dvd copiers
 

Can anyone recommend a good DVD copier apart from Roxio Toast/ Popcorn (which I cant get a decent dmg/sit of..) These wont rip copyrighted DVDs anyway so whats the point!! I just need a decent program. I've tried everything from DVD2oneX, DVDBackup, to MactheRipper and paired them with DiscBlaze, YuBurner, Sizzle etc. and still cant get results. PLEASE HELP!! DISCOURAGED MAC USER...

Well I use both DVDBackup & Yade X for extracting & if one can't do it the other will. Use DVD2oneX for shrinking down to dvd5 format (4.36 GB) if you only have such a burner. If you can't do it with the above then you've probably changed some settings somewhere. Else search here http://www.videohelp.com/
I backup dvd's frequently so I can watch at a later time if they're on 24 hr loan.

I suspect there's something wrong in your technique. Extract (& shrink if necessary), then within Toast 6 choose Data tab, press the Advanced button, select DVD-ROM (UDF) before burning. This is very important. You cannot burn them as mac & pc format, etc. otherwise your set-top player probably won't be able to read them. Actually I thought I posted a simple tutorial on how to do this at start of year but maybe I didn't give enough details. It's up to you to search it if you want to.

thanks for your help LOTR, I shall perservere thanks to you.... cheers mate

Oh BTW make sure the folder you burn has both an AUDIO_TS folder as well as a VIDEO_TS folder. The audio folder is always empty so if yours doesn't have one you can simply add it manually. I think this is required via dvd specifications however i have come across a few commercial ones that didn't have it.
Also check what your set-top player can play. I am aware some well-known brands of players will only allow their own brands of dvd-r/rw to be playable. Which sucks! lol :D Mine cost a third/quarter of price yet does all the more expensive ones can do plus it's not dvd media fussy.

dang why is it so hard with mac? with windows you can have one program do it all and its very user friendly....???

It's not really so hard on the mac. OK it's 3 steps. But once you've got the technique it's the same. It might take a little time that's all.
With DVDBackup I extract to a folder. OR With Yade X I extract as a dmg. Then I mount that dmg using Disk Copy by double-clicking the dmg or drag & drop. Then I open DVD2oneX & direct it to the mounted image & shrink it from there. I set up a custom size within DVD2oneX because some dvd's shrink differently to others (stick to the preset size .. it's generally very reliable.) I also use Verbatim DVD-RW's which can fit an extra 10 mb or so on (ie: 4.37 GB.)
Only semi-related is Compressing file to fit on one 4.7GB DVD-R But that's burning vids to dvd not to do with extraction.

Okay I got to step 3 - I opened DVD2oneX and now how do I direct it to my disk copy? What do I select for source?

Thanks.

That depends! If you used Yade X disk copy then you'd need to mount the image 1st before you can extract the data from it. If you used dvdbackup then jus direct it to the folder you saved from the original xtract.
Re: mounted disk images you'll find as major volumes mounted on desktop.

Yes, I used Yade X - and mounted it on Disk Copy. But I don't know how to point the source of DVD2oneX to its mount on Disk Copy.??

After mounting the dmg, there's 2 ways:
1. Go to DVD2oneX menu>File>Open or use the apple/command +O keys.
2. Press the button opposite the source with ... on it which will allow you to select the source.

Then direct it to the mounted image select VIDEO_TS folder.