Merge help??? Please!

[snakeboots]

Can someone please help me with the DVD merging process? I've followed the tutorial and tried this 6 times now and can't seem to get this done.

Here's what I'm trying to do...

I want to take a 2-disc movie (Godfather Part 2) and save to hdd as one .iso file. I play my movies direct from hdd, so no burning to disc will be needed.

Here's what I've done..

1. First I ripped both discs individually as .iso files to my hdd. I named them Godfather Part 2a & Godfather Part 2b.
2. I then chose the "Merge" function in DVDFab. As per the tutorial, I selected Godfather Part 2a, then I selected Godfather Part 2b.
3. I then hit the "next" button, which brought me to the screen that shows me the selected titles. Both titles appear. They are in the correct order..so far so good.
4. I then selected the "Target". I chose an external drive and named the target file Godfather Part 2.
5. I then pressed Start. It says that the merge process has started.

Thirty minutes later the process is completed. I play the supposedly merged file and find out that the only title ripped is the first title. The second title is not there. No merge happening.

What am I doing wrong?????!!! I'm so frustrated at this point because I've done this 6 times and wasted over 3 hours. Can someone please help me? Feel free to call me a moron....just tell me what I'm doing wrong.

[Guest]

"2. I then chose the "Merge" function in DVDFab. As per the tutorial, I selected Godfather Part 2a, then I selected Godfather Part 2b.
3. I then hit the "next" button, which brought me to the screen that shows me the selected titles. Both titles appear. They are in the correct order..so far so good."

Select Godfather Part 2a then hit next.

Select Godfather Part 2b then hit next .

Then continue the way you have been doing.

[Guest]

Forgot to mention that if you want to add your own menu to the finished product use Titlewriter.
Simple to use and takes about 4 minutes.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/TitleWriter

[snakeboots]

"2. I then chose the "Merge" function in DVDFab. As per the tutorial, I selected Godfather Part 2a, then I selected Godfather Part 2b.
3. I then hit the "next" button, which brought me to the screen that shows me the selected titles. Both titles appear. They are in the correct order..so far so good."

Select Godfather Part 2a then hit next.

Select Godfather Part 2b then hit next .

Then continue the way you have been doing.

Thanks Grunon. Tried it. Didn't work. Got the same results. Only the first title was ripped. No merge. I'm going nuts with this. I seem to be doind everything that the tutorial says to do. What am I missing?? Am I misinterpreting the "merge" function? I want to take two .iso files and combine them into one .iso file, where one will play after the other, so it will play as one continuous movie. This is what a merge is, isn't it? God, this is frustrating.

[CBR929]

Hi snakeboots
I tested this and have just made an ISO of Transformers 1 and 2 using your method to merge, except I did not rename the files and played with VLC and both movies were there.
I selected both ISO images made by Fab for the source using the little paper with the folded corner and blue disc on it to the right of the source box (click first ISO then let Fab scan click second ISO let Fab scan) click your target click next,
change setting to DVD9 toward the bottom on this screen click start.

The only difference also is that I have ImgBurn as my burn engine and ImgBurn made my ISO files.
If you would like to use ImgBurn as your burn engine you will find it here along with a tutorial on setting it up with Fab http://forum.dvdfab.com/showthread.php?t=33

Also how is your external drive formatted??? FAT32 or NTFS
Waiting your reply.
CBR929

[Guest]

Thanks Grunon. Tried it. Didn't work. Got the same results. Only the first title was ripped. No merge. I'm going nuts with this. I seem to be doind everything that the tutorial says to do. What am I missing?? Am I misinterpreting the "merge" function? I want to take two .iso files and combine them into one .iso file, where one will play after the other, so it will play as one continuous movie. This is what a merge is, isn't it? God, this is frustrating.

I just finished merging 21 episodes of 2 different TV series without a problem doing it the way I mentioned.

I also am using Imgburn as CBR929 mentioned.

Not sure what else to tell you.
Take a break and think the process through to see what you might be doing different.

[CBR929]

I just finished merging 21 episodes of 2 different TV series without a problem doing it the way I mentioned.

I also am using Imgburn as CBR929 mentioned.

Not sure what else to tell you.
Take a break and think the process through to see what you might be doing different.

Hey G
Never tried it that way, but the ISO files did appear doing it.

@ snakeboots
Also when I played it with VLC the movie timer only showed the time of the first movie, when it finished it showed the time for the second.
CBR929

[signals]

For merge mode, all sources to be merged must be present at all times or it will fail. If you still can't get it to work, do the first rips of the Sources as folders instead if images. You can write the output to an image if that is your preferred format. When you add the second Source, be sure to use folder or ISO Source button rather than the drop down. It should work either way, but I have not tried one with any of the recent versions. A new version of Merge is on the drawing boards that will have some additional features (seamless).

[Guest]

" I play my movies direct from hdd, so no burning to disc will be needed.".

What do you use to play the merged movies from the hard drive.?

If it is a WD Live media player that may be the problem.
Many times the WD Live will not see the second movie and will only play the first one.

Have you tried burning to a disc and testing on a standalone player?

[snakeboots]

Hi snakeboots
I tested this and have just made an ISO of Transformers 1 and 2 using your method to merge, except I did not rename the files and played with VLC and both movies were there.
I selected both ISO images made by Fab for the source using the little paper with the folded corner and blue disc on it to the right of the source box (click first ISO then let Fab scan click second ISO let Fab scan) click your target click next,
change setting to DVD9 toward the bottom on this screen click start.

The only difference also is that I have ImgBurn as my burn engine and ImgBurn made my ISO files.
If you would like to use ImgBurn as your burn engine you will find it here along with a tutorial on setting it up with Fab http://forum.dvdfab.com/showthread.php?t=33

Also how is your external drive formatted??? FAT32 or NTFS
Waiting your reply.
CBR929

Hi CBR - Thanks for the reply and for trying. I am doing EXACTLY the same thing you are doing, but getting different results. I also use VLC after every burn to make sure everything turned out okay. I just can't seem to merge two files together.

I have ImgBurn installed, I just haven't used it as my burn engine. I'll try that and see if it works.

My drives are formatted in NTFS. Could this be the problem?

[snakeboots]

I just finished merging 21 episodes of 2 different TV series without a problem doing it the way I mentioned.

I also am using Imgburn as CBR929 mentioned.

Not sure what else to tell you.
Take a break and think the process through to see what you might be doing different.

I'll try using ImgBurn and see if that helps. Thanks.

[snakeboots]

" I play my movies direct from hdd, so no burning to disc will be needed.".

What do you use to play the merged movies from the hard drive.?

If it is a WD Live media player that may be the problem.
Many times the WD Live will not see the second movie and will only play the first one.

Have you tried burning to a disc and testing on a standalone player?

I use a PopBox to play all of my movies. I don't think the PopBox is the issue because I check all of my burns using VLC. I'll stream one of my merged titles to PopBox just in case though.

[CBR929]

Hi CBR - Thanks for the reply and for trying. I am doing EXACTLY the same thing you are doing, but getting different results. I also use VLC after every burn to make sure everything turned out okay. I just can't seem to merge two files together.

I have ImgBurn installed, I just haven't used it as my burn engine. I'll try that and see if it works.

My drives are formatted in NTFS. Could this be the problem?

Hi snakeboots
Please follow the instructions on the link that I had posted in setting up ImgBurn, if you also burn to disc at times remember to set up the AWS in ImgBurn with your burn speed set to 1/2 the rated speed of the disc's you use and give it another go.
I was hoping that your drive was formatted as NTFS FAT32 has a 4GB file limit size so I was thinking that was your problem.
CBR929

[snakeboots]

Well, I tried using ImgBurn like suggested and the merge worked! Don't ask me how...I did everything exactly as I was doing. The merged movie streamed perfectly to my PopBox too.

Thanks to everyone for all of their help!

[CBR929]

Glad it is working for you now.
CBR929