Best way to shrink Blu-ray

[aliasrobert999]

Apologies if this has been raised before, I can't find it.

I know how to shrink blu-ray (to another format) but how do I do it and still retain it as a "blu-ray"

It's a bigger learning curve than I thought.

Thank you

[lordsmurf]

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/BD-Rebuilder

Converting to another format is not "shrinking". That's re-encoding.

[Baldrick]

Or the new clonebd but it's not free.

[jman98]

BD-Rebuilder has a big learning curve. You have to install a bunch of helper programs along with it or it won't work at all. You should follow the instructions here to the letter:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=143716

Note that there are special instructions for people who have Windows 7 or 8. You should very carefully read the instructions before installing anything.

Do note that BD Rebuilder is not perfect. While the vast majority of the time it works without any problems, do note that the following problems are possible.
1) Sometimes if you remove languages and/or subtitles to save space, the final output will be too big to fit on a single layer BD disc. The only solution I know of to this problem is to put everything you removed back and re-do the shrinking, keeping everything. That has always produced final output that will fit on a single layer BD disc.
2) The author has chosen by default to NOT allow DTS Express audio to be kept. Many BluRays use DTS Express for audio commentaries. If you wish to keep it, after installing BD Redbuilder and starting it and setting it up and saving your setup changes, if any, you must manually go to the installation directory and edit the BDREBUILDER.INI file and place this line somewhere in it:
DTSX_ENABLE=1
The next time you start up BD Rebuilder, it will automatically try to keep any DTS Express tracks.
3) The default settings are usually OK, but 2 you may or may not wish to use that are off by default are
Use X264's internal LVAF for frame serving (a small number of films will not process correctly unless you use this so I just leave it on all the time)
Keep HD Audio for BD25/Alternate Intact (this keeps HD audio otherwise all HD audio will be converted to AC3 at 640 Kbps)
4) This is rare, but some BluRays use interlaced VC-1 video. You can tell if this is the case because when you start up BD Rebuilder and open the rip directory with it, if you see any video listed at 29.97 or 25 frames per second and using VC-1, then you have interlaced VC-1. It's a crap shoot whether BD Rebuilder will handle interlaced VC-1 video or not. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. There's NO FIX at all if it doesn't work. You simply won't be able to shrink the BluRay if it gives you an error and stops when trying to process interlaced VC-1. The LVAF setting I mentioned in #3 can sometimes help with interlaced VC-1, but not always. I'd guess on my experience that probably more than 50% of the time, BD Rebuilder fails to handle interlaced VC-1. The author knows that this is an ongoing problem, but he has no solution for it. VC-1 at frame rates of 60 frames per second, 50 frames per second, or 24 frames per second is not interlaced and should be processed without any problems.