Q on DVD writers

[neon_ghost]

does anyone out there have a DVD writer?..does it burn DVDs?...cuz i heard they cant...if it cant, what the fuck is the point of having a "DVD" writer???

[gpomp]

Originally posted by neon_ghost
does anyone out there have a DVD writer?
Yes

Originally posted by neon_ghost
does it burn DVDs?
Yes

Originally posted by neon_ghost
what the fuck is the point of having a "DVD" writer???
To burn DVD's

[Kamen]

:rofl: AHAHAHAHAHHAA

[neon_ghost]

lol...all im saying is that i heard you cant burn DVDs...fuck if i know man...im just asking

[dam_guy]

be more specific:banghead:
you mean like dvd movies?

[neon_ghost]

ya...i was told that its not possible to burn movies

[Dj_Stylz]

Yes it is possible to burn dvds

[JAYMEZ]

I have one , it is possible to burn them.

[t3rry]

actually, you guys shouldn't bash this guy for asking this question, because you CAN NOT burn full retail video dvd's with a burner!!!


Retail video dvd's are 7.7GB burnable dvd's that you and i can buy are only 4.7GB so you can NOT make and exact copy of dvd's.

however if you get a certian program (i use dvdXcopy) you can make an ALMOST exact copy of the dvd, this program will compress the dvd (losing a bit of quality) and fit it onto a dvd-/+r sacraficing a slight bit of quality...


so essentially it can burn dvd's, but it can not burn video dvd's in full quality

[neon_ghost]

alright thanks guys...ill keep that in mind if/when i buy one...thanks again

[angierideswitme]

you don't notice any quality difference usually.

[blinkme_210]

Actually.... wrong.

There is no one program out there that stands out and will simply rip DVD movies, and burn them directly onto a dvd. DvdXCopy does work, but it is not very customizable, and not very well liked within the DVD burning community.

Dvd burning involves the use of a decrypter program to rip the dvd onto your hard drive, removing the copy protection on it, and then re-authoring it to fit on to DVD-R's.

But that's not all. What t3rry said is somewhat right, but not entirely. You can burn retail dvd movies if it's a one layered disc, meaning that it only contains less than 4.7gb of data. The reason that you can't burn many of the retail dvd movies, is because they are 2 layered (2 x 4.7gb). The extra layers are often used for storing the special features, and extras of the movies.

So while DVDXCopy does allow you to fit a 2 layered disc onto one dvd disc, it horribly compresses the quality of the video, sometimes up to 40%. But no fret, there is a solution. Working in conjuction with several different dvd authoring programs, you can retain the original quality of the movie with no compression at all, and still have your extras, etc. This is simply done by ripping the 2 layered disc, and then just re-authoring it onto 2 dvds. One disc will be the movie with no compression, all languages, and the 6ch audio, etc. On another disc will be your extras, special featurettes, so on.

So as you see, you can have your cake and eat it too. But this is only the surface of the sometimes simple and complex hobby of video processing. I can try to help you guys out if you wanted to, but there is simply too much to go over.

[blinkme_210]

Originally posted by neon_ghost
does anyone out there have a DVD writer?..does it burn DVDs?...cuz i heard they cant...if it cant, what the fuck is the point of having a "DVD" writer???

Simple misconception. I understand what you mean when you say that the burners can't burn dvd's. I'll try my best to clarify everything for you.

Just like CD's, RW's are rewritable, and R's are record only once.
Right now there are 5 competing formats of blank DVD media, DVD+RW/R, DVD-RW/R, and the lesser known DVD-Ram. DVD+/-RW/R all hold 4.7gb, although the real number is something like 4.3879769gb. So a straight rip and burning of a dvd movie is highly unlikely, because they usually contain special features, extras, etc, which take up more than the 4.7gb. Thats where dual-layered discs come in. However, at this time, there is no such thing as dual-layered blank DVD media. So the only way to burn a dual-layered disc is to either a) compress the movie's quality, and edit out any of the unnecessary stuff like FBI warning, previews so that everything will fit on one dvd. Or b) burn the movie onto one dvd with no compression, and burn all the extras and such onto another disc.

There are plenty of cheap DVD burners out there sold for under $200, but you have to watch out for what kind of Dvd burner it is. They might only burn the dash format, not the plus format. But of late, companies like TDK, Pioneer, Panasonic, and Sony are strictly releasing multi-format burners, which will burn both +/- formats. However, it is still rare to see a multi-format burner that will also burn DVD-Ram.

Video processing doesn't just involve you renting/borrowing a DVD movie, and then burning one for yourself. Dvd burning allows you to burn say 6/7 VCD episodes/anime onto one dvd, rather than burning each individually onto CD.

The processed required to burn video files onto DVD can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4/5 hours. It's all dependant on type of video, size of video, quality of video, and ripping. If the files are not in the MPEG-2 Dvd format, you can expect to take about 15 minutes to convert a simple half hour video file, even longer if you computer is slower than 1.5ghz.

Converting larger files like downloaded movies can be hellacious if it's not in the right format. From synchoronizing the audio, to converting video file type, stripping out components, compressing video, editing, re-authoring, it's all very complex, then finally onto actually burning that video camera movie. This whole process is all very overwhelming for the average user who just wants their own copy of a movie that they rented. But with a little perserverance, and patience it can be done with good results.

Note that I do not recommend using any of the DVD burning packages, as they are too limited as to what you can do, and are pretty much guranteed to produce coasters for anyone who is starting out. For example, they will not tell you if the disc is dual-layered, which in turn does not allow you to burn the dvd movie. It will continue burning as if everything is ok, but once you pop in the dvd, you'll see that it doesn't work. This isn't so much a problem with RW's, but with R's, you just lost out $3.

[neon_ghost]

so, after all...do you think it is worth it to buy a dvd writer?

[5abi]

yes

[slickerish]

once you have find a file format that actually works, there should be no problem. but if you have a good program there is no reason you couldn't play them on a dvd player (if the player will take dvd -+R disks).:confused:

[slickerish]

here is a story from The Screensavers that should answere your questions, and link you to some free frograms for backing up your dvds.
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/darktips/story/0,24330,3605537,00.html

[tt398]

:rolleyes:

[luminous]

Retail DVD movies are on DVD9's, which hold much more than any DVD+-R/RW out there.


So, like everyone else says, you will need to compress DVD9's to fit onto a +-R/RW DVD.

I suggest using CLONEDVD + ANYDVD.

[neon_ghost]

alright guys, thanks alot for your help :thumbsup:

[maskofdoom]

I also recommend DVD Shrink - it's free and with the latest version if you have Nero installed, it will do everything from ripping the DVD to burning all in one program!

http://www.dvdshrink.org/

[gongSHOW]

what is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R?

[Dope Dealer]

DVDShrink rules!

[blinkme_210]

Originally posted by gongSHOW
what is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R?

The - (minus) & + (plus) are the competing formats when it comes to DVD blanks/burning. In regards to the -/+, they both are essientially the same, and are write once media.

Note that there are differences between the -/+ formats. So you have to watch out what type of format your writer burns when you purchase a drive. Recently, companies have taken steps to only release multiformat drives, to try and clear the confusion. A multiformat drive means that it will burn -/+ RW/R. And some will even burn the fifth competing DVD format, which is DVD-Ram.

[Weapon_R]

Here's another question - when you shrink retail DVDs to fit the DVDs that we are able to record on, don't you lose a lot of quality? In that case, wouldn't a VCD compare in quality? I have some pretty damn good looking VCDs, and the quality between a VCD and a DVD are negligable, especially if it's a well done VCD.

[Dj_Stylz]

Yea DVDShrink is a wicked program

It does not lose to much quality. But it is still beter then a vcd

[blinkme_210]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
Here's another question - when you shrink retail DVDs to fit the DVDs that we are able to record on, don't you lose a lot of quality? In that case, wouldn't a VCD compare in quality? I have some pretty damn good looking VCDs, and the quality between a VCD and a DVD are negligable, especially if it's a well done VCD.

You are somewhat right.

The problem with the current DVD media is that it is only 1 layered (DVD-5). While pratically all the retail DVD movies are dual layered (DVD-9). So the only way to record everything you want onto an one layered DVD is to compress, compress, and compress.

So this where DVD Shrink comes into play, it is a VERY flexible program to work with. Once it reads the DVD, it automatically assumes that you want to fit the whole DVD movie (movie, extras, all sound channels, all subtitles, FBI warnings, etc.) onto a DVD-5. So the program dramatically compresses the movie according to how big the retail DVD is. Sometimes the compression may be as high as almost 50%, thus defeating the purpose of DVD IMO, and turning it into a VCD like you kind of mentioned Weapon_R.

What I do with all my DVD's are burn the whole movie onto ONE DVD, stripping out the FBI warning, 2 ch sound, non-english subtitles, and usually come out in the end achieving 0% compression. Then I burn the extras onto another DVD. If your main movie stream is compressed somewhat, DVD Shrink has the ability to perform a "deep analysis" of the stream, and output a higher quality video :D