What to buy?

[Basementjack]

Hi, My DVDFab Movie server arrived today

I believe I need Blu Ray Copy to backup my Movies to ISO.

Is there anything else needed? Cinavia? Video Converter? Ripper? Passkey?

Also, I've considered buying the all in one bundle, but it looks like there are a few newer products that are not yet included, and I don't want to pay for it now, and then have to pay more later. has anyone been around long enough to see how often they update the all in one bundle to include newer offerings?

I also have some questions on movie server, but I'll ask those in the movie server forum.

[fengtao]

To build your movie server library, you only need DVDFab UHD/Blu-ray/DVD Copy.

[signals]

Jack,
I responded in your other thread as well. You can use the DVD/BD/UHD Copy module to make ISOs or Folders of the movie content. I believe the current All-In-One has everything that is currently available, the website description may be out of date. You really do not need anything except the Copy modules, but Passkey is also handy to have in your decryption toolbox.

[Basementjack]

Thanks fengtao and signals!

I played around with dvdfab 10 tonight, and used the copy module to copy a DVD.
One thing I noticed was that it seems to first rip all the Video_ts files to a folder on the hard drive, then in a second pass it builds an ISO then in the 3rd pass it copies that ISO to the DMS.

At a first glance, it appears that this is taking 3x longer that it really needs to.

It seems the process should be "Grab bits off disk and put into an iso across the network in one fluid motion"

Looking at the website it looks like Passkey can create an ISO, Does it do this without the intermediate step of putting the video_ts folder down first? And if so is it faster to use Passkey? if an ISO is the goal? Are there tradeoffs such as the lack of a metadata file?

Lastly, can you confirm if passkey is currently included in the all in one bundle? From the website it looks like the all in one excludes Passkey, Player 5, MVC Codecs and of course the DMS.

Thanks!

[signals]

DVDFab makes ISOs as you noted in a two step process but has many more options for manipulating the content before making the output (Main Movie only, Customize mode, remove unwanted audio or subs, strip out HD audio compress the video, etc.) than Passkey. It does not really take 3x longer, since much of the process runs at 400-800% of the disc reading speed or faster. To improve the speed, put the DVDFab temp file and the output file on different drives. I do not use ISOs, since their creation and playback puts two more layers in the process that can be avoided with folders, but that is a personal choice. Passkey does things a little differently than DVDFab. It is a useful tool for many tasks but not for everyday copying.

[Basementjack]

Thanks signals. Is there an alternate to the ISO when the target is DVD Fab Movie Server? You mention folders - what does that look like for the server- does it still preserve all the blue ray menus and meta data and such?

[ram1009]

I have pretty much the same problem as Basementjack. I don't know what to buy. I feel like a newbie although I'm not. I just have been inactive for a few years. I opened DVD 9 and, of course it's expired so I clicked the "BUY NOW" button and was whisked to a page showing my "active products" sort of. It listed DVDFAB DVD Copy & DVDFAB5 (Platinum). I have no idea what DVDFAB5 (Platinum) is and I can't find an explanation for it on the website. I don't mind buying it if I need it but do I? Much has changed here and I don't want to waste money buying the wrong thing. HELP!!

[Basementjack]

Ram, what you want is the "Copy" products. (DVDCopy, BlueRayCopy, UHDCopy)
The current version is DVD FAB 10
DVDFAB 10 is a generic name, much like Microsoft Office is generic.
Inside DVDFAB 10 are different "modules" such as DVD COPY, BLU-RAY COPY, and many others.
If you owned a lifetime copy of DVDFAB 5, that should unlock DVD Copy and DVD Ripper
You will have to buy BLU-RAY licenses if you want to rip blu rays, but you'll be able to try demos of those modules first to see if they meet your needs.

As far as movie server goes, it seems DVD COPY and BLURAY COPY are the best tools for making files that work with Movie Server.

While it's true you're creating an ISO file, there is also one more file generated by DVDFAB10 BLU-RAY copy - a small text file with a description of the movie, which DVD Fab uses to display artwork. I don't believe this file is generated if you use another method such as passkey.

Additionally the Copy modules in DVDFAB10 have a very convenient "Save to DVDFAB MOVIE SERVER" which makes ripping movies to your server nearly as easy as "1 Click"

- Jack

[Mona]

Hello,

DVDFab5(platinum) is for DVD COPY;
Platinum 3.X is for DVD COPY and DVD RIPPER.

Whether the license you owned is for lifetime or not, you can check in DVDFab Member Center.

Regards,
mona