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Download an application called DVDBackup (free at www.versiontracker.com ) Put the DVD you want to copy in the player/burner and play it once as per the instructions in the readme file "IMPORTANT NOTES:
• YOU MUST RUN APPLE'S DVD PLAYER ONCE AFTER INSERTING A DVD. This is to "authenticate" the DVD and allow the files to be copied. Usually DVD player will run automatically when you insert a disc. Stop or quit DVD Player before running DVDBackup."
No you don't have to play the whole movie, just enough to authenticate. Now click on "Add DVD files" and browse for the disc in the burner/player, select the Video_ts file and click open. All of the files in the Video_ts folder should show up in the DVDBackup window. Click process file and select a destination folder for the converted files(save to a new folder). Its easiest to create a new folder on the desktop and save the new files there just because its easy to find. You should now have 2 progress bars, if you do you are now decoding your DVD....... it's going to be a while.
Step 2: COMPRESS DATA (this one costs money but its worth it)
When step 1 is done, open an application called "DVD2oneX" that you can download (it is a commerical application, so you will need to PAY to use it, but it definitely works.The demo version will only compress 30 minutes of video and then it quits I'm sure there are other apps to use, but this one is easy enough for a pea brain like me to use).
On the DVD2oneX webpage, there are instructions on how to use the application. Pretty much all you need to do is select the VIDEO_TS folder you just created with DVDBackup and then decide whether you want to copy just the movie ("movie only" -- it will keep the chapters intact, but no menus frills or extra language tracks. This is what I like best...less space taken up, so better chance it will all fit on one DVD) or the entire disk (this takes up much more disk space and takes considerably longer to process, but you will get the menus and DVD frills just like on the original DVD). If you select "movie only," select "constant" in the "ratio" box. If you are copying the entire disk, select "variable" in the ratio box. Make sure you select the language and subtitles you want included (a side pop-up window opens up and allows you to select these). Hit the start button, and choose a destination folder on the desktop. You should now have a progress bar and you should find the compressed file in the destination folder you specified.
Step 2a: COMPRESS DATA (this way is free and usually sucks)
Download an application called DVD REMASTER 1.2.1 (at www.versiontracker.com ).Open the
application and browse for the Video_TS folder created with DVDBackup. choose the VIDEO_TS folder you created and click on the START icon. You will be asked for another destination for the new compressed file. After a long wait you should have a compressed version of the original disc you ripped, in the destination folder you chose, that will fit on a DVD-R 4.7. One MAJOR drawback to this app is it doesn't give you the option of removing unnecessary audio tracks,subtitles, menus, and intros such as the FBI warning. all these eat up valuable space and cost picture quality. Therefore i recommend spending the money on DVD2oneX for compressing.
Step 3: PREVIEW MOVIE (this is optional)
Now that you have a compressed and decoded version of the movie you want, you should preview it with the Apple DVD Player BEFORE YOU BURN IT!. Open the DVD Player app and pull down the File menu, it should have an "Open VIDEO_TS folder" option. Choose that option and browse for the compressed and decoded file you just created. This means you can play the movie thats in the compressed file without having the actual movie disc in your machine. Choose that file and the DVD player should now play it. At this time you should skip through all the chapters to make sure all the parts of the movie you want are there. Also change audio tracks to make sure that the ones you want are there. (note that a DTS sound track will most likely be mute on your computer but will work on your DTS capable stereo and DTS capable home DVD player)
Step 4: BURN OR CONVERT TO DISK IMAGE
Now that you have a copy that your happy with, you need to either burn it now (with a burning application such as Roxio Toast) or turn it into a "Disk image" that Disk copy or Disk Utility can recognize and burn later. Disk copy is free, Toast you have to pay for. If you have Toast then burn as per Toasts instructions and your done. If you want to do it the free way your not done yet. Open the application DVD IMAGER 1.2 ( www.versiontracker.com ) then drag the compressed and decoded VIDEO_TS folder you made onto the DVD IMAGER app and DVD IMAGER will turn it into an .IMG type file. You may have to look for this new .IMG file afterward in USERS/YOURNAME/DOCUMENTS if you didn't specify a destination folder.
Step 4a: BURN DISK IMAGE
Open the application DISK COPY thats included with OSX (10.0-10.2.
. you can find it in applications/utilities/diskcopy/. Now drag the disk image (Disc_name.img) of the compressed file you made with DVD IMAGER 1.2, you should now have the option to burn the image as per Disk Copy's instructions. After burning, disk copy will verify the burn, you can skip this step while in progress to save some time. It wont hurt to skip verify, if the disc is good then its good, if not you have a coaster. PANTHER USERS!! (10.3 and higher) Disk Copy no longer exists in Panther(10.3) only in Jaguar(10.2). You will have to use Disk Utility as the features from Disk Copy have been amalgamated with Disk Utility including the burn feature. You may have to open up the .IMG file you made so Disk Utility can see it. The steps are pretty much the same as Disk Copy.This should allow you to make a backup copy of a DVD you legally own that will work on a stand-alone DVD player.
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