I am a first time dvd burn/copy trier. I just put one of my son's cartoons in to copy/burn. I have anydvd and roxio. after it says read complete it kicks my blank (DVD+RW) out and says insert blank or rewritable blank DVDDL. does this mean I have wrong blank disc to copy with?
Hi there, Most commercial DVD have a size of 6gb - 7gb + of data on it. To be able to make a 1:1 copy of those, you will need a media that can hold that much data. DVD9 or Dual Layer media (DVD DL) can provide you this space, but they are much more expensive than (Single Layer) DVD5 media. Single Layer can only hold about 4300mb+ (4.3Gb) so to be able to copy a movie on a DVD5, you need to compress the video. You can use tools like DVDShrink which is very popular and FREE. SlySoft also sells CloneDVD which is also awsome I have heard.
Just be aware that compression causes loss of quality, perhaps an objectionable amount. It's especially noticeable in cartoons. Your options are to: 1. if your source is a DVD-9, back it up on a DL disc; 2. if your source is a DVD-5, back it up on a regular DVD-5; 3. if your source is a DVD-9 but you don't want to shell out $$$ for DL discs, either cut out extras, split the disc among two DVD-5s, or compress with DVDShrink or another program. You might still want to cut out extras if you compress, so there is less quality loss. But DL media has come down in price a lot the last few months and you can get Verbatim DLs (the only DL to get) for $1.79 each from Supermediastore.com or meritline.com. See my sig about media quality in general, below. The only thing with DLs is that they are not re-writable. Rewritable DLs do exist, but they cost $20 each and are thought to have severe compatibility problems.
