[MPlayer-dev-eng] DVD to DVD copy project with a reward
Olaf Beck
olaf_sc at yahoo.com
Fri Jun 14 16:18:16 CEST 2002
Hi,
I hope I don't intrude to much on this mailing list after all we are all about
DVD and hopefully also Linux and OSS related issues and programming. Anyway
here is what I have to say and ask,
DVD to DVD copy project with a reward:
Most Linux (and even Windows) DVD"Ripping" projects are focused on transcoding
a DVD-Video to e.g. DivX or similar more compact formats. What is lacking is
a way to easily copy/backup* a DVD-Video to a DVD-R(W) disc.
While a some of the tools are already in place some crucial once are still
lacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong :). The quest is leading us to what
we can do today.
Create DVD images and burn them to a DVD-R(W), can be achieved with cdrecord
and dvdrtools
see: http://www.freesoftware.fsf.org/dvdrtools/ and
http://www.fokus.gmd.de/research/cc/glone/employees/joerg.schilling/private/cdrecord.html
Copying or VOB files can be achieved with trancoder, mplayer, vobcopy, cpdvd
or dvd::rip. Some of the tools main purpose is not to make DVD backups but
they can still be used for that purpose. Further more some of them can me
used to make a DVD-Video take up less space that the original which is
nessesary when you want to fit a DVD-9 (Dual layer DVD) on one DVD-5 (Single
layer) see:
http://www9.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~Vogelgsang/bp/tctools.html
http://www.theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de/~ostreich/transcode/
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/
http://lpn.rnbhq.org/projects/c/c.shtml
http://www.exit1.org/dvdrip/
Using the tools above we can copy a DVD-Video to a DVD-R(W) and play it with
e.g. xine if the DVD is mounted. The problem is that vital info such as ifo
files aren't copied and corrected if necessary. The VTS_XX_0.vob's aren't
transferred either although they usually just hold either a still image or
the first DVD menu they are still needed in order to comply with DVD-Video
standards. Further more it looks libdvdread has an error since it assumes
that all DVD's are "buy" once and not home burned. Hence xine, mplayer etc
fails when it's can't locate the "crypto" block on the DVD. (My home burned
DVD (under windows) plays just fine in my Panasonic DVD-RP91 and also under
WinDVD).
Since I'm currently have more that enough to do with a Linux Multimedia
project I feel that I can't spend the time programming the missing
components. Hence I would like to call for a project with a reward for
anybody to work with if they have the skills to do it. The reward is DVD-R(W)
burner (Pioneer DVR-104), 100 DVD-R records plus 300 dollars or 1000 dollars
and no equipment, the reward is paid out in portions during the project time.
If you personally lack a DVD recorder I will do my best to assist you with
tests etc. if necessary. (More stuff is also available see below)
Project goal:
Copy a DVD movie to a DVD-R(W) in the simplest way possible. This means that
we don't care about fancy stuff such as menus, different angles etc. All we
want is to copy the film it self, main audio track and one subtitle of choice
(or no subtitle if we choose so). The goal is that when we play the film in
a stand alone DVD player we will just get the film and nothing else.
Project prerequisites:
Tools should be of command line type
Libraries should be used as much as possible so that "code" can be reused by
other FSF/OSS projects or possible GUI interfaces.
Finally and naturally code should be licensed under GPL and LGPL.
Project work line:
Making a DVD-Video should follow something similar to this if the main movie
would is less than 4.7G.
Analyze DVD, find main film and audio tracks
Copy vob files
Create new VIDEO_TS.* files
Create new VTS_01_0.ifo file
(Assuming that we are moving the main film from what ever title it has to
title 1)
Create image
Burn image
And if the movie is bigger than 4.7G (i.e. dual layer)
Analyze DVD, find main film and audio tracks and split point
Copy the first set of vob files up to the split point
Create new VIDEO_TS.* files
Create new VTS_01_0.ifo file
(Assuming that we are moving the main film from what ever title it has to
title 1)
Create image
Burn image
Copy second set of vob files from the split point and up
Create new VIDEO_TS.* files
Create new VTS_01_0.ifo file
(Assuming that we are moving the main film from what ever title it has to
title 1)
Create image number 2
Burn image number 2
Alternatively if he movie is bigger than 4.7G we should be able to do
something like this.
Copy vob files
Transcode vob's so that the movie is less than 4.7G in size
Create new VIDEO_TS.* files
Create new VTS_01_0.ifo file
(Assuming that we are moving the main film from what ever title it has to
title 1)
Create image
Burn image
All this should be done with human interaction kept to a minimum. In other
words the analyze of the DVD should not require you to specify what you want
to do unless absolutely necessary. There can of course be some sort of config
file telling the program that you prefer to get Spanish subtitles, English
Dolby Digital sound, split dual layer DVD's or transcode them etc. Hence a
possible command line session would look something like this.
$ dvdanalyze -o result.xml -d /dev/dvd
$ vobcopy -i result.xml -d /dev/dvd -o /myfilm/VIDEO_TS/
$ mkvideots /myfilm/VIDEO_TS/
$ mkvtsifo /myfilm/VIDEO_TS/
$ verifydvd /myfilm/VIDEO_TS/
$ cd /myfilm && mkisofs -o ../dvd.img .
$ dvdrecord dev=0,0,0 speed=1
Thats it :)
NOTE: dvdanalyze could if unsure play the movie that it thinks is the main one
and the ask you if it is this one you want to copy. Like this,
dvdanalyze -o result.xml -d /dev/dvd
(playing some random sequences of the movie)
Is this the movie you want to copy? Yes/No [Yes]
(If No it tries some other vob files) ....
The same goes for verifydvd it can naturally show you the movie to verify that
it works as it should.
Well, that's about it so if anybody is up for the task or have questions
please write to olaf_sc_NOSPAM at NOSPAM.yahoo.com
Cheers Olaf
PS: Information about DVD to DVD copying and DVD specifications consult the
following sites,
http://members.aol.com/mpucoder/DVD/index.html
http://www.doom9.org
Naturally code from various linux/dvd projects such as mplayer :), ogle, xine,
videolan etc can be of great help
More Stuff:
If you want the following items could also be included although I will not pay
the shipping :)
Creative DVD 12x Player
3Dfx Voodoo 5500 PCI card
Matrox Millennium I and II cards
Network cards (PCI 10/100MBit have a bunch)
etc.... Just ask me I have a lot of tech junk :)
*You can make a copy to HD and watch the film with e.g. xine or mplayer but so
far you can't make a copy that is playable in stand alone DVD player.
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