what is the best software to use to backup your dvd's?

[darkangelman1]

i just bought my first dvd/rw drive and i want to start backing up my dvd collection before my kids ruin them. what is the best software to use. i have dvdxcopy express and dvdxcopy platinum but i read they only copy the movie. i want all the special features copied on the disk though. i have read some reviews about dvd2one and dvdshrink. but i am unsure which way to go. personally i want everything that is on a disc to be copied. any suggestion or opinions will be appreciated.

[fmctm1sw]

A lot of people use dvddecrypter and dvdshrink. You might be asking a bit much for an exact copy though. A dual layer disk will have to be compressed quite a bit if you want all the menus and such. I'm deep into VHS conversions right now, so someone else probably has more info than I....

[darkangelman1]

what does dvddecrypter do? and do i need it with dvd shrink?

[jimmalenko]

Click on the hyperlink that is created when you type the name of a program ie. DVDDecrypter Click this link and it gives you a spiel about what it does and shows you guides on how to do it.

[Hardcoreruss]

what does dvddecrypter do? and do i need it with dvd shrink?

The name of the first kinda gives it away.

No, dvd shrink can be used on its own.

As above read the links.

[MysticE]

Well if you just want copies for your kids DVDShrink should be fine.

[tkamin]

darkangelman1 wrote:
what does dvddecrypter do? and do i need it with dvd shrink?

well... those are two seperate apps:
decrypter is used to remove region settings and other locks - and can't really backup retail dvds (a.k.a dvd-9) into your regular dvd-r (a.k.a dvd-5).
shrink is what you need for the job - it takes the entire movie and re-encodes it so it would fit on your dvd-r media.
since you wanna keep all the menus and extra you should know that on most dvd's you'd get a serious loss of quality... but they'd still be pretty good.[/quote]

[jyeh74]

I heard someone on the board saying that DVD2ONE is better than shrink becuase it produces better quality and rips better. I am not sure since I only use DVD Shrink, but I do know that most of the movies I burn are in the low 60%, rarely over 70%. This is AFTER I uncheck all the unecessary languages. Can anyone provide better suggestions? I like DVDShrink cause it is easy to use.

[hastey]

Depends on how anal you want to be, but the best thing to do is try a range of things and see what works for you best - its all in the eye of the beholder.

I've settled on DVD Shrink for its user friendly interface and all in one feature - it gives me the results that I want all the time.

Better results can be found, but I couldn't be bothered with the extra effort when what I'm getting looks good already

[jimmalenko]

I heard someone on the board saying that DVD2ONE is better than shrink becuase it produces better quality and rips better.

I have used both DVD2One and DVDShrink for quite a while. Initially I didn't like DVD2One but the latest version has opened my mind again.

DVD2One does not/cannot deal with encrypted sources, therefore it can't truly rip per se. I think you need a program like anyDVD to remove the CSS encryption on the disc and then it acts like the disc is unencrypted, but it cannot rip an encrypted source on its own. You would need to rip with smartripper or DVDDecrypter beforehand. The quality of the final product and speed are its best features IMO.

DVDShrink can rip, transcode and organise burning for you provided you have DVDDecrypter or Nero installed. Its ripping is subpar IMO, and I prefer to use smartripper or DVDDecrypter to rip beforehand. Ease of use and quality of the interface and final product are its best features IMO.


Both are excellent in my book, but I find I use DVDShrink more because I find the ability to output to ISO important.

In regards to your % question, have you removed all unnecessary audio streams ?

If you are consistently doing entire DL discs you will find that you only get between 60% and 70% most of the time. It might be an idea to split to 2 discs (movie on one, extras on the other) if this is an issue for you. Either that or just do movie only.

[darkangelman1]

what about dvdxcopy express or dvdxcopy platinum. i have seen these on t.v. commercials and they show they make copies of the original dvd. anybody know if this software is any good?

[jimmalenko]

Depends on how anal you want to be, but the best thing to do is try a range of things and see what works for you best - its all in the eye of the beholder.

I've settled on DVD Shrink for its user friendly interface and all in one feature - it gives me the results that I want all the time.

Better results can be found, but I couldn't be bothered with the extra effort when what I'm getting looks good already

That is a sensational post and epitomises what DVD is all about IMO. It sums up that quality is subjective. It provides good reasons for choosing a product without zooming still picture results to 6X to find differences between softwares. It show a contented patron that is not overly anal about finding "the best" way to do things and is happy the way things are - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

It should feature somewhere in the FAQ as I think NOOBs should read it and take note. Well done !

[jimmalenko]

what about dvdxcopy express or dvdxcopy platinum. i have seen these on t.v. commercials and they show they make copies of the original dvd. anybody know if this software is any good?

Personally I don't have any time for this software at all. Now that ripping support has been removed, I do not know why you would pay for this software when DVDShrink is free. You have a few more options in terms of being selective with certain extras or keeping menus, but this does not appeal to me when I can get the job done with other software.

[darkangelman1]

i got this software as b-day gift and haven't used it yet that is why i was wondering which is better but i have since learned that dvdshrink and decrypter is better from you all on this forum and that is what i will use. i just wanted opinions. thank you all for answering this noobs questions.

[IAIHMB]

Sorry for bringing up a dead thread, but I have a question. Why hasn't anyone brought up Alcohol 120%? I guess I like knowing how things work and being able to do them on my own, as appose to following a guide and troubleshooting.

[garryheather]

DVD Shrink seems to have problems with material containing Forced (or Closed) Captions. If you don't manually go into the properties and enable them as default, you may find these are missing on your final copy.

DVD2ONE seems to get it right every time in my experience. Although DVD2ONE doesn't have the re-authoring engine, the latest version(s) do a deep analysis like Shrink and can even join tilesets - great for your old flipper discs !

Horses for courses, methinks.

[gmatov]

Doesn't anyone use Autoshrink ISO?

It uses DVDDecryptor, DVDShrink and your burning program in one step, open the disk, decrypts, backup or re-author, choose the content if you re-author, click OK and in 20-25 minutes spits out a burned DVD with excellent, to me, quality.

Beats the hell out of the 8 to 12 hours it used to take to make a VCD/SVCD.

Cheers,

George

[johns0]

Sorry for bringing up a dead thread, but I have a question. Why hasn't anyone brought up Alcohol 120%? I guess I like knowing how things work and being able to do them on my own, as appose to following a guide and troubleshooting.

Alcohol 120% is only used for burning and making image files,copy and mounting them,no its not horny(j/k),it can burn,make dvd image files and do dvd copy to copy as long as there`s no protection but thats about it for dvd movie purposes.

[IAIHMB]

Ah, gotcha. So what would you suggest for backing up PC Games/Movies/DVDs onto my hard drive and/or to other discs? Thanks for all the help.

[gmatov]

Again, Autoshrink Iso.

Makes a folder of your files.

Cheers,

George

[fritzi93]

Doesn't anyone use Autoshrink ISO?

It uses DVDDecryptor, DVDShrink and your burning program in one step, open the disk, decrypts, backup or re-author, choose the content if you re-author, click OK and in 20-25 minutes spits out a burned DVD with excellent, to me, quality.

Beats the hell out of the 8 to 12 hours it used to take to make a VCD/SVCD.

Cheers,

George

I like that one too, George. The latest DVDShrink does pretty much the same thing. But for those who prefer earlier versions of DVDShrink, it'll automate the burn similarly. Very hard to screw things up with it, something to keep in mind when giving advice to noobs.

[IAIHMB]

I'm going to give that a shot. After a little bit of looking it doesn't seem to support PC games, what would you guys suggest for that? Also, DVD's that I have successfully burned have been .VOBs, will a standalone DVD player play ISO, or do I have to conver them? Thanks

[Shudder]

Beats the hell out of the 8 to 12 hours it used to take to make a VCD/SVCD.

Well, it doesn't beat the hell out of just taking 3 minutes to set up DVDShrink for a particular movie