DVD copying with IfoEdit

As explained in our article DVD to DVD copying, in many cases it is not possible to simply copy a DVD-Movie to a recordable DVD. The main problem is that recordable DVD's only have a capacity of 4.7Gbyte.

This article shows how you can overcome this problem without any need of re-encoding using the freeware program IfoEdit.

1. The concept of IfoEdit
2. Working with IfoEdit
3. Getting prepared
4. The techniques
   - Removing unwanted clips
   - Removing audio streams and subtitles
   - Removing menus
   - Copying the main movie only
   - Splitting content over two DVD's
   - Removing region protection
5. Finalizing and burning

1. The concept of IfoEdit

Again referring to our article DVD to DVD copying, the relevant data on a DVD can be found in two types of files. Video Object Files (VOB's) which contain the actual streaming data and Information Files (IFO's) which contain the control data on how the DVD interacts with the player and the user.

IfoEdit works by editing the IFO's and while changes are saved in a new IFO file, IfoEdit automatically opens the associated VOB's to create a new set of VOB's using the pointers in the IFO. For example, if you remove pointers in the IFO, IfoEdit will create new VOB's from the existing ones in which the data is removed to which the pointer refer. The process of selecting the associated VOB's and creating a new set of VOB's is completely automated as long as you make sure that you have selected the right settings in IfoEdit. As a matter of fact, the process is even iterative. After the new set of VOB's is created, IfoEdit goes back to the associated IFO and makes corrections based on the newly created set of VOB's.

2. Working with IfoEdit

This article only lists a number of techniques that you can use for copying DVD's. With IfoEdit you can do much more than is explained in this article. If you open up an IFO in IfoEdit you can double click on editable lines and manually change values of parameters in that line. But unless you are very experienced and have thorough knowledge of the structure of IFO's this is not recommended.

It must be noted that it is not all techniques explained below can be applied in one go. Therefore you should save new created files in a new empty directory on your hard drive. Once you have edited one IFO and saved the result, you will end up with a new IFO (including a new SUB) and a new set of associated VOB's in that directory. In order to proceed to the next editing step, it is a good idea to move all of the unchanged IFO's, SUB's and VOB's to that same directory, so that you again have a complete set of DVD data. Then, use that new set for the next editing operation.

3. Getting prepared

In order to be able to edit the DVD data you first have to copy the contents of the DVD to your hard drive. Although it is possible to just copy them as files, it is recommended to make use of a ripper like Smartripper or DVDdecryptor to copy the files to your hard drive. Advantage is that, if the DVD contains CSS encryption, it is removed during the copying process.

Next, for some of the techniques explained below you have to find out in which data is stored in which files. This can be done using VOBrator. By loading the VOB files in VOBrator and looking at each of them you can create a list with detailed information about the exact content of the VOB files.

Once you have executed the above two steps, you can start the actual editing process.

4. The techniques

This chapter is a list of a number of different techniques that you can use in IfoEdit.

Assuming that you have found a trailer in vts_01_1.vob, ID=1 that you want to remove. Open up the associated ifo file vts_01_0.ifo in IfoEdit and press the button VOB Extras. Make sure that you select the next settings in the screen that now pops up.

By pressing on the button, you can select the new directory to which you want to save your work. After pressing OK, the next screen appears in which you can select which VobID's you want to keep and which you want to remove.

Make sure that Correct IFO tables is checked and press the Strip it button. After processing is finished IfoEdit will report the message Finished correcting VOBU pointers!

Finally move all of the unchanged files from the original to the new directory and you're ready.

Open up the IFO associated with the movie in IfoEdit. In the screen below you can see that the opened DVD contains 2audio tracks and 11 subtitle tracks.

Press VOB Extras. In the settings window this time you should check Strip Streams and uncheck Strip VobID's. All other settings are the same as shown earlier above. Again, make sure that you select a new, empty directory to save your work and press OK.

In the dialog screen you can select which audio tracks and subtitles you want to keep and which one you want to remove. Also here you have to make sure that Correct IFO tables is checked. After pressing Strip it IfoEdit will start generating a new IFO with associated SUB and VOB files.

After the message Finished correcting VOBU pointers! move the unchanged files form the original disc to the new directory and you're ready again.

If you are performing the above two operations on the same IFO you can combine them by checking both Strip Stream's and Strip VobID's.