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Making an Identical DVD Backup using DVDRemaster 4

 

Overview

The following describes how DVDRemaster can be used to copy a DVD and preserve all the original content. We will cover the following topics:

  1. Reading a DVD:
    We cover how to import a DVD on your hard disk or how to recompress directly from the DVD drive.
  2. Setting Up DVDRemaster
    Once the DVD content has been selected, we need to set up DVDRemaster. We explain some of the options that have.
  3. Remastering, Burning, and After...
    Once you click start, DVDRemaster starts working. We detail what happens during and after the reencoding.

Requirements

Before we start, make sure you have the following:

  • Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher (10.4 is required for burning)
  • QuickTime 7.2 or higher
  • A DVD Reader and Writer
  • Decryption tools (if the DVD is encrypted).
  • About 5GB of free space if you are making the copy directly from the DVD, or about 12GB is you make a temporary copy on your hard drive first.

Reading a DVD

On a DVD, the video content is found in the VIDEO_TS folder. Although this is not mandatory, we recommend copying this folder and its content on your hard disk before recompression for two reasons:
  • DVDRemaster will perform two passes on the data. During the first pass, it observes how data is distributed so that during the second pass it knows exactly where to put emphasis on the recompression. Since DVD drives are much slower than hard drives, using a local copy will make the process faster.
  • If you are not satisfied with the settings that you used, you may want to recompress the DVD again. Once again, having a local copy on your hard drive will save you from reading it again from the slower DVD drive.

To make a local copy, you may simply drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder from the DVD to your Desktop. Note that this will fail if the DVD is encrypted unless you are using FairMount.

Once you are ready, launch DVDRemaster and click on Source. You will be prompted to choose the VIDEO_TS folder containing your movie, either your local copy on your hard drive, or the one on the DVD if you chose not to make a local copy.

Setting Up DVDRemaster

Although you could click on Start right away, we will explore some of the settings. Expand the interface by clicking on the lower-left triangle.

Here are the settings that you can configure:

Recompression Module
Two recompression modules are provided. Transcode is a very fast transcoder that doesn't recompute most of the original video compression settings (such as motion between frames). Most of the time, this module is quite effective and can be used without worrying about quality. In cases where quality is the priority and the original DVD is large (over 7GB), you may prefer the Recode module which truly recompresses everything. This is much slower, but often yields a better quality when the recompression ratio is high.
Burn Disk
Once DVDRemaster is done recompressing, it can burn the result on a blank DVD. If you are not using your DVD writer to read the source DVD, you might want to look in the Preferences... (in the DVDRemaster menu) and ask that DVDRemaster prepares the DVD writer at the beginning of the session. That way, you can leave the room and let your computer process, and when you come back the disk will be burnt and ready. Otherwise, DVDRemaster will ask you to insert the blank DVD once it is done recompressing.
Remastering Mode
Choose whether you want to make an exact copy (Full remaster) or copy only the main feature (Movie only). In Movie only, the menus and all bonus features are discarded, thus there is more space for the main movie.
Target Size
This is the size that DVDRemaster will try to reach. For a 5GB blank DVD, we recommend setting this value to 4450MB.

That's it, you are ready to start the remastering (that's the big Start button in the upper right corner).

Remastering, Burning, and After...

After you clicked on start, here is what happens:
  1. DVDRemaster recompresses your DVD in two passes. At first, it will tell you that it is Parsing the DVD files, and then it starts the actual encoding. In your destination folder, DVDRemaster will create a VIDEO_TS similar to the one you are reading from except that it has been recompressed.
  2. If you asked DVDRemaster to burn the DVD after it is done, it will ask you to insert a blank DVD and burn the VIDEO_TS folder. This step may take quite some time, depending on the speed of your DVD writer.
  3. After the reencoding is done (and optionally the burning), the recompressed VIDEO_TS folder will remain on your disk. You may delete it or keep it in your archives. Note that Apple DVD Player can open this VIDEO_TS folder directly from your hard drive and play its content
    You may also burn this recompressed VIDEO_TS folder again using the "Burn VIDEO_TS Folder..." item in the file menu of DVDRemaster.
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