Shrink-DVD-lab

[stewart2000]

well, im getting the hang of this thing now, but...
having used shrink to rip 3 episodes from a disk (red dwarf) and dvd lab to create a menu and then burn th disk, the quality was dissapointing.

having only 3 episodes removed the need for any compression, therefor i thought quality would still be very close to origional.

would quality be better if i used nero to burn rather than dvd labs internal burner?

or is it just thet shrink,though good and esy to use, being a freebie softwear is not as good quality wise, as a comercial app?

[ammck55]

the quality was dissapointing.
How so? Give us some feedback on what your authored file looks like. Did the menu at least work?

having only 3 episodes removed the need for any compression, therefor i thought quality would still be very close to original.
The quality should be equal to the original, your authored file should be a mirror replica of the original episodes since there was no compression applied.

would quality be better if i used nero to burn rather than dvd labs internal burner?
I doubt it. I've never seen references to DVD-lab being spotty in this regard.

or is it just thet shrink, though good and esy to use, being a freebie softwear is not as good quality wise, as a comercial app?
You've answered your own question in a manner of speaking when you say that there was no compression applied. Shrink's quality falls a little short of some of the other methods, but not nearly so much as I think you've come up with in this test. Again, describe how your authored movie falls short in quality, then we'll have more to go on.

Test your files after Re-authoring in Shrink and tell us what the quality is at this stage. Test the files after you've created the menu in DVD-lab before you send them to the burner. I doubt if the burning process is your problem, your quality issue is most likely on your part in missing something from the guide. If you're unsure how to set up tests of your .ifo's, just ask.

Suggestion: Edit the title of this thread to something that more closely reflects your problem, such as, "Problem with authored file", or "Shrink-DVD-lab problem". Some of the members that work with DVD-lab but not Shrink might blow right on past this one. :)

ammck55

It never fails if I neglect to use ieSpell (http://www.iespell.com/download.php). :rolleyes:

[stewart2000]

the quality on the reproduction was a little grainy, and yep the menu did work, though i kept it simple, first menu = play all or select episode, second menu, episode 1,2,3 or return to first menu.
yep i thought the backup would be the same quality being as its digital and not analogue.

testing .ifo at diferent stages, well i have nothing to loose, so ill try it if you can tell me how please, however the quality of the movie on the hard drive looked ok, as i went through a section of it to find stills for the menu background.

[killingspree]

it seems to me that dvd lab had your video reencoded, therefore your quality reduced. did any process indicate this (e.g. take much longer than you expected it to)?

kr
steVe

[stewart2000]

not sure about that killingspree, being new to this i didnt know how long it would take. however i thought dvdlab would just take the compressed file (saved on h\d by shrink) add the menu and burn them.

where do i look in lab' to make sure its not reencoding the file a second time? as little i know about this, what you say makes sence.

[killingspree]

sorry... yes that is of course true... i must have mixed up a couple of things... AND must have forgotten to follow the rule, never post when you just got up :P

[Andrew C]

Here is a link to a good guide for encoding Red Dwarf before using DVD Lab:

www.doom9.org/mpg/cce-advanced.htm

It will cost you some money to get a hold of Cinema Craft Encoder, but it is excellent encoding engine.
I use the guide for two movies on one dvd and it gives great results, just takes a bit of reading.

[Dimmer]

Originally posted by stewart2000
well, im getting the hang of this thing now, but...
having used shrink to rip 3 episodes from a disk (red dwarf) and dvd lab to create a menu and then burn th disk, the quality was dissapointing.

having only 3 episodes removed the need for any compression, therefor i thought quality would still be very close to origional.

would quality be better if i used nero to burn rather than dvd labs internal burner?

or is it just thet shrink,though good and esy to use, being a freebie softwear is not as good quality wise, as a comercial app? @stewart2000:
You probably figured this out yourself by now, but just for a case here are some thoughts on your original questions.

1. If you didn't apply any compression, quality of the video should be exactly the same as original, not simply "close to original".
2. I suppose you would notice if a program re-encodes the video since it usually takes 5-10 hours per DVD on an average PC.
3. Burning software doesn't affect video quality, nor does DVD burner. Poor quality burning usually results in DVD player not being able to play the disc at all or in certain spots.
4. As mentioned earlier, DVD Shrink won't change video quality if you don't apply any compression. Still, you might want to use DVD Decrypter instead to rip the movie in IFO mode. This will ensure that the video remains untouched. See the DVD Decrypter guide (http://www.doom9.org/dvddec.htm) for details.

Hope this helps.