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 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
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New features in
DvdReMake v3.

"One-click" menu bypass

"Customize menu background"

" Put two DVDs to one disk keeping original menus "

Chapter 2. My first burned DVD

As a direct result of my growing DVD collection I felt the need to find a solution to a basic requirement - backing up my DVDs. The reason was simple - if something happens to the original DVD, you can’t replace it and your investment is lost. And if you are like me, with three little children then you know that this scenario is not a possibility, it’s a reality.

The obvious solution seemed like buying a DVD burner, which I did. By doing so I hoped to achieve three objectives:

1. I wanted to backup my DVD;
2. I wanted the best copy possible;
3. I wanted one tool to do it all.

After assembly of the burner in my PC and installation of the software that came with it I grabbed one of my children’s DVD which was already scratched and peanut butter traces were all over it and started to back it up. When the backup process was finished, I took the copy, ran to the living room, inserted the new backup into the DVD player in the living room and… to tell you the truth, seeing the results I really wanted to cry.

Why? Because the results looked horrible. After cursing the burner, software and especially the media I had to throw away, I started to look in the internet for a solutions. Wow…so many of backup guides! Naturally, I called all my friends - which was a big mistake because each and every one of them had its own method that just caused me to be really confused. Then I went through the process of trying different products, spend sleepless nights and still don’t get what I wanted.

Until I found "My way".

But before "my way", let’s go over the requirement, shell we?

1. backing up a DVD - go and buy a DVD writer;
2. best possible copy - isn’t that’s the reason why you read this guide? What did you thought, it's already finished? LOL;
3. one tool to do it all - Sad new sunshine, you can’t have one tool to do it all. So many packages out there claim to do so, but non will give you what you require in #2 - the best copy..

The simple reason why #3 isn't possible is because, as you might already know, most commercial DVD’s contain dual layers of data. And you need to back that onto one layer of data (dual layer media are just too expensive this days and you need a dual layer capable writer). Which seems impossible - to put twice as much information on your DVD - How can you do so?

One of the first things I learned as a DVD backup novice was the fact that you don’t need everything which is located on your DVD - multiple languages and commentaries, trailers, over-exploded menus just takes valuable space. Add to that a little wonder called transcoding and you think your problems are over. Trancoding, to those who don’t know, is a way to reduce the size of an MPEG video without the need to re-encode the whole movie. In a nutshell, that is acheived by throwing away data that your eyes can’t see, hence reducing your DVD video files size and making it suitable for backup. Packages like DVD2One, Nero's Recode DVD Shrink and Pinnacle Instant Copy DVD are just a few that do it. Before you ask, I will NOT go into the endless discussion what is the best package. For the purpose of this guide, let’s assume all of them are great. The point is that most people believe that they removed everything they didn’t need from the DVD hence they reached the best copy possible.

Well, most people are wrong because most people never used DvdReMake.

In this guide we will use only TWO tools:

1. DVD Shrink - A freeware tool. If you don’t have it yet then you can get it here dvdshrink. Install it.
2. DVDRemake by DimadSoft. This is the real gem which most people never heard of, and they don’t know what they miss! It’s easy to use; it’s very robust and allows you to do in just a few clicks things that previously required you to write cryptic lines in IfoEdit. There is a demo version on the DvdReMake site that allows you to see how it works but please be advised it will not allow you to export your work, so the demo can’t be used to create a "real" DVD.