DVD-Replica

[foobaz]

Has anyone tried DVD-Replica? It seems to have a lot of options that other one-click solutions don't have. And the price is right. $25. According to some websites, a demo version was once offered but it is no longer available. I emailed the author and asked him if the demo were still available and told him I would never buy it unless I tried it first and liked it, no matter what the price. But he never replied.

I can't find any reviews or even any mention of it anywhere other than the few posts in these forums that were critical of the author's non-compliance with the GPL.

[jwo62]

never heard of it!
you get what you pay for. with the only exception's being dvdshrink and dvddecryptor. they truly are a bargain.

The best program I have purchased is dvd95copy. it rips,process's and burns all in one step. it does arccos protected discs without any helper programs. it splits,does dual layer,and you can remove unwanted titles with one click without losing the menu or re authoring the whole disc. and most of all,the support is awesome.

and there is a free demo:)

Jim

[dragongodz]

critical of the author's non-compliance with the GPL.
any time you see this best steer clear because it shows dodgy dealings and attitude.

you get what you pay for. with the only exception's being dvdshrink and dvddecryptor.
hmm i think you will find there are more programs than just those 2.

[foobaz]

Originally posted by jwo62
never heard of it!


Check it out at:

http://www.dvd-replica.com/dvdreplica1.php

The thing is, the DVD-Replica website has the most information on the net about file structures and authoring concepts for the newbie. PGCEdit has direct links to this site for detailed definitions of all available commands. I haven't bought the 'Unofficial DVD Specs' that he sells for $25 but a lot of it is online for free. The point is, this guy obviously knows a lot about DVD authoring and he generously makes available that knowledge. His software seems to have many flexible options for those of us who want to arrange split discs the way we want them. It seems that the software could conceivably be very good. The problem is, there are no reviews, no feedback from users. So that is somewhat suspect. However I'd be willing to give a demo a chance and then buy the software if it performed. Barring that, I'd like to get some feedback from actual users. Hence this thread.


you get what you pay for. with the only exception's being dvdshrink and dvddecryptor. they truly are a bargain.


Actually, when it comes to 'one-click' DVD "backup" software, nothing could be farther from the truth. There are a lot of expensive rip-offs out there. DVDShrink and DVDDecryptor are of course worth much more than their free price but they don't qualify as one-click solutions.


The best program I have purchased is dvd95copy. it rips,process's and burns all in one step. it does arccos protected discs without any helper programs. it splits,does dual layer,and you can remove unwanted titles with one click without losing the menu or re authoring the whole disc. and most of all,the support is awesome.

and there is a free demo:)

Jim

Well, thanks for the recommendation. I am aware of it and maybe I'll check it out but I am only interested in uncompressed backups. How well does it do splits? Can I arrange the splits any way I want? Can I keep all angles without problems in set-top players?

[dragongodz]

The thing is, the DVD-Replica website has the most information on the net about file structures and authoring concepts for the newbie. PGCEdit has direct links to this site for detailed definitions of all available commands. I haven't bought the 'Unofficial DVD Specs' that he sells for $25 but a lot of it is online for free. The point is, this guy obviously knows a lot about DVD authoring and he generously makes available that knowledge.
generously ? hmm and if he is till doing whats mentioned here
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63471.
without any disclosure etc then how generous is that ?



How well does it do splits? Can I arrange the splits any way I want? Can I keep all angles without problems in set-top players?
there are guides and posts about splitting on this forum, such as
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=85350
being just 1 example.
if however you want a 1 click type solution then maybe dvdfab is worth looking at.
http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-fab-platinum.htm
not exactly cheap but since it has a download i assume you can atleast trial it and see how it works.

[jwo62]

Originally posted by dragongodz

hmm i think you will find there are more programs than just those 2.


of course there are more than two. what I meant was that the price is right (free) and both dvdd and dvdshrink do what they are supposed to do. unlike many programs that are not free and dont.


Originally posted by foobaz

Actually, when it comes to 'one-click' DVD "backup" software, nothing could be farther from the truth. There are a lot of expensive rip-offs out there. DVDShrink and DVDDecryptor are of course worth much more than their free price but they don't qualify as one-click solutions.


Yes,I suppose your right. crap can be overpriced too. I only meant that just because its cheap at 25 bucks,that doesnt make it a bargain.

But I do think that dvdshrink is considered a one click program. I think that "one click" is a relative term,not literal. there are no programs that REALLY only require ONE click. I havnt actually counted "clicks" on any program,but the old methods of re encodeing dvds was by far many many more clicks or steps than what is required by the new generation of "oneclick"programs that started with dvd2one followed by dvd95copy,IC7 and dvdshrink.

Originally posted by foobaz
How well does it do splits?

I couldnt tell you first hand,you would have to try the demo. I dont do splits. My prsonal opinion is that the quality of a oneclick programs backup is fine for most movies,and the few that I insist on perfect quality,like starwars or LOTR,I will only watch an original. thats just my preference,everyone is different.
you could always split with ifoedit,i think there is a new version out.

Hmm,I find myself explaining my post twice,maybe I need to be more clear:o .

[jwo62]

foobaz,

after looking at the dvd-replica home page(if you can call it that),my gut feeling is that this software is bunk! They sure provide a lot of links to a lot of other software,e books and e resouces. why? is all of that needed to use this software? it seems creepy to me

I sure hope someone who has used this program posts thier opinion about it.

[blutach]

While the DVD Replica site is generally excellent, there are many examples of incorrect info on it, too.

The better reference is, of course (IMHO), http://www.mpucoder.com/DVD/.

Regards

[foobaz]

Originally posted by blutach
While the DVD Replica site is generally excellent, there are many examples of incorrect info on it, too.
Oh really? Can you give some examples? I certainly don't want to be "learning" incorrect information.

The better reference is, of course (IMHO), http://www.mpucoder.com/DVD/.
Well, that information is only useful if you have spent lots of time learning about low-level data structure details. It is just tables of commands and parameters. The Unofficial spec is the best introductory level information I have seen and, after all, r0lZ does make extensive use of the information at the site in PGCEdit. I find it useful anyway.

BTW most of those tables are available for free (MPUCoder charges $5 for membership) at the sourceforge:

http://dvd.sourceforge.net/dvdinfo/

I was wondering about MPUCoder's site. Are the forums worth the $5 membership fee?

[foobaz]

Originally posted by dragongodz
generously ? hmm and if he is till doing whats mentioned here
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63471.
without any disclosure etc then how generous is that ?
Yes, well that is the post I referred to at the beginning of the thread, but that does not make his making available all that information any less generous IMO.

there are guides and posts about splitting on this forum, such as
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=85350
being just 1 example.
Yes, PGCEdit and VobBlanker are great for doing splits manually but it is very time-consuming to do it right and there is still the angle problem. In any case this is not a 'one-click' solution so shouldn't really be mentioned in this thread on this forum.

if however you want a 1 click type solution then maybe dvdfab is worth looking at.
http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-fab-platinum.htm
not exactly cheap but since it has a download i assume you can atleast trial it and see how it works.
I did try DVDFab but didn't like it. It is very inflexible. It lets you choose among two or three different split sizes and then procedes to dump most of the bonus features onto the first disc. The exact opposite of the way I'd do it.

[jwo62]

Foobaz,

Have you had time to try dvd95copy? if so,what are your thoughts?

Still no comments from a dvd-replica user.

Jim

[foobaz]

Originally posted by jwo62
Foobaz,

Have you had time to try dvd95copy? if so,what are your thoughts?



Not yet. I'm waiting til I have a multiangle example to try.