Cloning DVDs on a Mac

February 21, 2007 6:11 PM

I'd like to know how to clone DVDs on a Mac.

This began when I was asked to copy a homemade DVD movie for a family member.

I can use handbrake to rip the movie, but there doesn't seem to be a way to simply clone it so that it can still be used in a regular DVD player (a friend suggested ripping it to .mov and using iDVD to make a new movie, but is there a simpler way?)

I'd like to be able to take an image of the DVD, and burn it directly onto another. I have a feeling that this is a 'forest for the trees' situation where I can't see an obvious solution, but that's where you come in.

(previous AskMeFi posts suggested some windows programs, but I didn't see anything for OSX)

posted by wolfsleepy to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

Toast. Unfortunately, you have to pay for it.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 6:16 PM on February 21, 2007

To copy a DVD, don't rip it with Handbrake, which converts it to MP4. Use MacTheRipper, which keeps the original format.
posted by Mwongozi at 6:17 PM on February 21, 2007

To copy your home made DVD, you simply have to use the Disk Utility tool to create an image file from the DVD, then the same utility to burn the image. Everything necessary came with your Mac (although admittedly the Disk Utility interface is rather non-good).

Were you dealing with CSS and copy protection, yes, MTR would be the tool of choice to create the image. However that's not necessary for your homebrew DVD project.
posted by majick at 6:27 PM on February 21, 2007

I use a combo of MacTheRipper and DVD Imager to turn it back into an ISO. However, you may need software to shrink the DVD if it's over 4.7 GB.
posted by mhz at 6:29 PM on February 21, 2007

caveat: by "DVD" some people are answering your question as if you mean "commercially produced movie DVD", which, if thats the case, and you want something you can play on your TV, MacTheRipper is the way to go.
posted by phaedon at 6:38 PM on February 21, 2007

well that was unnecessary. what majick said.
posted by phaedon at 6:40 PM on February 21, 2007

However, you may need software to shrink the DVD if it's over 4.7 GB.

Unless you are dealing with a commercial DVD product, this is unlikely. MTR and Disk Utility are sufficient to legally duplicate unencrypted DVDs.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:35 PM on February 21, 2007

I'd suggest MacTheRipper, but if it's a home produced, not-encrypted disc, I think you could probably just stick the disk in the drive, unmount it from the commandline and then go (something like)

#dd /dev/disk1 ./DiscImage.iso

and then burn the iso with whatever.

(also, does not deal with shrinking to 4.7Gb, but you did say clone....)
posted by pompomtom at 7:41 PM on February 21, 2007

huh. i used to use 'fastcopy' in a former life, and it automatically deals with shrinkage, css and macro.
posted by phaedon at 7:44 PM on February 21, 2007

If the DVD is home-made, in which case it is (most likely) single layer and unencrypted, disk utility will do the job, as has already been pointed out. Insert the DVD, select it in disk utility, then File -> New -> Image from DVD_VOLUME_NAME. Wait. Then Image -> Burn, pick the image you just created. Or, from the command line, type something like this:

hdiutil makehybrid -udf -o foo.iso /Volumes/DVDNAME
hdiutil burn foo.iso

For "other" DVDs, copying - or "making a personal backup for archival purposes," as I prefer to say - is (generally) a two-stage process.

1. Assuming the DVD is encrypted - most commercial ones are - you need a ripper. I would suggest Mac The Ripper.This will generate a set of files on your hard disk.

2. Absent a dual-layer superdrive (and dual-layer DVD-Rs are rather expensive anyways) you should run the ripped files through DVD2One which will re-encode the video to fit on one single-layer disk, and burn it. Even if the original DVD is single layer, DVD2One will take care of creating the right flavour of filesystem and all that nonsense. It's not free, but it works far better than anything else out there, IMHO.

This is probably way more information than you asked for, but just in case it isn't, Doom9 has more information on this topic than anyone could possibly digest in a lifetime.

Any or all of this process may be illegal in certain juristictions, depending on the particular DVD your making a copy of.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 8:06 PM on February 21, 2007

Wow. majick has it dead on.

Disk utility. If you search the help for duplicating a disk...

Duplicating a CD or DVD
You can use Disk Utility to quickly copy many types of CDs and DVDs. In the steps below, you'll create a disk image of the disc, and then use that image to burn copies.

Disk Utility cannot create usable copies of discs that use an incompatible format or are copy protected. These include most movie DVDs and audio CDs and some software and data discs.

1) Insert the CD or DVD disc in your computer's optical drive and select it in the list of disks and volumes.
2) Choose File > New > "Disk Image from [name of disc]."
Type a name for the disk image.
3) Choose "compressed" or "read-only" from the Image Format pop-up menu.
4) Choose "compressed" to create a smaller disk image, and choose "read-only" to create a disk image that's quicker to create and open.
5) Click Save.
6) After Disk Utility creates the disk image, eject the original CD or DVD.
7) Select the disk image in the list of disks and volumes, and choose Images > Burn.
8) When the Burn Disc dialog appears, insert a blank CD or DVD, and then click Burn.

posted by filmgeek at 12:13 AM on February 22, 2007