DVD Shrink

[jason]

I use DVDfab to copy my dvd's, and choose the MainMovie option. What's a good program for shrinking the file size down? I would like them to be around 2GB. So that way the quality is still pretty decent. I know DVD Srhink is simple and easy to use, but is there anything better?

[jman98]

Better? That depends on what that word means to you. DVD Rebuilder produces better quality, but it takes longer to run than DVD Shrink and the free version of it won't let you choose a final file size. I have no idea of the commercial version will let you choose a specific file size.

If better means "easier" or "faster" there may be other options to consider, but others will have to post about them.

[MOVIEGEEK]

DVD Rebuilder is your best option if you want a 2GB movie that's decent quality.When transcoding with DVDShrink anything over 35% compression won't look good.

[victoriabears]

100% agree.

I use IMGburn nearly all the time now and use DL+R unless compression is under 30%, even then, I mean, for around $1.50 a disc , just use DL.

[fritzi93]

The previous posters don't say so, but I feel sure they'd agree that (for them personally) most movies would *NOT* be watchable at 2GB on their own TVs. (Nor would it be so for most of the regulars here, being video hobbyists for the most part.) The exception would be re-encoding at half D-1 (half resolution), which would require less bitrate. You can easily do this with DVDRebuilder (free), and it would be satisfactory if your TV is smallish. The picture sharpness would be softened somewhat, but artifacting due to low bitrate would be less.

The OP doesn't specify on what the videos will be displayed, e.g. set-top player/TV or computer. If display on a TV using a DVD player is a requirement, perhaps it's worth mentioning that many set-tops (like most Philips models) can also play DivX/XviD. These codecs are more efficient compressing video, and at about 1/2 to 1/3 the file size, the difference may be imperceptible from the original. And of course on a computer one only needs the proper codec.

So it may be that in this case something like AutoGK can be an option for converting DVD-Video to XviD.

Good luck.

[jason]

Thanks for the info.