Amount of time analysing/encoding w/DVD Shrink

[rollers333]

I just had a quick question, I've been backing up my DVD's for about a year, but I thought I'd ask what kind of timeframe it takes for everyone to Analyze/Encode their files once they've been ripped onto the hard drive...

The reason I ask is because currently I rip my DVD's onto an external hard drive and then use shrink to write the ISO file onto the same drive. This usually takes quite a long time, (around 6-8 hours I'd say) I usually set it up before going to bed, and it finishes in the morning... But if people are doing it a lot faster, I'd like to find out what ways are the best to upgrade speed, ie internal hard drive rather than external, or just going out and getting a faster processor...


Thoughts?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

1) What are your present system's specs (Include info re: external hard drive connection)?
2) When running DVD Shrink are you performing both "Deep Analysis" and "AEC" ("AEC" is time consuming)?

[rollers333]

Hi!

1) What are your present system's specs (Include info re: external hard drive connection)?
2) When running DVD Shrink are you performing both "Deep Analysis" and "AEC" ("AEC" is time consuming)?


I'm running Win98, 500 MHz processor (so sad to have to write that!), the external hard drive is connected through USB 2.0, and since I am backing up onto 4.7 GB discs, I believe I perform both to help with the quality as much as possible...

[writersblock29]

@Rollers333

Using an AMD64 3200+, 2GB of PC3200 RAM, and 2 7,200RPM 160GB internal hard drives, it normally takes me anywhere from 1/2 an hour to 1 hour within DVD Shrink to process a movie. The veriables include whether Shrink is set up to run under low priority (check on this setting to see if it's enabled; if you leave your system alone while it's processing, you can safely disable it), the overall playing length of the disk (more material -- not to mention doing full-disk over "movie-only" -- equals more time), and degree of processing (I've noticed that the further the reduction, the more time needed to produce a final version of a project).

Honestly, though, I rarely ever use 'Shrink these days as anything other than a processing tool before running my project through DVD Rebuilder.

You might profit from posting your exact system specs (processor, memory, operating system, and the like) because 6-8 hours sounds pretty strange: Even when I was using an old 1GB AMD processor, I'd rarely surpass 3 hours on a transcoding job. For example: What USB configuration is your external hard drive connected with? USB 1.1 has a much slower data transfer rate than 2.0 (2.0 is roughly 40 times faster, in fact). Or are you attached via firewire, IEEE 1394? These details help, since they'll allow us to see if the bandwidth between your PC and external hard drive are your bottleneck. Also, are you running spyware protection programs? You won't always be aware of what's running in the background and eating CPU cycles, thereby reducing your DVD Shrink projects.

Something's amiss!

[Edited] Bunch of people beat me to the punch while I was typing! But okay, now we have stuff to work with...

[rollers333]

Must have been typing at the same time! Specs:

Win98, 500 MHz, 192 Mb RAM, USB 2.0, 80 GB external Hard drive... like I said above I usually set it up and leave it alone, so I'm never running other programs while I use shrink...

[writersblock29]

@rollers333

[Qouted] "...500 MHz processor..."

There's the problem! Looks like it's time to upgrade. Lucky thing is, there's a lot of fairly inexpensive full-computer packages out there that will help you out. Even Walmart's selling some pretty usable units for people that don't require top-of-the-line, but still want a fairly powerful system. Your external hard drive should also be compatible with these, if you still choose to use it.

[rollers333]

Haha, yeah I figure I must use the slowest processors of anyone out there to back up DVD's!!!

[setarip_old]

I believe I perform both to help with the quality as much as possible...

Experiment with "AEC" turned off. The time saving will be dramatic - and you'll probably find that the results are quite acceptable...

[curio59]

You definitely want to upgrade to a newer system. I am using a 2ghz machine with 526 ram...I have two dvd burners and by using shrink and decrypter I can burn a full dvd in 30-40 minutes

[freelock7]

Deep analysis only from 90-70% compression
AEC is recommended under 70%
-smooth=60-70%
-extra smooth= under 60%

[Chetwood]

Deep analysis only from 90-70% compression
AEC is recommended under 70%
-smooth=60-70%
-extra smooth= under 60%

Those percentages on their own have no meaning (http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45129).

[setarip_old]

@freelock7

In non-technical terms, you'll find that you can't apply "standard percentages across the board", as results will vary based on relative levels of action, number of colors, 4:3 versus 16:9, etc.

[mrbass]

Must have been typing at the same time! Specs:

Win98, 500 MHz, 192 Mb RAM, USB 2.0, 80 GB external Hard drive... like I said above I usually set it up and leave it alone, so I'm never running other programs while I use shrink...

DVDShrink himself stated you ideally need at least 256MB of RAM to run it effeciently or something to that effect.

[theReal]

I'm running Win98, 500 MHz processor (so sad to have to write that!), the external hard drive is connected through USB 2.0

Hm, are you sure it's USB 2.0? Because if the drive supports 2.0 that doesn't mean your 500MHz Processor-Mobo supports it. If you haven't got a USB 2.0 PCI Card in that box then you're almost definitely running that HD on USB 1.1 !!!

Get HDTach (http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach2.7) and see what I/O rates you're getting on that drive!

or just going out and getting a faster processor...
Well, that's an option as well :p
Get a new board, cpu and RAM
You don't need to buy the newest stuff - get the oldest still available in stores and you're still at least a dozen times faster with EVERYTHING!