pslewis

I am no expert - so I come here to the home of the IT bod!!

I have just been told how to download a free program off the internet that can read a DVD on your computer - extract the files, write them and then you can 'Burn' them onto a CD!! it takes maybe 2 CD's for a normal film and takes hours to extract the data .... but, you have a copy of the DVD and it plays well on any DVD player.

Am I being taken for the fool I am - or is there some mileage in this?

Pete

jjones

you can buy a DVD burner in staples for £499.

MorayMackenzie

PSLewis,

Does the word Copyright mean anything to you?

This is not the place to discuss software piracy.

Moray

Hanslow

Pete,

As far as I am aware, yes you can do it. Haven't done it myself, or got any, but occasionally when browsing, I happen to stumble across information pertaining to the aforementioned backup procedure

Beemer_Deano

This'll probably convert to MPEG2 (crap) which most (all?) DVD players play. Even DIVX (which gave a pretty good level of compression) was way below DVD quality.

All the best,

Deano

father_jack

Yeah - this would be ripping them onto VCD. You'd be better off getting round the macrovision protection (via chip or an external box) and putting it straight onto VHS.

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

It is possible, and I do know people who have done this, imaage quality is not bad, but the sound comes through decidedly fewer channels.

Completely against it myself, as Moray says it breaks copyright laws, if you want cheap DVDs, join Blockbusters, and hire them.

DazV

Your talking about SVCD format.

There's software kicking around that will take clean digital image off your DVD. Compress it and save it into an image file, which can be burned onto one or more CDRs.

nuclear_pond

I have instructions on how to do this and websites to get the software from in anyone is interested. Mail me. Its from PC Format a while ago.

paul.condren@btinternet.com

logiclee

A friend of mine has done this.

The picture quality on my 46" screen was dreadful. The amp picked the sound up as stereo. All in all worse than VHS.

He also has a supplier that can beat region 1 dates on DVD's. I borrowed two from him earlier this year. Both titles were on geniune DVD's the aspect ratio's were all wrong and although the amp picked up the sound track's as DTS and DD the stearing was all wrong and cross channel bleed terrible.

So I'm still a non convert to pirate format's and still look like spending a fortune at play247 etc.

Edited to add that I don't mind paying full price for movies, after paying over £9K on my setup quality is the key. I do object to the regional coding situation and lower spec higher priced UK offerings with UK sensors cuts which is why I import my DVD's.

Lee



[Edited by logiclee - 11/26/2001 9:13:28 PM]

adge

iTrader: (22)

Bought a copy of Tomb Raider on VCD just to see what they were like. Don't bother, the sound and picture were cr*p, better off shopping around for the genuine DVD.

pslewis

Thanks, some interesting points.

Some goody, goody 2 shoes coming out of the woodwork!! You know who you are Moray!! I didnt think I was breaking any copyright laws if I owned the DVD and wanted to make a 'back-up' for safe keeping of the original, also for my own private use??? maybe you are a Copyright Lawyer and I am wrong???

Alternatively, you are talking like a 'Mother Hen'!!

Pete

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

it is legal to make a backup copy - but you are not allowed to distribute it, or sell the original that you made a copy of!

ollyshorey

MorayMackenzie

Totaly legal, as long as you own the origial DVD !

milo

i thought "it's legal to make a backup as long as you own the original" was just urban myth

MorayMackenzie

The topic title and context of pslewis post did not imply backup for personal use only. If you own the DVD, why waste a couple of CD's and drop the AV quality as you have the original DVD? If you relinquish the rights to use the material, e.g. sell or return the dvd, you would have to hand over or destroy any "backup" copies in your possesion anyway, so I don't see there being any legal "mileage" to be had from this.

My point is that this is NOT the place to discuss software piracy.

Sticks and stones, Mr Lewis.

Moray

RichB

Don't forget to use GOLD discs for your backups as the silver ones are not as good quality

ChrisB

Anyroad, what's this got to do with Scoobies?

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

this is non scooby related, and so should be in the non-scooby related forum!!!

Actually, blue is the best colour - well I have found it to be.

[Edited by ChristianR - 11/27/2001 11:43:19 AM]

Adam M

actually you are not allowed to make a backup copy unless you are a licensed user of a computer program. Since a dvd movie although run on a computer does not tell the machine how to operate, you are not allowed to make back up copies. In fact you are only allowed to make copies of computer programs if the copying is necessary for the purposes of your lawful use.

The fact that back up copies of films are not included in the permitted acts (acts which do infringe copyright but are allowed) implies that that it is not permitted to make a back up copy of a film.

Interestingly, you are only allowed to record from the television for the purposes of time shifting, not for repeated playback, so strictly speaking you should delete it once you have seen it once.

no more taping of starwars at christmas eh?

Markus

Please note: the opinions below are mine, and mine alone, they are not the opinions of the webmaster, moderators or owner(s) of the Scoobynet BBS

Have seen various information about this type of thing, but to be honest I'm only really interested if you can copy a movie onto a single disk and it's an exact copy of the original. So you'd be looking at DVD burner, plus some software (maybe toast)

I'm with lee in that I prefer to import all my dvd's ususally with DVD Box Office. Why? well, they are cheaper, and usually better spec (DTS)

Adam M

agree with markus.

dvd box office is cheaper, but the trhee week wait compared with days on play 247 puts me off.

Blow Dog

I had terrible service from play247 and in my attempts to raise a complaint with them, they asked me never to shop with them again! I shall never recommend them to anyone again.

I now use dvdboxoffice who I think provide the best DVD service available in the UK. They even finish off their emails to me with a cute little smilie.

Aahhhhh

Cem

Adam M

but they do take 3 weeks to arrive.

Dr Hu

You may want to take a look at this site which is one of the best I have come across for this......errr......backup routine

http://www.digital-digest.com/nickyguides/

Have fun.....and be prepared to leave your PC running for a few nights as you experiment....

pslewis

The reason for me posting this thread was that I had received an e-mail from someone saying that this could be done, I have NO intention of indulging in software piracy - but what I DO have is a serious interest in all this stuff (sadly, I am a little thick on it)

So, Moray, to get condesending remarks from you really p155e5 me off mate ..... I may agree with you that this isnt the place to discuss piracy ... but I dont think its your board, or is it??

Liberal, do-gooders just get right up my nose - its the reason this country and the world is in such a bl00dy mess .... ooooooo, you shouldnt go into another country chasing terrorists, ooooo, leave the little lad alone - she was an old granny he mugged - he couldnt help it, oooooooo, let the car theif go - hes had a hard life - weep weep .................. shoot the bl00dy lot, THEN line up all the Flanders 'Act-a-likes' and shoot them too there, I feel better now

The comment about gold discs better than silver - VERY good!! ha ha

Now, how do I create a pirate CD from this MP3 file?? oooooops - look out the Slimey Moray Eel is coming to spoil our fun!

Pete

Mr.Cookie

Cem

I'm stunned you've had problems with Play247, i have about 60-70 R1 disc's all bar 2 ordered from play and have never had any bother except just after september 11th when they where 2 weeks late.

Si

logiclee

I suppose you can have a bad experience with any large company and if you end up with a bad employee things can go from bad to worse.

I have also ordered around 100 DVD's from Play and around 20 or so CD's. I've encountered a few problems with delayed delivery but a quick e-mail to play has always resulted in a promt reply and it's usually been a customs problem, as I say this has only been on three of four discs out of 120 or so.
The only area I think Play247 could improve is they do not notify you about delayed release dates or delayed delivery of stock to play when T2 Ultimate was released not enough DVD's were produced to meet demand, although it wasn't Plays fault that the DVD's were not available the lack of info caused very bad feeling in the AV forums.

Lee

Shark

Cem

What problems did you have with play247?

I've found them fine for the 3 DVD's I've had off them do far.

Mr.Cookie - respect 60-70 I've only got a 30 ish collection

David

druddle

Re: backups for DVDs. I have used the following site for ages and have backed up about 5 DVDs now. It can take a long time to do (U571 took 11.5 hours to compress on a 1.1Ghz Athlon with 378Mb memory) and usually for decent quality you will use 3 or more CDs.

It does still get a bit grainy when the camera moves quickly, and theres also a forum on there.

www.dvdripguides.com

Dave