Additional care when doing full backups

[setarip_old]

A suggestion to those using any DVD ripping/converting programs or set of programs that include the elimination of "Unreferenced materials".

Some DVDs contain "Easter Eggs" (hidden "goodies" - film clips, information, etc.) that are not referenced in the menu(s). You might want to examine the "Unreferenced materials", to see if they contain any of these before allowing the ripping/converting program(s) to eliminate them...

[blutach]

@setarip_old

If they are not referenced in the menus, that doesn't make them unreferenced materials. Unreferenced means there is no way to play them at all - no command exists that will jump to the PGC concerned.

So what might appear to be an Easter egg is not. Easter eggs are preserved - you just need to find them. Fortunately, PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html)'s menu editor makes it a breeze.

Regards

[setarip_old]

See the following post by "2COOL":

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=700142#post700142

Perhaps my terminology is incorrect, but I'd still like to know if the "RipIt4Me" package (including running it through "FixVTS") would automatically delete the .VOBs referred to by "2COOL".

Additionally, is ther anything to prevent the inclusion of an "Easter Egg" on a DVD without any PGC reference to it?

[blutach]

I would expect that if a precommand means they can't be played, "remove useless menu cells" would kill them.

And if they can't be played, they are not Easter eggs, but nasty "filler", which can be removed safely to boost the quality. The fact they are not an hour of black video does not make them any less "filler".

Regards

[setarip_old]

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the specific .VOBs described in the post by "2COOL".

The items described by "2COOL", whether intentionally or unintentionally placed on the DVD, represent "hidden""Easter Eggs" in the DVD's .VOBs - videos that are not accessible by normal means.

Regardless of semantics if, as you suggest, the "RipIt4Me" package would remove such .VOBs, I would reiterate my initial post (modified to avoid concerns for terminology): Some DVDs contain hidden "goodies" in .VOBs - film clips, information, etc. - that are not accessible from the menu(s). You might want to examine/view all .VOBs, other than those of the main movie, to see if they contain any of these "goodies" that you may wish to keep, before allowing the ripping/converting program(s) to eliminate them...

By the way, here are two online definitions of Easter Eggs, the second of which is applicable to my initial post to this thread:

http://www.answers.com/topic/easter-egg

Dictionary
Easter egg
n.
A dyed or decorated egg, traditionally associated with Easter.
A hidden feature in computer software, a DVD, or a video game.

[blutach]

It's only an Easter egg if it can be played on a normal player. No standalone player can play them, even by selecting a title with the remote (because they are in the menu domain). In a player (even a software player), the precommand gets executed before the cells are played. The only way to play them is via a software player and clicking on the VOBs directly (or with an editing tool that previews - eg DVD Shrink, DVD2AVI etc).

I really don't think these qualify. But if people want to keep them, it's up to them. It does make for higher compression of the main movie and playable extras though.

Regards

[setarip_old]

if people want to keep them, it's up to them.Thanks for confirming that - And that brings us full circle to the only thing this thread was intended to be about ;>}