Unable to copy my DVD-R’s on my Pany. (1 Viewer)

[John Pine]

I have a Panasonic DMR-E95H I used to archive my Hi8 home movies. I’m now trying to duplicate the set of 50 DVD-R’s for a relative. All the discs were recorded in XP mode, finalized and play just fine on any DVD player. My Pany will appear to copy the contents of the DVD-R to the h/d. But when I go to play the Dubbed contents, all I get is a menu in a menu that can’t be opened or played. I’ve followed the manual instructions to the letter with no success. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Steve Berger]

I'm probably out of place here since I don't have a similar recorder (I use PCs) but you can't create a DVD by using any "file copy" methods. You will need a specific "disk copy" or "duplicate disk" option to preserve the necessary DVD structure. This sort of option should prompt you step by step, including some sort of "insert disk" step. The file created on the hard drive in such a method will not be playable until it is burned to a disk.

Sorry, I can't offer specific directions for your Panasonic, only general guidelines on disk copying.

 

[John Pine]

Steve thanks for the insight.

I don't think my Pany offers any other dubbing options from a DVD-R. No other options are mentioned in the manual. Man....I wish I had known this when I burned the original set. Sounds like I'm screwed! My only option left is to connect my other DVD player via an S-Video cable to my Pany, transfer to the h/d and then burn to a new DVD-R. Course this wouldn’t preserve the chapter information but doesn’t matter. My first priority was maintaining the highest picture quality. That’s one of the reasons I archived them in XP mode. I don't think this setup would be ideal for doing that. Any feedback?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

It's easiest to do this on a PC.

 

[Steve Berger]

Even if the "dubbing" feature as described in the manual worked, you would have to play each disk and recapture it in real time. Manufacturers are so worried about piracy that they assume that any disk copy is theft and disable or omit functions.

I'm afraid a PC is your best (and only?) choice. Actually, I would only reccommend a stand alone unit under limited circumstances anyway and never as your only method of making DVDs. It's fine for backing up large quantities of tapes, etc in a hurry and as a basic recorder but the PC is still needed for a lot of operations.

 

[John Pine]

Understood!

I'm considering this cheap and highly rated burner at Newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152055

Do I need any special software to preserve the chapter information on my archived DVD-R's? Or can I just use what comes with this drive?

 

[Steve Berger]

There will probably be a "copy disk" function that will just make an exact duplicate of the original. Note that you cannot just copy files to create a DVD.

I have never been happy with OEM software myself but it may suffice for you. I prefer the old DVDDecrypter for extracting files (or the complete disk, known as an iso file) and also use it to burn the disk. It will save the chapter info in a text file that can be passed to an authoring program. You're only going to need the chapter info if you want to re-edit the data and create a new , improved DVD. The burning engine is still readily available as the program ImgBurn.

I have also found that DVDDecrypter is good for recovering damaged or poor disks since it will read through errors, while Window's file transfer will abort when it discovers errors. A DVD player uses it's own error correction and will tollerate poor disks so most people never realise how many errors a disk can have.

 

[John Pine]

Damn Steve don't you sleep!

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe the Nero OEM Suite will do the trick. I hate to buy software just for this project. I would like to preserve the chapter information so the user can easily page through various home video scenes.

 

[Steve Berger]

DVDDecrypter (if you can find it from outside the USA) is free as well as ImgBurn for single (non-business) use. I use DeepBurner (freeeware for basic version) to create iso files for data disks and DVDDecrypter to actually burn the disk. I use Windows2000, so I don't know for sure, but WindowsXP may have a basic burning engine built in.

NERO OEM would not even finish a single burn with my LG drive. I was going to return the drive as defective until I noticed that other applications would work. (the authoring program that came with my tuner cards had a rudimentary burning engine that was fine) After locating some freeware and realizing that DVDDecrypter had a great burning engine, I kept the drive and have not had a single coaster. (I was able to use other utilities to finish the failed NERO burns.) If I had to do it again, I would not have even installed the NERO package, just gone for freeware first.

As long as you just copy the original disk, your previous work will be intact. Generally extracting or copying to a hard drive, then burning as a seperate step works best; rather than combining reading and burning as one operation.