'backing up' dvds

[nobbyiscool]

hi, firstly, i'm really sorry to have to ask questions about this, but i've looked at all sorts of tutorials, but i can't figure out how to do it correctly.

i'm trying to back up a dual layer dvd onto a 4.7gb dvd.

i've downloaded dvd decryptor and dvdshrink.

now, i tried to follow tutorials, and what i ended up doing was creating an iso using decryptor, then using shrink to shrink it. except shrink ended up analysing the whole thing, and seemed like it was doing the whole think again.

then it ended up in vob files, and i'm not sure if its going to give me an exact copy of the dvd, with the menus etc.

now its actually burning, and its gone through a system of analysing and encoding again.

i'm sure i've done this wrong.

can anyone please give me a really quick rundown on exactly what i should do here? do i need decryptor, or did i only need dvdshrink to begin with?

thanks- this has taken 6.5 hours, and it hasn't finished burning yet.

[guns1inger]

Start again.

DVD Decrypter is getting long int he tooth, and doesn't handle newer protection at all. Pity, because it is a great tool. DVDFab HD Decrypter (no relation) is the tool used for ripping newer discs if DVD Decrypter won't do it.

Personally, I don't see any advantage to using ISOs, so I rip using file mode. I end up with a video_ts folder with ifo, bup and VOB files. These make up your DVD structure, and are also what you want to have at the end of the process.

Next, open DVD Shrink and then open your DVD. If you want to keep everything you can just hit Backup. If you want to remove some of the extras, or at least reduce the size, look at some of the custom options. At the very least, consider setting the compression on your main title to custom, and moving the slider tot he right. This will compress the extras harder to give your main movie more room.

Once you are happy, click Backup. Here you can output to a HDD folder, or an ISO to burn with DVD Decrypter. Personally, I would choose the HDD folder so I could test it to see the quality before burning. You should also set Deep Analysis and AEC to on if you are shrinking more than a few % (I use it all the time). Shrink should do one analysis pass, and one encoding pass. Note : Shrink does a basic analysis pass when it loads a disc. This is not the same as Deep Analysis. The first pass is basically checking the DVD Structure. Deep Analysis looks at the video compression of the disc.

If you cannot make it fit on a single pass through Shrink then personally I think you should switch to DVD Rebuilder for that disc. Shrink is easy and fast, but it is a transcoder. Two passes will noticeably reduce quality. DVD Rebuilder will take a lot longer, but the quality will be higher and it will hit the target on the first go.

Finally, use Imgburn to burnt he disc. Imgburn is DVD Decrypter's offspring. It is a burning application only, but is the best application for burning DVD Video.

[nobbyiscool]

thanks so much! i'll have another go tomorrow and let u know how i go

[Hittz]

Thanks much Guns! I was scrolling the site looking for an answer to my shrinking problem using DVD Shrink and it seems to be solved using a different application. I used DVDFab Platinum version 3.1.6.0

I was ripping my DVD's with DVD Decryptor fine but when it came to shrinking them using DVD Shrink, my computer either crashed or restarted. I checked all the settings in Shrink, even tried it with different DVD's I played the vob files after ripping in Decryptor, with no problems but I just couldnt get 1 successful shrink from DVD Shrink (whether trying to shrink as an iso or as regular files). After using DVD Fab I have accomplished my task. Thanks Guns1inger for the fruitful help!