Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Can DTS disks be copied using a CD-Rom Burner?

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Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 10-19-2003, 05:36 PM:

This would be in a scenario where we get one print of a movie and need to interlock it ito the adjacent theater. I would need another set of DTS disks. Because I am thinking this scenario would probably only occur in the case of a midnight movie, when I only have one print, and want to take advantage of the extra seats, I doubt calling TES and telling them my DTS disks were missing from the shipment would get me a set fast enough. I know Karen's probably getting ready to go into lecture mode, but I am not asking this question for the ability to bootleg the disks, but let's just say it is for backup purposes, in case one of my coworkers were to mess up the disks, and the copy would be destroyed as soon as we tore down the print (it would be useless without the print anyway). Has anyone ever done this?? Any special tricks needed? Thanks.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-19-2003, 05:38 PM:

Just do a normal "cd copy" with any burning software.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 10-19-2003, 07:30 PM:

Sometimes the files on DTS disks can be messed up and will not read with the DTS reader or even with a cd player/copier. So what I do is make a sub directory called "Burn Me". In this directory I make a subdirectory called DTS. When you look at the "Burn Me" subdirectory, it looks just like the DTS disk. Then I go into the DTS directory on the DTS disk and one by one copy the "aud" files into the DTS directory on the H-drive. If one of them is messed up it will not copy to the "Burn Me' subdirectory (DTS). That way you'll know right off if your files are ok or not. Once all that is done I copy the contents of the "Burn Me" subdirectory to the new CD. You're done, and should have a defectless copy of the DTS disk. If one of the "aud" files fails to copy to your hard drive, it's bogus, but you can take the same "aud" file off another DTS (of the same name of course) and substitute it, making a composite DTS disk. Doing a composite is sometimes the only way to come up with a "whole disk" if they had a bad luck run down at DTS
Works for me

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 10-19-2003, 07:55 PM:

I have never had a problem with directcd to copy any disk as it is done as a bit to bit location to location mirror copy

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-19-2003, 09:04 PM:

I would be cautious about trying to run CD-Rs burned at a high speed in the 2X Toshiba SCSI caddy drives found in 2-drive DTS-6 players. They work fine in the DTS-6D three drive units.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 10-19-2003, 10:20 PM:

If you want to play them on any of the older drives set the burn speed to 2X

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 10-19-2003, 10:39 PM:

I have had occasion where one or more of the "aud" files will be corrupt. Copying "all at once" doesn't work at all or copies the bad file...badly. In that case copying one file at a time will tell you which file is bad or allows you to substitute a good file for the corrupt one. As far as copying speed, I have the original two drawer type and never had a problem with any speed using the technique I outlined. Not sure I can figure what difference it would make what speed you copied at anyway although there were a few problems way back with older cd burner technology. Never had a problem with burner speed in the last few years.
Whatever works for you

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 10-19-2003, 10:52 PM:

Thanks for the tip on the burn speed for the DTS-6 caddy drives - those are the ones we have.

I am curious about the copy and burn suggestion though. I was under the impression that there was "boot" information on the DTS CD's. If that is the case, would this information then not be copied?

It's good to know you can copy them though. I use a CD package called "Prassi Primo CD Pro" that I got when I bought my computer. You can't get it any more because the thing was bought up by Veritas, but it works great for me and has never screwed up a disk so far. I haven't looked at any of the newer stuff to compare it to, but from back in it's day it was pretty slick. You can take a bunch of MP3 files and tell it to make an audio CD - it goes ahead and converts them to WAV files and burns them all in one step. Like I said, maybe they all do that now, but back then they didn't. This was the first one that was XP certified when XP came out.

Anyway, thanks for the help!

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 10-20-2003, 06:29 AM:

You can make a copy as everyone else has said. But for WHAT REASON do you need the copy? Normaly DTS discs of a film should be provided by the distributor. If you want to run the same print in two or more screens then I am in favour of copying the discs but as others have said Do copy them at 4X or preferably 2X.
Demetrs

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 10-20-2003, 09:46 AM:

"....I am curious about the copy and burn suggestion though. I was under the impression that there was "boot" information on the DTS CD's. If that is the case, would this information then not be copied?...."

There's a file in the root directory of the DTS disk called "DTS.exe". Copying the "aud" files into the dts subdirectory and the "DTS.exe" file into the "root" will give you all you need on your new disk.
Of course if you can do the disk copy method it's faster and easier, but sometimes that method won't work. I've had instances where I've had to do composite disks using up to 3 original disks to get all the files needed to make a workable disk. They get pretty beat up sometimes.
As far as copy speed, if you have a second generation burner or newer the copying speed is pretty irrelevant.
Also look for the "copy to hard drive first" box and check it, so you don't get over runs. I have the old DTS two drive caddy unit, and it's been an education. Specially when you don't have the luxury of calling someone for new discs when they're goofed up

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 10-20-2003, 10:41 AM:

About defective discs: the "slim" cases that DTS was using, I believe were the problem. If you look at just about any other CD case you will see a built-up ridge near the center, and sometimes the same thing around the outside of the disc area. These ridges keep the surface of the disc from resting on the case itself. The slim DTS cases do not have these ridges, and the serface of the discs rests on the case bottom. The disc can rotate in the case, and any dust or durt will scratch the disc in the process. These scratches will be right in line with the tracks on the discs, making the discs very hard to read. The top of the case can also rest on the disc, and again scratch the back of the disc. Since DTS does not print a "full" label on the back of the disc, there is only a thin coat of plastic protecting the recording. Any scratch on the back side of the disc can destroy the recording, and make that part of the disc unplayable. If you can see a scratch on BOTH sides of the disc, the recording has been destroyed.

Nero burner has options that will let it try to correct errors, and if it can't correct them, it will bypass them. If the problem is not too bad, you can make a playable copy of the disc this way, although the audio may "flutter" where the damage was done to the original disc.

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 10-20-2003, 03:34 PM:

Basically, the reason I asked this question is that the hot movie season is coming up, and if we go to run a midnight showing of a blockbuster and only get one print I can interlace it into the auditorium next door and add another 200 seats to my capacity - but I will need another set of disks. After the midnight showing is over I won't need the second set of disks anymore and they can be tossed. Because the midnight showing would occur on the night we receive the print there would be no chance to request the second set of disks, and they may not give us a second set anyway since we are only receiving on print. I don't know if this is going to happen or not, and I need to set up a few trailers and play with the interlacing first anyway to be sure everything is hooked up properly, but just in case .... [Smile]