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Magic DVD Copier

(10 posts) (4 voices)

Started 12 years ago by mikiem2
Latest reply from Anonymous

mikiem2
Moderator

This is an almost portable app, with very low registry impact etc. -- you wouldn't want to make it portable though, because its 3000+ small files would gobble up space on a USB stick. The big unknown with this sort of software is if 2 or 3 or 6 months from now it'll still manage to beat the DRM on a new release DVD you just bought -- it's common practice to have these apps phone home for the latest, DRM-busting instructions, but you're banking on the company still being around, still maintaining those servers months or a year from now. We don't have any recent DVDs [the few discs we've bought the last few years have been Blu-Ray] so I grabbed an older DVD off the shelf, Wall-e, to see if Magic DVD Copier would work.

It did, though I'm uncertain whether a few small glitches with the DVD's menu & previews were caused by Power DVD or a problem with the copying -- it wasn't anything serious enough I'd worry about it, & frankly that sort of thing can happen when you copy a DVD without it's DRM. Magic DVD Copier could benefit from an option in DVDFab, creating a copy of your DVD that jumps straight to the menu, skipping what can be 1/2 an hour or more of movie previews & ads -- if they were going to improve it that's the 1st thing I'd suggest.

I just did a complete DVD copy to the hard drive, which is what I'd recommend in most all cases -- I want to make sure the copy works before burning it to disc number one, & number 2, dual layer DVD blanks are cheap enough nowadays that I don't think many people try things like splitting a DVD across 2 single sided discs anymore. That said, I think fancier DVD menus have lost their Wow, & most people are just interested in getting the movie itself on a disc they can watch... DVD Shrink &/or Nero Recode will do that for you, let you create a DVD layout with only the movie & your choice of audio tracks/subs, all without re-compressing anything, & often that's enough to make it fit on a single sided DVD. If you need to make things a little bit smaller they'll also let you cut off the credits, which consume a surprising amount of space, &/or you can replace the 5.1 AC3 audio with stereo [using separate tools], or if you really must, as long as you keep the Compression Setting in the 90+ range, they'll make the video file size smaller by losing B frame data only, which is fast & most times unnoticeable.

So, Magic DVD Copier works, though I can't say it'll handle every DVD today or a year from now. It's got a simple interface, but you don't need anything more. It doesn't have a high impact on Windows, & while it's on GOTD, the price is right.

Posted 12 years ago #
Idunnobutiwastold
Gaming Acolyte

Thanks for the software review, Mikiem2.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

try it but not work for me try burn m3u8 mp3 wav avi and get the folder contains non DVD data http://www.magicdvdripper.com/dvd-copier-faq.htm#8

A: Please click Browser button beside “Source:” box to choose the "VIDEO_TS" folder of the DVD on your hard drive. And then insert a blank DVD to burn. Please note: the "VIDEO_TS" folder on hard drive must include whole DVD-Video files.

will it work if I rename folder to "VIDEO_TS"

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

I just DEL them 3000+ small files and still it works fine on my DVD's.
They looked like records of logged dvd's only.

Posted 12 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

I just DEL them 3000+ small files and still it works fine on my DVD's.

Interesting... thanks

Posted 12 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

try it but not work for me try burn m3u8 mp3 wav avi and get the folder contains non DVD data

If you want to create a DVD videohelp.com lists several apps [ http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/authoring-dvd ] -- DVD Styler is a free one that's also available in a portable version so it's fairly painless to try [ http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVDStyler ]

Magic DVD Copier will only copy a video DVD to your hard drive, or if you've got more than one DVD drive, it *might* copy a DVD directly from one drive to another, like a disc duplicater -- I didn't try that to see if it stored the DVD on your hard drive temporarily. It's main purpose is to by-pass the DRM on a retail video DVD so you can back up the DVDs you own, & not have to worry about the original disc getting scratched or damaged. It'll also remove Region Codes, so a DVD sold in one part of the world will play somewhere else [Note: that doesn't mean a PAL DVD sold in the EU will work in countries using the NTSC standard -- I've read most EU DVD players will work with NTSC DVDs but don't know how good it looks on TV]. And Magic DVD Copier will let you remove prohibited user operations [PUOPs or UOPS] -- when you click a button on the remote, say to skip a movie preview, & it doesn't/won't work, that's usually because it's a prohibited user operation. Magic DVD Copier didn't copy non-video DVD content that's on the disc but designed for PCs rather than stand alone players -- stuff like included digital copies of the movie for your hand-held player or special software players usually have DRM that apps like Magic DVD Copier won't break, & need slightly different methods to burn to disc anyway [a video DVD disc uses a special format that's different from a regular DVD data disc].

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

I try Magic DVD Copier, ShrinkTo5 2.04 Basic, ratDVD 0.78.1444, Nero, all not work so I try

DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15 http://www.dvdshrink.org it very old August 19, 2005
DVD Shrink - DVD Ripping and Backup
Latest OFFICIAL Version - 3.2.0.15
Operating System Support - Windows 9x/2000/XP
License - Freeware

this is on XP dvdshrink it said need TS_Read File I don't have it can I get one ?

Posted 12 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

I don't know if it will help or not, but here's how making a basic, no menu video DVD works with the 3 apps I generally use.

Creating a basic DVD with Nero...
I've got Nero 11 Plat installed in win7, v. 10 in XP, from what I remember v. 9 is similar, but I haven't tried their new release version 12. I didn't see where the PDF manuals or help files gave step-by-step directions to create a DVD, but it's fairly straightforward... You do need the full version [or an OEM version that includes Nero Video], but the regular version should work OK -- I got the Platinum version for the Blu-Ray player [it's cheaper than buying PowerDVD, & Corel's WinDVD won't work on this system].

When you start Nero Video 11 the window shows you several choices -- select the one that describes what you want to do, in this case DVD-Video. That opens a new window with a player, & in the upper right is the Import button. I click that & select Import Files, browsing to the video file I want to use. Across the bottom are a couple of buttons that open windows where I can change the settings. Just below the player are basic player controls plus a button with a drop-down menu where I can add a chapter or have the app auto detect chapters. The Make button in the upper right [just below the Import button] opens the video editor if I want or need to work with the video itself -- once I'm done with any optional editing, the Next button in the video editor brings me back to the same DVD window I started with. Once I've got any editing or trimming done & all chapters in place, I click Next...

Now the Edit Menu window opens... There are all sorts of options but for right now I go to the "Menu to use" drop-down in the upper right & select "Do not create a menu". I click Next again & a window opens with a player & simulated DVD player controls that would let me check my menu(s) if I used them. I click Next again & the window that opens shows the details for my project, with a menu in the upper right... The 1st item is "Burn To...", & it gives me the option to burn to disc or to a DVD image file on my hard drive. The 2nd item, "Write to Hard Disk Folder" lets me browse to a folder on my hard drive. The 3rd item, "Volume Name" lets me type in a name for the DVD. And the 4th item, "Recording Settings", lets me set the burn speed if I had chosen to burn to disc. I had chosen Write to Hard Disk Folder, so on the lower right is the Write button that creates the DVD on my hard drive when I click it.

If it helps, if you don't have a version of Nero with Nero Video, when you visit the Nero web site & go to the Nero 12 upgrade page you can see what the upgrade cost will be from most versions in the currency from the country where you live [NZ]. In the past I've gotten e-mail offers that were a little bit better than their web site price based on an OEM version I bought for a few dollars on-line -- that OEM version turned out to be worth ~$70 discount at the time I upgraded. I don't know if other countries have rebates or not, but in the US stores like Frys often have Nero for $0 after rebate(s). It's also frequently bundled with a discount with tax software, & from what I've seen so far, some stores may bundle a discounted Nero with win8.

Creating a basic DVD with Roxio 2011...
I start by opening the MyDVD app, then selecting DVD in the pop-up window... the program shows a menu in place with a single button in the middle -- to skip the menu part I go to the File menu -> New Project -> DVD no menu, & browse to my video file. The window now shows my video in a player window, with project settings along the right side & also available through the app's menus up top. An edit button will take me to Roxio's Videowave editor, while a button up top & a menu on the left open a window where I can set the chapters. When I'm ready [e.g. have set chapters etc.], File menu -> Burn Project opens a window where I can select to burn to disc, create an ISO DVD image, or write to folders on my hard drive.

It's hard to say what sale prices will be like on Roxio since it was bought by Corel -- I have received upgrade offers for ~$60 US in e-mails. In the past I've been able to pick it up occasionally for ~$35, but I didn't come across anything like that for the last year so I never upgraded.

Creating a DVD with Sony DVDA...
I've got the pro version but there are usually a few home versions that are roughly the same, just a bit more limited, & then usually they limit the editing more than the DVD end. If I seem a bit sketchy on details they just came out with a new pro version & I'm not sure what home versions they're going to put on the market. At any rate after opening DVDA I go to the File menu to create a new single movie DVD [no menus] & browse to my video file. Once the video file's opened I've got a timeline showing video on one track with an audio track right beneath it. On the upper right are a series of menus where I can replace the video or audio file and set a bunch of project properties, most having to do with DVD menus. In the upper 1/2 center is the player, & I add chapters by going to the point in the video where I want to add a chapter on the timeline & clicking the Add Chapter button. When I'm done I click the button to Prepare DVD, & in the pop-up window can either select a folder on my hard drive or a disc to burn.

Over the past year Sony's home versions of their video/DVD apps have frequently been on sale for as low as $0 after rebate or bundled with other products.

Posted 12 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

DVD Shrink

While I've never seen it in an official statement it's widely believed that the guy that wrote DVD Shrink went on to work for Nero & Shrink became the basis for Nero Recode -- Recode then went on over the years to become more a general purpose converter, though the Shrink part's still there.

What DVD Shrink does is open DVDs without DRM -- if the DVD has DRM you need to use one of the copy apps or AnyDVD etc. Once a DVD's opened you have two options, work with the entire DVD or go into re-author mode. Re-author mode oversimplified lets you re-make the DVD using the portions you want.

Working with the complete DVD, & where DVD Shrink got its name, Shrink will write a copy of the DVD to another folder, reducing the total file sizes. It's amazingly fast, & doesn't re-encode or greatly reduce quality as long as the compression amount is 90 or better. The mpg2 on DVDs is made up of I, P, & B frames -- I frames are complete, while P & B are partial. At 90+ Shrink reduces the amount of data in the B frames. If you get into the 80s or lower you're best off re-encoding or splitting etc... Shrink also lets you trim video to for example cut off the credits.

Posted 12 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

Shrink also lets you trim video to for example cut off the credits. Yes did that one time and made DVD 1.2 GB in to a CD 700 MB and work very well.

Posted 12 years ago #

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