DVD Shrink vs. DVD Rebuilder

[captain_video]

I've been using DVD Rebuilder for quite some time now and have been extremely pleased with the results. The one caveat I have is that it takes anywhere from 5-1/2 to 8 hours to process a DVD-9 disc to a single layer DVD-5 size. I generally like to remove all of the extras and just process the main movie with an English soundtrack and no subtitles. This usually reduces the size to about 5-6GB for long movies and sometimes shrinks it down enought to fit on the DVD with no processing. I decided to give DVD Shrink a shot and this is my impression of the program.

It's extremely fast (about 45 minutes to process a DVD vs. the time it takes DVD Rebuilder to do the same thing). The quality is good, but not great. The processed files were recorded to Taiyo Yuden 8X printable surface DVD-Rs using Nero 6.6.0.1 Enterprise Edition. I notice a good deal of graininess and loss of definition when viewing the recorded DVD on my 60" Hitachi LCD HD RPTV (60VS810 HDTV) using my Marantz DV-9500 universal disc player.

The test disc I used was disc three of the Seinfeld season 5 set. The DVDs have been remastered to provide a sharper image with increased clarity and definition so I thought it would be a good DVD to use for this comparison. I processed the first two discs with DVD Rebuilder Pro v1.03 and the results I got with DVD Rebuilder are noticeably superior. The results are virtually indistinguishable from the original DVD. Removing the extras helps as it requires less compression to fit the remaining files on a DVD-5 disc.

If you have a smaller standard definition TV then the difference may not be as noticeable and perhaps not even noticeable at all for many, depending on the quality of your playback equipment. For me, I plan on sticking with DVD Rebuilder as my program of choice for shrinking DVDs. The tradeoff of speed vs. quality is not one I'm willing to make.

[nwg]

You can't really compare the two. Shrink compresses (transcodes) the video which is why it is quicker. DVD-Rebuilder encodes the video (using a suitable encoder) which will always take longer.

The picture quality will depend on the display size. It is possible to hav up to 50% compression in Shrink and it will look good to most people. It is only when the display gets bigger than artefacts are seen. Also, if the average bitrate is really high then it can take a lot more compression compared to other DVD's with lower average bitrate.

As you have a 60" TV. Then the encoding would be better most of the time as that is rather big. I watch at 80" with a projector and so I either use DVD Rebuilder and HCEnc or use a DL+R if the DVD is worth it.

There should already be similar posts about this sort of thing already. You may want to do a search.

[m1ckran]

I also use both DVD Shrink and DVD Rebuilder.

I prefer to make movie-only backups, but with a custom menu to prevent the autoplay running the film before I'm ready. My custom menu can also set or reset subtitles. I always use uncompressed material until I write to DVD.

Normally, I write my files to DVD+RW using Shrink/Decrypter to make sure it's working properly before using Rebuilder to produce the finished article.

I think it's significant that the quality produced by Shrink looks pretty good until compared with the Rebuilder version. Sometimes, Rebuilder highlights imperfections in Shrink that I didn't know were there until I made the A/B comparison.

Having said that, the difference in quality varies depending upon the source.

Two brilliant programs in their own fields, I think.

M1ckran

[Fishman0919]

NO, NO, NO... This really didn't start up again.

I did this some time ago...

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=91418&highlight=titan

[m1ckran]

tsk...
tetchy...

;)

[Fishman0919]

Ah, yes...sorry...
It's just this things been dragged thru the mad so many times. :(

[m1ckran]

No probs.

You're right: this has been covered before. But not everyone knows about it. Good link for people who don't know or, like me, have partially forgotten the detail.

[captain_video]

Fishman - Consider this thread nothing more than an update to your original thread. I wasn't aware of your thread but I would have been surprised if nobody had ever done such a comparison before. I was merely expressing my personal opinion of the two programs.

DVD-RB has gone through a multitude of changes since you first did your comparison. I don't remember what version of DVD Shrink I'm using but I believe it is also a more current version. In other words, although your original findings may still hold true, they're already outdated.

[feedback]

Fishman - Consider this thread nothing more than an update to your original thread. I wasn't aware of your thread but I would have been surprised if nobody had ever done such a comparison before. I was merely expressing my personal opinion of the two programs.

DVD-RB has gone through a multitude of changes since you first did your comparison. I don't remember what version of DVD Shrink I'm using but I believe it is also a more current version. In other words, although your original findings may still hold true, they're already outdated.
DVD Shrink has not been updated since July of 2004.
Therefore, the findings are not outdated as far as the Shrink observations. Also, DVD Rebuilder has only been improved since the test so IMO the test would be all the more valid.

Regards,:)

[blutach]

What is best? Not allowed to ask - see rule 12.

But you are allowed to answer :) DVDRB Pro plus Procoder2. No contest. jdobbs thank you.

Like nwg, I project onto a big screen (4 metres wide, what's that in inches?) and simply require an encoding solution.

Regards

[nwg]

Like nwg, I project onto a big screen (4 metres wide, what's that in inches?) and simply require an encoding solution.

Regards

Crikey that is big.

Four metres is 157 inches and twice the size of my one. Is that 4 metres going left to right or diagonal gping from bottom left to top right? Mine is 80" diagonal.

[blutach]

L to R mate. It's about 3m high. I project onto a wall. Saves $$$ on expensive screens.

Regards

[nwg]

L to R mate. It's about 3m high. I project onto a wall. Saves $$$ on expensive screens.

Regards

I can't project on a wall as I have junk and shelves on all my walls. I just use a blackout blind that can be raised when not needed. L to R my screen is 6 feet (1.8 metres). The projector can do another 20" when zoomed out.

Have you painted the wall a specific colour to improve the picture.

Shrink backups can still look good when that big. I supppose a new and higher spec projector would show more flaws.

[m1ckran]

So...

Blutach spends hours staring at the wall!

Interesting...

:D :D :D :D :D

[rpboy]

I've been using DVD Rebuilder for quite some time now and have been extremely pleased with the results. The one caveat I have is that it takes anywhere from 5-1/2 to 8 hours to process a DVD-9 disc to a single layer DVD-5 size.
The processing time depends on your machine and the encoder you use.

Using DVD-RB with HC 0.16 (a very nice quality free encoder) takes about 2.5 hours using the best profile to process a DVD for me on my P4 3.0 GHz machine.

In pretty much all the cases, it is worth it to me to go that route versus DVD Shrink.

If removing content can get me down to the DVD-5 size, then I use Pgcedit and DVD Shrink together to do it.

[Devinator]

What do you guys think about movies that only need say 500MB or so shaved off? Is there going to be as big of a difference between CCE/RB and DVD Shrink at this point? I will be viewing on a HDTV and so far I haven't really used DVD Shrink, but the reduced times would be nice for movies that already only fit after blanking the extras...

[nwg]

You will see very little difference (as long as you use Shrink's Deep Analysis and a AEC). The differences are minimal up to 20% reduction or so. It does depend on the size of the TV though.

[blutach]

If you're short on time, Id continue to use DVD Shrink to say 10% compression. Anything over, I'm a DVD Rebuilder (http://dvd-rb.dvd2go.org/) man.

Thanks dearly to m1ckran for the honourary Ash. I'll take the rest this XMAS mate!!

Regards

[tedmales]

when i back up something i use shrink, but i like to remove everything but the main movie and use as little, if any, compression. if none is used, the would rebuilder have an advantage?

[TonyK]

I am very new to backing up movies. I use DVD Shrink and have had great success with it. I tried to biakup a DVD 9 and could not compress the file enough to fit on a 4.7 gig disc. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong or make a recommendation on what program I can use?
Thanks......

[m1ckran]

@TonyK

Sometimes, DVD Shrink will not shrink from DVD9 to DVD5 if it thinks the compression rate would be too detrimental to picture quality.

Are you trying to shrink the whole DVD? If you were to select "Reauthor" and choose Title1, you would lose the menus and extras and make a movie-only backup. DVD Shrink likes this, and will provide a better quality backup.

If you prefer to backup the entire DVD, you could try downloading DVD FabDecrypter or DVD Rebuilder. You might have more success, but I always think that if DVD Shrink refuses, then it's not worth doing.

[battscrew]

What do you guys think about movies that only need say 500MB or so shaved off? Is there going to be as big of a difference between CCE/RB and DVD Shrink at this point? I will be viewing on a HDTV and so far I haven't really used DVD Shrink, but the reduced times would be nice for movies that already only fit after blanking the extras...

I find if it is over 90% then no difference for me.

[philco]

I am very new to backing up movies. I use DVD Shrink and have had great success with it. I tried to biakup a DVD 9 and could not compress the file enough to fit on a 4.7 gig disc. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong or make a recommendation on what program I can use?
Thanks......
you need to re-author. plus go to preference, and select stream selections, then you select what language and coding you want.

[Xirtam G]

Does anyone have any pictures of the same frame done with both softwares (Pref dvdrb with cce and dvdshrink with deep analysis)

[dragongodz]

Does anyone have any pictures of the same frame done with both softwares (Pref dvdrb with cce and dvdshrink with deep analysis)
a single, or even a few, frames tell you only about those frames. it doesant represent how it looks playing. i do assume you actually watch movies realtime and not 1 frame every second or 2 ? :devil:

so test for yourself and make your own choice as to what to use and when. nobody can tell you what you will or wont like, only tell you what they like.