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Burning DVD's - quality problem

G

General D

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 6, 2006
16
0
Hi folks, not sure if i'm in the correct section or not... but I have the DVD "Grease" and I have tried making copies, but each time the quality is just horrid. (I haven't burned them yet....once converted to a viewable quicktime format, I test them...and their all crap)

I tried using Handbrake (and although fairly quick and easy), on the colours were darker and upon initializing full screen, there was massive pixelation. Looked like I was watching a computer game from the 1980's.

I also used Mactheripper, to make an .avi file and then converting the .avi with ffmpegx. I tried using mpeg4, .h264, and I get the same quality problems.

SVCD (both types) didn't work for me.

Is there anything i'm doing wrong? Am I missing something? Or is this simply the poor state of technology that we are not able yet to fully reproduce a DVD? Or is simply this dvd is difficult to copy? I made a succesful copy of the animated movie 'ANTZ" one time, but I don't remember what settings I used.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
You can use disk utility to create a disk image of the DVD and then use it again to burn that image to a new DVD.
 
It sounds like you are using a high level of compression, thereby squashing the file size down and the quality along with it. Why don't you try using less compression, or none at all?
 
I'm not sure how to use 'disk utility'

How do you not use any compression? I'm new to 'burning', i've read around, and handbrake and mactheripper are popular programs..but I don't know a thing about fiddling with the settings


Any help would be much appreciated
 
Well, first of all I wasn't even aware that MacTheRipper was capable of compressing a DVD that it rips, but what you are describing is definitely the result of heavy file compression. I thought it just ripped DVD's at full size, uncompressed, and looking at it now I don't see any controls for compression size. But handbrake has the compression options in its main window. for "Framerate", I'd select "Same As Source". And under "Quality", I'd keep the "Target size" high (700 MB gives an ok picture, but not DVD quality -- 1400MB would probably give a darn good picture, although it's still compressing). Or you could try the "Constant Quality" slider, moving it all the way to the "100%" position. I've never used that slider, so I'm not sure exactly what '100%' means, since it's still using compression I think. Others around here probably know more than I do. I've never compressed a DVD rip with MTR, and I've never ripped a DVD with Handbrake (I've only used it to compress video files). You should be able to rip your DVD with MTR, uncompressed. I think my MTR installed on my machine with that as the default setting.
 
If you just want to make a perfect copy of an original, it is quite a simple process. First you'll need to rip the entire dvd (using mactheripper, no conversion just the video_ts files) to your hard disk , should be about 6GB.

Then you'll be immediately able to burn the folder created to a dual layer dvd using toast 6/7 (dvd-rom, udf in the data tab). If you only have single layer discs then you'll need to compress the folder to 4.4 GB. There is a 'fit to disc' compression method in toast, or other programs such as roxio popcorn and dvd2onex that enable this. The compression used by thes programs is extremely good, and odds are you will not be able to notice it on a tv
<50".

If you use dual layer discs you could also burn the folder created by mactheripper using disk utility, as no compression will be needed.

Post again if all that was a little difficult to understand.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the tips, but i've run into a problem. I do not have toast 7, only toast 6, but I gather they are mostly the same.

I took the VIDEO_TS file and dumped it into Toast, under (video). I selected NTSC, VCD, and then pressed RECORD..but I get the following message.. not sure what it means


CD-ROM XA or Audio tracks cannot be written to DVD

I also, don't see a 'fit to disc' option anywhere.
 
General D said:
Hi,

Thanks for the tips, but i've run into a problem. I do not have toast 7, only toast 6, but I gather they are mostly the same.

I took the VIDEO_TS file and dumped it into Toast, under (video). I selected NTSC, VCD, and then pressed RECORD..but I get the following message.. not sure what it means


CD-ROM XA or Audio tracks cannot be written to DVD

I also, don't see a 'fit to disc' option anywhere.
Click to expand...

Ok in Toast 6
1. Go to the DATA tab at the top
2. Click the third option down (DVD-ROM (UDF))
3. Create a new disc
4. Put the VIDEO_TS folder in the disc
5. Add an empty folder called AUDIO_TS (if it isn't already there)
6. Click burn

The AUDIO_TS folder may not be neccesary, it is supposed to enable better compatability of burnt discs. The fit to disc option is only available in toast 7 so you'll need a seperate app. to compress it to a single disc. I'm fairly sure there are no free apps. (that are simple to use like you want) that can be used for compression of discs. DVD2onex has a trial version available (i think).

Alternatively and best for a beginner, buy some dual layer discs and not worry about compression. They are not that expensive now and tend to work fine in most DVD players.
 
I just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I got Toast 7 and used the 'fit to disc' option...worked like a charm

Thanks
 
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