How can I convert a .iso file to .dvdmedia easily?

Question

Level 1

38 points

How can I convert a .iso file to .dvdmedia easily?

I have about 30 or so dvds I made of my home videos (back in the days when hard drive were a lot smaller and expensive than they are now). I stored all of the finished products as *.iso files so I could easily remake a dvd if one got scratched. But now dvds are so last decade, and I'd like to convert all of my *.iso files into *.dvdmedia files so I can just double click on them instead of mounting the iso and then running dvdplayer. Now I can mount the iso file, create a new folder elsewhere, copy the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders from the mounted iso into the new folder, and when that's done rename the folder by adding ".dvdmedia" to the end of it. That gets me what I want, but it takes a while! I figure the data is already there in the iso file - is there an easier way to do this tthat doesn't involve copying all those gigabytes...

MacBook Pro (17, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 4GB RAM

Posted on Oct 10, 2011 5:44 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,082 points

Oct 10, 2011 11:29 PM in response to Mick_M

Use MPEG Streamclip to rip the VIDEO_TS folder to QuickTime.

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Answer 2

TC!

Level 1

18 points

Oct 11, 2011 1:41 AM in response to Mick_M

I think I see what you're asking since what you end up with is so similar to what you already have then why can't you just transform the .ISO quickly?

The problem is that the .ISO is a single file itself which contains data to get back to your VIDEO_TS structure, it's stored to use a similar filesystem to the original disk. The .dvdmedia is just a folder containing the VIDEO_TS file but it's filesystem is the native mac file system.

So you must transfer over from the .ISO file system to the mac file system to be able to create a .dvdmedia folder.

I'm afraid you are stuck with copying all those gigabytes. Myself I'd stick with the .ISO images and use something like Plex or XBMC to catalogue and play them. The .ISOs are much easier to burn a disk again in the future if you need to.

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Answer 3

Mick_M Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 11, 2011 3:15 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks Tom. I'm still after the full DVD functionality (menu navigation etc) so I'm not sure ending up with a QuickTime is what I want. In addition, the procedure you mentioned was a lengthy process.

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my origl post. I was hoping that the VIDEO_TS folder was somehow accessible easily from within the *.image file guts (similar to Show Package Contents for a *.pkg file) and perhaps a suitably crafted terminal command could just MOVE, as opposed to copy, it out of there into the target folder. I have no use for the *.image file so I would just delete the residue afterwards.

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Answer 4

Mick_M Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 11, 2011 3:37 AM in response to TC!

So do you ever sleep ;-). I understand you answer and I guess I agree that hanging onto the iso is the better solution. Thanks for your enlightenment.

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Answer 5

Mick_M Author

Level 1

38 points

Oct 11, 2011 3:40 AM in response to Mick_M

Whoops - thought Tom Wolksy did that reply, but it was TC! Sorry about that.

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Answer 6

jdh9846

Level 1

19 points

Jun 28, 2015 1:21 PM in response to TC!

I have the opposite problem. I am trying to convert DVDmedia into ISO files.

Can anyone assist?

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Answer 7

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jun 28, 2015 1:33 PM in response to jdh9846

Use Disk Utility.

The process is explained in the third section ofthis document

Russ.

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Answer 8

jdh9846

Level 1

19 points

Jun 28, 2015 1:57 PM in response to Russ H

I find that Disk Utility sees the file.dvdmedia file as grayed out. Remember, I'm trying to convert FROM .dvdmedia TO .iso

Or have I misunderstood the doc you recommended?

(Sorry if I'm being dense about this!)

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Answer 9

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jun 28, 2015 4:07 PM in response to jdh9846

I read your initial post as physical "DVD media".

Afraid I can't help with .dvdmedia.

Russ

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Answer 10

Jun 29, 2015 3:44 AM in response to jdh9846

To create an iso disc, you can use Disk Utility, do File->New->Disk Image From Folder..., chose the DVD/CD master. This creates a file with extension .cdr

but it seems that this is an iso by an other name (read this, can't confirm, though). Then you could just replace the extension in the Finder.

There is a little glitch, though. The .dvdmedia is seen as a package, not a regular folder. So if you do as above you end up with a disk image that, instead of having a VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders directly, will contain the dvdmedia package itself (with the VIDEO_TS, etc inside it), and won't be playable in a disc player.

So what you need is to move these two folders from the .dvdmedia package into a regular folder and use the command above with that folder.

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How can I convert a *.iso file to *.dvdmedia easily?

How can I convert a .iso file to .dvdmedia easily?