DVD Shrink and Twin titles

[Ronny G]

I've used DVD shrink for years to back up many of my dvds. Lately, I've noticed a problem with some dvds.
Let's say I have a two-hour movie. I open the disc in DVD Shrink and the result shows the movie running time is now 4 hours long. It seems to have duplicate twin titles.
I could re-author and just keep one title but I lose the menus this way.
I've also use DVD Fab Sometimes I get the same result, but sometimes it doesn't. It must be some kind of copy-right protection.
Anyway to get around it?
Anyone know what is happening?

[aedipuss]

it can happen if there is a normal and extended version on the same disc. the only way to copy it completely is to make an iso. otherwise you get one version or the other and no menus.

[CobraPilot]

And, to add to aedipuss's comments, you can often tell if there's a normal and extended version by the options you are given when you actually *play* the disc and note the root menu.

If you would give examples of the discs, it might shed some additional light on your question.

When you *do* see these "twins," are their running times identical? They wouldn't be, with a normal/extended option (key word: extended).

When these "twins" *are* normal/extended versions, do DVDShrink (due to its age, often chokes on newer protection schemes) or DVDFab (updated regularly) require a severe level of compression such that having both "twins" on the disc is not watchable? Some of the newer schemes give some oddball readings, yet DVDFab (especially) can often decipher them and not require heavy compression.

I've seen some protected non-blu-ray discs claim to require compression down to 5% of the original size because the disc contains 50-70 GB of data, which is an impossibility and is simply the protection scheme misreporting to your computer's ripping software.

DVDFab can often ignore these false readings and go on about its business backing up the disc. Even DVDFab HD Decrypter, which doesn't shrink files, will usually provide an output set of files that DVDShrink can then process to fit on a single-layer disc.

When compression required is too high, the Plan B is double/dual-layer discs if you want menus, etc.

[hech54]

DVD Recorder discs?

[Ronny G]

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess it may just be a protection scheme like you said, Cobra.

It is not an extended version.

Here's a more detailed example with pictures:
I have an episodic TV show on dvd disc. There are six 25 min. episodes on the disc so the running time is 2hrs 30 min. When I open it in DVD Shrink full disc mode, it says the running time is 5 hours! In re-author mode, there are 12 titles instead of 6. The titles are doubled, each twin has the same 25 min. running time and size.

[aedipuss]

it can also be caused by simple seamless branching. like some old star wars dvds. the intro was in 2 languages and it was branched, causing all ripping software to think it was twice as big as it really was.

[jman98]

It could also be due to the person who authored it being incompetent. Some TV show DVDs are some of the most strangely authored DVDs ever made. But I wouldn't discount the possibility that was it done deliberately this way to mess with shrinking programs and make them compress too much, resulting in bad quality.

[CobraPilot]

Thanks for the additional information.

What happens when you do a backup, with compression, to a disc? Specifically, what does DVDFab (or DVDFab HD Decrypter) produce as far as files ready for burning?

Usable? Too compressed? What?

You may find that DVDFab knows what to do with those "twins" and give you what you want/need.

Remember, DVD Shrink, although still very useful at times, hasn't been updated in years and nowadays may not know how to interpret these newer schemes. However, DVDFab/HD Decrypter may know and give you what you need to input into DVD Shrink.

Let us know what happens.

[manono]

Looks like an incorrect decrypt to me. How'd you get this one onto the hard drive? If DVDFab HD Decrypter, try running it through FixVTS afterwards. If Shrink, go back and start all over again.