How to split a.iso into 2 .iso?

December 13, 2006 6:34 PM

Can you split an .iso (DVD burn image) file in two? I've been ripping all of my Netflix movies into .iso files before realizing that my burning software (Nero burning rom) doesn't split an image file (.iso) that is larger than 4.7gig into two smaller files. All of these movies require dual layer blank DVDs, but since I have a 100 pack of blank DVDs I would like to try to see if I could split the movies to 2 different discs rather than buy the larger blanks.

That was my full question. Any help is appreciated!

posted by wile e to computers & internet (18 comments total)

Ignoring the blatant illegality of your question, I don't think what you want to do is possible. DVDs have headers and menu programs, any attempt to split a DVD would require breaking that stuff out and reauthoring the DVD.

If you were backing up dual-layer DVDs that you already own, I would suggest that you ignore the DVD blanks and just use cheap external USB 2 hard drives.
posted by b1tr0t at 6:38 PM on December 13, 2006

you should use something to compress the dvd into a nice 4.7gb size. no clue what that software'd be for a pc, though.
posted by soma lkzx at 6:40 PM on December 13, 2006

You have a variety of options available to you. DVD Shrink is used to remove superfluous extras and recompress video. You could burn to dual-layer DVDs. External hard drives could also work.
posted by adipocere at 6:46 PM on December 13, 2006

DVD Shrink (current version is 3.2) should do you fine.

From what I understand, what you're trying to do is illegal in the USA. I suggest you move to Canada, where you'd be in the clear so long as you're not selling copies.
posted by tiamat at 6:46 PM on December 13, 2006

DVDShrink guide.
posted by smackfu at 6:47 PM on December 13, 2006

Okay, just to be absolutely clear here...

Let's say one of the movies you have saved to your hard drive is 90 minutes long. When you're finished, you want to have two DVD discs; on the first disc, you'll have the first forty five minutes of the movie and on the second disc, you'll have the last forty five minutes of the movie. And both of these discs you'd like to be able to play in a standard DVD player attached to a TV, correct?

If that's what you want to do, it's fairly easy. However, you can't split an .ISO file directly. If you just wanted to store the file, you could break it into multiple parts with a program like WinRar. However, if you want to end up with two DVD movie discs, you'll need to go this route:

Get a program called Virtual Daemon. You will use it to mount the ISO file. That means that your computer will see the ISO file as if it were a real DVD in a DVD drive on your computer. Then, you can either use DVD Shrink or DVD Fab (both programs should be available for free) to split the movie into two parts. You then burn one part to each disc.

Contrary to what b1tr0t says, asking this question is not illegal. What you're proposing to do might be, but as far as I know no one has ever gotten busted or sued for making a backup copy of a movie for themselves. It's when you start distributing it to other people that you sometimes get into hot water.

And contrary to what soma lkzx says, it's not necessary to compress the movie. I almost never compress mine. Compression is an option and it's often seen as the cleaner, less bothersome approach, but it's not the only route. In any case, if you do decide to compress, DVD Shrink will handle that job nicely.
posted by Clay201 at 6:49 PM on December 13, 2006 [4 favorites]

Thank you Clay, that was exactly what I was looking for.

And for clarification, I am only ripping the DVDs and burning them because most movies I get from Netflix are scratched to the point of being unwatchable, but yet a dvd-rom drive can still read the scratched disc and burn a watchable copy. After watching the re-burned movie it self destructs, MI style.
posted by wile e at 6:56 PM on December 13, 2006

I think Daemon Tools went spyware a little while ago. Keep that in mind.
posted by JPowers at 7:12 PM on December 13, 2006

After watching the re-burned movie it self destructs, MI style.

Sounds like you should try a sturdier brand of blank DVDs.
posted by phatkitten at 7:40 PM on December 13, 2006

The spyware in Daemon Tools is optional. Make sure you opt out by choosing the Custom Installation option and then uncheck the box for the toolbar (or anything else that looks unnecessary or suspicious.)
posted by llamateur at 8:11 PM on December 13, 2006

perhaps no one has ever been busted for making a backup copy of a DVD, but lets be very clear about one thing: circumventing the encryption on a DVD (CSS) is very clearly illegal under the DMCA. you might not like this, but it is true.

i think its bullshit, and i'm sure you do too, but it is illegal.

the movie studios enforce this to the letter, everywhere they can. there is/was a startup company building very high-end video jukeboxes for home theater setups. their biz plan was to rip the DVDs onto the hard disk of the home theater pc, charge the customer for the DVD and then give the physical DVD to the customer, but they were still not allowed to to this by the MPAA.

why? oh, i'm sure they'd like you to wait 10 years until they get their digital distribution act together, and then pay to download movies you already own on DVD again.
posted by joeblough at 12:06 AM on December 14, 2006

Step 1: Get MSVCD
Step 2: Mount ISO as a drive using MSVCD
Step 3: Use DVDShrink to shrink your big .iso into a small .iso
Step 4: Burn new 4.7Gb .iso on DVD, discard old
Step 5: ???
Step 6: Profit


*the above information is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended for use in breaking any sort of coyright law and/or suing me.
posted by ThFullEffect at 4:27 AM on December 14, 2006

Upon reading Clay 201's answer, I realize that we are baically prescribing the same medicine. Take two and call us in the morning.
posted by ThFullEffect at 4:30 AM on December 14, 2006

perhaps no one has ever been busted for making a backup copy of a DVD, but lets be very clear about one thing: circumventing the encryption on a DVD (CSS) is very clearly illegal under the DMCA. you might not like this, but it is true.

Copying a DVD *doesn't circumvent* the encryption. You *still need* a valid DVD decrypter to watch the movie. Furthermore, converting to a non-encrypted format is only circumvention if you don't have a valid decoder to begin with.

It may or may not be illegal copyright infringement (not all infringement is illegal) depending on fair-use considerations. But that is another issue, entirely.
posted by jaded at 5:59 AM on December 14, 2006

Now, something like this for instance, now that would be circumventing the CSS. I'm just posting that as an example of something that you might want to avoid doing, if you live in the US. Then one might use Nero Recode to make the DVD fit on a regular size DVD ... in theory.
posted by jefeweiss at 6:15 AM on December 14, 2006

If only there were a "DVD Decrypter" that you could use to rip them to vob/iso and then a "DVD Shrink(er)" that would compress that ~9 gigs onto a 4.7 gig disc. And if it only took two simple steps to do. Man that would be awesome.
posted by Big_B at 9:05 AM on December 14, 2006

Two step solution:

1) Get a Mac.

2) Use FastDVDCopy to copy the ISO's you have mounted on the Mac onto a single-layer DVD.

It'll automatically reencode the video to fit your blanks, and even gives you the option to drop specific special features, language translations and so on, to give more room for higher quality video.
posted by armoured-ant at 2:33 PM on December 14, 2006

Heh, cool. My question made it onto Lifehacker.

Thanx everyone for the responses, much appreciated.
posted by wile e at 8:10 PM on December 14, 2006