Backup 1 DVD to 1 CDR

[bakercool]

:confused: Is this possible? :confused: I went to dvdsqueeze version 4, paid the 40 bucks the bastages wanted, but all it looks like to me is a bunch of freeware combined onto a flash page (and no, 1/2 of them dont work, and the flash page links dont work either). So, I'm back to my original question. Can I burn ANY DVD to 1 CDR??? I know this sounds like a newbie question (probably becuase I am a newbie), but sites are either starting to say they can do it, or they are insinuating they can.

My second question would be.... What is the best program to make 1 DVD to CDR? Thanks for any help. :)

[aleksander]

Welll..
First of all - heh...never buy any of that stuff you mentioned - it's just a set of freeware programs with crappy guides...
Second of all - you're newbie - well... what do newbie have to do ???
Simple answer - :
1. Read the forum rules.
2. Read the guides.
3. Search the forum.
Third of all - strike 1 - and you know for what...

aleksander

[Abond]

Is this possible?
Yes.
Can I burn ANY DVD to 1 CDR???
Yes.
What is the best program to make 1 DVD to CDR?
Gordian Knot.

[manono]

Hi-

Can I burn ANY DVD to 1 CDR???

Yes.

Hehe. But whether or not it will look any good is another question.

You're a cruel, heartless man, aleksander. :)

[hakko504]

Have you read this thread? (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38922)

[aleksander]

Originally posted by manono


You're a cruel, heartless man, aleksander. :)

Oh...
Hmmmm - not always...
Sometimes I can be pretty good for other people (if I'm not sick and mad and tired and.....) :):)

[bakercool]

Ok... I will look at the Gordian Knot stuff. But I must address those as applicable....

1. aleksander- I don't know what the "Strike 1" is for. I searched for hours (literally hours) on just this site. I then waited the 5 days (while still looking) and still could not find my answer. All I needed was someone with knowledge to lend a helping hand (or fingers :) )

2. Abond- THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!! I really do appreciate what you have done. I have put about 100 hours (seriously) into looking to find a program that will do it. As stated previously, I have even wasted my money trying stuff that didn't work. YOU ARE THE REASON I left this post. Thanks! :)

3. hakko504- Yes, I did read that post, but I was mainly concerned with backing up DVD's. I thought at that time that thread was only concerned about the size of DVD's. I reread it more thuroughly and I know see what you were saying. Thanks. :)



If I can help you out Abond, let me know. Although I can plainly see you have much more experaince in this field than do I. Thanks Man! :)

[rhaub101]

Baker...I too have been on that same quest. I got all the same answers you got. I still haven't been able to make it work. The problem seems to be that the guys we are asking for help from KNOW what they are doing and it's tough for them to explain it to us in a simple manner. Try this guide:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/userguides/84759.php

I have tried it multiple times and haven't been able to get the file size small enough to fit on one 800mb cd. Let me know if you have any luck. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure it out.

[jggimi]

From reading through the first few sections of that guide, it appears to be for VideoCD (VCD).

VCD is a method of having VHS-like quality MPEG-1 on a CD. Wildly popular in Asia, where there are more standalone VCD players than VCRs. 70 minutes of video on a 70 minute CD, 80 minutes of video on an 80 minute CD, etc. But the quality is VHS-like.

I think both of you would have better luck starting with Doom9's DivX 5 guide, which describes a step-by-step process using Gordian Knot.

http://www.doom9.org/gknot-main3.htm

[aleksander]

Originally posted by bakercool

1. aleksander- I don't know what the "Strike 1" is for. I searched for hours (literally hours) on just this site. I then waited the 5 days (while still looking) and still could not find my answer. All I needed was someone with knowledge to lend a helping hand (or fingers :) )


Right on the main page is a link to the guides. Going there you would have found the Ripping Guides, which are exactly what you're looking for. The "ripping" term is explained very well in the Glossary section. Starting with the very first guide - Divx - you should be able to get a decent quality dvd-rip on 1cd.
And searching for any topics related with doing dvd-1cd conversion you would have found a lot of intersting threads...

take care and no offense.... I'll try to be more helpful next time....

aleksander

[rhaub101]

Well, I explored the Divx idea but then was told by an "expert" here that Divx is only for viewing movies on a computer. Which is it? Can ya copy a rented dvd using divx and watch it on tv or not?

[hakko504]

Yes, but so far there is only one or two standalone DVD players that will play DivX, so you will most likely need computer with TV-out.

[jggimi]

I was one of those so-called "experts," Rhaub. As you know, with the exception of the new KiSS-450 standalone player, DivX is limited to PCs. You wanted to produce output for your grandson, who has no PC at home. For that purpose, DivX would not be a workable solution.

[bakercool]

haha, well this thread turned out to be pretty good help. I am going to check out the Guides (now that you said it, it smacks me in the face when the page opens.. lol). Anyways. So let me get this straight. I can copy any dvd to multiple cdr's. I can copy a whole dvd (ie 120 min) to my computer, but not to a cdr. So really... There is no way to copy a 120 min dvd to a cdr that will play on a regular dvd player (standalone/tv style). Are these correct? Yep, your right, I do need my hand held alot.. haha... Thanks for all your responses though.:D

[Abond]

There is no way to copy a 120 min dvd to a cdr that will play on a regular dvd player (standalone/tv style). Are these correct?
Before several months I was sure it is so. Now I am not sure. There are several threads in VCD/SVCD encoding and authoring forum with quite similar titles, some posts looking quite convincing about coping more than 120 min to 1 CD as VCD/SVCD with relative good quality.

[bakercool]

Yep, its like some people say yes, some say no, some say umm.. maybe? lol, I have still yet to read all the threads, and to try out gk. rhaub101, If I do get it working, maybe we could ICQ and I could help you get one going yourself. Unfortunatly I am full time military, full time school, and a single dad. I am trying to do most of this for my buddy (he REALLY wants to burn dvd's). I just happen to be more computer literate so I volunteered to help him out. Being a "mission" Im on now, I will either burn a dvd to one CDR or it cant be done (yet) :). When I first started I figured someone had come up with one program that you slap in your DVD and CDR then Click "BURN" and TA DAA! its done. I can see now, that is as far from the truth as I am from actually burning one. :) Thanks for all your help everyone, and keep me posted! :P If I get one going, I will come back and help yall out (those that need it anyways :) )

[jorel]

Originally posted by bakercool
:confused: Is this possible? :confused: I went to dvdsqueeze version 4, paid the 40 bucks the bastages wanted, but all it looks like to me is a bunch of freeware combined onto a flash page (and no, 1/2 of them dont work, and the flash page links dont work either). So, I'm back to my original question. Can I burn ANY DVD to 1 CDR??? I know this sounds like a newbie question (probably becuase I am a newbie), but sites are either starting to say they can do it, or they are insinuating they can.

My second question would be.... What is the best program to make 1 DVD to CDR? Thanks for any help. :)

you have a pm!;)

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by aleksander
Welll..
First of all - heh...never buy any of that stuff you mentioned - it's just a set of freeware programs with crappy guides...
Second of all - you're newbie - well... what do newbie have to do ???
Simple answer - :
1. Read the forum rules.
2. Read the guides.
3. Search the forum.
Third of all - strike 1 - and you know for what...


Perhaps if the guides were a little clearer, you wouldn't even need a newbie section ...

[bakercool]

I am downloading and testing out GK now. Wish me luck. I did want to respond to these last few comments though...

Big Cat
Perhaps if the guides were a little clearer, you wouldn't even need a newbie section ...

I completely agree with you dude. :) When I go to the guide section, I was hoping one would say DVD to CDR or something. Also, Having very easy guides for this would be the best thing. I mean, everyone and thier mother wants to know how to do this. I am not complaining though. I mean, this place is free, and several people have been very helpful.

jorel
you have a pm!

???? What ???? :)

[ArdenDag]

All I can say is this:

Starting a thread with the intent of having other people do your research got you your strike, I was a newbie once too, but coming to the forums and saying 'How do I copy a DVD to a CDR' then explaining that I checked the guides and searched, saying I didn't find anything would be a huge fat lie.

If you typed (in the search box at the top of doom9's forums): DVD to CDR

A few threads from the 400+ that showed up would have narrowed down your search a bit:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37952&highlight=dvd+to+cdr

rhaub's thread which was referenced earlier:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40727&highlight=dvd+to+cdr

this thread where jggimi shows up again, where many others would have blasted the person for not doing any research (like someone mentioned above):

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39961&highlight=dvd+to+cdr


And that's just out of the first 75ish threads, out of 400+.

So you actually looked around? checked threads? found out what you needed to convert your DVD to? How to go about taking your DVD and making it convertable to something smaller?

I seriously doubt it. Sorry.

EDIT:

These forums and the doom9.org website hold a WEALTH LOAD of information within them, and tons of people willing to help...

... if you have the patience to research and ask specific questions that don't have guides upon guides already doing that...

It's not going to be handed to you on a silver platter, you want to back-up your DVD to a CD-R, a SINGLE CD-R (whether you want it on one, or 17, you need to follow a process). If you knew what your stand-alone DVD player could play, you could have narrowed down your search even farther, and met the DVD2SVCD forum, where the first few links have a ton of helpful information.

All this could have been done in the first hour of your 5 day wait.

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by bakercool
I am downloading and testing out GK now. Wish me luck. I did want to respond to these last few comments though...

Big Cat
Perhaps if the guides were a little clearer, you wouldn't even need a newbie section ...

I completely agree with you dude. :) When I go to the guide section, I was hoping one would say DVD to CDR or something. Also, Having very easy guides for this would be the best thing. I mean, everyone and thier mother wants to know how to do this. I am not complaining though. I mean, this place is free, and several people have been very helpful.


It takes some figuring out cause there are some holes in the guides, but if you think it through, eventually you'll get there. Best thing to do then is write a short summary of steps you performed so you have a complete 'to do' list for the next time you rip. I'm on my 3rd rip now and its starting to feel natural.

[hakko504]

I agree, it takes a while before you get the feel for GKnot. But it is most certainly worth it. It is a very flexible and versatile aplication that is yet to be beaten by any 'all in one' solutions.
Some newbies think it is too hard, but just do a few rips and things will eventually become clear. The hardest step is usually understanding IVTC/deinterlacing and when to use the one or the other. On the other hand, GKnot is flexible enough to still provide insights and suggestions (mostly bitrate&resolution) even for us who have used it for a long time and done many rips.

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by ArdenDag
So you actually looked around? checked threads? found out what you needed to convert your DVD to? How to go about taking your DVD and making it convertable to something smaller?

I seriously doubt it. Sorry.

A more detailed guide a la DVD to CDR for dummies would have been better. No offense, but most of the threads contain vocabulary a newbie would not yet understand. I've been here three days and a lot of it is still over my head. Good thing i'm so obsessive about figuring stuff out.

These forums and the doom9.org website hold a WEALTH LOAD of information within them, and tons of people willing to help...

Hope noone takes offense to this as what i'm about to say goes for all forums on every subject, but the help leaves a lot to be desired. The members that posess said wealth of information have better things to do, they are in a stage of this stuff most of us will never get to, and they need challenges to keep them sharp. I'm the same in my field. Hence the total disgust with repeated, for them easy questions. Understandable that before you ask the true experts you have a base of knowledge, we agree on that.

But let me ask you why every forum on this board has umpteen stickies explaining the more complex aspects, when the newbie section has nearly none ?

Like you said most of this has already been discussed. Therefor there are two serious improvements needed on this board :

1) when someone asks a stupid easy question, instead of just flaming them, you could amend your flame/warning with the links (and you are the first to do that here)

2) Everytime a stupid repeated question is asked and answered with a link, it should be added to an existing FAQ including question and link.

And trust me, first of all your stupid questions will be reduced drastically, and the only reply to a stupid question will be "Look at the FAQ". Too much to ask ? I seriously doubt if the aim is to help others.

... if you have the patience to research and ask specific questions that don't have guides upon guides already doing that...

All this could have been done in the first hour of your 5 day wait.

Well most of what I said applies here too, incomplete guides, no FAQ, members more intent on flaming the less productive newbies than pointing them in the right direction (they have to do the work, a little boost can't hurt though)

But I could also amend that this 5-day wait causes a lot of problems. Normally when you come to a board you want to post, so you look at the rules. Here you can't post for 5 days and you don't. I almost got in trouble over that.

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by hakko504
I agree, it takes a while before you get the feel for GKnot. But it is most certainly worth it. It is a very flexible and versatile aplication that is yet to be beaten by any 'all in one' solutions.
Some newbies think it is too hard, but just do a few rips and things will eventually become clear. The hardest step is usually understanding IVTC/deinterlacing and when to use the one or the other. On the other hand, GKnot is flexible enough to still provide insights and suggestions (mostly bitrate&resolution) even for us who have used it for a long time and done many rips.

I don't understand either (IVTC/deinterlacing) and in general I do quite well. My interlaced vidoes tend to look better without deinterlacing and dunno what IVTC does.

[ArdenDag]

Hmph.

Laziness strikes again, you said the vocabulary is difficult for a newbie to understand, eh? How about reading this, it's a link on the left hand side of http://www.doom9.org

http://doom9.org/glossary.htm

It's a GLOSSARY of commonly used words in DVD backup. *shrug* sorry, but if someone has the urge to learn the vocabulary should be their first stop, no? IVTC, Multiplexing, Interlaced, etc etc, all these terms go over a newbies head, but starting there, then doing some quick searches on the forum can EASILY alleviate that problem.

Trust me, there have been 100s of newbies before you who've asked the same questions on the forum, and they've gotten burned, so why do you when you can just get to the thread where THEY got burned, and there's normally an answer?

[Big Cat]

Why not save everyone a lot of trouble and combine the answers in a FAQ ? Then noone has to look for the threads where others got burned at the risk of not finding them because they used the wrong search term, or the point you refer to was hidden in a thread with an entirely different topic.

And perhaps something is wrong with my alphabetical skills but I did not see IVTC in that list. And trust me, I read it three times before ...

Hmpf. Stupidity strikes again. No offense intended, but a little coordination could go a long way to making this board more accessible to newbies and give the vets' nerves a bit of a break. Believe me, I mod a board with 10 times as many members, its all about coordination.

[ArdenDag]

Oh, did you call me stupid? Or did you call my attempt at clarification of your point stupidity?

Thanks, but no thanks. I consider that a personal attack, which is against the forum rules.

[Big Cat]

You called me lazy, and I consider that a personal attack, so I guess we would be quits then no ?

What I refered to as stupid was that you told me to look IVTC in a glossary I had :

A) read three times before
B) Clearly does not have IVTC in it.

When you attempt to help others and say they need to do the work, I suggest you do the same.

[ArdenDag]

Look again

#23

[manono]

Hi-

I've been following this one with some interest for a few days now, and finally got the urge to jump in. You make some good points Big Cat. By way of explanation about the lack of stickies for often asked questions in this forum:

1. One of the mods is more or less gone, and the other doesn't visit as often as he might. So this forum is pretty much unmoderated at the moment. Compare this one with the SVCD Forums where there are lots of very active mods and you begin to understand the problem with this forum, which should be more carefully looked after.
2. The other and more important reason is that this is a very non-specific forum. That is, it fields questions about DVD backups, SVCD conversions, every kind of MPEG4 encoding, as well as many other subjects. This is a very broadbased forum whose only common denominator is that most of the people posting are rookies. You'd need many, many stickies to cover all of the topics raised. The questions can more often be better covered in the other forums specific to the question. In addition, there are a whole slew of Guides covering everything to do with DVD conversions and TV captures.

If you haven't stumbled across it yet, you might have a look at the list of guides and tutorials available Here (http://www.doom9.org/doc-overview.htm). Somewhere among all the Guides are some that will surely answer your questions. And for the specifics of IVTC, you might try The DVD2AVI-IVTC Tutorial (http://www.doom9.org/ivtc-tut.htm) which will give you more information than you ever wanted to know.

No one said this stuff was easy; otherwise any idiot could do it. If you see the quality of some of the rips floating around the web, then you know that there are plenty of idiots that think they can do it, but have obviously never visited here to learn to do it properly. If you're just starting out, then you use Gordian Knot for backing up your DVDs to .avis on CD using the DivX5 or DivX3.11 codecs. If you want something that will play on your standalone DVD player, then you use DVD2SVCD to create SVCDs on a couple of CDs. And as your knowledge and experience builds, you branch out from there. If you have questions, then you post them in the forums specific to what you're doing (or here). You're obviously not stupid, Big Cat. And the only way to learn this stuff is to read and study, experiment and fail and experiment some more. We've all gone through it. It takes work, but the rewards are worth it.

Take it easy on him Arden. I'd say you had it coming. On the other hand, Big Cat, you read the Glossary 3 times and missed Inverse Telecine (IVTC) (http://www.doom9.org/glossary.htm#Inverse Telecine) and the other associated links?

Edit: Only now I noticed that you're in Belgium. That means, among other things, that you ordinarily would have no need to learn about IVTC (lucky you). It's for NTSC DVDs and you live in a PAL country. You might need to know about deinterlacing. The tutorial linked above can still be useful to you, as there's a lot of good information for PAL people.

[hakko504]

I think one problem is that newbies often think just like bakercool did when he started this thread: They want to copy a DVD to CDR. They don't know anything about VCD, DivX, XviD, AVI, SVCD, etc.


Maybe something like this chart should be made a sticky here along with better descriptions of the different alternatives.

Container Codec quality #of CD's App & Guide standalone
AVI DivX 2-4 1-2 GKnot no
AVI Xvid 2-4 1-2 GKnot[1] no
VCD MPEG-1 1-2 2 DVD2SVCD yes
SVCD MPEG-2 3-5 2-3 DVD2SVCD maybe[2]
DVD-R MPEG-2 4-5 1-2[3] IfoEdit yes

quality 1=awful 5=original DVD
#of CD's, needed for a normal 90-120 min movie in good quality
[1]GKnot can not directly encode to Xvid, but it can set up everything except final encode.
[2]Some standalones will play SVCD but not all.
[3]DVD±R, not CD's.

[ArdenDag]

heh manono, I guess you have a point.

What I think would be a beautiful sticky here is not anything specifically encoding related, but moreso a quick glossary of terms, helpful links, and etiquette of how to ask your first question, etc etc.

i.e., as someone pointed out in this thread:

FAQ #1: How do I begin backing up my DVDs? (for the people who just seem to NOT want to read doom9.org)

Answer: First of all, to begin backing up your DVDs you need to understand the formats you can backup your DVDs to. (Insert hakko's chart). The formats listed above are specific, some are better than others in certain respects (insert reasons for certain formats, advantages, disadvantages, explanations of the terms DivX, VCD, SVCD, etc).

FAQ #2: If I just want to backup my DVD to 1 (or more) CD-Rs how do I go about doing this?

Answer: First of all, choose a format from the above chart. For DivX and XviD (I wouldn't recommend XviD to newbies, but it's all relative), use Gordian Knot, the learning curve (blah blah, explain GKnot and the fact that it takes a while to learn to use, but shouldn't be too difficult, post a link to the GKnot guides at gknot.doom9.org) or for SVCD use DVD2SVCD (give a quick set of links to the forum with umpteen stickies, and the DVD2SVCD guide on doom9), etc etc...

I think that's a start

[aleksander]

OK guys...
You've got me on this one. I feel like I have to do something about it.
Some time ago I have moved to the US and since that time it's very hard for me to find time to moderate this forum as I would like to.
Actually, long time ago there was a plan to do a general faq sticky over here, but unfortunatelly it failed for a number of reasons.
I might still have part of it somewhere, so I'll try to do something about it. But don't expect anything today or tomorrow. It might be the beggining of next week. I'm planning to make a "live" faq - if you'll have anything that can be added to it - just pm me. And, of course, any comments will be welcome.
To be honest I count on you guys. Some things might very clear for me and not for you - so if you see something that is either missing or not too specific - let me know. After all this FAQ will be for you and other people new to this.
I think I will use hakko504's and ArdenDag's suggestions.
So - be patient.

take care guys

aleksander

edit:
Just to keep you up-to-date guys - I haven't found that FAQ - so I will have to rewrite everything from scratch - which means that it will probably take some more time....

[ArdenDag]

No problem, just keep in mind that a FAQ here has to be careful about the language it uses. Anything in the remote that is difficult for a newbie to understand should be defined or just not used.

I think the first two questions might have to be a bit tweaked from what I wrote, but give a general idea of the initial questions people have when coming here to this forum. Hell, I forgot what my first question was :p

[ArdenDag]

Some very quick things that get VERY confusing for newbies, I thought I would share:

The difference between FIELDS and FRAMES, and what a FRAMESERVER is and does with these.

The idea of FILM and NON-FILM material, and how to distinguish between the two (i.e. DVDs that are poorly authored, how to retrieve the FILM material off them, meaning what process, not specific steps), the use of DVD2AVI to give you a quick understanding of FILM material and INTERLACED material (as explained shortly here: http://www.doom9.org/ivtc-tut.htm )

The idea that AUDIO and VIDEO are not normally encoded together! (This is a biggie, people wonder why they get video encoded but no audio, and what to do to combine them later, i.e. multiplex, and how and with what programs, etc etc)

As I get more ideas I'll post them. If you want me to do a full explanation, write the wordage in a readable manner for newbies, I can do that as well, take some load off you :)

EDIT:

One more HUGE point, and this is something that is pretty big. The Flask bashing is something that I noticed that happens occasionally here, and when I first decided to to DVD conversion/backup I looked at Flask, but it never worked correctly on my system (probably the optimization calls get incorrectly used per my system specs, or something insanely stupid that causes it to error less than 1% into a rip/encode)

Anyway, I think that a LOT of newbies come with knowledge that Flask is a NICE all-in-one solution for DVD conversion/backup, and you need to 'nicely' explain that the previous versions (and possibly the most current versions) are very buggy on certain systems.

Not to be disheartened, but offer Gordian Knot as an alternative to these people as a solution for their headaches (I know the Flask FAQ is up there, but it's too short, and too confusing with the conflicting viewpoints, maybe clean it up, and offer some links to threads where conflicts have arisen and possible solutions)

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by ArdenDag
Look again

#23

Oops. Cept I read through them all and didn't look at the index. It only says IVTC next to the index title, so how's I supposed to know what Inverse Telecine is long for ? Smell it ? That's exactly what I mean by the gaping holes in the guides and such.

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by manono
1. One of the mods is more or less gone, and the other doesn't visit as often as he might. So this forum is pretty much unmoderated at the moment. Compare this one with the SVCD Forums where there are lots of very active mods and you begin to understand the problem with this forum, which should be more carefully looked after.

Easy administrative problem. Too many mods in one section, none in the other, re-allocate your mods. Doesn't take a brain to figure that out.

2. The other and more important reason is that this is a very non-specific forum. That is, it fields questions about DVD backups, SVCD conversions, every kind of MPEG4 encoding, as well as many other subjects. This is a very broadbased forum whose only common denominator is that most of the people posting are rookies. You'd need many, many stickies to cover all of the topics raised. The questions can more often be better covered in the other forums specific to the question. In addition, there are a whole slew of Guides covering everything to do with DVD conversions and TV captures.

Hence you understand my desillusion at not finding a single FAQ here given the diversity and inexperience of the members in this section ...

If you haven't stumbled across it yet, you might have a look at the list of guides and tutorials available Here (http://www.doom9.org/doc-overview.htm). Somewhere among all the Guides are some that will surely answer your questions. And for the specifics of IVTC, you might try The DVD2AVI-IVTC Tutorial (http://www.doom9.org/ivtc-tut.htm) which will give you more information than you ever wanted to know.

Thank you for the help on the IVTC. As for guides, I found them and read them, read the quality comparisons, set my mind to Xvid and progressed with the Xvid guide. Unfortunately it is anything but clear. I have it down now and can do it with my eyes closed, but it took solid hours of frustration, that could easily have been avoided with a little more detail. Hence this entire litany to save other newbies the hassle and the vets the repetitiveness of questions.

No one said this stuff was easy; otherwise any idiot could do it. If you see the quality of some of the rips floating around the web, then you know that there are plenty of idiots that think they can do it, but have obviously never visited here to learn to do it properly.

If the guides were clearer, any idiot COULD do it. Trust me, once I figured it out it was so simple to me. I always figured the reason the quality was so bad was because of all the freeloaders that back shit up in the shortest amount of time to trade it for higher quality files.

Perhaps just me, but once you have something like Gknot down, I don't understand how you could make a mistake ? And if you don't have it down, you usually don't even get to the final product (Had problems with audio encoding and the video encoding, simply because of gaps in the guide)


If you're just starting out, then you use Gordian Knot for backing up your DVDs to .avis on CD using the DivX5 or DivX3.11 codecs. If you want something that will play on your standalone DVD player, then you use DVD2SVCD to create SVCDs on a couple of CDs. And as your knowledge and experience builds, you branch out from there. If you have questions, then you post them in the forums specific to what you're doing (or here). You're obviously not stupid, Big Cat. And the only way to learn this stuff is to read and study, experiment and fail and experiment some more. We've all gone through it. It takes work, but the rewards are worth it.

Agree with you entirely, but if the vets don't put in the work to make guides clearer, and make FAQ's even answer with something as simple as a link, then in my opinion they do not have the right to complain about the repetitiveness of questions. They can easily solve it if they took the time to add it to the FAQ every time it was answered. The way a lot of the long-time members here act towards the questions of newbies is less than hospitable and sometimes plain rude and hostile, such as Arden referring to people as lazy and then having the audicity to complain when someone returns the favour.

Take it easy on him Arden. I'd say you had it coming. On the other hand, Big Cat, you read the Glossary 3 times and missed Inverse Telecine (IVTC) (http://www.doom9.org/glossary.htm#Inverse Telecine) and the other associated links?

See, it doesn't say IVTC next to the actual piece about Inverse Telecine. Now if the Xvid guide had referred to Inverse Telecine instead of IVTC, I would have known. If it had said IVTC next to the actual body on Inverse Telecine, i would have seen it. Exactly my point about the guides and how they contribute to the repetitive questions.

Edit: Only now I noticed that you're in Belgium. That means, among other things, that you ordinarily would have no need to learn about IVTC (lucky you). It's for NTSC DVDs and you live in a PAL country. You might need to know about deinterlacing. The tutorial linked above can still be useful to you, as there's a lot of good information for PAL people.

Well I understand deinterlacing, but generally the quality is better if I don't. Good to know I don't need to know about IVTC.

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by ArdenDag
Some very quick things that get VERY confusing for newbies, I thought I would share:

The difference between FIELDS and FRAMES, and what a FRAMESERVER is and does with these.

The idea of FILM and NON-FILM material, and how to distinguish between the two (i.e. DVDs that are poorly authored, how to retrieve the FILM material off them, meaning what process, not specific steps), the use of DVD2AVI to give you a quick understanding of FILM material and INTERLACED material (as explained shortly here: http://www.doom9.org/ivtc-tut.htm )

The idea that AUDIO and VIDEO are not normally encoded together! (This is a biggie, people wonder why they get video encoded but no audio, and what to do to combine them later, i.e. multiplex, and how and with what programs, etc etc)

As I get more ideas I'll post them. If you want me to do a full explanation, write the wordage in a readable manner for newbies, I can do that as well, take some load off you :)

EDIT:

One more HUGE point, and this is something that is pretty big. The Flask bashing is something that I noticed that happens occasionally here, and when I first decided to to DVD conversion/backup I looked at Flask, but it never worked correctly on my system (probably the optimization calls get incorrectly used per my system specs, or something insanely stupid that causes it to error less than 1% into a rip/encode)

Anyway, I think that a LOT of newbies come with knowledge that Flask is a NICE all-in-one solution for DVD conversion/backup, and you need to 'nicely' explain that the previous versions (and possibly the most current versions) are very buggy on certain systems.

Not to be disheartened, but offer Gordian Knot as an alternative to these people as a solution for their headaches (I know the Flask FAQ is up there, but it's too short, and too confusing with the conflicting viewpoints, maybe clean it up, and offer some links to threads where conflicts have arisen and possible solutions)

See , you did all this work. Why don't you copy the URL including thread and post ID into a word document. And whenever that question returns, you copy and paste the link.

Or better yet, get a mod to put the link in a FAQ.

See my point ?

[ArdenDag]

All your pent up frustrations could be better used in a 'This is what I don't understand, so please help me understand it' thread, where us non-newbies or former-newbies can help to create a FAQ, as is being stated in this thread.

Get to work, I am already getting ideas and have posted more than a few in this thread.

[aleksander]

Originally posted by Big Cat
See , you did all this work. Why don't you copy the URL including thread and post ID into a word document. And whenever that question returns, you copy and paste the link.

Or better yet, get a mod to put the link in a FAQ.

See my point ?

OK...
First of all - don't you think that if it would have been that simple (copy & paste) it would have been done long time ago?
Well - it's not - you have to get through all the different topics, browse the web, sort out the stuff, put it in simple words and later put it in a nice and readable form so other people can read & understand it.
It takes time - believe me.
If you just paste a link to a thread where something has been discussed (and most of the times these threads are not for newbies - if you know what I mean), people will be coming back and asking for a more simple explanation - so it still will have to be "translated".
See my point?


@ArdenDag - thanks for your offer to help me - I will ask you for it for sure. And thanks for ideas - just keep them coming. And if you find anything that is very confusing and a very good explanation for it - post it as well.

[ArdenDag]

I think we need a collaboration from a few of the wonderfully helpful members who frequent the newbies boards, manono, hakko, jggimi, and plenty of others, to give ideas :)

Maybe you can PM them? Maybe I can? ;) but for now, I need to go to work

Peace

[Riccony]

This is my first post, even though I've been a member for a while.

I have read all the guides, have spent weeks trying the various methods to back up my DVDs. Still not one complete.

I'll go on trying, but I did want to let all you vets know that I appreciate your work in trying to get the guides to work as guides.

Given all the work the programmers have done, it will really be nice
if the guides do guide.

good luck and the gods be with you all

Ric

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by aleksander
OK...
First of all - don't you think that if it would have been that simple (copy & paste) it would have been done long time ago?
Well - it's not - you have to get through all the different topics, browse the web, sort out the stuff, put it in simple words and later put it in a nice and readable form so other people can read & understand it.

Ughh. The first time, yes it does. The next time you can copy the link wher you put the stuff you browsed on the web and put it in readable form in simple words. Is this so hard to understand ? Obviously efficiency is not a well known term in the Divx business.

Why it hasn't been done a long time ago ? You got me, On most online boards this is the standard procedure as its easier to cut and paste a link than to flame someone.

It takes time - believe me.
If you just paste a link to a thread where something has been discussed (and most of the times these threads are not for newbies - if you know what I mean), people will be coming back and asking for a more simple explanation - so it still will have to be "translated".
See my point?

Yes. And then you translate it. ANd the next time someone asks the question you cut and paste the link to the translation. See my point ?

[aleksander]

Originally posted by Big Cat


Ughh. The first time, yes it does. The next time you can copy the link wher you put the stuff you browsed on the web and put it in readable form in simple words. Is this so hard to understand ? Obviously efficiency is not a well known term in the Divx business.

Why it hasn't been done a long time ago ? You got me, On most online boards this is the standard procedure as its easier to cut and paste a link than to flame someone.


Yes. And then you translate it. ANd the next time someone asks the question you cut and paste the link to the translation. See my point ?
Ok...
It looks like you still don't get it, do you?
Have you ever tried to do something like that?
Obviously not - otherwise you wouldn't be saying that.
Why do you think we have all the rules up here? For fun?
No.
Some time ago we agreed that we'd rather have fewer members here, but valuable ones. The ones that are doing their homework.
Why do you think there is a 5 day waiting period?
For our convinience or pleasure?
No.
For new members - so they can search the forum, read guides and other stuff. So they can do their homework. So they can get to know what is it all about. Most of the questions has already been answered. Can you imagine how annoying can answering the same question all the time be?
Why do you think there is a search button?
You're accusing me of flaming people - that's my right as a moderator. If someone is too lazy to do the homework - well...

You have to understand something:
1. this is not a "I want this and this" type of board - you cannot demand
2. all the great people that are posting here are doing it because they like it, enjoy it; because that's something that is their hobby and most of all - they do it for free in their free time
3. why do you think we have all the greatest names here? If you haven't noticed - most of the stuff for doing quality dvd-ripping has its origin here...
4. what is the first thing the newbie should do? Read, read and once again - read. We have tons of guides, faqs and stickies.
5. Don't expect people to be available for your every call or need - they are not here to serve you - to be your servants - they are here because, once again, they like it.

I must admit one thing - the general Newbies faq is missing and that is something that I'm going to work on for the next few days.
I think that's it for now.

take care

aleksander

[ArdenDag]

Me and Tom are collaborating somewhat on his portion of the FAQ (that you discussed with him about, aleksander). I have sent him some of my ideas, and we'll work something out in the next few days, hopefully :)

Adios for now,

Arden

[aleksander]

Originally posted by ArdenDag
Me and Tom are collaborating somewhat on his portion of the FAQ (that you discussed with him about, aleksander). I have sent him some of my ideas, and we'll work something out in the next few days, hopefully :)

Adios for now,

Arden
Thanks so much!
I really appreciate what you and Tom are doing.
I will start a new thread where everybody can post ideas, questions, answers, suggestions or any of that kind of stuff to help us make Newbies FAQ the most complete FAQ on the planet.


take care now

aleksander

[bakercool]

WOW!

haha, This has been one hell of a thread! I do need to address some issues here.

1. Thank you. I had no idea this thread would change so much. It looks like a change for the better though.

2. When I originally started this thread, I did do my homework. Nothing I could find would make it easy for me (lets face it, Im not a programer, someone out there has made it easy and is cool enough to share it). After some pretty bad posts by people who probably shouldn't be "TRYING" to help, I noticed this link from rhaub101 ( http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/userguides/84759.php ). I went there, and YES! It was what I was looking for (pretty much). If yall haven't seen it, you need to post it here for newbies. I ripped and burned a dvd to 1 cdr ON MY FIRST TRY! YES! I was soooo excited I started burning them non-stop! (encoding one now). This is what I was talking about. It is one page, that tells you step by step how to do it. The programs are free, and easy to use. VERY EASY! :) This place is good (apparently, it helped me right?) but that link was what I was truely looking for.

3. I have read all the threads, and I am sorry I haven't been posting anything, even though I started this heated discussion. I would like to point out some facts though.

A. Becuase of rhaub101's post. I could easily make 1 cdr from a dvd, now I will help out newbies everywhere.
B. This site has an enourmous amount of information, but it does not seem to be as effecient as the link he gave me.
C. I see 2 sides here, a group of experianced "PRO's" and a group of newbies/beginners. I see where both sides are coming from, and somehow, we must meet in the middle.
D. While here, I have receieved more help from the beginners then from the PRO's. I am not saying your bad, or incompetant, Im just saying they seem to help out more (probably becuase they just learned it themselves.)

4. I still have yet to try out GK.....(waiting to be smacked). After all this time, and threads and I still haven't tried it. After I got that other stuff to work, I got too excited. After reading this thread, I am not really tempted to try it out. I mean, yall say it is the best, but only if you can get it to work. And it seems to be really hard to get it to work. I now have almost every program known to man dealing with DVD's, VCD's, AVI's, DIVX, Encoding, decoding, ripping, etc. Its kinda sad... But my point is, the link stated above took away all problems and makes it soo easy, wow..... (you do it the first time and make a template for the rest). I will test out GK, becuase it does have a good reputation. I really hope that yall take a look at that link. If GK can be made to be that easy, you wont need a newbie section really.... If you go there, you will see what I mean.

Riccony - I know your frustration dude. Check out that link, dl the programs, and follow the one page guide (except put the bitrate higher on the last step under expert). Trust me, you will have one done in less then 1 day, playable on your standalone (works on mine anyways). I will be checking this more often (lol, with probably GK questions now) so I will help you out all I can Riccony.


LASTLY!!! Thank you too all who have posted. Only through communication, discussions, and debate can anyone truly understand and help out another person. I am sure that alot of newbies will get help reading this (I did!) and if I can help yall out, let me know. I catch on quickly and offer help just as fast as I can give it. Thanks Bro's!

Corey

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by aleksander
Ok...
It looks like you still don't get it, do you?
Have you ever tried to do something like that?
Obviously not - otherwise you wouldn't be saying that.

bub ... check out bodybuilding.com. I'm the head moderator and that board has 15.000 members. Don't tell me what I have and have not tried. Have you ever tried it ?

Why do you think we have all the rules up here? For fun?
No.

The same laziness the vets here accuse the newbies of ... Being a mod is a responsibility, not a free ride to bully people around.

Some time ago we agreed that we'd rather have fewer members here, but valuable ones. The ones that are doing their homework.

Oh, I'm sorry, I could have sworn the reason for the forums was to help others. I must be in the wrong place. So what you are saying is, you would rather have the members you don't have to help ? Guess it is laziness.

Why do you think there is a 5 day waiting period?
For our convinience or pleasure?
No.

Hell yeah. So people will forget about posting by the time they can, ergo reducing the number of questions, and reducing the work you have to put in.

For new members - so they can search the forum, read guides and other stuff. So they can do their homework. So they can get to know what is it all about.

Are you suggesting that people are incapable of doing this while posting, and in doing so, possibly getting a few pointers as to where to look ? God forbid there are any FAQ's for newbies too read during the 5-day waiting period, because, oh no, that's too much work.

Most of the questions has already been answered. Can you imagine how annoying can answering the same question all the time be?

Of course. MOre so than you know. All the more reason to have a FAQ and answer with links. Takes a shitload less work than flaming newbies because you are too lazy to help.

Why do you think there is a search button?
You're accusing me of flaming people - that's my right as a moderator. If someone is too lazy to do the homework - well...

Well then, Lord forbid a mod is too lazy to help someone by posting a link or making a FAQ ...

You have to understand something:
1. this is not a "I want this and this" type of board - you cannot demand

oooh, shit, "I want to learn abour ripping DVD's". Hmmmmm.... I guess you are right, people shouldn't ask questions.

2. all the great people that are posting here are doing it because they like it, enjoy it; because that's something that is their hobby and most of all - they do it for free in their free time

Sounds more like the people that post here are the people you haven't bullied out yet while flaming them, instead of guiding them.

3. why do you think we have all the greatest names here? If you haven't noticed - most of the stuff for doing quality dvd-ripping has its origin here...

Because the greatest names realize this is an elite club where they don't have to help newbies ?

4. what is the first thing the newbie should do? Read, read and once again - read. We have tons of guides, faqs and stickies.

From 1856 ? Ever thought that if a question occurs frequently, it may be wise to add a link to the FAQ ? 2 minutes of work saves a ton of trouble. And that if a question is asked so much, it may be possible that some newbies are having trouble locating the answer ?

No of course not, that would require thinking, and that takes too much time away from your elite chit-chat.

5. Don't expect people to be available for your every call or need - they are not here to serve you - to be your servants - they are here because, once again, they like it.

I don't. By the time someone decides they want to answer my questions I've already figured it out. I don't have a need for someone to be available for me. I just think its an outrage that you call yourself a forum for helping others when your favourite passtime is telling people what they can and cannot do ...

I must admit one thing - the general Newbies faq is missing and that is something that I'm going to work on for the next few days.
I think that's it for now.

That's what I've been saying. The other boards all have members that know their shit, the newbie board doesn't. So why do you have the audacity to rip on impressionable new members, when the source of your problem clearly lies with your lack of effort ... ?

[Big Cat]

Originally posted by bakercool
LASTLY!!! Thank you too all who have posted. Only through communication, discussions, and debate can anyone truly understand and help out another person. I am sure that alot of newbies will get help reading this (I did!) and if I can help yall out, let me know. I catch on quickly and offer help just as fast as I can give it.

You are welcome, you have the right ideas. The aim of forum's is to improve understanding for all, not just the elite. Only by adressing the issues can you change the situation. I'm sure many newbies will have a great new FAQ, and owe it partly to you making your voice heard.

[ArdenDag]

Big Cat, expect a very strict response to your 'asshole' and 'smartass' remarks. They were very rude, very unwarranted, and lastly VERY UNWANTED.

I am not speaking for the moderating team here, but I am speaking as one of the members, and I, for one, do not appreciate your comments, not ONE BIT. I suspect doom9's forum and moderating team will agree with me.

Go back to your 15,000 person forum, then, if you are so highly regarded there.