Keeping it simple......whats the best way for DVD backups

[odwoh]

I've been using shrink and with the first few i did it as low as 75% but decided whats the point of that. Now wieth DVDFab i put 2 DVD @ 100% on 2 DVDs and thats cool and efficent.
So.....is this the best way, quality speaking to go? I mean isn't Shrink uncompressed the same as the original and you can't make em any better than the original can you?

The only thing left to do is add a menu for these simple 2 movies compilations........any suggestions that aren't long and tedious.

thx guys
odwoh

[budz]

I've been using shrink and with the first few i did it as low as 75% but decided whats the point of that.

What's wrong with 75%? Can you really tell the difference? If you want better video compression then use DVDREBUILDER. It's a long process depending how fast your cpu is but the video quality is stunning.

[glockjs]

from what tests were ran before dvd x copy and pinnacle scored pretty high. all i know is that when i used pinnacle before it took a year and a half. x copy i thought did ok. but tests are tests and are subjective as hell. your opinion is what u make it. im fine with shrink myself.

but you gotta remember no matter what, the more you compress the more quality you are going to lose no matter what app you use

[Lamminated Buddha]

I just want an easy to use dvd authoring program. It sucks wasting 5-20 % of a dvd with still pictures extras. It would be great if there was an easy way to cut them out totally (authoring)

[hech54]

Well....you could do a TRUE backup....buy two of the originals. Or you can invest in a dual layer burner and pay "somewhat" big bucks for the DL media(compared to single layer media).

[nelson133]

"Quality" is a very subjective thing. Reducing the size of a particular dvd for backup, at any given precentage, may or may not be noticable on your playback equipment. The only way to be sure is to test it. I have used the old freeware version of DVD-Fab and found it useful for backups, but often unnecessary, as I find the results from DVDShrink perfectly acceptable,
Nyah Levi

[bugster]

Moved you to DVD to DVDr

/Moderator bugster

[Sifaga]

I agree with hech54, buy two copies of the original

[Gurm]

What's the best car for driving?

[Sifaga]

Whats the best recipe to make a cake

[Blazey]

I've been using shrink and with the first few i did it as low as 75% but decided whats the point of that. Now wieth DVDFab i put 2 DVD @ 100% on 2 DVDs and thats cool and efficent.
So.....is this the best way, quality speaking to go? I mean isn't Shrink uncompressed the same as the original and you can't make em any better than the original can you?

The only thing left to do is add a menu for these simple 2 movies compilations........any suggestions that aren't long and tedious.

thx guys
odwoh

What version of DVD Shrink? 3.2 is much higher quality than the older versions. If you are just making backups, why not ditch the menus and go movie only? You can usually get a zero compression backup on 1 disc this way.

[h8sh8]

I just want an easy to use dvd authoring program. It sucks wasting 5-20 % of a dvd with still pictures extras. It would be great if there was an easy way to cut them out totally (authoring)

if you're talking about dvdshrink changing extras to still pictures, rip it with elaborate bytes clonedvd to totally remove the extras, but set the custom dvd size higher than the original so it rips without shrinking (ie at 100%), then dvdshrink it off the hard drive. This way you can keep the menus but still shrink them at a lower quality than the movie (which you can't do in clonedvd), and can also make any extra foreign language menus still pictures. This is the easiest way i've come across to shrink and/or remove everything as much as possible except the movie, and keep menus.

[MackemX]

clonedvd doesn't work with encrypted DVD's by itself. So that would involve ripping the DVD first if you don't have another software to bypass this.

I'd think twice about handing out $50 to get limited stripping capabilities when you have the freeware Vobblanker and Titlesetblanker that allow much more control

as for the best backup method............

I'll give that a miss due to the numerous permutations

[jeanl]

I just want an easy to use dvd authoring program. It sucks wasting 5-20 % of a dvd with still pictures extras. It would be great if there was an easy way to cut them out totally (authoring)

If you want to keep it easy, use titlesetblanker before using shrink. If all your extras are in a separate titleset (VOB file), which is usually the case, then titlesetblanker will get rid of them with a single click, and completely instantaneously! Doesn't get any easier than that. The only difficulty is finding out where your extras are. You can do that in shrink, but I usually drag/drop each VOB file in PowerDVD to see what's in them, and write down the numbers of the ones I want to remove. Then I fire titelsetblanker, test again in powerDVD, then shrink.

Jeanl