Copying DVD's for personal use, is it possible/how'd you do it?? Options

[jumbler]

Is it possible to make copies of pre-recorded DVD's - so you can play them on another player, for instance?? And if so, what would be the best way to do it. Can you copy the files by opening up the disc on a PC, and copying them straight over to another disc, or should you use another DVD recorder??

FWIW, I'm not so bothered about copying the menu system/extras, etc., unless it's easier to do it that way. Any advice would be appreciated.

Oh yeah - I'd ideally be copying the programmes in a format a DVD player can access - so I can watch them on my tv, rather than PC.

[ic1male]

You're only allowed to make copies of stuff you already own. So don't be renting them and copying them.

I used CloneDVD 2 and AnyDVD from Slysoft. Yes, you'll have to fork out for the licenses. If you want free, perhaps someone else can post with that.

I should expand on the software - as DVDs are copy-protected, you'll need something to break the protection. That is what AnyDVD does. Then CloneDVD will copy bits and bobs of the DVD or the whole thing, depending on what you want to keep. It will shrink DVD9 to a cheaper DVD-R 4.7GB disc, too.

[jumbler]

You're only allowed to make copies of stuff you already own. So don't be renting them and copying them.

No, I wasn't intending to do that. I'll take 'own' to mean DVD's I bought first-hand as presents.

I used CloneDVD 2 and AnyDVD from Slysoft. Yes, you'll have to fork out for the licenses. If you want free, perhaps someone else can post with that.

I should expand on the software - as DVDs are copy-protected, you'll need something to break the protection. That is what AnyDVD does. Then CloneDVD will copy bits and bobs of the DVD or the whole thing, depending on what you want to keep. It will shrink DVD9 to a cheaper DVD-R 4.7GB disc, too.

Right, this is likely to be a one-off, so... how much would those packages cost??

And what sort of foot-print/how much HDD/processor space is it likely to take up?? How long would it take??

They're both rather big series, I have in mind (approx. 12 discs each/~26-28 eps./50 mins. each). Will that be time-consuming??

This post has been edited by jumbler: Aug 12 2012, 23:35

[molley]

You're only allowed to make copies of stuff you already own. So don't be renting them and copying them.

I used CloneDVD 2 and AnyDVD from Slysoft. Yes, you'll have to fork out for the licenses. If you want free, perhaps someone else can post with that.

I should expand on the software - as DVDs are copy-protected, you'll need something to break the protection. That is what AnyDVD does. Then CloneDVD will copy bits and bobs of the DVD or the whole thing, depending on what you want to keep. It will shrink DVD9 to a cheaper DVD-R 4.7GB disc, too.

lol at first para
Also have a look at www.videohelp.com lots of info there. I also use Clone DVD and recommend it and DVD Fab. DVD Shrink is another prog I sometimes use.
BTW not every commercial DVD is copy protected. you can copy from one dvd-rom to another but its best to go dvd-rom to Hard Drive then on to a blank dvd...safer that way.

[jumbler]

Also, just thought, you mentioned DVD9 - is that like a bigger density DVD than a 4.7Gb?? I don't know a great deal about them.

Thought of something else now. The DVD's I want to copy are Region 2. But if you wanted to copy something Region 4, say, would you be able to use AnyDVD to 'unlock' it, and copy it to another disc??

[molley]

Also, just thought, you mentioned DVD9 - is that like a bigger density DVD than a 4.7Gb?? I don't know a great deal about them.

Thought of something else now. The DVD's I want to copy are Region 2. But if you wanted to copy something Region 4, say, would you be able to use AnyDVD to 'unlock' it, and copy it to another disc??

DVD-9 are Dual Layer discs with a capacity of 8.5 Gig .
Did you have a look at that site I gave the link for ..I'm sure everyhting you need to know is there .

As for the cost of the programmes mentioned put the names in Google and you should find the manfrs website and the cost of buying the prog will be there .They might have a trial download .That site I mentioned could also have free programmes that you could use .

[jumbler]

Thanks for that. I did have a quick look at the sites, but there's quite a lot to take in there. Though I'm already thinking it would be considerably easier to buy a stack of DVD-9's for copying.

It's essentially similar to the difference between VHS tapes. If you chose E-180 tapes, you'd need more of them to copy to, & maybe split series up to make it fit. Most of the apps are designed to help squash DVD content to fit on 1x DVD-5. If you can buy DVD-9's wouldn't that make the job a whole lot easier??

It's about the ease of copying, really. I just want to be able to make a basic copy to watch on my DVD Player that weekend, rather than spending all weekend just trying (& failing) to copy the thing.

I can also see it might be worth getting an external HDD - to plonk the DVD images on, before ripping the final copy.

This post has been edited by jumbler: Aug 13 2012, 01:44

[jumbler]

So you can get DVD-9's to buy, it seems. Which is great. Obviously, they're more expensive, but to just copy a couple of series, should do the trick nicely. If I want to faff around, and create my own compilations, then I would go down the DVD-5 route - seeing as they're the cheapest, and most readily available option.

Now to see about an HD drive.

This post has been edited by jumbler: Aug 13 2012, 01:44

[ic1male]

You've got 21 days free trial of CloneDVD 2 and AnyDVD so if you get it done in this time you won't have to pay.

[Tiuri]

So you can get DVD-9's to buy, it seems.

Yes, you will need a relatively newish DVD writer, older ones can't read/write DL (Dual Layer) DVDs. A quick google should tell you whether your DVD writer can or cannot write DL DVDs :yes

[ic1male]

I wouldn't even bother with DVD-R DL myself. They are 7x-10x more expensive than regular DVD-R.

In terms of time/disc space, you need about 10GB free for temporary files and the resulting DVD. From memory, it takes about 20 minutes to compress DVD9 to DVD5.