Use the blue menu here below to navigate.

The Original Official Guide by Sefy Levy

More Guides:

EasyDivX / Complete Guide / TMPGEnc / DVDx / VirtualDub+LSX / AVI to VCD / DVD2SVCD

Introduction!

In this guide, I will attempt to make it as easy as possible to explain how to create a Backup of your DVD movie, This version of the guide is updated to the latest programs and will guide you from Start to Finish in one go! using ImTOO and freeware programs! and also included is Chaptering, do remember MOST of the settings used here are DEFAULT, I did not make any changes, and if I did have, they are mentioned in the guide. ( * NOTE: This Guide is mainly a combination of segments taken from the Complete DVD Backup Guide v2.6! * )

Programs used in this guide: Backup/Encoding - ImTOO DVD Ripper Chapters - Chapter-X-Tractor Authoring - VCDEasy ( & ASPI Layer for your system! - use the search for "WinASPI" or scrool to the bottom of the page!)

This guide will be divided into the following sections: Part 1 - Encoding Part 2 - Chapters Part 3 - Authoring   Part 4 - Burning Part 5 - Troubleshooting

===========================================================================================

Step 1 - DVD Movie Copying! Load your DVD Movie in the DVD drive and use the "DVD" button, this will automaticly select your movie VOB files and scan your Movie, if you want to encode a different segment of your DVD, click either the "IFO" or "VOB" buttons instead. Then click on the "Browse" button next to the "Output Folder" to select where to save the encoded movie.

Step 2 - Select Title Under the "Input" click on the "Index" and select which Title or Segment you wish to Encode. NOTE: If you wish to use more Advanced Input Settings, Click Here!

Step 3 - Language Playback Under the "Input" click on the "Audio" pulldown list, and select the Language for your Movie.

Step 4 - Movie Angle (Optional) Not all movies give this option, but if your movie does, and you wish to encode a different Camera Angle then the Default one, just click on the "Angle" pulldown list, and select the angle of your choice.

Step 5 - Movie Subtitles (Optional) If you want your movie to have Subtitles, simple click on the "Subtitle" pulldown list and select. If you do not wish to have Subtitles, simply click on the "None" option instead.

Step 6 - Output Format Under the "Output" you can select the type of movie to encode, either "Video-CD" or "Super VCD" or even a DivX variation. NOTE: If you wish to use more Advanced Output Settings, Click Here!

Step 7 - Aspect Ratio Now you need to select how the movie will be played back on the TV. If you want to maintain the same Ratio as the Original Movie, simply select the "Full (16/9 or 4/3 input)" setting. Use the other settings if you want to convert the movie to a Full Screen or just Partial. You can also use the Playback option to test your selection.

Step 8 - Splitting Now select if you want to Encode the movie as one file (good for 74/80min movies or 90min if you can use those CDRs) or if your movie is longer and you need to encode it in several parts. Click on "Volume Size" pulldown list and select how to split, or you can use the "Custom size" to select a specific size to split.

Step 9 - Encoding the Movie Once you are satisfied with your choices, click on "Record" button and this will begin the Ripping and Encoding of the selected Item(s).

This is an Example of how the Encoding will look like. At the bottom you can see how fast it will encode, and how long it will take.

===========================================================================================

Chapter-X-Tractor

This program is capable of accessing the DVD Movie's IFO file and extracting the Chapters Information so it will be used in to create a VCD/SVCD with the same Chapter Points, so when you use the Remote Control you can jump from chapter to chapter.

Step 1a - Load Chapter-X-Tractor (1a) and press the " Open IFO" button.

Step 1b - Select the Movie IFO file which you ripped earlier.

Step 2a - You will now see all the information needed in the " RAW Data" field.

Step 2b - Now Press the "Save data" button, and select a filename for the Chapter Information.

===========================================================================================

VCDEasy

A New program that is capable of doing chapters in a rather easy and simple way, and uses all the free tools out there for giving you the best of the best, it's chaptering capabilities are far simple but effective in the last few builds it has added support for the free CDRDao burning tool, and gives you an easy interface for burning the images it created.

Step 1a - Open VCDEasy, and set everything according to your specific movie, and follow the example below. ( * NOTE: Please do not create blank spaces in the Cue/Bin name, as CDRDao may have a problem burning it later on.*)

Step 1b - Press the "Add Files" button and select the first of the two files you encoded earlier.

Step 1c - Change the "Volume Label" to reflect the name of the Movie, and also select the "Bin Output File" location.

Step 2 - On the "Options" tab you can write down the name of the "Album" and also enable the "Use Playback Control (PBC) ".

Step 3a - Press the "Chapters" menu item and Here you can select to import the Chapters for your movie, Right Click to get the popup menu so you can import from Smart Ripper or Chapter-X-Tractor.

Step 3b - Select the "Start offset" and "End offset " for the first part of the movie and press the "Ok" button.

Step 4 - Press the "Go" button, VCDEasy will begin analysing your MPG file and create an Image file for burning.

Step 5a - Go back to "Main" by pressing the "(S)VCD " button, remove the MPG file, and open the second part of the movie.

Step 5b - Change the name of the "Bin Output File", so you don't accidently overwrite the previous file (if you didn't burn it yet).

Step 5c - As in Step 3a and 3b, select the Chapters for the second part of the movie, make sure to start a Chapter after the one you last selected on the previous part (3b), and when you are done press the "Ok" button.

Step 6 - Press the "Go" button again to create the second image file of the movie.

===========================================================================================

VCDEasy / CDRDao

Step 1 - To burn the newely created images, first make sure that the CDRDo is set up correctly, go to the "Settings " and select the "CDRDAO" menu item, make sure you select your " CD Writer" and set the speed, and also enable the "Allow Overburn " if you plan on using over 80min CDR media.

Step 2 - Next, go to the "Tools" section and select "CDRDao Tools" from the above menu, here you can "Blank a CDRW " and also select to "Burn a CUE or TOC CD Image" file, you can also select to "Simulate" and not actually burn.  Press the " CUE/TOC file" button, and then select the Image you want to burn.

Step 3a - After you selected the first image of the movie (in this case Superman - VCD1.cue) then press the "Burn" button and the writing of the CD will start.

Step 3b - When you are done burning the first part select the second image of the movie (in this case Superman - VCD2.cue) and again press the "Burn" button and the writing of the CD will start.

Troubleshooting

In some DVD movies the Audio Track is located on the second track, so you might want to try selecting in DVDx - Input Settings to rip the secondary Audio Track, if you are not sure which Audio Track to choose, open the Chapter-X-Tractor text file and you can check in there. Make sure when you encode the movie that the correct Settings will be used for your movie, an incorrect Setting will cause A/V sync! and not to mention the resolution will be distorted (if you use PAL on NTSC and NTSC on PAL). If you are having problems copying the Movie VOB files to your HDD, I suggest you check your ASPI Layer, the ASPI that comes with Windows9x, Millenium are not good for ripping, update them, and Windows2000/XP does not come with an ASPI Layer at all! make sure you download the latest ASPI for your system, you can get the v4.6 for 98/Me/2000XP here! (scrool to the bottom of the page!) DVDx or any other of the DVD Copying programs are unable to access your DVD Movie, try to first play the disc using any Software DVD Player, and then try to run the ripper. Because the program always selects the longest running title of the DVD, it might select the wrong title, So make sure the VOB's that were copied are indeed the VOB that belong to the movie itself and not the Extra features (e.g. Pearl Harbor).  For those who want Subtitles, you can select them under the "Subtitle" in the "Input Settings" window.

Copyright 2000-2004 by Sefy Levy, All Rights Reserved.

Best Regards, Sefy Levy, Certified Computer Technician.