BD/HD DVD ISO Image Creation

[SamuriHL]

SamuriHL, I'm curious why you don't use the ripper built in to AnyDVD?

I am just getting ready to start ripping BR/HD, and my first attempt, using AnyDVD HD on the HDDVD of 300, resulted in an error about 1/2 way through. I also tried another tool (I forget what) and got the same result. I'm going to try ImgBurn tonight, but is there a specific reason you recommend ImgBurn?

The ripper doesn't create ISOs, so, it's mostly useless to me.

That's a bad disc, my friend. ImgBurn isn't going to help. That particular disc is notoriously crappy quality. Kinda glad I got it on BD now even though I regretted it at the time cause the HD DVD had more features.

As for ImgBurn, I don't necessarily recommend it over anything else such as CloneCD. Either will work fine and I'm sure there are other programs that work equally well. However, CloneCD and ImgBurn give consistent results and have been tried by a great many people on the forum. ImgBurn is probably one of the best freeware programs I've ever seen. LUK, the author, is a freaking coding genius as far as I'm concerned...and I'm a software engineer, so, I know a thing or two about software. It's just an incredibly well built piece of code. CloneCD is excellent, as well, and I really have no issues with it at all.

ImgBurn has a build mode that is useful, though. With the script I wrote you can take a folder on the hard drive and create a fully compliant BD ISO ready to mount or burn. (Useful for people who like to shrink their movies down to a movie only copy with one or two audio streams to save space or for those who ripped to folders all along and didn't want to bother with upgrading PowerDVD. That's becoming more and more difficult as time goes on so we recommend ISOs now.)

Anyway, I hope that answers your questions.

 

[cohiba]

Ahhh, yes, ISOs... That makes sense. I've decided the same thing--to rip BR/HD DVD to ISOs for playback. And I do like ImgBurn--I just made my first successful rip using AnyDVD HD and ImgBurn--AVP2. It took just over an hour on my E2180 with 2GB of RAM. Does that sound about right?

And I am definitely interested in your script. I'll look around for the link. Similar to my SD DVDs, I am interested in stripping my HiDef rips into just movie/DD or DTS soundtrack/english subtitles. I don't care about menus or extras--I have the physical disc if I want those. So your script sounds like something that I would be very interested in.

Shucks, that was not the answer I wanted to hear on my HD DVD of 300. I only own about 15 HD DVDs, and that is one of the ones that I most want to have ripped. Can I search for threads on getting it to work, or is it just a waste of my time?

Thanks for your help.

 

[SamuriHL]

Ahhh, yes, ISOs... That makes sense. I've decided the same thing--to rip BR/HD DVD to ISOs for playback. And I do like ImgBurn--I just made my first successful rip using AnyDVD HD and ImgBurn--AVP2. It took just over an hour on my E2180 with 2GB of RAM. Does that sound about right?

That does indeed.

And I am definitely interested in your script. I'll look around for the link. Similar to my SD DVDs, I am interested in stripping my HiDef rips into just movie/DD or DTS soundtrack/english subtitles. I don't care about menus or extras--I have the physical disc if I want those. So your script sounds like something that I would be very interested in.

It's in my signature. folder->iso. You'll want to look for TSMuxer on doom9. This will allow you to create a movie only BD folder structure on your hard drive with the audio stream(s) you want. Once you have the BD folder structure on your hard drive, run my script to convert it to a compliant ISO, and you're good to.

Shucks, that was not the answer I wanted to hear on my HD DVD of 300. I only own about 15 HD DVDs, and that is one of the ones that I most want to have ripped. Can I search for threads on getting it to work, or is it just a waste of my time?

Thanks for your help.

Nope, waste of time. Bad discs aren't worth dealing with. Just get it replaced and you'll be good to go.

 

[guitarlp]

When you say "disable AnyDVD" do you mean exiting the app completely or just un-ticking the "Enable" option after right clicking on the taskbar icon?

I seem to have less issues with my rips when I completely exit the app.

Also too... why do you enable AnyDVD first? Where is this downloaded file stored after you exit out of AnyDVD? I don't see this file, or key, anywhere in my ISO file. Wouldn't it just make more sense not to enable AnyDVD at all and just make sure to have it enabled on the play back machine?

 

[Bigrick]

which ever way you want just disable it theres no point in closing it when your gonna use it for playback later just uncheck it

 

[SamuriHL]

When you say "disable AnyDVD" do you mean exiting the app completely or just un-ticking the "Enable" option after right clicking on the taskbar icon?

Disabling AnyDVD by unchecking enabled in the right click menu is going to give you the same results as exiting. The only difference is by disabling it you keep the gui open whereas exiting it obviously closes the gui.

I seem to have less issues with my rips when I completely exit the app.

Keyword there is seem. There is no difference in reality between disabling it and exiting it.

Also too... why do you enable AnyDVD first? Where is this downloaded file stored after you exit out of AnyDVD? I don't see this file, or key, anywhere in my ISO file. Wouldn't it just make more sense not to enable AnyDVD at all and just make sure to have it enabled on the play back machine?

To ensure that I have a key to decrypt the title. When you mount a protected ISO, if AnyDVD doesn't have a key, it can't decrypt it. By inserting the original with AnyDVD enabled first, it will go get a key if it needs one and stores it in a hidden database locally. You will not find it anywhere.

 

[jmlogan]

SamiriHL

Regarding guitarlp's question:

Also too... why do you enable AnyDVD first?

And your answer:

To ensure that I have a key to decrypt the title. When you mount a protected ISO, if AnyDVD doesn't have a key, it can't decrypt it.

I would like to understand whether this explains a problem I just had.

I routinely use my desktop PC to create ISO images of BD's, but they get played back on my HTPC. I just ripped "The Golden Compass" using your recommended method (i.e. insert disc with ANYDVDHD active, disable ANYDVDHD, then use ImgBurn to create the ISO). The ISO played back with no problem on my desktop PC.

However, when I mounted the "undecrypted" ISO on my HTPC (with ANYDVDHD 6.4.2.0 active), PDVD refused to play it (in fact it locked up and had to be killed with Task Manager).

Does ANYDVDHD behave that way with an "undecrypted" ISO of a BD it has never seen before? I have since re-ripped the disc with ANYDVDHD active, and that "decrypted" rip plays just fine on my HTPC. Strangely enough, now the original "undecrypted" rip will play successfully on my HTPC as well.

BTW, I had not observed similar behavior for the 2 other discs I used your "undecrypted" method for ("Juno" and "AVPR"). Both of those "undecrypted" ISO's seem to play back on my HTPC, even though the original disc was never put in that machine.

So, is it correct that to use your method successfully the original disc has to be inserted into any PC you intend to play the "undecrypted" ISO back on? If so, I am going to have to start creating my ISO's on my HTPC (just a major logistical pain since that computer isn't connected to a regular keyboard/monitor, so I need to turn my projector on anytime I want to use it, not to mention that it's in a completely different part of the house).

Or am I experiencing something else entirely?

Final note: Thank you for all of the work you do on these forums. I post rarely but read constantly, and your your ongoing help/info is invaluable.

Jim L.
5/3/2008

 

[SamuriHL]

Yea it's possible that's what caused it. Golden Compass is relatively new and may not have a key in the database yet. (It might with the newest release of AnyDVD so make sure you've updated) It's not necessary to rip on the HTPC. It's only necessary to let AnyDVD scan the original disc once to acquire a key. This is only necessary for titles that aren't in the internal database yet. After you've let AnyDVD scan the original, it'll play just fine from an encrypted ISO. Or you could skip all that and just do decrypted ISOs from your desktop. The "danger" with that is that if a bug is found in AnyDVD you potentially have to rerip the ISO. So, the choice is yours. Either let your HTPC scan the original and rip on the desktop as an encrypted ISO or make a decrypted ISO. Either will suffice.

Also, you can use remote desktop or VNC to your HTPC if you want to rip there. I do it all the time to my HTPC. Even though I have a kb/m connected, its display is my TV so when I'm watching TV I can remote desktop into the HTPC to control recording and other stuff. Works very well.

 

[hlkc]

I about to advice exactly what SamuriHL advised you. My HTPC connected to my living room monitor and it is on pretty much all the time. But my family always watching something and whenever I switch the screen to HTPC and do something I will get a wired look My work around is same as what SamuriHL advised; use VNC and you can use your HTPC and no need to turn on the PJ. I have the Panny PJ and I don't like to turn on for few mins, turn off and let it cool down...

 

[jmlogan]

SamuriHL & hlkc -

Thank you for your responses.

I actually DO use VNC to remote into my HTPC - the biggest problem with scanning the disk is schlepping it downstairs to the theater room where the HTPC is located. I'll just have to look at it as good exercise...

The other problem with VNC is that I can't see the video when PDVD plays a disk - when using VNC all I see is a black screen, even when the video is playing as it should (I assume this has something to do with VNC not reproducing the overlay on the remote PC, but I'm not sure).

Therefore, in order to verify that the disc (or ISO) is actually playing properly on the HTPC, I have to physically turn on the local display (i.e. projector).

In any case, thanks for the help...

 

[SamuriHL]

I wasn't suggesting that you try to PLAY it via VNC. Simply use VNC to do the ripping process. You will have to use your projector to test it after the ripping's done. But again, you can get around this if you make decrypted ISOs on your desktop. Or simply let AnyDVD scan the original. Or let it connect to the update server from your HTPC. Any of those will solve the problem.

 

[hlkc]

Hi Jim,

I hear you. Yes, you won't see the PDVD picture in VNC to verify but put it this way, SamuriHL way is getting the as close as original ISO back up to your HDD. If current AnyDVD HD not going to work for the one you just back up, no worry post the info and peer will probably fix it just a matter of time. When AnyDVD HD works then your previously not working ISO will work now.

 

[raymondtrudeau]

So, this is a hot topic these days on the forum so I wanted to dedicate a thread to it and share my personal opinion on it. The usual recommended method is:

NOTE: If you plan to burn the ISO, you MUST use this first method so that the protection is removed!

-ENABLE AnyDVD
-Insert Original Disc
-Load ImgBurn or CloneCD and read to ISO image

This method removes all protection from the ISO. This would seem like a desired behavior, but, what happens if AnyDVD contains a bug, as we saw with the first version to support BD+? Once the bug is fixed, you will have to rerip your ISO from the original again to get a corrected image. Therefore, my recommended way is:

-ENABLE AnyDVD
-Insert Original Disc and allow AnyDVD to connect to the update server if necessary to acquire a key for the title
-DISABLE AnyDVD
-Load CloneCD (ImgBurn 2.4.1.0 now appears to allow ripping of protected discs! So you can now use ImgBurn if you desire.)
-Select read. (TIP: Simply give your file a .iso extension and CloneCD will create a single ISO file rather than the split .dvd file)

Note(1): Acquiring a key from the original disc (if necessary) is a good idea to make sure you have the key cached so that you can decrypt the ISO at any point in the future.

By disabling AnyDVD, you leave the protection in tact on the ISO image. No processing is done whatsoever to the ISO. It's as close to an original disc as you can get. The difference is that when you mount the image, AnyDVD *MUST* be active to remove all protections from the ISO. However, if AnyDVD contains a bug, such as the BD+ video glitch issue previously mentioned, once a new version of AnyDVD is released, you simply need to mount your ISO with the new version rather than re-ripping the whole movie. IMO, this is the best option and is the best backup method available to us.

A couple of notes. Since I first wrote this, a new version of Virtual CloneDrive beta has been released that now works with HD DVD and BD images. This can now be used instead of Daemon Tools. Either is a fine choice. I simply prefer VCD because it tends to be lighter on my system and doesn't have overhead of things like protection emulation. If you're happy with Daemon Tools, by all means stick with it. Otherwise grab a free copy of VCD (currently does not support Vista x64, sorry) and you'll be able to easily mount your images. Also, ImgBurn current refuses to rip encrypted discs. So if you want to rip with AnyDVD disabled, at the moment you need to use something else. James has said that the image creation part of CloneCD will not time out, so, if you only want to create ISO images, this is a great option.

P.S. I have removed false information about ImgBurn padding images. This turned out NOT to be the case. ImgBurn does a 1:1 copy just like CloneCD.

is this really neccesary? cant anydvdhd now take all the encryption off?

 

[SamuriHL]

Was it necessary to quote the entire post??

It has nothing to do with whether AnyDVD can remove the encryption or not. When you rip with AnyDVD enabled, all protection is removed, BD+, AACS, now we can do PUOPS, Region Coding, etc. This is a *VERY* good thing to be sure. However, from time to time bugs crop up and things get messed up once in a while. New protections are released that could cause subtle issues that aren't discovered right away, etc. Rather than have to rerip with every new version that's released, all I have to do is update AnyDVD, mount my encrypted ISO, and oh yea, that's it. Done. No messing around with re-ripping which is time consuming at best.

So yes, to me, it's completely necessary.

 

[raymondtrudeau]

Was it necessary to quote the entire post??

It has nothing to do with whether AnyDVD can remove the encryption or not. When you rip with AnyDVD enabled, all protection is removed, BD+, AACS, now we can do PUOPS, Region Coding, etc. This is a *VERY* good thing to be sure. However, from time to time bugs crop up and things get messed up once in a while. New protections are released that could cause subtle issues that aren't discovered right away, etc. Rather than have to rerip with every new version that's released, all I have to do is update AnyDVD, mount my encrypted ISO, and oh yea, that's it. Done. No messing around with re-ripping which is time consuming at best.

So yes, to me, it's completely necessary.

ok thanks when you say
run my script where can i get it from? i have looked but maybe blind...is this method only for use on a pc,or after doing this method can i burn to dvd9 for a bd player

 

[Bigrick]

ok thanks when you say
run my script where can i get it from? i have looked but maybe blind...is this method only for use on a pc,or after doing this method can i burn to dvd9 for a bd player

im sure hes talking about his method on ripping the movie which you can find on SmauriHL's signature

 

[SamuriHL]

ok thanks when you say
run my script where can i get it from? i have looked but maybe blind...is this method only for use on a pc,or after doing this method can i burn to dvd9 for a bd player

If you're referring to my script, you're looking at the wrong side of things. The script you're referring to is for taking an existing folder on the hard drive and converting it to an ISO. See my signature to find that guide. A lot of people ripped to folders thinking that the ability to play them back would always exist. That was removed from PowerDVD, so, now people either refuse to update completely, or hack around with multiple versions. I wrote the script to help these people convert those rips to ISOs which can be played with later versions of PowerDVD. I also use the script on remuxed BD's that I create.

 

[thezone]

Question for SamiriHL

Hi

I am a neewb to this forum but have been successfully ripping bd’s for a few months now. I have read this entire thread and have 2 questions for SamiriHL:

If I use your method of creating iso's with Anydvd disabled and after allowing anydvd to retreive the required key whilst the original bd is in the drive:

1) Is there a way to back up the “keys” acquired over time and in between Anydvd HD updates so that the OS can be reinstalled or upgraded?
2) If not then I assume that once you re-install the os you will have to either:
–Re-insert the original disc to obtain the key or
–Wait for the next update of anydvd HD which will contain the key.

Is this correct?

 

[SamuriHL]

Well, you can't have read the entire thread if you don't know the answer to number 1. We've gone over this one before. No, you can't back up the keys. Your assumption for number 2 is correct in the case where you need to reinstall. Many people falsely assume this is a limitation just for this ISO creation process, but, no, it'll also affect their original discs the same way. It's no different except that a key can't be generated from the ISO whereas it can from the original.

 

[thezone]

Thanks for the prompt reply. Can I assume what you're saying is that if I have say 3TB of blu-ray material on my hdd and i want to change from xp to vista, then i will need to insert the original disc in, briefly before being able to watch the asscoiated movie, if it was cloned in its protected form?