New Utility --MakeItEasy-- Full Backups with DVD2one

[jdobbs]

All,

Okay, I've been impressed with the speed of DVD2one and its ability to create VOBs. But I've been wishing I could do complete backups, menus and all, like I do with the DVD2AVI/CCE/IFOUpdate method. The author is promising this capability in future versions.

I couldn't wait. So I wrote a utility (I call it "MakeItEasy") to do it for me and (as always) I'm sharing it with the DOOM9 crowd. To make it work you need DVDDecrypter, DVD2one, IFOEDIT, and MakeItEasy -- nothing more. Complete backups in an hour or so.

Here's how it works:

1. Rip the disc to your harddrive with DVDDecrypter. Put them in a directory called D:\ORIG (or any name you like)

2. Look at the VOBs and find the one with the movie (the biggest)

3. Copy the files VTS_XX_1.VOB thru VTS_XX_n.VOB to another directory -- for instance call it d:\SOURCE

4. Now look at the directory you copied from and see how much space is used by other files (IFOs, other VOBs, etc.) -- you'll need to know this for MakeItEasy.

5. Run MakeItEasy and follow the directions. You must first prepare the DVD2one source. What you will be doing is padding the VOB files with enough space to hold your extras! That is shown as Step 2 -- make sure you create plenty of space as it will be compressed along with the rest of the source data. It all depends on the size at the start -- regardless it will shrink to 4.38GB when completed.

6. After MakeItEasy pads the VOB files. Run IFOEDIT and click the "Create IFOs" button. It will create all the files needed to run DVD2one.

7. Run DVD2one against the files you just created. Use D:\SOURCE for input and D:\DEST for output (or any name you want)

8. After it's done, it's time to remove the padding (so you have room for your extras) from the files in the D:\DEST directory. Again, MakeItEasy does that -- just follow the directions.

9. Copy the VOB files (only) from the D:\DEST directory to the D:\ORIG directory.

10. Run the update function from MakeItEasy. It updates the original IFO in the same way that IFOUpdate would. It also does a "Get VTS Sectors" function.

11. Test it with PowerDVD or another Player. If all went well you should have directory ready to burn in under an hour.

Please don't throw stones if you find errors. CONSIDER THIS VERSION A BETA. Please post your results here. I just finished writing the software, used it once, and am posting so others can help me debug it. I haven't even written a readme file yet.

Enjoy.

---------
FOUND A BUG -- DELETED ATTACHMENT
WILL POST AGAIN ON TUESDAY

[The_Flash]

I'll give it a shot after work tomorrow. Thanks for your hard work and dedication!

[jdobbs]

I found a pretty serious bug. It deleted the files I had created with DVD2one when I was testing on "ET" (it was only supposed to get rid of the padding, sigh) -- I gotta get some sleep, I'll fix and repost tomorrow.

[fourtyfour]

servus...

hehe, your tool sounds cool.

but I think DVD2one next release comes till the next two weeks.

Pinnacles product will start at beginning of march and will do menus.

But I couldn´t wait for some movies with 5.5 GB.

So attach the tool as soon as possible :D

regards, fourtyfour

[Skinleech]

Very nice sounding tool, I will give it a try also.

[jdobbs]

Here's the formula for computing padding size.

a = size of the entire original disc
b = size of all except the main movie
c = size needed for Padding

(a/4.38) * b = c

So if you have an 7GB area that consists of 5GB in movie and 2 GB in extras:

(7/4.38) * 2 = 3.19GB in padding (3190MB)

[jdobbs]

Ok I fixed the bug (stupid error) -- lets try it again. Please post anything you find with this...

[FamousPerson]

jdobbs:

your attachment is still "gone"

[mpucoder]

We have no moderator to approve attachments, so only supermods and admin can do it.

[jdobbs]

I just did 'ET' with this tool (all features are included) -- it worked great and took a total of 45 minutes beginning to end (not counting burntime).

DVD2one may not be a "perfect" backup -- but it looks damn good.

I'm going to do "Matrix" next.

jdobbs

[jdobbs]

I don't have the patience to wait, so I deleted the attachment here and posted it in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45104).

Download, try it, and give me some feedback.

Not sure about multiple angles yet... I may have to make an adjustment for that (tomorrow?) -- it should be fine with interleaved, though.

[alanrob]

Your a star m8 :D
Keep up the good work.

[jdobbs]

Just tried "Matrix" twice -- no luck. But it doesn't seem to be MakeItEasy or DVD2one... the IFO file created by IFOUPDATE doesn't seem to be correctly formed. I'll try some more titles.

[jdobbs]

Okay. I think I've figured out the problem with "Matrix" As I was padding I had an incrementing VOBID. The program pads by reintroducing video from the start of the movie with different VOBID/CELLID and LBA numbers... In the case of "Matrix" it overran and I got some funky VOBID numbers.

For virtually all movies that isn't an issue. At any rate, it's easy to fix. I will correct and repost tomorrow. The new version should also work for multiple angles.

[fletch]

jdobbs,

Thanks for this nifty new add-on ! I shall test on a PAL movie tonight and post my results.

Cheers

Fletch

[CyBerian]

thx. for this nice tool :)
I will test it tommorow...

[The_Flash]

DVD2One won't open the padded vobs. Not sure if it's an ifo creation problem or the padding.

[theraven15]

First I would like to say this is a great little idea though I can't go by use since I can't seem to get it to work. I'm hoping someone can help me cause I would love to try this out.

I was just wondering if I'm doing something wrong when using MakeItEasy cause in the first padding routine it starts out fine and then I get a "Run-Time Error 5 invalid procedure call or arguement" error message and then the program closes. Has any one else gotten this error or knows why I'm getting it.

This is in step 2 - does it matter what vob file you select as the dvd2one source. I selected the first in the series.

[alanrob]

Originally posted by theraven15
First I would like to say this is a great little idea though I can't go by use since I can't seem to get it to work. I'm hoping someone can help me cause I would love to try this out.

I was just wondering if I'm doing something wrong when using MakeItEasy cause in the first padding routine it starts out fine and then I get a "Run-Time Error 5 invalid procedure call or arguement" error message and then the program closes. Has any one else gotten this error or knows why I'm getting it.

This is in step 2 - does it matter what vob file you select as the dvd2one source. I selected the first in the series.

Are you moving all the VOB's for the main movie into another folder?

[Calypso]

jdobbs,

Fine effort- I applaud your continual ingenuity!

Seems to me this method, however, will not work with many multi-pgc titles (typical WB titles, for instance.) The problem is that there is often one or more PGCs both before and after the main feature (like a WB intro, theatrical trailer, etc). I'm not sure exactly which PGC you are padding- but the crux of the problem is the DVD2ONE only lets you select one PGC. If you pad the last PGC, DVD2ONE ignores all that nice padding. :(

In the test case I ran, after "depadding", I still ended up with the same exact number of files, which totaled 4.37GB. MakeItEasy didn't complain about it at all- acted as if nothing was wrong.

EDIT AFTERWARDS:

I do see that the entire VOB was what DVD2ONE encoded (all PGCs), as well as your padding. I guess the IFOEdit step created a single PGC out of the entire VOB. I have about 11 minutes of your padding at the end of the VOB, which MakeItEasy just can't seem to remove.

If this is supposed to work, I guess I'm a bit confused how this single PGC title gets integrated back into the original IFO, which has multiple PGCs.

[dvdRENEGADE]

jdobbs,
Thanx for the great work with IfoUpdate and now MakeItEasy.

I just completed Spider-Man with your new method and it worked like a charm. Will you be adding the "Transfer Time Map" option in an upcoming version? Without it, the slider within PowerDVD won't function properly.
Thanks again, dvdRENEGADE

[theraven15]

Originally posted by alanrob
Are you moving all the VOB's for the main movie into another folder?

I'm moving everything except the menu vob which is the first in the series. It starts the first padding process but then I get that error. Then the program closes.

[ddepuemd]

Hey! I'm ready to try your method, it sounds like the best! Where do I get MakeItEasy???

Dean

[dvdRENEGADE]

ddepuemd,
jdobbs included a link to it within this thread. Look on the previous page.
dvdRENEGADE

[ddepuemd]

Sorry about that! I found it anyway. I should always think before I open my mouth (or type, in this case). It's too early - 5 AM.

I'm about to try The Matrix with this method...

[jdobbs]

When the VOBs are standing alone there is no such thing as a PGC, only VOBID, CELLID, and VOBUs. The PGC is defined in the IFO. So when IFOEDIT creates the new IFO, it assumes a single PGC. DVD2one encodes it as a single PGC. Then MakeItEasy puts the information back into the original IFO, making it multiple PGC again.

It doesn't matter which VOB you select -- MakeItEasy collects the filenames for all VOBs in that directory. DO, HOWEVER, make sure the VOBs are in a directory by themselves.

Something to watch for:

Make sure the files aren't read-only. When you copy them directly from a DVD (not using DVDDecrypter) they maintain the read only status (unclick it).

All: Please remember that this is a beta and is bound to run into some errors.

@dvdRenegade

I'll add options as soon as I get rid of the initial errors. How was the quality on SPIDERMAN?

[Chambers]

Just want to thank you Jdobbs for making this tool. I will test it out tonight on The Matrix (NTSC) once I get home (if my new mobo comes in). I tried taking an extra audio stream, the ripping it out to make room for the menu, then using ifoupdate on the ifo's but it kept giving me errors and didn't work. I hope this new tool will work. Thanks again!

[dvdRENEGADE]

I've only checked out about 10 mins. of Spider-Man by skipping around the movie on my computer with PowerDVD. I didn't notice any flaws, flickering, etc. I'll edit this and give an update on my opinion of the total quality of it after watching it on my television. I usually go the CCE/IfoUpdate way when doing full DVDs. This is way simpler and much faster. If you're running low on time, this is the way to go. dvdRENEGADE

[theraven15]

I would like to say that I'm in the process of testing it out. I seemed to figure out my problem and it had something to do with the dvd I was doing. I started out testing with Star wars Ep2 and makeiteasy came up with that error durinig step one every time. So I gave up on that one and now testing resident evil and as of this writing I'm in the dvd2one step. Though I did have to change the numbers around since the movie on resident evil is on VTS_02 dvd2one would work so I changed the the 2 to a 1 and dvd2one is running. I just wanted to let people no that my problem was with makeiteasy totally. It was with star wars ep2 cause the program seems to be working with resident evil.

[drmih]

Just tried it on a disc with the main title set about 3 hours long (6.85 Gb for VTS_01) and with 4 PGCs. Everything worked fine except that it did overshoot by 20 Mb - not usually a pain but on this occassion there were no other files to grab to get the extra space. However, I just had a flick through on the PC using PowerDVD and was impressed with the quality of the encoding. Timings wise it took about 55 mins to encode using DVD2One. The other time delay was due to the creation of the files by ifoedit (probably 20 to 30 mins) - is there a quicker method to create the dummy files containing one PGC?

[bommelid]

I tried out the tool with "Romeo must die".
It worked fine until step 4.
The new encoded VOBs are 4.38GB. But if I select them and press "Remove Padding" it seems to work and creates a makeiteasy.vob .
but after step 4 is done the size is still 4.38GB (only the movie without extras).

bommelid

[da_SPiN]

hmmmmm, anyone expirienced the following? I ripped the DVD with DVD-Decrypter, moved over the files to an other dir. Calculated according to the formula (full dvd: 6,2GB Extras: 1,6GB => Padding 1.925)
Ok, I only chose the VTS_02_1.vob filein MakeItEasy. (VTS_02_xx was the movie). Everything went fine, VOB files were blown up. The I fired up ifo edit and created the ifo files (which were named VTS_01_0.IFO and VTS_01_0.BUP and the two TS files, so I renamed the vob files (from 02 to 01) to match up with the ifo files and fired up DVD2One. Everything went fine until here. DVD2One Squeezed the back to 4,36GB but the next step failed. Removing padding didn't work, files were still 4,36 GB. The movie I tried was EXIT WOUNDS (PAL).
Any ideas? Help is muuuuuch apreciated....

thx

SPiN

[alanrob]

I'm going to try MASH Season 1 Disk 3 tonight and I'll post l8r how I get on with it.

[Eyes`Only]

dvdRenegade: You don't see any flaws? Give me a break! Turn on the 'spider sense' on your DVD, and try to use it. There's your flaw. Doubt you'll ever get that working with this method.

[marvel2020]

First of all, jdobbs thx for taking the time and effort to make such a programme.

Ok i'm gonna try backing up The Jackal PAL Region 2, Now when rip to my Harddrive the size is...

Entire DVD = 7.61GB
Main Movie Vob's =5.74GB
Remaining Extra's = 1.86GB

Now as i understand the formula, you Divide the Entire DVD size by the 4.38, then what ever your left with you Multiply with the Remaining Extra's, so in my case.....

7.61 divided 4.38 =answer here x 1.86

Is this correct ???? or am i well of the mark here???

Also what do you use to do the formula, can you use the calculator in windows ???.

Sorry for asking and sounding like a total Dumbass( Maybe because i am :) ).

Thanks in advance

[The_Flash]

Originally posted by da_SPiN
...Everything went fine until here. DVD2One Squeezed the back to 4,36GB but the next step failed. Removing padding didn't work, files were still 4,36 GB. The movie I tried was EXIT WOUNDS (PAL).
Any ideas? Help is muuuuuch apreciated....

thx

SPiN

Same problem here. My disc was M:I-2 (NTSC)

[siloportem]

thx to jdobbs for the effort on MakeItEasy. pretty sweet little prog.

i ran into the same trouble with removing the padding from the new VOB's from DVD2One. here's what i did to fix it.

basically...strip out the extra IDs that are in the new VOB. from what i gather MakeItEasy pads the VOBs with more audio and video by looping the movie as much as you need. what you can do is open the IFO that DVD2One generates and strip the VOB IDs from it.

i checked my original IFO to see how many IDs i was supposed to have. the answer: 27. i checked the newly created IFO from DVD2One and it contained 110 or so IDs. i fired that DVD2One IFO up in IFOEdit and ran a StripID on it. i kept the first 27 IDs. i had IFOEdit put my new VOBs and new IFO files in a new directory.

i dropped my new VOBs back into my Orig directory. then i used IFOUpdate to correct the Orig IFO and all was good.

hope this makes sense and helps...

[dvdRENEGADE]

jdobbs,
I've tried 2 straight and can't get it to remove the padding except for the way siloportem mentions above.
They were:
X-Files Season 1 DVD 1 and Changing Lanes. It removed the padding w/ Spider-Man.
dvdRENEGADE

Eyes`Only
No spider sense...that's a bummer.

[gnutellafan]

hey, thank you for the continued work for the scene. However, wouldnt it be easier to make a feature request to just set the end output size from dvd2one? Should be simple enough for them to implement and remove alot of steps.

[2COOL]

Wow! I counted over a hundred people, members and guests, reading this thread right now. It's just too captivating!:D

[mhz]

Originally posted by gnutellafan
hey, thank you for the continued work for the scene. However, wouldnt it be easier to make a feature request to just set the end output size from dvd2one? Should be simple enough for them to implement and remove alot of steps.

Bravo, I think this is the best way, DVD2ONE if you read this please add an option to your wonderfull program to set the dvd final size :)
Tx.
Miki

p.s. I have the same problem with step4 "remove padding" did not do the job for my "Rules of Engagement" ( NTSC) same 4.37GB after running this step :(

[jdobbs]

I obviously have a bug in removing padding. I'll look at it either tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for all the feedback -- please remember this is a work in progress.

BTW, I asked the DVD2one author (via EMail) if he could add a feature to set the output file size. He said it was coming in a future version. At that point the only thing you'd need is the update function. Who knows, maybe he'll do complete disc backups in the next version and at that point I'll be happy to dump this program.

You gotta love all this DVD stuff, eh? But most of the fun is in figuring out the insides... when it gets too easy we're all going to have to start looking for another challenge. Sigh...

jdobbs

[alanrob]

Here's how I got on with MASH Season 1 Disk 3 -

Took 35 mins to copy all the files from the DVD to my hd using DVD Decrypter.
Wasted a bit of time with the IFO creation within IFOEdit - forgot to make it a single PGC (DOH!)

20 mins to do DVD2One and everything worked out fine until I go to burn it off to a DVDR.

I'm getting the same problem I get when I try other methods of doing DVD9 to DVD5 copies. RecordNow starts off burning as normal, but when it hits around 15MB it comes up saying it is finalising the DVDR.
20 mins later it spits the disk out, but only a small part of the disk has been used.

When I load this disk in and look at it within Explorer all the files are there and it thinks the disk is 4.3GB???

Guess this is another method that just will not work for me. Anyone any ideas as to what can be causing this.

BTW, the new VOB's play 100% in PowerDVD so there can't be anything wrong there (or can it?)...

[mpucoder]

I can't explain the cause, but I can explain explorer. Explorer looks only at the directory information, which is written prior to the data. Unlike hard drives, the directory cannot be updated as writing takes place, or afterward (as Windows does), and so it reflects what should be if everything works.

[dvdRENEGADE]

jdobbs has posted makeiteasy-v012.zip in the other thread. It's supposed to correct the remove padding problem. just letting you know in case you didn't already.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45104

[ddepuemd]

I just finished with Gone in 60 Seconds and it worked great! No problems at all.

But I agree with some earlier comments on this thread, it would be nice it DVD2one squeezed more than just the main movie. In fact, it would be nice if it squeezed all the extras, features, etc. first to see what is left. I would rather suffer quality there than in the main movie.

As in GONE, there is sp. feat. file more than 600MB. This could easily be squeezed and leave room for better quality in the main movie.

Other than that, it works great! I am going to try Rules of Engagement next.

By the way, time frame:
rip the entire disk - 40 mins
pad the files - 20 mins
process IFO's - 15 mins
dvd2one - 65 mins
remove padding - 15 mins
update IFO's - 5 mins
burn - 40 mins

this is not a "quickly"!!!

I have a dual Athlon 1.8GHz MP machine with 1GB DDR mem.

Dean

[jdobbs]

Wow -- I have to tell you those are lousy speeds.

I'm using an XP2100, 512MB 2100 RAM, and an ATA-100 60GB drive on my video encoding computer.

1. Ripping to disc. Never takes more than 20 minutes. Are you sure you've enabled DMA and/or ASPI?

2. Padding the files: 10 minutes at the most

3. Process IFOs -- maximum of 10 minutes

4. DVD2one -- about 30 minutes for a full VTS set.

5. Removing padding -- maybe 10 minutes

6. Updating the IFO -- instantaneous.

That is a 1 hour worst case scenario. Of course nothing is going to make the burn go faster no matter how you reauthor it.

jdobbs

[ddepuemd]

I am using XP Pro on my machine. Are you saying that I should set I/O mode to ASPI, using the WINASPI32.DLL instead of the default SPTI for XP?

[mhz]

Originally posted by ddepuemd
I just finished with Gone in 60 Seconds and it worked great! No problems at all.

But I agree with some earlier comments on this thread, it would be nice it DVD2one squeezed more than just the main movie. In fact, it would be nice if it squeezed all the extras, features, etc. first to see what is left. I would rather suffer quality there than in the main movie.

As in GONE, there is sp. feat. file more than 600MB. This could easily be squeezed and leave room for better quality in the main movie.

Other than that, it works great! I am going to try Rules of Engagement next.

Dean

In the movie "Rules of Engagement" the extras are 2.5GB I did squeezed themt to 800MB using the same MakeItEasy way for it in two steps:
1. squeeze the extras.
2. squeeze the main movie.
using DVD2ONE and it works pefectly for me ( only problem with the padding removing.. hope the next version will solve)
:rolleyes:
Miki

[ddepuemd]

mhz:

How did you sqeeze the extras first?????

DVD2one won't go any further than allow me to select the directs. I know it won't work on files less than 4.3 gb either. Did you pad the files for the extras first???

Dean