Please clear my confusion.

[ModBoyzz]

Hey guys,

I am new to the forums, but not new to Dvd-Dvdr backups. I first want to say that these forums are very informative and thank everyone for providing all the useful information I have gathered here. I currently backup my dvd's by using just one program, DvdShrink since it seems to do everything for me. I use it for the ripping and encoding process then Nero to burn. In the past I would use DVD Decrypter to rip, dvd2one for encoding and Nero to burn, Which provided decent results, but I found it to be too many steps.

Here's my question. If Dvdshrink does the ripping, and encoding, Why do alot of people combine DVD Decrypter with DvdShrink? By using DVD Decrypter does this improve the overall quality of the backup?

Thanks in advance.

[Bodyslide]

DVDShrink access's the drive a few times to analyse then rip the DVD.
With DVDDecrypter it rips the entire DVD, then you can use DVDShrink to reduce the size. I think using DVDShrink is more wear and tear on your DVD-Rom. Just my 2 cents. And welcome to the Forums.

[Stormin Norman]

Sometimes shrink has problems reading the video, especially with newer releases your backing up. I wouldnt think decrypter would improve overall quality since it just reading the info on the dvd.

People might be using both together to shrink the video in DvdShrink as an iso and burning it with DVD Decrypter. I think I read somewere here that decrypter burns real good in iso mode.

Hope this helps your curiousity.

[Rich86]

DVDDeCryptor and AnyDVD seem to have the reputation as being most effective most of the time at ripping and decrypting. Based on a couple of forums I peruse, they seem to receive the most compliments.

Since I care most about the quality of the movie itself in my backup copies, I only include extras if the movie itself fits without transcoding. I particularly like the flexibility DVDShrink offers in "re-author" mode - with picking and choosing what is included, re-ordering things, choosing the compression levels, choosing the default audio or subs, choosing starting and ending frames, etc.

What I don't know - is what program does the best job of transcoding. CloneDVD2? DVDShrink? Even my EMC7 program has transcoding built-in (I burn with that, but have always given it source material already the right size). Has anyone done some comparisons of CloneDVD2 and DVDShrink's transcoding quality?

[dap]

I never had a bad burn with DVDdecrypter and I can't say the same thing about nero. I always used DVDshrink to transcode in iso mode and burn with decrypter. Most of the time I would start with DVDdecrypter to the hard drive and then DVDshrink and burn with DVDdecrypter. Always happy with the results.
I also have CloneDVD2 and I think the results are just as good at least for my eyes, but I still prefer DVDshrink, because this is the one that I have trusted in the past. I know I will always get good results.

[BSpielbauer]

I agree with the posts above, but I would also add the following...

DVDShrink cannot handle any of the recent DVDs which have the Sony ARccOS copy protection scheme on them. It will choke on every one of these. So far, that is perhaps a dozen DVDs. This number grows every week, though, with new releases. And, DVDShrink is frozen, basically -- we can expect that there will not be any more updates, since the author has now been hired away by Ahead Software / Nero. So, I doubt if it will ever handle these new discs, which means any new DVDs coming from Sony Pictures, or Sony Pictures Classics, or Columbia Pictures, or any of their subsidiaries will probably be "DVDShrink-proof." True, you can fire up a third party software which will then get around this, but you asked about using DVDShrink alone.

Also... my experiences has shown that DVDDecrypter does a better job on those discs which are dirty, smudged, scratched, damaged, or gouged. I have had perhaps 20 experiences where DVDShrink locked up with I/O errors due to a bad disc, and where DVDDecrypter managed to plug away and keep trying, and finally ripped the entire disc to the hard drive.

I have never seen the reverse, though. I have yet to see a disc that DVDDecrypter choked on due to dirt or scratches, and that DVDShrink somehow was able to rip.

I am not knocking DVDShrink. It does a wonderful job at ripping (with clean discs), and it obviously is the best choice for most people when it comes to compression. I just think DVDShrink will handle fewer and fewer discs as each month goes by, and that it has a few weaknesses in how it deals with damaged discs. And, of course, it has no burner built into it. DVDDecrypter does have a burner, and it has been argued that the burner in DVDDecrypter may be superior to using Nero, or some of the other possible choices out there.

Just my thoughts...

-Bruce