DVD Ripping...DVDShrink, DVD Fab question...

[nharikrishna]

I was trying to copy non-copy protected DVDs to hard disc, and have a few general questions...

1. Is Windows Explorer Copy-Paste fine for a straight copy without transcoding? Would it lose any DVD formatting for burning to another blank disc if copy-pasted? or I need to use DVD Shrink/DVDFab?

2. Sometimes the copy-paste operation fails due to 'Cyclic Redundancy Error', even though the store-bought DVD is scratch-less. What can be done in those situations? Even DVD Shrink and Fab have trouble reading those DVDs after a certain point.

3. For converting DVD-9 to DVD-5, I have 2 choices: DVDShrink and DVDFab Decrypter. Which one is better? or both are exactly same in terms of transcoding quality? Should I prefer Fab only because it is more updated and Shrink is no longer updated?

I know DVD-Rebuilder can do superior job, but I don't want to use it for some of my discs, as it takes around 6 hours to finish the job.

Thanks.

[redwudz]

1) For non-copy protected DVDs, Explorer should work OK.

2) CRC errors can be from scratched or dirty discs or a problem with the DVD reading drive, or a problem transferring the data to a hard drive, or anti-malware running in the background or other background program interference, though the last is rarely the cause. If you are using an external DVD or HDD USB drive, these problems can also happen with the USB interface.

3) I still use DVDShrink for quick and easy DVD-9 > DVD-5 conversions. But I usually only do the main movie. Since I retain the original DVDs, I don't need the extras. I try to keep the DVDShrink compression less than 70%. Not sure how well DVDFab works as I haven't used it. I use AnyDVD HD for decrypting. Since it runs in the background, it works for rips to the hard drive whether the DVD is encrypted or not.

I'm sure DVDRebuilder gives a better quality output, but Shrink is good enough for my uses.

[nharikrishna]

Thanks redwudz.

1) Makes me happy

2) I tried the same disc in 3 different machines (obviously 3 different drives) and all have failed to copy from it after some point. I think it is down to the disc.

3) It will be interesting to see if someone comes up with DVD Shrink Vs DVDFab comparison in terms of transcoding quality. I can do it myself by burning DVDs from both the tools and comparing the output quality visually, but I need a more technical answer such as 'DVDFab uses a better transcoding engine....etc'.

[dylz]

@nharikrishna I use dvdfab for my backups and will compress a 5gig to dvd-5 size but if it's about 6 or 7 gigs I might use dual layer or dvdrebuilder, I have read dvdshrink Is still the best one click compressor around.

I use to get CRC cyclic redundancy errors when using dvd decrypter on badly scratched or just damaged dvd's for that I would process with dvd fab and take note of the vobs I can't read then press Ignore and get it to process most the movie then extarct the non readable vobs with isobuster free edition which I would make an iso of then Mount with daemon tools and open the folder with the vob or vobs in dvdfab to remove copy protections and place the vob dvdfab processed in the dvdfolder then all would play fine, I can see this looks hard but it's not,

For copy protected backup:
If all programs cannot read the dvd I would extract all the vobs with isobuster (which is better a reading damaged dvds then other software) then make an iso of it and mount the iso dvdfolder and rerip in dvdfab, anydvd, dvdshrink or dvddecrypter.

In your case as there not copy protected dvds just extract with isobuster download and select free edition when you install, you should get a dvdfolder that all programs couldn't rip.

[nharikrishna]

Super...thanks dylz for reminding me about ISOBuster...I used it some 5 years ago to copy scratched VCDs...I will try it for DVDs...

[redwudz]

Sometimes the best method for scratched DVDs is just to polish them. If you have a DVD shop locally, they might do it for a small charge. Or you can do it yourself if you don't mind a bit of effort. Extracting data from a scratched disc will generally just give you the data that isn't under the scratches, so you still aren't extracting that. If you don't mind a few blank places in the processed DVD data, go ahead.

I've used a cheap car paint buffer with a synthetic wool pad and the soft rubber side of a mouse mat to hold them in place. I just buff them with a clean pad without any compound and that seems to work fairly well. Wash them with soap and warm water first to remove grease.

This buffer was about $15US:

[nharikrishna]

Hmmm.....seems interesting. My DVD was a pressed one and doesn't have any visible scratches...

[dylz]

Every scratched dvd I've recovered data from were mostly old movies that would skip alot and had Copy Protection so isobuster couldn't remove the CP only extract the damaged vobs so I extracted and made an image (imgburn) and mounted it and extracted with dvdfab all went fine dvd played like it was brand new.

I would see if dvdfab can extract, how did isobuster do

[nharikrishna]

Tried ISOBuster but it couldn't help much in this case. I know it did wonders to me when all other methods failed, but in this case, it was stuck at some point for hours together and finally I cancelled it.

[dylz]

Can't you just copy and paste straight of the dvd ? (rightclick on dvd explorer or open then copy VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS,) if theres no copy-protection then it should play fine.