDEO_TS folder then you may try ripping the contents to your hard drive as an
.ISO file when ripping with DVDFab HD Decrypter as in the figure below. Then
use DVD Shrink to compress the contents. Open the ISO file by clicking on the
File menu and choosing the Open Disc Image menu item as per the second figure
below. Once again, please make certain that you have the latest version of
DVDFab HD Decrypter by visiting http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
Open image file (.ISO or .MDS) with DVD Shrink.
Issue(s):
ImgBurn Does Not Recognize Inserted Media
Resolution:
There are many reasons this may happen. Some of them are obvious while others
are not so. I will list all of them below:
1) A DVD is being inserted into a CD drive. Please verify.
2) A writable DVD is being inserted into a DVD ROM i.e. A read only drive.
Please verify.
3) The DVD media being inserted is incompatible with the DVD Drive. For
example, you may be inserting DVD-R media in DVD+R drive. In this case
you must make sure that your DVD drive can handle the type of media you
are using. To do this, you need to select the drive you are going to use in the
drive drop down list and then go to the Tools menu, select Drive and then
select Capabilities (or alternately you can right click on the drive drop down
list and choose the Capabilities menu item from there). This will bring up a
list of media with checkmarks next to the media that is compatible with your
drive. See figures below.
The following item will pop up:
4) The speed specification of your media does not match the speed
specifications of your DVD writer. In this case, check the disc information
area of ImgBurn. This area will be populated once media is inserted into the
drive. See the figure below:
Issue(s):
My DVD Player Is Not Able to Play the Backup Copy.
Resolution:
To increase compatibility with DVD players you should make sure that:
1) You use excellent media, such as Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden, among others.
2) The firmware of your drive is up to date.
3) You use lower burn speeds to make backups. No more than 4x is
recommended.
4) You experiment with different media, to find one that works best for you.
5) You change the book type of your media (applies to single and dual layer
DVD+R, +RW media only) to DVD-ROM is your drive allows it. See the
section entitled Configure the Book Type in ImgBurn.
Issue(s):
On Playback There Are Skips, Jumps, Pauses and/or the Image
Turns Into Large Multicolored Blocks.
Resolution:
This is normally due to using damaged and or inferior media. Check for scratches
and peeling of the reflective material, especially around the edges. It is essential to
use high quality DVD writable disks to get good backups. It is advisable to use
some of the better known brands of media, such as Sony, Maxell, Taiyo-Yuden,
Verbatim, Ricoh, etc…. I must stress once again, that using high quality media is a
must when making backups.
Issue(s):
Pixels Become Readily Visible When There is Fast Motion. This is
Also Known as Blockiness or Pixelation.
Resolution:
This is most often due to too much compression. The less compression that is
applied to the original content the less blockiness there will be in the backup copy.
In this case it is recommended that the main movie be backed up on a disk of its
own, and if desired, the special features backed up on a separate disk. See the
video “Creating a Custom Backup” for instructions on how to do this. As a word of
advice, it is suggested that to avoid pixilation the original contents should not be
compressed to more than 75 percent of their original size.