I recently bought a Clearplay DVD player. It will "filter" movies as I watch them, based on the settings I choose for language, sex, nudity, violence, etc.

I have found that it doesn't work with backup copies of DVDs with one exception - if I use the "Clone" feature in DVDFab with a Warner Bros. DVD, it does work. It doesn't seem to work with DVDs from other studios, however. I thought it might have something to do with the title.txtdt that appears on WB discs, but I tried creating a title.txtdt for another disc and it didn't make any difference.

Any ideas on how I can make a backup that is exact enough to the original that the Clearplay DVD player will recognize what it is for DVDs other than WB? (It has to choose the right set of filters for each movie.) Isn't the "Clone" feature supposed to make 1:1 copies?

Don't know about all the rest but yes the Clone mode makes an exact copy of the orignial disc, What brand of media are you using by the way

Not exactly If I'm correct doesn't DVDFab strip copy protections?
I use different software for backups most of the time.
If DVDFab does strip protections then that's probably the cause.Maybe the WB disc has a protection DVDFab doesn't usually strip or need to & that is enough to activate the filter.

how pointless

why not just close your eyes when the rude bits appear :-)

or stick to Disney flicks.

By then it's too late. Plus, that doesn't work for my kids. And even Disney films have got problems (a prime example is Enchanted).

What programs do you use?

I'm not sure of the brand, they're just shiny, unlabeled discs. The cheapest DL discs I could find.

So in Clone mode even the copy protection is left intact, correct?

Do they make rewritable DL discs?

I missed the DL part but JVC is supposed to have one I just don't know if it is available yet.

I don't know about clear play but I do know that DL burns are much more touchy than single layer. I learned the hard way to only buy good media for dual layer burns-verbatim. If you watch for sales they will cost less in the long run.

The discs I'm using do work - the movies play - it's just that the Clearplay DVD player doesn't recognize the titles and so it won't filter them. I can still watch them on it without any filtering. (With the exception of WB titles, which it does recognize and filter.)

If you're going to spend very much on the DL discs then you might as well just buy a second (used) copy of the movie instead.

[quote=infoman;2027925]The discs I'm using do work - the movies play - it's just that the Clearplay DVD player doesn't recognize the titles and so it won't filter them. I can still watch them on it without any filtering. (With the exception of WB titles, which it does recognize and filter.)

QUOTE]


OK I still think this is stupid technology - if you did'nt blink in time then you've already seen the rude bits & are going to hell anyway so whya not watch all of it....

but as to how it works -

Clearview uses a filter file - that's a list, painstakingly compiled by humans , of what frames to skip over dependent on your settings.

each list has a tiltle and your clearview dvd player has to have the downloaded filter file in it's little brain and able to match the title field to the inserted DVd in order to know what dvd it is editing.

so you need to get into what dvdfab does to the dvd title info and maybe learn how to edit that back to fool your player. or jsut stick to clone mode.

personally, the only use I can see for this technology is to run it in reverse. e.g. use it on porn movies to remove all the boring non sexy bits :-)

but each to his own - wikipedia, as ever, is your firiend when you need to know how stuff works. plus it has links to some fascinating speculation as towhat would be the shortest movie ever after being processed through clearview - reservior dogs, evil dead trilogy ???

I understand how Clearplay works - I actually did a lot of research on it before deciding to buy. What I am not sure about is how it knows what movie is on the DVD.

Where is the DVD title info located? The only thing different about WB titles (which it does recognize) that I can see is that they include a file called title.txtdt. I tried making a title.txtdt file for a non-WB movie, but it still didn't work (that is, the movie did play but the title wasn't recognized).

As I said, I've been using "Clone" mode, but somehow the title information is not being cloned.

Thanks.

I don't see such a link in the Wikipedia article. Is it under the main "Clearplay" topic?

It turns out it works with "Clone" backups of Sony discs as well. The thing that Sony and WB discs seem to have in common is the "jacket_p" folder. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

I don't think anyone really cares.

I am the same as Cybmole, I regard this absolutely useless technology and personally would not waste any time on it.

I think you are on your own here, buddy !!!

I think it is unfortunate that I am the only one here that is concerned about the content in the movies that are watched by my children or even by myself. Even my 11 year old daughter recognizes that there are some "bad parts" in Enchanted, for instance, which is a PG movie made by Disney.

Regardless of that, is there really nobody that can explain where the information is stored on a DVD that tells a DVD player the name of a movie, or that cares about whether DVDFab (this is their support forum, right?) is truly able to make a 1:1 clone of a movie that includes all the information that a person might want to have on their backup copy?

I do appreciate the responses I've received so far. Thanks for even reading this.

couple of answers: the speculation about shortest clearview moview ever is not in wikipedia, it must have been in other links when I googles clearview.
title info is somewhere in video_ts.ifo and I know that dvdfab alters this file when it rips.
I am not an ifo expert but there are programs that let you view/edit ifo files and by comparing original & decrypted versions you'd probably figure out what changes.
I recall that fab inserts it's program name into the ifo somewhere & maybe that is what confuses clearview.
not sure where all that would get you though, unless you want to maually want to edit each rip, and in theory none of the above should apply to clone as it's an exact copy. be sure to tick the clone non video data box though, otherwise it will not copy addition files folder like those titles & jacket examples that you mention.

there is also a volume name stored elsewhere in the Dvd - that is what windows displays when you insert the Dvd, but fab does not change that AFAIK.

have you asked the guys at clearplay - it's their product so they should help you ?
meantime open that jacket folder with notepad & see what is in it.

PS - god know why I'm doing this for a product that I don't like but if your initial research had included reading clearplay's own FAQ you'd have read this:

"Can I use ClearPlay with back-up DVDs on DVD-R?

Answer
ClearPlay FiltersTM are created specifically for individual titles. They are designed to recognize the DVD when it is inserted, and for this reason, ClearPlay will not work with back-up or copied DVDs.

Most ClearPlay players will play DVD-R and DVD-RW as well as DVD+R and DVD+RW discs, but you will not be able to use ClearPlay Filters with these discs."

So I guess they have delibarately made life difficult for you - yet another reason to boycott the product.

but look into how the set booktype feature works in fab - you may still be able to crack this if the player is using the booktype to check for an original DVD.

Interesting, how do you tell your kids that the backups you are making illegally are O.K.? I don't think you can rely on technology for what you should be doing. Watch the movie ahead of time. Edit out the offending sections using DvdShrink. It is a lot easier, in the sense that then you can be absolutely sure the content is not in there, as opposed to taking the easy way out, if this is really an issue.

please try with Copy DVD-Video Data Only box unchecked.

also would be good idea to use dvd+r DL booktype as DVD-ROM.

http://www.booktypefaq.com/

The main problem with manually editing movies myself is that I have to see the stuff I'm editing out in order to do it.

I don't let my kids watch movies - with Clearplay or not - unless I've already seen it, I'm watching it with them, or it's rated G. Sometimes I'll let them watch a PG movie that I haven't already seen after I've checked kidsinmind.com to see what's in it, but then I watch it with them so I can turn it off if I decide to.

Anyway... Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try.

I have been able to make exact copies that work with ClearPlay by using a combination of Nero Burning ROM and AnyDVD regardless of the distributor. I am not sure what difference this combination makes, but it appears that ClearPlay looks at more than just the DVD title and this process somehow preserves it. Even though ClearPlay may have a filter for a particular movie, you also need to have the same catalog number. I do not know if this number is somehow encoded in the IFOs or if there is some other unique number associated with it. The bad thing is I cannot use Nero Recode to shrink the DVD to a single-layer disk first, so I have to use the expensive dual-layer disks. Interestingly, I have AnyDVD remove encryption, Macromedia, and PUOs (prohibited user options) and have it modify the IFO to jump straight to the title menu and it still plays correctly in ClearPlay.

On the legality of this, I have personally met with Orrin Hatch, one of the principal authors of the DMCA and he assured me that the DMCA was not intended to prevent people from making fair-use copies of their own DVDs. Besides protecting the originals from wear and tear, I really tire of movies that start with a set of commercials (previews).

this data will be somewhere in video_ts.ifo.

to solve the problem, someone needs to examine this file a) on an original DVd, b) on a dvdfab rip
c) on a backup made as described

above & work out what changes.

use a tool like ifoedit or pcgedit.

this is a technical dvd structure issue & has nothing to do with the merits or demerits of clearplay technology.

I tend to agree with the original OP that a program like dvdfab which claims to make exact backups should be usable for his purposes, especially if he's paid for the program!

so even though I do not in any way support clearplay, I do support his quest for a workable backup procedure, especially as it now seems that rival products re able to do the job successfully.

I am not skilled at deciphering .ifo files though so hopefully someone else will now lend a hand.

Thanks, I'll take a look at those programs. I used to use Nero Recode but found that DVDFab works much better. However, resizing is likely to be a problem for Clearplay even if it recognizes the movie title because the filters are frame-based, and you may not have the same number of frames after recompressing if I understand correctly how that works.

It's worth it to me to spend the $1.05 or whatever I get DL discs for in order to preserve my DVD library and still be able to use Clearplay. When my 2 year old brought me an original DVD that he wanted to watch and I found it had a crack in it, I learned the value of using backups and keeping the originals safe.