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DVD Burner Tutorials and Articles
Extract, Process and Burn a DVD under MacOS X.2.2 or higher
This is a guide written for those of you using MacOSX.2.2 or higher and
would like to make backup copies of your DVDs. I have tried to write it in
a clear and concise way and avoided using jargon wherever possible. Read
this manual fully before you start and then have it at hand during the
process.
Although there are numerous tools out there for the purpose of backing up
DVDs under MacOSX, I have chosen to describe the use of DVDBackup,
DVD2OneX and
Toast Titanium.
Depending where you are in the world, the description given here may vary,
simply follow it as described and I am sure you will be a master in no
time.
Making copies of DVDs may be illegal in your country and be deemed as an
act of piracy. Piracy is illegal, no matter how tempting, just say no.
You will need the following hardware:
RAM - more than 500Mb ideally. G3,G4 or G5 - running Mac OS X v 10.2.2 or later, quicker than
400mHz, otherwise it will take a very very long time. HD space - at least 12Gb for the longer movies (see notes for more
information). Superdrive - can be external as well, which are reasonably
inexpensive. Blank DVD media - these can be DVD±R(W) depending on the capability
of the superdrive you will use and also on the capability of your usual
DVD player to watch them. The write once DVD-R are cheaper of course and
are choice for making copies. Always make sure they are branded and have
the write speed advertised.
And you will need the following software:
DVD Ripping Overview
Essentially, making a DVD copy under MacOS X is pretty straightforward.
There are 3 basic steps you need to take. First you need to extract the
DVD onto your HD using DVDBackup 1.3. Second you need to process the
extracted DVD files using DVD2OneX so it will fit onto a single side of
your DVD media (4.7Gb). Finally you need to burn the processed DVD files
onto your blank DVD media using Toast Titanium 6. These steps are detailed
below.
Step 1: Extracting the DVD using DVDBackup 1.3
Insert the DVD into your DVD drive and DVD player will auto launch
(unless you choose to disable this action of course). This
"authenticates" the DVD and allows the files to be copied. Quit DVD
player so the DVD is mounted on the desktop. Make a note of the name of
the movie as it appears on your desktop, it will be in CAPITAL_LETTERS
(and maybe some numbers) and words will be separated by underscores.
(NOTE: This description may only apply for region 2 DVDs (Europe and
Japan), it is important to ultimately name the disc when you burn it
using Toast as it appears on your desktop when you put it into your
Macintosh). Launch DVDBackup 1.3 and drag and drop the DVD into the empty
window or you can also add the files by clicking the "Add DVD Files...".
If you choose the latter option choose the "VIDEO_TS" folder from the
DVD disk. A whole host of files with different suffixes (.IFO, .BUP and
.VOB) and sizes will appear in the window. Leave all of them there. Select whether you want to change the Region code (no need unless
you want to use or send your DVDs abroad), remove Macrovision protection
(allowing you to video from your DVD copy), and/or remove the CSS
encryption (allowing you to extract the DVD files onto your HD). You
will definitely want to remove Macrovision protection and remove CSS
encryption so just make sure the boxes are ticked. Press the "Process Files" button. Select a folder where you want to save the ripped files. You select
the path in the upper box. By default, in the lower box, the name "VIDEO_TS"
will appear for the folder into which you are going to save the files,
this is fine. After you press the "Save" button, DVDBackup will proceed to extract
the files onto your HD. First, if you selected to decrypt the files,
DVDBackup will scan through and find all the decryption keys. Then, it
will copy and decrypt all the files, applying any Region code and
Macrovision changes you selected. The scanning should be quick on most
DVD files, but some files have fewer vulnerable sectors and take longer
to crack. Also you may occasionally get an error message saying
something like decryption failed for a certain file, do you want to
continue? Click yes. Invariably, this doesn’t affect your ability to
process the DVD in the next stage so don’t worry about it. Once completed go to File/Get Info on the VIDEO_TS folder, if it is
less than 4.36Gb you can proceed straight to step 3. You can also check the DVD extraction was successful at this stage
by opening DVD Player and choosing File/ Open VIDEO_TS folder and
selecting the VIDEO_TS folder you have just made, remember to press play
once you have selected it.
Step 2: Processing the DVD files using DVD2OneX
Launch DVD2OneX and select the "Source:" directory in the top
window. This is the "VIDEO_TS" folder you just created using
DVDBackup1.3 described above. The "Output:" should be DVD±R(W) so it
will fit onto a single sided blank DVD. "Copy mode:" should be the Movie
only, unless you want the whole disk, in which case select Diskcopy.
However, using Diskcopy you will get all options available on the disk
(special features, all subtitles etc., although you still have to select
the audio options) and the quality of the movie may suffer if you have
to compress it. The window will show the available titles and a drawer will open
showing the available audio tracks, subtitles and angles. In the title
list select the title that contains the main feature (usually the one
with the most chapters). From the drawer:
Select the audio tracks to include in your copy. It is recommended
to include only those audio tracks you really need, like the English
audio for example. If there are two English audio tracks only choose
the first one because the second one will be the directors commentary
or some such. Do not select any of the subtitles unless it is a foreign movie
(e.g. Das Boot, La Haine) or a mixed language movie that makes use of
subtitles for specific parts of the movie (e.g. Once Upon a Time in
Mexico, The Last Samurai). For the foreign language movies you will
want to select English subtitles. In the case of mixed language movies
there will be two or more subtitle options in English, usually the
last one is the one you want where the subtitles are only written in
the parts where the actors speak in a foreign language and certainly
not the first option (also with the most number of subtitle sets in
all the different languages) where English subtitles will be shown
throughout the movie. select the angle you want to keep (often there isn’t a choice),
but if there is, the first one is the one you want. This feature is
mostly used by studio's to display texts and credits in different
languages according to match the audio language you have chosen. For
instance on Star Wars it is used for the 3D scrolling intro text.
Once you are happy with the options you have selected, click the
Start button. At this point you will be asked to select the destination
directory. Choose make a "VIDEO_TS" folder and save it into a different
directory to the one you made using Backup 1.3, otherwise it will
overwrite it. The files will be processed and saved to your HD ready to
be burnt onto a blank DVD. You can also check this VIDEO_TS folder by
launching DVD Player and choosing File/Open VIDEO_TS Folder. What you
see is how it will look once you have burnt it onto DVD. If there is
anything wrong then now is the time to go back and reprocess the DVD.
This is particularly important in the case of a mixed language DVD where
you may have processed the wrong subtitle set.
Step 3: Burning the processed DVD files using Toast Titanium 6/7
Launch
Toast
Titanium 6 or 7 and choose Data/Advanced/ DVD-ROM (UDF).
Make sure your Superdrive is shown at the bottom right of the screen
and is burning to a DVD as opposed to CD.
Click on the New Disk button in the bottom left hand corner and name
the disk exactly as it was when you first put the original DVD disk into
your DVD drive (all capital letters, numbers (if any) and underscores).
This is a very important step.
Then drag and drop the processed "VIDEO_TS" folder only that you
made using DVD2OneX into the Toast Titanium 6 window, again it has to be
that exact name for it to work.
Then click record, insert your blank DVD±R(W) media and choose to
burn at your desired speed.
Once finished you will have a DVD movie, which is a copy of your original
and will play on most DVD players (make sure the media you use is
compatible with your usual DVD player before you start). It will contain
the opening sequences of the movie companies, like Paramounts stars
spinning round the mountain or Warner Brothers pan across the studios, and
then will cut straight into the movie. Enjoy!
Notes
To keep track of things make a folder for the movie named exactly as
the DVD is when you first put it in and it is mounted on your desktop.
This is meant for your own reference. Inside this folder make a further
folder called "Ripped Movie" (or whatever you want). When you create a "VIDEO_TS"
folder using DVDBack 1.3 save it into the "Ripped Movie" folder, and when
you make another "VIDEO_TS" folder using DVD2Onex save it into the
DVD_NAME folder. That way if you are doing several you will know where you
are in the proceedings.
ALL THE FILES YOU SELECT MUST BE FROM THE SAME DVD. Do not mix files
from different DVD disks.
The disc name and folders you burn onto DVD±R(W) must have the same
disc name and folder names as the original disc.
The rule of thumb is that 30 minutes of movie will take up 1 Gb of
disk space without undergoing any compression. Therefore, you can produce
a perfect copy of a <2hr movie on a 4.7 Gb DVD disk. Movies longer than
this will have to be compressed to fit onto a single sided DVD and quality
will suffer as a result. However, you would be surprised at how good a
compressed movie looks, to the point of finding it difficult to
distinguish between the original and the copy.
Dumping and deleting large data blocks (as you will be if you want to
record several DVD’s in a short space of time) is bad news for your Apple
system and can rapidly cause severe fragmentation problems. For that
reason I recommend either (i) partitioning 25-30Gb of HD space to use
exclusively for DVD purposes (ii) use an external HD exclusively for DVD
purposes or (iii) regularly run a disk tool on your HD to ensure
everything is OK (which you should do anyway).
If the movie is black and white, it takes up far less space than if it
were in glorious technicolor. Check the size of the DVD files once you
have ripped them using DVDBackup 1.3. If they are less than 4.36Gb in
total you can skip step 2 (processing them using DVD2OneX) and burn the
files straight onto DVD±plusmn;R(W) using Toast Titanium.
If the movie makes use of foreign languages, be certain to select the
appropriate subtitle options. For example, The Last Samurai, Ronin, Once
Upon a Time in Mexico, Lord of the Rings are all mixed language movies and
you will have to select a language subtitle option to appreciate what is
being said in the foreign language. When you playback the movie, make sure
subtitles are on. If you have chosen the correct subtitle set in DVD2OneX
you will only see the subtitles for the relevant parts of the movie.
On the market now are dual layer DVD recorders and dual layer DVD
media. As the use of this technology becomes more widespread, Step 2 will
become more obsolete because you will be able to fit the movie, and all
the extras, onto the dual layer media without the need for compression.
Version history
v1.0 - Initial version by jolisinge (2004-08-10)
Source: Afterdawn.com
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