NAME
dvdbackup - Tool to backup DVDs
SYNOPSIS
dvdbackup [OPTION]...
DESCRIPTION
This manual page documents briefly the dvdbackup command. This manual
page was written for the Debian distribution because the original
program does not have a manual page. dvdbackup is a tool to extract
data from video DVDs. It has the advantages of being small, fast, and
easy to use.
OPTIONS
A summary of options is included below.
-h, --help
print a brief usage message
-V, --version
print version information
-I, --info
for information about the DVD
-M, --mirror
backup the whole DVD
-F, --feature
backup the main feature of the DVD
-T X, --titleset=X
backup title set X
-t X, --title=X
backup title X
-s X, --start=X
backup from chapter X
-e X, --end=X
backup to chapter X
-i DEVICE, --input=DEVICE
where DEVICE is your DVD device. This switch only needs to be
used if your DVD device node is not /dev/dvd
-o DIRECTORY, --output=DIRECTORY
where DIRECTORY is your backup target. If not given, the
current working directory will be used.
-v, --verbose
print more information about progress
-n NAME, --name=NAME
(optional) set the title - useful if autodetection fails
-a 0, --aspect=0
to get aspect ratio 4:3 instead of 16:9 if both are present
-r {a,b,m}, --error={a,b,m}
select read error handling: a=abort, b=skip block, m=skip
multiple blocks (default)
Option notes
-a is option to the -F switch and has no effect on other options
-s and -e should preferably be used together with -t
General backup information
If your backup directory is /my/dvd/backup/dir/ specified with the -o
flag, then dvdbackup will create a DVD-Video structure under
/my/dvd/backup/dir/TITLE_NAME/VIDEO_TS. If the -o flag is omitted, the
current directory is used.
Since the title is "unique" you can use the same directory for all your
DVD backups. If it happens to have a generic title dvdbackup will exit
with a return value of 2, and you will need to specify a title name
with the -n switch.
dvdbackup will always mimic the original DVD-Video structure. Hence if
you e.g. use the -M (mirror) you will get an exact duplicate of the
original. This means that every file will have the same size as the
original one. Likewise also for the -F and the -T switch.
However the -t and (-t -s/-e) switch is a bit different the titles
sectors will be written to the original file but not at the same offset
as the original one since there may be gaps in the cell structure that
we do not fill.
EXAMPLES
dvdbackup -I
gathers information about the DVD. /dev/dvd is the default
device tried - you need to use -i if your device name is
different.
dvdbackup -M
backups the whole DVD. This action creates a valid DVD-Video
structure that can be burned to a DVD-/+R(W) with help of
genisoimage.
dvdbackup -F
backups the main feature of the DVD. This action creates a
valid DVD-Video structure of the feature title set. Note that
this will not result in an image immediately watchable - you
will need another program like dvdauthor to help construct the
IFO files.
dvdbackup defaults to get the 16:9 version of the main feature
if a 4:3 is also present on the DVD. To get the 4:3 version use
-a 0.
dvdbackup makes it best to make a intelligent guess what is the
main feature of the DVD - in case it fails please send a bug
report.
dvdbackup -T 2
backups the title set 2 i.e. all VTS_02_X.XXX files. This
action creates a valid DVD-Video structure of the specified
title set. Note that this will not result in an image
immediately watchable - you will need another program like
dvdauthor to help construct the IFO files.
dvdbackup -t 1
backups the title 1. This action backups all cells that forms
the specified title. Note that there can be sector gaps in
between one cell and another. dvdbackup will backup all sectors
that belongs to the title but will skip sectors that are not a
part of the title.
dvdbackup -t 1 -s 20 -e 25
This action will backup chapter 20 to 25 in title 1, as with the
backup of a title there can be sector gaps between one chapter
(cell) and on other. dvdbackup will backup all sectors that
belongs to the title 1 chapter 20 to 25 but will skip sectors
that are not a part of the title 1 chapter 20 to 25.
To backup a single chapter e.g. chapter 20 do -s 20 -e 20.
To backup from chapter 20 to the end chapter use only -s 20.
To backup to chapter 20 from the first chapter use only -e 20.
You can skip the -t switch and let the program guess the title
although it is not recommended.
If you specify a chapter that is higher than the last chapter of
the title dvdbackup will truncate to the highest chapter of the
title.
EXIT STATUS
0 on success
1 on usage error
2 on title name error
-1 on failure
AUTHORS
dvdbackup was written by Olaf Beck <olaf_sc@yahoo.com>, but is now
maintained by Benjamin Drung <benjamin.drung@gmail.com> and Stephen
Gran <sgran@debian.org>. This manual page was written by Stephen Gran
<sgran@debian.org>.