DVD copying

[subwannabe]

I just recently bought a DVD/VHS recorder and am in the process of converting old VHS camcorder recordings (sorry, no porno involved) onto DVD's. It's working just fine, but, I have come to realize I would like to make copies of the DVD's to have extras for security purposes. It's been taking hours and hours to convert these things and even though I know I can do it all over again, I would rather make the copies at about 1 minute at a time instead of hours and hours. I'm not sure of the best method to use. I thought about buying a new computer that could maybe do this but an expert at an office supply store told me that there is really no way to make a quick quality copy of a DVD so I searched the internet for ideas and found some software that can accomplish this but don't know much about how good this works or even if these things are actually legal to buy. I know there are places that can do this for me but I don't want to pay up the nose for a bunch of copies. Any suggestions?

 

[Satyriasis]

I just recently bought a DVD/VHS recorder and am in the process of converting old VHS camcorder recordings (sorry, no porno involved) onto DVD's. It's working just fine, but, I have come to realize I would like to make copies of the DVD's to have extras for security purposes. It's been taking hours and hours to convert these things and even though I know I can do it all over again, I would rather make the copies at about 1 minute at a time instead of hours and hours. I'm not sure of the best method to use. I thought about buying a new computer that could maybe do this but an expert at an office supply store told me that there is really no way to make a quick quality copy of a DVD so I searched the internet for ideas and found some software that can accomplish this but don't know much about how good this works or even if these things are actually legal to buy. I know there are places that can do this for me but I don't want to pay up the nose for a bunch of copies. Any suggestions?

I'm not sure how you define quick, but you can burn a copy in as little time as it takes to burn a DVD. However, first you need to make an ISO of the DVD you want to copy. I haven't done this for a while so I can't tell you how long it takes, but it's not hours.

First, to make an ISO copy of a DVD you need a free software called ImgBurn. http://www.imgburn.com/

When you fire up ImgBurn you want to do "Create image file from disc." At the end you will have a 4 GB file on your hard drive with an .ISO extension. That is your backup. Whenever you want a copy you reverse the process and "Write image file to disc" and poof! you have a brand new DVD. Repeat as many times as necessary.

You can create ISO files from all your DVDs for safekeeping or for when you need to burn an extra copy for Aunt Millie.

 

[amofiga]

From what I've read, the general software you can buy will copy an unprotected DVD pretty reliably and fairly quickly. It might takd 15-30 minutes...not one minute. It takes me probably a couple of minutes to even copy a music CD. Frankly, I think if you're copying uncopyrighted material, you might even be able to do it with the more recent versions of MS Media Player. I know the more recent versions of Roxio Creater can do it.

Copying a protected commercial DVD is another story. I know there are "scrubbers" or "stabilizers" to put between the playing DVD and copying DVR to copy commercial discs, but they take the normal run time. They are essentially devices that mimic the circuit in your TV that does all the decoding and allows a relatively clean copy with just a tad in loss of resolution that's not really noticible if you replay though an "upconverting" type DVD. You can find it by Googling "Grex video stabilizer". You can even buy it through Amazon, but it probably ships from the Ukraine or Israel.

I've heard only mixed reviews of the "deprotecting" copying software and most of what you might buy might come from out of the country since selling such software here could put the producers at real risk for copyright violation. Some seem to work ok with some types of video protection but not others. Some only can do two hour discs and can't do double layer so anything longer would have to be split to discs. Which reminds me, some DVR's can't do double layer discs. Panasonic makes one that does.

Remember, the the copywriting laws have been changed such that I believe it's now allowable to make one "back up" copy of a DVD but making more or selling the one you do make carries some stiff legal penalties. However, I'm not a lawyer so don't assume that my commets are correct.

 

[handyguy59]

Video help

Am in a bit of a rush so can't post long reply

but try
www.videohelp.com/

and

www.dvdhelp.com/

and

http://www.videomaker.com/learn/

all have help and instructructions on how to do things

can recommend lots of freeware to use rather than commercial programs.

good luck

 

[subwannabe]

Thanks all

 

[silverwhisper]

hey subwannabe, can you talk about the equipment you're using to do that conversion? my wedding video is on VHS and i wanna try to convert it since i no longer have a functioning VHS player.

ed

 

[kindashy]

hey subwannabe, can you talk about the equipment you're using to do that conversion? my wedding video is on VHS and i wanna try to convert it since i no longer have a functioning VHS player.

ed

Basically you will need a video capture card for your computer. What it does is takes the analog signal from tape player and converts into a computer file. So you need VHS player, capture card, computer with decent size hard drive that has decent amount of free space.

The capture card can be internal or external. For example I have external card that plugs into USB port on my computer.

Here are some options: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...72&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

From personal experience, avoid Pinnacle products. Yes, yes, I am a hater, I have my reasons.

 

[subwannabe]

Actually I bought a VHS/DVD recorder at Walmart which does the trick quite nicely. Magnavox. About $135 but it is perfect for what I wanted. I actually just converted my wedding video.