Thanks Friar, I was hoping it would be that easy : )

First, use ImgBurn to create an ISO file from your original DVD. Then use the same ImgBurn to burn the ISO directly to as many DVDs as you need to make.

Is one method better than the other?

ISO:
- pro: single file
- con: requires software that can read, open, write ISO files

Not ISO:
- pro: doesn't require the ability to work with ISO files
- con: you get a buncha separate files

Other than that, either method is pretty much functionally identical. Either way, you get a perfect bit-for-bit copy.

If you copy the ts_folder, be sure you use a DVD aware burning program such as IMGBURN or NERO. The burn has to be a DVD burn, you can't just copy the files to another disk like you would for a DATA copy.

Dave T2

Is one method better than the other?Very much so. The ISO is an image of the entire disc, not just the files on the disc. That includes the disc label, the exact disc layout and a lot of other data. It also uses the right version of the right file system that the dedicated DVD players expect. So, getting the ISO file allows you to copy the entire disc bit by bit. It is an exact duplicate. Additionally, you can store the ISO on a hard drive, so if your own copy of the original disc is destroyed, you can still make an exact duplicate.

The right version of the right file system is very important. If you do not get it right, the new disc will probably still play in your computer. It may even play in your standalone DVD player. But it will most certainly not play in every DVD player. Do you want to take that chance? If you created the original in a DVD producing application, such as DVD Architect, you know it is a proper DVD and you know using the ISO method will guarantee the DVD can be played on any DVD player that can play DVD-R (or DVD+R, whichever you are using) discs.

And since ImgBurn is free and readily available, the concern of needing special software is no concern at all.

Either way, you get a perfect bit-for-bit copy.No, you most definitely don’t. Not with the non-ISO method, that is. Only the ISO method gives you a bit-for-bit copy. Copying just the files will give you a different disc label, a different disc creation time and date, different disc authoring software record, and all the other things that are an important part of the file system. Additionally, if you do not select the exact right file system, it won’t even be a proper DVD, so it will not play in all players (though it will probably play on your computer giving you a false sense of having done it right).

Also, many DVD playing software applications calculate a CRC or some other kind of a unique identifier from the entire disc image, and they store the information when you played it and at what point you quit (e.g., in the middle of a movie), so they can resume at the same place next time you insert the disc in. If you just burn the files to a new disc, the application will see it as a different disc and will not be able to resume playback at the same location. Standalone players do similar things, though usually only store the information about the most recently played discs.

Since it's a Vegas Pro forum it's safe to assume he as DVDA. With DVDA you can't do ISO's. You can take the data off the DVD and re-burn that.

While you're technically correct you're making it unnecessarily complex and worrisome.

I never make ISO's, I just save my prepared DVD files in a folder and always use those. I don't need anything fancy if I want to see what's on the DVD and I can make new copies with ease.

Happyfriar, if you are just copying the TS files to another disk without using software that knows it is a DVD file structure, you do run a risk of making a non-standard, thus non-playable DVD.

I had a client take one of my DVDs, copy it to his computer, then he copied those files to another disk and sent it to a replicator. I got a QC report detailing all of the errors of the DVD disk and they could not replicate. The client tried to blame me until I discovered that they they did not send my disk, but instead sent a copy they had made.

You should use burning software that says "this is a DVD video disk", imgburn and Nero both do that, as I am sure others, but just dragging and dropping will not.

Dave T2

Thanks everybody for the input. Im going to muddy the water a little now by asking if its possible to also render out new material and add it to the old project on the same disc?

Ok, so i should have said that copying the files gives you a bit-for-bit copy of the video, menus, and structure layout, which is really what matters. I don't think anyone cares in the slightest if anything else on the disc is different.

I also wonder how often the situation comes up that someone stops playback on a disc, removes it, inserts a DIFFERENT disc, even if they expect it to be an exact copy, and then expect it to resume playback at the same spot? Practically speaking, has this ever happened even once? Is this something you think people worry about a lot?

to add new material, you would need to re-author the disk. IF you don't have any of the orignal files or the project file, this becomes more complicated.

Dave T2

Many comments in this thread touting the distinction of what an iso image carries with it, are certainly correct, but as others have pointed out, this is unnecessary detail to what a typical process requires.

1) If you want an .iso to deliver to a commercial duplicating press, then there are many concerns.

2) If you are burning in one-offs the trade-off in creating file copies of discs is really not such a problem. Yes, you do create a "different" disc by not using an .iso. But acts like a copy just the same. This also gives you the possibility to upgrade a previous disc to something more than a copy. In SCS DVDAPro - I can create Blu-ray discs with extras - which SCS had never intended to allow.

3) Creating .iso images for archive with belief that you will always have access to the original disc has certain risks involved. So you create an .iso, then try to restore from it years aftefward- the entire large file has to pass the .crc check at one pass, whereas you may be then forced to return to copying files from a previous disc. In copying files, you may run into .crc problem, but may in fact lose only 1 chapter of the video title instead of the entire disc volume that you would with an .iso.

The question had nothing to do with sending anything to a replicating house. Nor did it have anything to do with DVDA not being able to create ISO files (which it actually can do, you just have to select the ISO Image Writer from the list of available devices).

The question was how to make a copy of an existing DVD one no longer has the original sources for. And there is nothing simpler than popping the DVD in a DVD drive, having ImgBurn make an image (ISO) file and then having the same ImgBurn burn that image file to one or more blank DVDs. It is simple and it makes sure you do not have to worry about the technical aspects.

So, no I am not making it too complicated. I am actually suggesting the simplest way of doing it. And the most reliable one. And one that anyone can do without having the technical knowledge about the various file systems.

Practically speaking, has this ever happened even once?I’ve done it many times.

Nor did it have anything to do with DVDA not being able to create ISO files (which it actually can do, you just have to select the ISO Image Writer from the list of available devices).

Never meant DVDA can't write them, meant DVDA can't burn them. If for some reason it can (never knew a reason why I'd try) you still don't need to.

EDIT: this conversation reminds me of when the dealer told me how to change the sparkplugs in my van: get a special tool, raise up the car, stuck your hand behind the engine to put the socket in, turn, remove, pray you can get the new one in just as easy.

Then a non-dealer shop told me to just take a piece of plastic off above the engine and they're right there. Use a basic socket set.

"there is nothing simpler"

Actually there is something simpler. Using any reasonable disc burning software, insert the original and click the "copy disc" button.