Finalize a DVD-R

Guillaume -  
ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   -
Hello,

I just retrieved some old DVDs that I had burned a long time ago (about 10 years) on a Philips standalone DVD player: they were videos from a camcorder that I had put on DVD back then.
Today, I would like to recover the video files from these DVDs to put them on my PC, but some DVDs are unreadable because I didn't finalize them at the time... You can see that the burning was done but the disk is "empty" when I open it with my PC...
Of course, I no longer have the original burner.... Do you know if there is software to finalize the DVD and thus recover the videos?

Thank you

Guillaume

Configuration: Windows / Firefox 76.0

3 réponses

ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   5 340
 
Hello,

Can the finalization of a disc only be done on the device that performed the burning?

Try using IsoBuster (free version) to see if you can access the content of your DVD. If successful, maybe you could then recover the content of the disc on your PC, but that remains hypothetical with the free version.

Best regards
--
Long live Bobo! ~ A little fish will grow big ~
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Guillaume
 
Ah great, thanks. Indeed, Isobuster detects my files!

There is then the possibility to extract them, but indeed it's the paid version...
Do you know if I take the paid version, will I have the certainty of recovering my files?
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ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   5 340 > Guillaume
 
I can't answer you with certainty since I have only used the free version in the past.

Try first with IsoBuster in the free version to do it. If I remember correctly, you take all the elements in the right window and drag and drop them into a folder on your computer. Usually, you would do it differently with right-click, etc., but my method works too.
The software 7Zip also allows you to do this to a certain extent.
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Guillaume > ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention  
 
As soon as I try to move the file, it tells me that I need the paid version.... I think I'm going to give it a shot and whip out my credit card...!
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fabul Posted messages 42093 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   6 032
 
Hi,

Yes, in principle, you should be able to retrieve the content with the paid version.

However, the content is probably not compatible with the DVD-Video format, since it’s likely a DVD-VR.

What I used to do after ISOBuster was to convert it back to standard DVD-Video with Tmpgenc Authoring Works (Another paid program...)
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Guillaume
 
OK, I'll give it a try. Thanks a lot.
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ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   5 340
 
Hi fabul,

I think that if Guillaume manages to extract the content from his hard drive, he will be able to create a new DVD-Video using free software other than TMPGEnc. After all, it doesn't matter how as long as he achieves what he wants ;-)
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Guillaume
 
Thank you all for your advice.
So in the end, I successfully managed to recover my files in .VOB format.
I would now like to convert them to Mp4, but all the software I find adds a watermark in their free version... Do you have any recommendations for me, please?

Thanks a lot.
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ziggourat Posted messages 24653 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   5 340
 
Personally, I would first merge my VOB files with Mpg2Cut2 for example or even Avidemux in order to get a large MPG file.
Then I would convert it to MP4 with XMedia Recode, HandBrake, Avidemux, or another free software, there are so many...
Uh... upon reflection I would use directly one of the software mentioned above (my order of preference: #1 HandBrake, #2 Avidemux, #3 XMedia Recode), hoping that they recognize the content as DVD-Video.

Explanation: It seems to me that HandBrake and/or Avidemux or even XMedia Recode recognize the DVD-Video structure, the VIDEO_TS folder (thus containing all the IFO, BUP, and VOB files!), and therefore "reassemble" all the files making up the film. Then you set up the software and output a file in MP4.
For HandBrake, at least for me, you need to change the default M4V extension to MP4 when saving the file name with Browse.

One more thing, since the video is probably in 16:9, remember to set it to 704x404 or 640x360, in short a ratio of 1.778 to get a display also in 16:9 and not in 4:3.
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