So, i did some searching through the forums, I read some of the guides, and I couldn't find anything similar to what I'm seeing, i think. I saw a brief mention of an ISO not linking the files correctly, but I don't know if thats the case at all. I used MagicISO to burn a backup of my DVD onto my HDD, i think used DVD Decrypter to put that ISO onto a blank DVD. The DVD is a DVD+R DL disk, the movie i was backing up was Aliens Special Edition which is an 8gig movie. I figured i would back it up onto a DL disk as opposed to shrinking it since I'm out of the small dvd's. Everything seemed to go fine with the copy until i went to play the movie. On both my burner on my PC and my DVD player, a Sony of which I can't remember the model off hand, it will play the FBI screen and the Attention screen, but then nothing else. On my DVD player, the actual one hooked to my TV it says T 0000001 or something like that, then skips from ....1 to ...35, which I'm guessing are track numbers, or scenes or whatever you want to call them. Anyone have any advice, I'm brand new to this, hence the newbie forum...i've got a couple of different pieces of software I'm trying out.
one other really simple and quick question, whats the difference between a blue underside, and the plain "clear" or mirrorlinke underside. Since I'm being a n00b, might as well go all out and just get that cleared up early.
Different manufacturers use different dyes in their blanks. The color isn't all that important. As for dual layer disks, Verbatim is king of the hill. Nothing else comes close. For single layer disks, Taiyo Yuden (available online), Verbatim, and Fuji and Sony disks labeled as Made in Japan (usually by Taiyo Yuden) are best. The proper way to make a good backup of a dual layer disk is to use DVD Decrypter: Set the mode to ISO Read and rip to your HDD. Set the mode to ISO Write and burn. You also need to make sure your burner's firmware is up to date and is booktyping the DVD as a DVD-ROM. Unless you are using Verbatim +RDL media, your burn speed cannot exceed 2.4X. Even with Verbatim media, you shouldn't exceed 4X imo.
i was reading a guide, and it said not to exceed 4x speed, so thats what I used. Is the track skipping a common issue related to bad media or not booktyping the dvd correctly? Does DVD Decrypter have a toggle for booktyping, something that i can check and see?
Skipping is symptomatic of a bad burn which can be the result of poor quality media. Most DL burners are set to booktype +RDL disks as DVD-ROM by default. Utility programs like DVD Identifier, DVD Info Pro, and Nero Info Tool will tell you both the type of disk, e.g. +R DL, as well as the booktype, usually DVD-ROM or DVD-Video. If the booktype is also +R DL, then no booktyping occurred. DVD-ROM booktyping is specified as either DVD-ROM or DVD-Video.
should i be shrinking the bigger dvd's? the movie Aliens that I'm copying is 8gig, am i going to lose a lot of quality shrinking that down? Should i be shrinking the large movies. Money is an issue for me, i want to back up my movies, but i don't want a large expenditure while i'm at it. does shrinking the movies in this sense make sense, or am i losing a lot of quality doing that?
Unless the movie is extremely long, one can usually get the main title to fit on a single layer disk, often with little or no compression. I really can't tell the difference as long as compression is at the 80% level or above. Of course this means omitting the video extras. One can always put the extras on a second disk if desired.
