By Neurozic 
Added: 1999-10-07
This guide tells you how to backup a full length DVD movie to 2 ordinary CD-R's. The VideoCD format can be played as a DVD on most DVD players and has decent quality. Updated 07.10 - Added links to all programs needed! 
First of all, a small disclaimer. Copying a movie and distributing it is illegal. However it can often be handy to have a backup of your movies available. This guide does not encourage pirate copying of DVD's! 

Another thing. This method was NOT invented by me! Credits goes out to the authors of the respective programs as well as robshot and the other guys in the efnet channel, #Pcdvd. [This is the place you should visit if you are experiencing problems with the method shown below] Special thanks to INH_dev for hints and corrections. 

Please email comments, corrections and suggestions to: drc@epitaphium.com 

Hardware needed:

*	DVD-Rom

*	Harddisk space [About 6GB is recomended and 1.2GB is the absolute minimum]

*	CD Recorder [If you want to store the output on CDR's that is]




Software needed: 
Note: These programs are stored on other servers. 
Another Note: Just left-click the links.. right-click and "save target as" doesn't seem to work right.

*	DVD Speed Ripper v1.0 [with GUI] or the new DeCSS ripper

*	DVD2Mpeg Squeezer v1.0

*	Panasonic MPEG Encoder Plugin v2.0

*	Womble Mpeg2VCR [or another multiplexer]

*	CD Recorded utility with VCD features [Like Easy CD Creator Deluxe]





STEP 1. RIP THE DVD TO YOUR HARDDRIVE 
(Note: This step is optional however it is highly recomended. If you start the encoder directly from your DVD-Rom it could damage both the DVD and the DVD-Rom because of overheating. If you are willing to take that chance, jump to step 2) 

Update October 6. 1999: The next step can also be done with the new DeCSS ripper. The method is almost the same. Just different filenames. 

Unzip srgui.zip to a directory of your choice and run srgui.exe. Create a directory called "video_ts" on the root of one of your harddrives and type in this in the "directory" field in srgui. Check that you have selected the right drive for your DVD-Rom and press "Get Dir". If everything works correctly you will see a list of the files on your DVD. Press "Rip All". The program will start ripping. This takes about one hour. When ripping is done, check that the content of your new "video_ts" directory is identical to the one on the DVD. If a .bup or .ifo file is missing, copy it. If a .vob file is missing you will have to rip that file again with the speed ripper. If everything is fine, remove the dvd from your player and continue. 


STEP 2. ENCODE TO MPEG 1 
(Note: If you just ripped the DVD to the harddrive (step 1), make sure the DVD is removed from the player.) 

Install dvd2mpeg squeezer. Install the panasonic plugin and make sure you set the plugin path to the directory you just installed dvd2mpeg. Read the readme files that comes with dvd2mpeg! Start dvd2mpeg. First, select graph at the file menu. Select NTSC if your dvd is a NTSC and vica verca. Then select output. Now, go to "options" and "capture settings". Select wether you want to rip to a PAL or a NTSC and change the "Max framenumber" field. 250000 should be more than enough for a 2 hour movie.. you can calculate it yourself like this: framerate * number-of-seconds-in-movie. The other settings are fine. Now press ok. Enter the "Playback" menu and choose "Build graph and mpeg settings". A window will pop up, and after a while you get a message box asking wether you see the movie. If you do, press OK. Now we are ready to capture the movie. Use the playback menu to play/navigate and press "Ctrl-C" when you want to start your encoding. After pressing Ctrl-C, things will go SLOW! Now, go to bed. Sleep. Ripping 2 hours of movie can take from 15-30 hours depending on your CPU speed. A good idea is ripping half a movie at a time. Then you will have nice files that fit on your CDR's as well. If everything is ok, you will now have 2 files. One .mpv and one .mpa. 


STEP 3. JOIN AUDIO AND VIDEO 
Run the .mpv and .mpa through your multiplexer. If you are using Mpeg2Vcr (which i recommend) select "MPEG systems multiplexer" from the Tools menu. Select your video and audio, select an output filename, choose the VCD format and hit "save". Now you have a vcd compatible mpeg 1 file. If it's large (more than 74 minutes) you will have to split it. (if you were smart, you did this already while ripping) This can be achived with "VCD Cutter". 


STEP 4. BURN THE SUCKER 
This must be done in a program with special VCD features. Examples are Easy CD Creator Deluxe (3.5 and 4.0). If you just burn the files directly to the CDR, you won't be able to play the disc in an ordinary DVD player. 


TROUBLESHOOTING 
Q: Where is the serial number for the premiere plugin? 
A: Look in the .nfo files. 

Q: I get weird errors while ripping with speed ripper. 
A: You will have to check the accompanying readme file on this one. There have been a few incompatibilities with some toshiba drives as well as the movie "The Matrix". 

Q: I get a message saying "class not registered" in DVD2Mpeg Squeezer. 
A: You have not successfully registered the filters that came with the utility. Try the "Enable encoder" option under DVD2Mpeg on your start-menu or register them manually with "regsvr32 filename". 

Q: DVD2Mpeg will not play the movie. 
A: This can be caused by several things. You might have to reduce your display resolution or color depth or the DVD may be of wrong region. (DVD2Mpeg uses the Win98 region setting) If you ripped the dvd to the harddrive first, check that all files are in the folder "video_ts" on the root of your harddrive and that all files have been ripped/copied. 

Q: While capturing with DVD2Mpeg the movie appears upside down! 
A: This is a normal bug and will not infect the final result. 

Q: I cannot start the movie because it stops at a menu. 
A: Try the menu option under "special". Also try your arrow-keys and the "enter" button. If this doesn't work, select playback->jump and jump to title 2. Then jump back to title 1, chapter 1. (this only works if the dvd has two titles.. (like a "the making of" or a trailer or something) 

Q: I get a message telling me that the parental level has been set and if i want to continue but i can't press yes! 
A: Stop the movie. Play around with the viewing levels under "special" (try setting it to adult). Then start the movie again and see if the message disappears.