Batman The Complete Animated Series - Bootleg, or not?

[martinav]

Question... when you get this:

"it appears that you are openging the disc processed by DvdFab/MacTheRipper which is known to produce damaged VOB files. Errors may follow - please use original disc instead." Despite the errors, it seems all of the files are there, and they playback fine. I did see some audio sync errors on some disks. That is noticeable, but not awful since its animation there is some liberty in that.

is it 100% that its a bootleg? All packaging seems to be quite good. No spelling errors, etc. There is even a barcode and text embossed on the underside of the disks. Menus look questionable, though.

Menu.jpg (70.07 KiB) Viewed 29976 times

Thoughts???

MakeMKV v1.15.2 win(x64-release) started
Using LibreDrive mode (v06.2 id=F17C89187AE0)
Using direct disc access mode
Title #1 has length of 11 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #2 has length of 10 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
Title #3 was added (6 cell(s), 0:22:19)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #4/0/1 was added (5 cell(s), 0:22:14)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #5/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:21:45)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #6/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:22:13)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #7/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:22:12)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #8/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:21:44)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #9/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:22:17)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #10/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:21:45)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #11/0/1 was added (6 cell(s), 0:22:16)
Cells 2-end were skipped due to cell commands (structure protection?)
Title #12/0/1 was added (7 cell(s), 0:22:15)
Title #13 was added (2 cell(s), 0:02:11)
The source file 'BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH14NS40 1.04' is corrupt or invalid at offset 14336, attempting to work around
The source file 'BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH14NS40 1.04' is corrupt or invalid at offset 14336, attempting to work around
The source file 'BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH14NS40 1.04' is corrupt or invalid at offset 18432, attempting to work around
The source file 'BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH14NS40 1.04' is corrupt or invalid at offset 18432, attempting to work around
...

[martinav]

Does anyone have a legit set of this? I would love to see what a menu is supposed to look like. I want to use it to see if I can get a return setup from ebay.

Here's the box.

20200815_075616.jpg (282.31 KiB) Viewed 29966 times

20200815_075625.jpg (320.34 KiB) Viewed 29966 times

[preserve]

But why did you buy on DVD when it was released on Blu-ray?

Please spoiler or remove the log or attach it as a text file, we don’t need to see all that, it’s too much to scroll. Helpful information would have been the disc summary details such as size, layers, and the authoring date of the disc when you first start MakeMKV but before you open the disc.

If you bought it on eBay for a great price, it’s surely a bootleg.

I never buy any new releases from eBay or Amazon marketplace because today there are very high quality bootlegs out there including Blu-rays. For old releases I’m very careful and know what to look for.

Some of the signs such as differences in print quality can be harder to see unless you have an original to compare, but one of the top indicators is if the discs are single layer, as I’d expect them to be dual layer for this release, and bootlegs generally compress them to single layer to produce their sets cheaper.

[martinav]

I appreciate the feedback.

I would love to provide the info you requested. i did not see that in makemkv at all, and even googled for other tools, and was a bit leery of downloading them.

Unless there is some other menu somewhere, this is the only thing I could find in Makemkv.

Source information
Type: DVD disc
Name: 7000082035_1

You have another tool reccomendation?

Its great you know what to look for. Would you care to share some of that info? I did not get this for what seemed to be on the cheap. It was $32 from a seller with very high positive feedback. My intention was to buy, rip, and resell on ebay. My sensibilities do not allow me to resell if I question the authenticity. I'm not an expert in the specific series to know specifics or full value, and it wasnt my intention to keep it long anyway.

Why did I buy dvd? Because the original production was in SD. I would not expect any remsatering for blu ray. Just reencoding SD up to 1080p doesnt gain you anything. Just larger file sizes and a more expensive product. I'm sure you will gladly tell me i'm wrong with that assessment.

Again, thanks for your feedback.

[Woodstock]

Some disks are authored in weird ways. About half of the disks for the TV series Castle trip the AnyDVD warning, for instance, and I verified as best I can that they were gen-you-whine disks from ABC/Disney.

A big tip-off is that pirate disks often have had the video compressed, and the file size after ripping will be obviously too small.

[martinav]

Thats a good point. Episodes are between 450-500MB.

The first couple of disks I got from Netflix (also dvd), and those episodes were coming in at about 950MB. I didnt want so many disks in my queue, so I bought this pack with the notion of dumping it off on ebay afterwards. It seems that these simply arent legit. I'm pursuing a refund.

Are you still using AnyDVD? Please send a pvt if you wish to let me know why. I'm curious.

Regards,
Rod

[preserve]

Because the original production was in SD.

Batman: TAS was shot on film. The Blu-rays are not upscales.

i did not see that in makemkv at all

when you first start MakeMKV but before you open the disc.

- Check that the disc has protection. It should if it's legit.

- Check the timestamp. If the disc has been reauthored, the date will probably be after the release date. The date should be before the release date.

- Check for the number of layers. Most stuff these days is on dual layer discs (and the cases will often tell you this information). If it's 1, it may have been compressed for bootleg purposes as mentioned.

[martinav]

My ebay seller was extremely agreeable for the return. Probably doesnt want to stir up dirt. THx for the input of all.

[martinav]

To close the loop on this post:

As stated by preserve, there is no protection and its a single layer. File sizes also support a non-production DVD.

I will say overall, its a very good fake. My methods for buying on ebay (established seller with 99%+ rating) was not enough to catch this. ISBN also matched a legit item, packaging quite identical. Also having barcodes on the disks, and very quality copies and packaging with no spelling errors. Nice job, but no dice when it comes to the tools we have to find such things. Unfortunately, after the fact.

I'm fortunate my ebay seller was very happy to entertain the return. So, other than an inconvenience on my part, and having dumped all 12 of the DVDs (which i will delete for quality reasons), I'm out a little time - not money.

Again, thanks to all.

2020-08-15 11_59_39-MakeMKV BETA.jpg (82.34 KiB) Viewed 29947 times

[Woodstock]

Are you still using AnyDVD? Please send a pvt if you wish to let me know why. I'm curious.

I've never used AnyDVD, or DVDFab, or others. I've been a MakeMKV user since, well, forever. Probably mainly because I'm too cheap to play the "subscription price game".

[Woodstock]

Another piracy clue I'd forgotten about - the UPC on the box. The "official" DVD release for this box set has a UPC of 883929640287.

Some pirate UPCs come back to dozens of titles. The one on the box in your picture came up with zero matches on Google.

[preserve]

Another piracy clue I'd forgotten about - the UPC on the box. The "official" DVD release for this box set has a UPC of 883929640287 ... The one on the box in your picture came up with zero matches on Google.

Er, the UPC you list is the UPC in his picture, and it's correct?

More general tips if you want to research before buying, before getting to the stage of checking the discs:

- Check Amazon reviews for photos and compare
- Check for reviews and see if they have photos
- Check YouTube unboxing videos
- Check if the item has the inserts it should have as well as any stickers on the package
- Check that the cases are the same configuration, some bootlegs on these large sets can't get the exact same cases

I also have my own stringent rules on buying but probably most people don't care as much, I just hate the potential hassle on the odd occasion where I have had a bootleg in the past.

[Woodstock]

Er, the UPC you list is the UPC in his picture, and it's correct?

Oops, I forgot to include the check digits at either end...

[dontknow]

I have Batman tas bluray disc, but the photo cannot be sent