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Entered CNET Catalog: 05/14/2004
SKU: CNETINTERVDVDCOPYPL2
Manufacturer: Corel Corp.
Manufacturer description
InterVideo DVD Copy 2 Platinum can be used to copy unencrypted DVDs, VCDs and SVCDs with no loss of quality, content or features. In addition to being up to 25 percent faster, the latest version of DVD Copy 2 includes more robust customization features for creating personalized DVDs, including InterVideo's unique merging feature. The Multiple DVD (M-DVD) Merging feature enables users to conveniently group DVD videos onto a single DVD, complete with automatic menu generation for easy navigation. DVD Copy 2 features direct, disc-to-disc recording capabilities that enable users to create backup copies of personal video collections in minutes. Offering a broad range of support options, users can create DVD to DVD copies as well as DVD to VCD/SVCD, and DVD to DivX CD copies. DVD content can also be copied to a hard drive as MPEG-1/2 or DivX files for editing with DVD Copy 2's easy-to-use editing tools. Users can add or delete chapters, remove subtitles and audio tracks or change the aspect ratio by clicking on the software's Customize button. With InterVideo's time-saving UniPass technology, videos that have simple editing fixes do not require re-rendering because the technology integrates DVD creation and editing together. Designed with an intuitive, wizard-like interface, even a novice can use DVD Copy 2 to create identical duplicates of personal videos in just three easy steps: Select the source, destination (CD-R/RW, DVD+/-R/RW/-RAM disc or hard drive) and the video output format (DVD, VCD, SVCD, DivX , or M-DVD). When the user clicks on the Burn button, the software's powerful Autofit feature automatically determines how much compression is needed to produce the best-looking results for the output selected. With this feature, users can make copies of dual-layer DVD-Videos onto a single blank DVD without any visual quality loss. The Autofit feature can also be used with the software's support for the DivX format to fit a DVD video onto a single DivX CD.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 05/21/2004
InterVideo DVD Copy 2.0's simple main interface breaks the copying process into three steps: select the source disc, choose the target device you want to copy to (such as a blank DVD or a hard drive), and specify the copy format. Once you've made your selections, just click the big button (which shows a lightning bolt blasting a disc) to start burning. Most of the program's additional functions are also available from the main interface.
 DVD Copy 2.0's main screen makes copying an easy, 1-2-3 operation. |
The software accepts a number of source formats, including DVD, VideoCD (VCD), or Super VideoCD (SVCD), and it reads content from a DVD or CD drive or a hard disk. However, in our tests, DVD Copy 2.0 couldn't recognize our Sony DRX500ULX external FireWire DVD burner as a usable device (we were still investigating this glitch at the time of this review); it had no trouble with our other internal burners. You can select a DVD or CD burner or a hard disk as your target, and DVD Copy 2.0 can burn in a variety of formats, such as DVD, VCD, SVCD, and DivX, and--new to this version--it can spread particularly large content over multiple DVDs.
DVD Copy 2.0's built-in player lets you preview each section of a video, but it's sluggish and doesn't permit fast-forwarding or rewinding within a clip. Further, the video won't play if your display's overlay plane is in use--for example, if you're playing a DVD or watching TV with InterVideo WinDVD Recorder.
DVD Copy 2.0 tells you the estimated size of the material you want to copy and how many discs it will require, although not in a particularly clear or direct way; the information is spread among several steps and varies depending on format. Beyond its ability to make basic copies of CDs and DVDs, InterVideo DVD Copy 2.0 gives you a few ways to fit larger content (say, a DVD movie) onto a smaller disc (say, a CD).
First, you can either reduce the amount of material by stripping out some of the content, audio tracks, or extra features. From the main interface, you can choose to copy only the main content (apart from the menus and extra features). A Customize pop-out tab displays all the major sections (called titles) and chapters on the source DVD, and you can select which specific elements you want to include on the copy. This is a particularly useful feature that lets you discard nonessential content when copying to a smaller disc (such as a VCD or SVCD), where space is at a premium.
 Open the Customize tab and drill down to select exactly which titles and chapters you want to copy. |
With DVD Copy 2.0, you can select specific titles and chapters and choose between a standard 4:3 or a wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio, if the source disc includes both formats. The software also lets you decide whether you want to copy all of the audio and subtitle tracks or just one language to save space (although you cannot select an arbitrary list of tracks). Take note that when you copy a DVD to fit on a smaller medium, such as a VCD, DVD Copy 2.0 eliminates menus and chapter segments, so you can play the resulting disc only sequentially. You can, however, specify how to split larger DVDs onto multiple CDs to avoid compression altogether and retain video quality (it will require many CDs to contain an average DVD movie).
The second way the software fits larger content on a smaller disc is compression, which can lower video quality significantly. DVD Copy 2.0 will automatically compress selected content to fit on one disc; you cannot set the level of compression manually, however. This autofit feature will work if you are converting a video to DivX, although you can also choose a preset DivX profile for creating a file that will play on a full-size, portable, or handheld display.
DVD Copy can copy DVD files to your hard drive so that you can play them with a software player or later burn them to disc with an authoring tool. However, if you're copying the video as VCD, SVCD, or DivX, the software will extract the content as MPEG files, which are good for editing but are unreadable by most set-top DVD players.
As was the previous version, DVD Copy 2.0 is a fast performer and, in our anecdotal test, squeezed a full double-layer DVD onto a single-layer DVD in around 40 minutes. Impressively, it recompressed this video file to fit on a VCD and an SVCD almost in real time--that is, in about a minute for each minute of video. Of course, the resulting wide-screen video--copied from a double-layer disc--suffered from highly visible blockiness when panning and during scene changes, as we would expect from going from such a large source to such a small target. InterVideo's documentation for DVD Copy 2.0, located in the software's help file, provides useful instructions for various common tasks, although the translation is a bit rough in places.
InterVideo also offers toll-call phone support weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT. The company provides e-mail support as well and promises to answer common questions within two business days, but it took four days get an answer to our test question. InterVideo's Web site offers a brief and not particularly helpful FAQ.
