Can you make DVDShrink compress more than 50%?

[HarlanPepper]

I used Sonic MyDVD to author a DVD folder (this isn't specifically an authoring problem since I already figured out how to author and build a folder).

Anyway, I have some shows (in avi, mpg, and asf formats) that I authored with menus and buttons and all. I have 10 28 minute shows that are now in a VIDEO TS folder ready to shrink, but Shrink's 50% option seems to be the lowest I can go and it's not low enough. I'm happy to sacrifice more video quality to fit these on one DVD. Any suggestions or settings to tweak?

Thanks.

[Sifaga]

DVDshrink it twice

[jimmalenko]

Track down Shrink version 2.3 from dvdshrink.org. You can set your own compression levels with this.

[ddlooping]

Hi all.

Track down Shrink version 2.3 from dvdshrink.org. You can set your own compression levels with this.

jimmalenko, I believe using one of the latest DVD Shrink version with "Deep Analysis" and shrinking the files twice would yeld better results.

[jimmalenko]

Hi all.

Track down Shrink version 2.3 from dvdshrink.org. You can set your own compression levels with this.

jimmalenko, I believe using one of the latest DVD Shrink version with "Deep Analysis" and shrinking the files twice would yeld better results.

Fair enough. It has always perplexed me as to how you can shrink things twice ? I have read that 50% is a known limitation of Shrink because of the compression algorithm.

Would I be right in assuming that there is the 50% limitation per pass and therefore it is theoretically possible to shrink things more than twice (quality concerns aside) ?

[ddlooping]

Would I be right in assuming that there is the 50% limitation per pass and therefore it is theoretically possible to shrink things more than twice (quality concerns aside) ?

Yes, you would be right.

[edsmith77]

Then extending the logic a tad bit more (well actually to the extereme). If one were to run it through say X times (quality aside, absolutely) then theoritically speaking, one could get it down to nothing.? (obviously very poor quality at that point)

[ddlooping]

edsmith77, I think after a few passes DVD Shrink would start struggling to find anything to compress.

[edsmith77]

I did not intend to hihack the thread. But since it seemed that the original question had been answered, thought maybe a little bit of questioning might be interesting.

ddlooping,
my point exactly. So when is the limit reached? 1 pass 50%, 2 passes 75%, 3 passes 87%, etc.

[ddlooping]

I must admit I don't know, edsmith77, as I've never tried.
Why don't you make a quick test (on a short segment) and let us know?

[edsmith77]

ddlooping, etal
Ok so heres what happened. I took a full dvd9 disk (for those that are interested bob disk 1) ran shrink (3.1.2, I think, cant recall just right now) on the disk so that it would fit a dvd5. I made no attempt at reducing or editing anything. File size was 4.3Gb or there abouts.

Results
Step 1. I then ran that output through shrink again using full analyze and max compression (i.e. slider all the way to the left via custom compression) saving of course to a new folder. The max ratio was 62% this time. The output file size was something like 3.4Gb
Step 2. I then ran that output throught shrink again using full analyze and max compression (72%, this time) and saved to a new folder. I looked at this output via powerdvd on my pc and was MOST IMPRESSED with the results. The output file size was something like 2.7Gb.
Step 3. So to continue the test, I ran shrink on that output again, stay tuned for the results.

[edsmith77]

Continuation of test results,
Step 3. File size 1.9Gb
Step 4. File size 1.7Gb.

Looking at the results of step 4. It has become very easy to see the blockiness expected and is even more noticeable in action scenes. It is at the point where I would not be satisfied. Additionally, you can see the beginnings of the law of diminishing returns (i.e., reaching compression maximum).

So, in this very unscientific and subjective test, I think I can state that repeated passes through shrink will produce smaller files. For one or two and maybe, just maybe 3 passess will produce very good results for all except the most discriminating. In those cases, they would not being doing this process anyway.

So..................

[poncho]

Thanks edsmith77..for that information
very helpful...

Keep on that way

[ddlooping]

Thanks for this very informative test, edsmith77.