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Burning a DVD

shermans
Pro
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Registered: ‎07-09-2007

Burning a DVD

I have not done this before.  I have a film sitting on my hard disk which works fine.  I want to copy the files to a DVD.  I have tried using RecordNow! software but without success.  The film is about 8.4 Gb but I only have DVDs of 4.7 Gb, which means that I will have to put it on to two DVDs.
The first time I tried, it told me I had to remove 4.2 Gb of files which I have now done.  That means that the DVD should be big enough to burn the remaining files which are about 4.2 Gb also.  However, whenever I try to burn, the software then tells me that the DVD is not large enough !
What am I doing wrong ?  Can anyone advise ?
Thanks for any help.
17 REPLIES 17
Santiago
Grafter
Posts: 3,291
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Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

Try this free download to reduce your dvd files to fit on a 4.7gb dvd
http://www.dvdshrink.org/what_en.php
You can use  this with whichever burning software you have
artmo
Aspiring Champion
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Registered: ‎12-08-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

What will this do to the quality?
Oldjim
Resting Legend
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Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

I haven't noticed any difference
Santiago
Grafter
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Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

Not really much difference to me but I am not too picky about it.I believe the process compresses the data and removes a lot of carp.
Try it for yourself and see what you think.
samuria
Grafter
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

The 8 gig will include extra stuff like other languages and rubbish which can be removed saving a lot. The film can then be re compressed with a better compressor or by reducing the screen size. You dont say in what format the film is in is it a dvd you have just copied onto your hd or is it an AVI/mpg file?
If its an avi/mpg file it has to be redone into dvd compatible format. To re mix the dvd unless you have a quad processor can take hours and hours. It amazed me when I got my quad as its the only time you see the difference. On the old pc it would take 6 hours to redo a film but with a quad 45 mins 
shermans
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Registered: ‎07-09-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

My word !  As usual I am learning a lot.  Thanks. Cheesy
I have downloaded DVDShrink and installed it.  The film was copied from a DVD using DVDDecrypter successfully.  It runs fine on the hard disk, but is 8 Gb.  I want ideally to reduce it to fit on just one DVD.
But what I do not know is which of the files contain the rubbish ?  All I want is just the film itself.  How do I tell which files contain the rubbish and which ones the film ?
The large files all have a format of *.VOB.
Be3G
Grafter
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Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

If your DVD burner supports it, you could buy yourself a double-layer DVD - that'll allow you to fit the full 8.4GB on one disc.
Mav
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Re: Burning a DVD

Quote from: shermans
The large files all have a format of *.VOB.

You could try playing each vob file in something like VLC player. You may find the film is split over more than one VOB file, though.

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SteveT
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎18-05-2009

Re: Burning a DVD

Quote from: shermans
But what I do not know is which of the files contain the rubbish ?  All I want is just the film itself.  How do I tell which files contain the rubbish and which ones the film ?

If I remember DVD Shrink correctly it allows you to click on each file on the disk, and plays it in a little box within the same program.  That way you can tell straight away which files to keep and which to discard (by removing the tick marks.)
I think it also lists the main film files separately from the extras on the disk, so you can see at a glance which is which.
It's been a while since I used DVD Shrink so I could be wrong, but there is a button on the toolbar called Re-Author or something like that, where you are given these options.
Cheers
Steven
shermans
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Re: Burning a DVD

I have shrunk the files and they all work fine in a folder on the main hard disk.  But they will not work when burnt onto a DVD for some reason.  I have compared the files and they are all the same.  It is strange.  All I get from WinDVD is a message reading"There are no DVD files on this device", even though I can see them there. 
Having said that, if I manually open the DVD from Windows Media Player, I can get them to play.
I should have mentioned that I do not possess a DVD player and only ever use the laptop.
Any idea why WinDVD (HP's default player with a dedicated button) should refuse to play the DVD whereas Media Player does ?
Santiago
Grafter
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Registered: ‎10-08-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

Here are some useful guides with answers to your questions http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_play_vob___ifo___bup_files.cfm
At the botttom of the page there are some links to guides which are very informative this one gives details  with screenshots of how to shrink and burn dvd with DVDshrink, both straight from the disk and from files on your computer.
Within the guides there are recommendations for various shrinking, burning and menu editing software. Personally I avoid Nero software.
samuria
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

With dvd shrink when you open the disk on the left side you see a tree like explorer and you can look down the the list and get rid of any files not wanted. Its normally clear what is rubbish as a lot may have 10 languages so clearly you dont want Chinese, Polish etc so that can save a fair bit.
There is a full tutor for dvdshrink at http://www.dvdshrink.info/guides.php
Their forum is here http://forums.afterdawn.com/forum_view.cfm/125
shermans
Pro
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Re: Burning a DVD

Thanks to you all for all the help.  As far as I can tell, WinDVD seems to need to have all the files burnt into a folder called "VIDEO_TS" for some reason.  If they are just in the root directory, it just does not work, maybe because the default softeware path is "E:\VIDEO_TS\???????.vob" - I don't know, and am only guessing because that is the only difference between the files on the hard disk and the DVD.
But the DVD plays from the root in Windows Media Player, so no problem, but in future I will load into "VIDEO_TS".
So thanks again for all the help.
pierre_pierre
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Burning a DVD

VIDEO_TS is the default name where programs find the  various video files, from there the next file Video_ts.ifo is the main title menu, the other files VTS.01.0.ifo are the chapters of the video.  VTS_01_1.VOB is the actual vidoe, not sure what
I have appended names to the end of the Folder name on my hard disc and the disply programs (I have several) read them with no trouble.