[jb22]

I'm soon going to be getting a new G4 DP 1.25 with the newer superdrive. Is it possible for me to backup my DVD movies? As I believe you are allowed to make a single backup of anything you own like music or software, so I'm assuming movies are the same (I think).

If I can make a legal copy, would it be as easy as copying the files to my hard drive, and then burning them again with Toast?

Also, if I make my own DVD's with iDVD or DVD Studio Pro (if I can afford to get it), can those be easily copied?

Thanks.

 

[ehMax]

Short answer... no, can't backup DVD's. Commercial DVD's are double layered, sometime double sided too. You can fit a lot more information onto a commercial DVD than you can on a single sided, single layered DVD-R disc. (Maximum of 1 hour high quality, 1.5 hour lower quality)

You CAN copy DVD-R disks that your create with iDVD or DVD Studio pro. Read the Apple article : How to copy previously burned DVD-R discs

Here's a good overview on DVD technology and differences between some discs.

 

[jb22]

Okay thanks. Is it possible to copy a chapter or just a part of a DVD? Lets say I want to copy one of the bonus features from a DVD's bonus disk or what ever, can that be done?

I know people rip DVDs on the PC (see www.vcdhelp.com) but since my MAc will have a DVD-R I was wondering if I could do it on a Mac?

 

[gordguide]

"... I'm soon going to be getting a new G4 DP 1.25 with the newer superdrive. Is it possible for me to backup my DVD movies? As I believe you are allowed to make a single backup of anything you own like music or software, so I'm assuming movies are the same (I think). ..."

There is nothing wrong with backup of a movie, per se. You must stay within the bounds of copyright, but personal use is fine. However, DVDs are encrypted, and it is illegal in the US (not Canada, as far as I know) to circumvent any encryption.

Where this is significant, is (as was mentioned) multilayer DVDs may be hard to backup, making decrypton the only means to copy the movie.

Perhaps the simplest method, is to play back a DVD through a player (including a suitably equpped Mac) which can output S-Video to a DV Camcorder. This does not involve tampering with the player's encryption.

The copyright act provides any Canadian with the right to backup any software product; it your SW license prohibits this, that provision is invalid while all else remains valid.

 

[Sandy McMurray]

If you want to temporarily store a DVD movie on your hard drive, to watch it on a plane or in a hotel, a little app called DVD Backup will "rip" the necessary files from most commercial DVDs, and remove the region encoding and copy protection in the process.

The resulting folder (VIDEO_TS) can be opened by the OS X DVD player. However -- for the legal and practical reasons others have noted -- it can't be copied onto a DVD-R disc.

Pros:
- lighter luggage
- ripped DVDs can be Trashed after watching
- unlike actual DVDs, can't be lost or stolen
- longer battery life (no spinning DVD drive)

Cons:
- ripping takes a LONG time (even with a G4)
- this program chokes while ripping some DVD movies

SMc

 

[jb22]

Thanks. It's good to know that I can easily backup my own made DVDs.