Comments

riredale wrote on 4/6/2004, 12:40 PM
Sure. There are lots of programs out there that can copy DVDs as well as CDs. I use Nero.

You can either do a "disk-to-disk" copy, or open up the source DVD and copy the VIDEO_TS folder to your hard drive, then use your software to burn that folder to your blank disk.
craftech wrote on 4/6/2004, 5:46 PM
For some reasons some 3rd part programs don't always recognize Video and Audio_TS folders burned with DVDA. This has been discussed in the past on the infrequently visited DVDA forum.

John
johnmeyer wrote on 4/6/2004, 8:14 PM
If you don't have a separate DVD burning program like Nero or Easy CD Creator, and if the DVD is one you created yourself, the process is still unbelievably simple:

1. Copy the two folders from your DVD to a folder on your hard disk.

2. Open DVDA and tell it to Burn a DVD. Navigate to the folder where you placed those two DVD folders (VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS). Then click on Finish and wait for your DVD to burn.

Unfortunately, DVDA doesn't have a multiple copy feature where you can specify the number of copies you want ahead of time, and as soon as you insert a new blank after the copy finishes, the next copy operation automatically begins. It is a small thing, but it save some keystrokes (and hence reduces the chance of pilot error).
farss wrote on 4/6/2004, 9:03 PM
Could luck trying to copy the folders. If you have a video clip that spans mulitple VOBs windows will NOT copy them as they are outside UDF spec. Major pain as then you cannot retrieve your assets. Most DVD duplication programs seem to cope however.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/6/2004, 9:34 PM
If you have a video clip that spans mulitple VOBs windows will NOT copy them as they are outside UDF spec

Are you sure? I've always been able to simply drag the whole folder from the DVD to the hard disk (using WinXP Pro) and I didn't get any complaint from the O/S. Of course, I've only done it 4-5 times, so maybe I didn't happen to get a disk that had the problem you describe (although they all certainly had more than one VOB file).
JJKizak wrote on 4/7/2004, 7:10 AM
I have never had a problem copying VOB files from hard drive to hard drive.

JJK
farss wrote on 4/7/2004, 2:10 PM
You will not have the problem so long as each VOB is smaller than the 1GB limit. Myself and many others have struck this problem.
Some detailed investigation was conducted by several users and it was found that DVDA produces a VOB file outside the UDF spec which is why windows has a dummy spit over it. Nero also seems to pickup this problem, has a complaint if you use it to burn the DVDA created image, that's not so much of a worry as not being able to copy the DVD back to make a copy of it.
One possible fix i've yet to try is installing a DVD player on the system. This would seem to load a different driver that cope with the out of spec files.
Sony's response to this is was to suggest we search elsewhere for assistance with pirating DVDs!
johnmeyer wrote on 4/7/2004, 5:13 PM
Sony's response to this is was to suggest we search elsewhere for assistance with pirating DVDs!

I hope that was not their response. If so, it is a very sad comment on the state of affairs in the wars to protect content. Too many corporations -- and individuals -- assume that everyone is doing something illegal. They then get on their high horse and -- without even a shred of evidence -- accuse someone publicly of trying to pirate DVDs. I've seen this dozens of times on this board.

I keep pointing out that probably not one single video pirate has ever purchased DVD Architect to rip off commercial DVDs. It is simply the wrong tool for the job, and has none of the features that you would want for this task. Instead, the customers for DVD Architect are people who create their own video productions -- typically in Vegas -- and then want to publish them on DVD. However, the fact that keeps getting overlooked is that as more and more DVDs get created, eventually all of us -- even those that like to ALWAYS use the original source videotape -- will find themselves in a position where the only remaining version of the video they now need to use resides on a DVD. To then tell these people that they can't re-use their own video assets, and to in addition subject them to the public humiliation of calling them video pirates is presumptive, arrogant, and just plain wrong.

It is also incredibly stupid business judgment because in the future, most video is going to be on shiny spinning discs, not rusty old tape. You've already seen the changeover in the video rental stores; the same thing is going to happen to this end of the industry as well.