Recommendation, Backups not working :-(

[TooHuge]

I have been backing up my dvd's for awhile. I have been using Instant copy for the most part. I am starting to finally watch them and I have a lot of movies with skip and stutter at certain parts and others that have random artifacts during the movie. I am burning to cheap optodisc dvd-r's at 1x. But all the movies that I could direct copy have never had a problem. And I have reburnt the same image files to different disc's and it would stutter at the exact same points. So I am pretty sure its not the media. Is there any other software that would work better for me? Better quality and not stuttering?

Thanks
TooHuge

[Joergen]

I'd say it prolly is the media. That's what you get when you dont verify the burns at all. DVD-R is not CD-R

[ux-3]

Originally posted by TooHuge
And I have reburnt the same image files to different disc's and it would stutter at the exact same points.

Have you tried them on different players?

[sarahjh69]

use better media
if you compress a movie, you are fitting more frames
into the same space as an uncompressed movie, so the
data stream needs to be read faster......
so inferior quality media will stutter.

[Joergen]

Originally posted by sarahjh69
use better media
if you compress a movie, you are fitting more frames
into the same space as an uncompressed movie, so the
data stream needs to be read faster......
so inferior quality media will stutter.

It's actually the opposite, since the overall bitrate of the movie is reduced, the read-speed data rate need not be even the 1X that is DVD nominal speed.

[TooHuge]

Because of the stuttering happening at the exact spot of the movie on multiple disc's seems to me that it would not be the media. I can re-encode with instant copy and it will sometimes fix the stuttering or just make it stutter somewhere els.

TooHuge

[Joergen]

TooHuge: I can think of one thing you should always check:

DVD-R tend to be more dusty or dirty than CD-R because DVD-R are manufactured or handled by less experienced parties than say your wal-mart box of CD-R in shrinkwrap and jewel case. So if you have dust on your disc when you burn it, it leaves shadows or "holes" in the data that are harder to read and might cause a skip or stutter. I always try to blow or wipe off any dust on the data side before burning.

Look at a disc you have burnt that stutters (a dvdshrink or IC7/8 copy) and in good light, try to see if there are dark spots in the purple dye.

[ux-3]

Sorry but that doesn't fit the description. From what he writes, it is either the software or the player. So I ask again, have these problems occured on different players at the very same spot?

[TooHuge]

I do recall it happening in my bed room as well. I will have to pop in the movie tonight and see if it does it at the exact spot. It’s just that I have done a lot of testing and it seems to point to the software. I have a lot of older DVD’s that I have been able to back up without encoding and I have not had a problem with one of them yet. I will report my findings on the different DVD players.

TooHuge

[TooHuge]

Well I tested it and my backups do mess up at the same spot on diff DVD players. I can see where this would be the media, but when I burn multiple copies and the other copies do the same thing makes me think it’s the encoder. What are some cheap but quality media that I can start buying? I don’t care about burn speeds, I usually only burn at 1x anyway.

Thanks
TooHuge

[wmansir]

Use DVDRhelp's DVD Media List (http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdmedia) to find out what works well with your drive. The gold standard affordable media is Ritek. It is not much more expensive than the really cheap stuff.

Check out this thread (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?start=0&catid=18&threadid=199393) at fatwallet for media deals.

[writersblock29]

@TooHuge

If you've burned multiple copies of the same movie onto different disks, and the stuttering happens in exactly the same place, I'd virtually gaurantee that it's not the media.

I know that early versions of DVD Shrink had this problem (the same author's sister project, Recode, did exactly what you described to me)... but the bug was supposedly fixed. I bring this up because DVD Shrink and Instant Copy work within the same principle; so it sounds logical that your having this problem with Instant copy might actually be caused by the same factors that created this in early DVD Shrink versions. So what I'd suggest is fairly simple -- and won't cost you a dime to test. I'd suggest going to Doom9's download section, and grabbing a copy of DVD Shrink (this will be the current version with the bug fixed), then use it to back up a disk that had previously given you grief. Since Shrink yeilds very comparable quality -- if you're using Deep Analysis Mode -- it may give you a different option for creating your backups for now.

I've been using DVD Shrink quite often without any problems (and yes, by the way, I occasionaly use some pretty cheap media -- especially if I'm burning kids' movies), finding that its quality is on par with what I used to get with Instant Copy 7, only without undersizing issues. Plus -- if you've got Nero 7 on your machine -- it's a one-stop-shopping setup: Put the original in one drive, a blank in your burner, set up the program... and return to a burned copy within a few hours.

If that fixes the stuttering problems, at least then you'll know it's not your media!

Good luck!

[kraven morehead]

If you read my post, its on the 1st page, you will find that i just went through the same problem.
After all testing, I have found that it is the size of the finished file size that is causing this. every media is a bit different, and some need more space at the end, or i should say some hold more data then others, not to mention the pickiness of your burner/standalone player.
The solution for me was to set the final output size to 100 mb less then the standard 4464 mb output in dvd-shrink, therefore making the file size 4364. this has fixed my problems. I used to use instant copy as well, and i might go back, but the reason instant copy always worked is because of the way it burns. I believe it always undersizes your final movie. If you flip over a burned disc by instant copy and compare it to one done with say dvd shrink you will see what i mean.
hope this helps.

[mrbass]

You should never have to undersize with quality media. I never have myself.

[kraven morehead]

well the only thing i can assume it might be after all of this is that either my media isnt good enough (right now verbatim dvd -r) or the fact that my burner wont burn right even at 2x to the end of the disc. i dont think thats the problem though.
I am going to try the be-all media next and see for sure.
I dont know if i should just go to dvd +r or -r though.
isnt +r even smaller?

[DK64_MASTER]

Are you using labels? If you are, that could be your problem. I'm not sure how to remove them, but I heard luke warm water with soap works. I'm out of options otherwise.