DVDShrink - The latest in 9->5 software

[mazinz]

QUOTE from PORTO said

I wanted to encode Blade II (movie only, 6.2GB) onto 1 dvd-r but level 2 compression gave me 4,65gb (too much) and level 3 gave me 3.7GB (too little).... so, why can't the compression also be altered manually when the automatic options don't suffice?

I had to do the movie with dvd2one instead, setting the dvdlimit to 4,37gb and it transcoded with a charm and with optimal quality for 1 dvd-r! "


i agree with the above poster, it is a very nice program but i had a 7 something gig film and i had to use level 4 so it made it like 3.80 gigs, way too small, with dvd2one i could manully set it and actually have my final result as 4.32 gigs (which i did). But all in all it is a very nice program, and i still thogh like dvd2one as well

[jbenj01]

What the heck is "hwrite failed" error?? I keep getting that error halfway during DVDShrink encoding process.. I checked my hd space and had ~15G available. The movie I'm backing up is About a Boy.

[CGI Wizard]

OK,
I just did BBC's sitcom 'The Office' series 1 DVD. Took about 1 hour and 10 minutes to endcode and i kept everything. The original DVD is 7.8GB. DVD Shrink used level 4 compression on all 6 half hour eppisodes. I burnt to a dvd-rw using nero, and it played in my mirror DVD-mirr-110. I was actually expecting the quallity to be bad because of the level 4 compression, but quality was fine. Obviously, a series like the office doesnt have much movment in the shots, so compressed well. I would like to test out something like an action title with lots of onscreen movement. I liked the fact that it encoded striaght from the disk without the need to rip all the DVD to you hard drive first, which saves space.

Overall, i like this program so far, and will test a few more DVD's soon. Well done to the author.

CGI Wizard.

[mrbass]

OK,
actually expecting the quallity to be bad because of the level 4 compression, but quality was fine.

that about sums it up....to each their own. I avoid Level 3 and Level 4 personally.

[SVCDummy]

Hmm... had looksee at the region code on the disk burned with
Nero Express 5.5.10.3 and it is set to Region 1 with a decimal value of 254 and a hex value of FE

Looked at the one burned with Nero Express 5.5.10.20 and got the same values.

Nero must have done something to the RCE protection scheme because every thing else looks good (and I really don't know where in the files to look for the RCE stuff anyway). Regardless, they have it fixed in the update (which was free also). IfoEdit also reports having to make changes to the RCE protection shceme when you click on the "Region Free" button.

Not real sure how to read a lot of what is in the IfoEdit listing but the region code area in the first ifo file (VIDEO_TS.IFO) matches on all 3 disks. (1 bad DVD-RW burn, 1 bad DVD-R burn, and 1 good DVD-R)

Wish I could find the bug fix history for Nero so I could try to determine when they really fixed this. Oh Well. At least it works now.

BTW - If anyone is looking for a headache of an investigation project (in other words... is a geek with no life), I'd be happy to pass along my useless copy of Nero 5.5.10.3 along with the 5.5.10.20 update so you can play sleuth and find the nasty bugger. Let me know

[leebo]

I already knew that we are not seeing the entire picture when converting widescreen to full screen. I just hate the black bars.

Just think about I´m going to say. We have been watching VHS for about 23 years. All of the VHS tapes are widescreen movies converted to fullscreen. I mean, for 23 years we have been watching our entire screen filled.

I thought about what you said. To put it another way:

For 23 years you've been missing about 25% of all the movies you've watched. Anyway, that conversion is done scene by scene so they can at least try to include the most important part of the picture.
Having the option to convert a widescreen DVD to so called "full screen", would result in only the middle of the picture remaining - so if the main point of interest was off to either side you'd be screwed.

And a point about the latest Hollywood spin word, "Full Screen".
This was coined to appease people who "hate black bars". These so called full screen DVD's are actually less than full screen.


But people might not like the phrase "75% screen".


In the end it dosn't matter since it's not entertainment if it's annoying you. But it will be interesting to see if 4:3 TV's continue to be sold long after they end analogue transmissions because people like their TV's square, not rectangular.

[BamaTick]

Here's how I use DVD Shrink:
1. Stick the Master DVD in the DVD Drive and a blank in the burner
2. Run DVD X Copy
3. If it fits on one Disc just use DVD X Copy (But take out the Warnings using IfoEdit and VOBrator)
4. If it takes two discs (the good ones all seem to), start DVD X Copy and when it is done with disc 1, delete the files from the DVD X Copy temp folder
5. Minimize DVD X Copy and open DVD Shrink
6. Follow the directions on DVD Shrink to get the movie small enough to fit.
7. Save the Shrunken version to the DVD X Copy temp folder
8. Maximize DVD X Copy and click Burn Now.

DVD X Copy thinks it is burning the big version, but it is actually burning the shrunken version (without the warnings).

I compared the two versions A) DVD X Copy on two discs and B) DVD Shrink on one disc. There is a definite difference in video quality! Whether it is a significant difference is up to you. I like the quality from DVD X Copy, but I hate having to switch discs. I also like having the menus for chapter selection. But having a movie that starts right up and fits on one disc is nice too. Tough call. But look at Lord of the Rings. Have to switch discs anyway....

[Bob W]

I believe I would have to take a several college extension courses before I used that method just to backup a flippin DVD movie. I will settle for whatever quality I get with the various simple programs out there.

[Scarpad]

I downloaded but did'nt try it when I say you had rigid choices on the Level of compression. I still like DVD2 One I use that with Ifo Edit and it's a simple solution. The author is testing the next version which will let you deselect streams on full copies so that will be a nice addition. I also like IC It probably yields the best result if they could only fix the final output calculation. I like the ability of compressing the extras more and the movie less since deleted scenes etc already usually look like crap and down rezing them isn't a great loss and you can keep all that space for the movie. If you can get the movie at between 75-90 % in IC it's a keeper.

[conncarl]

Bama, I have to ask...why do you use DVDXcopy (an $80-$100 program), then IFO Edit and VOBrator to correct the "warning" that DVDXcopy puts in, all to copy a DVD-5?

I mean, I own DVDXcopy...I wish I didn't...but I find it much easier to just use DVD Decrypter (freeware) to rip DVD-5s to an image file and then burn them. One free program does it all, and there's nothing to correct.

I don't mean to be critical, I'm looking for information.

[Cyrl]

I downloaded but did'nt try it when I say you had rigid choices on the Level of compression.

I agree with you there, it would be ncie to be able to set a percentage so you can max out the space available

I also like IC It probably yields the best result if they could only fix the final output calculation. I like the ability of compressing the extras more and the movie less since deleted scenes etc already usually look like crap and down rezing them isn't a great loss and you can keep all that space for the movie. If you can get the movie at between 75-90 % in IC it's a keeper.

IC does have the best picture quality of them all, but the reason is it actually does a lot more than the other transcoders, which is also why it's not possible in IC to have an exact size for it's final result... with simple transcoding you know how much space you are aiming for, and how much space it takes up, you then know exactly how much info you need to lose from each GOP to fit and it goes about doing that... With the way IC does things since it re-encodes some frames you it's not exactly sure how big the result would be before it does it... I find if you set your final output to be about 4.5gb in IC you will get a nearly full disc when you are done

The dvd's I have waiting to be burned that I did with IC lately are at 4.33, 4.32, 4.14, and 4.30 gb... and I KNOW that even that 4.14 is going to look better than anything DVD2ONE or DVD95COPY or DVDShrink could do at 4.37 (keeping all of the extras etc)

I'll now use DVDShrink for some things simply because it's free, stuff like when I let someone borrow my TV shows on DVD, I'd much rather give them a few +RW's to borrow and bring back than the original DVD's... and I'd much rather spend 25 minutes each disc than 2 hours or so that IC takes...

But it still boils down in the end to how important quality is for you... if you want the higher quality picture you'll use IC and not care that it takes a couple hours to encode... Hell rip the DVD, start IC, go watch the DVD and the extras and by the time your done, IC should be also..

[nerdboy69]

8)
Sweeeeet!

Well, it worked. Converted 7.62 Gb of HHGTG to 4.36 Gb in well under an hour going direct from the DVD to a folder - all whilst InstantCopy was in the throws of incantations and necromancy to do the same thing.

Admittedly, I think InstantCopy does a slightly better job with the end result, but for my reckoning, they both produce fabulous results anyway. Showed it to the Mrs (then I showed her the movie - haw-haw-haw) and she couldn't tell the difference between them. In fact she didn't notice the difference from the original ... so perhaps she is not the most discerning of enthusiasts, but the point is, unless you are specifically looking for pixelation or defects the end result is extremely watchable.

I also showed the movie to my 6 month old daughter. She dribbled. That's good enough feedback for me. I'm sold on it.

I will definitely be using DVDShrink a lot. I want to spend my time watching movies, not progress bars. And the price is right in my bracket.

PS
MackemX - thanks for the suggestion of multiple bypass surgery on it. May give it a go if I find another heavy wieght.

[Scarpad]

I never had a beef with DVD2One, the movie only disks I've done with it
as long as they were around the 2hr mark 5-7gb in size have always been top notch. I've never seen huge macro blocks even on my 65" Wide set..
I can understand why longer movies would have them. Even those disks with all extras kept have been nice. But if I have the time I'll use IC. But DVD2one has it's place. If I'm taing a quick trip and want to blow off a copy for my portable DVD DVD2one is the ticket.

[mysterio1]

Here's how I use DVD Shrink:
1. Stick the Master DVD in the DVD Drive and a blank in the burner
2. Run DVD X Copy
3. If it fits on one Disc just use DVD X Copy (But take out the Warnings using IfoEdit and VOBrator)
4. If it takes two discs (the good ones all seem to), start DVD X Copy and when it is done with disc 1, delete the files from the DVD X Copy temp folder
5. Minimize DVD X Copy and open DVD Shrink
6. Follow the directions on DVD Shrink to get the movie small enough to fit.
7. Save the Shrunken version to the DVD X Copy temp folder
8. Maximize DVD X Copy and click Burn Now.

DVD X Copy thinks it is burning the big version, but it is actually burning the shrunken version (without the warnings).

I compared the two versions A) DVD X Copy on two discs and B) DVD Shrink on one disc. There is a definite difference in video quality! Whether it is a significant difference is up to you. I like the quality from DVD X Copy, but I hate having to switch discs. I also like having the menus for chapter selection. But having a movie that starts right up and fits on one disc is nice too. Tough call. But look at Lord of the Rings. Have to switch discs anyway....

Im still try to figure out why you do it this way, I use DVDXCOPY but I use my own NERO not gear that it comes with.

What im trying to figure out to do is put menu's and the movie on one disc and special and extra's on the 2nd disc, that way when Im watching a movie I wont have to get up and change disc's half way into the movie, the speicial feature and extras will be on the 2nd disc but I dont always watch that.

[letgoofmyears]

When I saw this prog mentioned in another thread yesterday, I immediately D/L'd it and set about seeing what it would do.

As a test dummie, I used Undercover Brother, since I used it to test both IC7 and DVD2one(1.0.2 & 1.1.1). Immediately, I was impressed by all the options it gives you. I just about peed my pants when I realized it did its magic STRAIGHT FROM THE DVD! I did the entire disk, with a level 3 on the movie, and level 4 on everything else. The entire process took about 25 minutes, which makes it faster than the DVD2one process, since you don't have to rip the movie first. I thought I was in heaven.

Then I viewed the finished product. Before I even attempted to burn, I loaded the video_ts.ifo in PowerDVD, just to see if it held up. Here's a shocker.....it didn't. The pixelization reminded me of the early days, when I was first learning to make VCDs, and not doing a very good job at it. There were even scenes where it looked like the last frame of the scene repeated itself, although the audio never went out of sync.

I then repeated the process, twice, using level 2 and then level 1 on just the movie. The level 2 gave better results, and level 1 gave much better results, but it would have been impossible to do the entire dvd with either of these settings. Also, with level 2, the quality was comparable with DVD2one set to encode the entire disk. The level 1 quality was about on par with both IC7 and DVD2one, when encoding just the movie.

In short, I would have to applaud his efforts, because he obviously put a lot into it. I just hope that future versions will give better results on the lower levels. But, all in all, it's a pretty decent prog, made even better by the fact that it's free.

[jrolfedrev]

Everytime I use DVDShrink from a Win2K Pro box, it always freezes. I downloaded tha latest version and still having problem. I do have IC,Nero,DVDdecrypter,DVD2one,DVD95copy,Smartripper ,TMPgenc running on my box. Is this could be a software conflict?

Thanks.

[sfalcon]

Hi all!

This is a software that I would gladly pay for. Very simple, yet very complete and easy to handle.

But I guess it needs some repair (or maybe I did something wrong).
I placed a 7.726Giga DVD onto a 4.7 DVD+RW just by deleting the 5.1 and PCM original audio using the Pinnacle Instant Copy v.7. No problem and the result was great (no one can tell the difference between original and copy)!
I tried to do the same with DVDSHRINK, but it only delivers 7.2 or so after compression.

Can anybody help me aroung this problem? Or is it impossible for DVDSHRINK to fit 7.72Giga in a 4.7Giga DVD+RW? :roll:

[Jah_Rankin]

DVD2one, DVD2one, DVD2one still the ruler in my opinion. IC Quality isn't better that DVD2one, yes i said it with my $3800 eyes that I had lasik surgery with now 20/15 vision, and my $ 4300 ensonic lcd projector that I view my movies on. U all can waste your times with IC & DVD95 if u want but I'm totally convinced with all my numerous testing of DVD2one, all versions, compared to the IC & DVD95 newest versions. Haven't tried DVD shrink as yet, no need 2, I have the software though, in case ever needed.

[mysterio1]

How do you get the menu's to work I want the start up menu's to choose chapters, but when I click on the play or chapters button they dont work, how do you get them to work. Or is their another program I can use for that, I know DVDXCOPY works but dont always want to use 2 discs.

[Jah_Rankin]

How do you get the menu's to work I want the start up menu's to choose chapters, but when I click on the play or chapters button they dont work, how do you get them to work. Or is their another program I can use for that, I know DVDXCOPY works but dont always want to use 2 discs.

Easy my friend just use DVD2one.vs1.1

[mysterio1]

I tried that but I dont want all the special features in thier though because I dont want the movies compressed too much, bad quality, I just want the menu and the chapter chioces, is their a guide for that. thanks.

[mar-mar]

i was kinda wondering the same thing,, one i did the chapter skip works during the movie but my menus are all screwed in the wrong order. so like when i go to menu and then say like pick bonus feat. it would just play the movie ,,then when the movie was over there was my bonus material playin.. anyone know how i could correct this or do i have setup stuff in different order or did i leave files out??

[neonflx]

Pardon my ignorance , but i do not see how to select level 1, 2 or 3 or whatever and once it ripps the movie to the hd then what?? just burn it??

[XanaXManX]

I tried all the links and was unable to get a copy, Does anyone have a good link?

[The_Hermit1971]

Hey Leebo, I didn´t knew that the conversion is made frame by frame to avoid missing the relevant action in the movie. Now I agree that the best solution is to buy a widescreen TV. But since I don´t have $1,500 to buy it, I´m in serious trouble. In conclusion: until I have the money to buy a widescreen tv, I got to stick with the conversion.

[jayhawk22]

I see very few replies but here goes. I have use this program and it only works on my computer but not on my rca home dvd, anyone know why? I am using nero afterwards and it looks great but will not play on rca. Do i neeed to check all the regions or what? i am new to this and have looked for this answer before asking. thanks for any help and thanks to the people behind this program it is soo easy and very good.

[Gil T Pleasure]

Here's a link to a good DVDShrink guide.

Enjoy!

[jayhawk22]

i have the guide but it doesnt adress this problem. I see there is a new release out tonight but dont know where to find it , not on his site yet. He said he sent it out. has some changes that might help this out. Has anyone use this with nero? thanks again.

[Gil T Pleasure]

Check the DVD Player section on your left ( <--- ) to see if your RCA plays DVDR/RW first. If it does, try using a different burning software like RecordNow Max.

[mar-mar]

i just read more in depth in the manual and that straight up answered my problem ,i can see these guys working around that problem tho