DVD Shrink 2.2 released

[dvdshrink]

Hi,

I have sent DVD Shrink 2.2 for distribution. It should be available soon.

To all those who just downloaded 2.1 - I'm sorry, please get the latest version. I introduced a bug which prevents fast forward and fast rewind working on the target disk. This is now fixed in 2.2.

[mpucoder]

Available at http://www.dvdshrink.org/

[Herg]

Since I couldn't find where to read the changes quickly, here they are quoted from the help file.

Version 2.2 - 11 June 2003

Fixed bug where fast forward/fast backward playback did not function correctly in target disk.

Version 2.1 - 11 June 2003

Improved compression and new levels. The quality is much improved.

Added unicode support for Japanese language. Japanese release is unicode, all other languages are MBCS since unicode doesn't work on Windows 98.

Hide audio/subpicture streams of negligible size is turned off by default. Also fixed filtering bug in Streams View.

Fixed bug where "Still Pictures" mode failed while encoding menus.

[drpaulng]

To DVDShrink:
Can you do us a favor by adding the bottom level of compression down to "99.9%" by reducing the "still pictures" to merely a blank black picture with minimal playing time of 0.25 sec (I think this is the smallest value set by Scenarist). By doing so, one gets a "virtually deleted vob" from the DVD without destroying the original DVD structure.

The importance of this step is obvious as we found out that the crippled InstantCopy can help us delete the whole vob from the original DVD (very good!). However, IC has to make a specially structured *.pdi files set rather than a set of VIDEO_TS. The VIDEO_TS recovered from *.pdi is unable to be burned with any of the various DVD writing software because they check and refuse to act further on with this particualr VIDEO_TS that is incomplete with missing vob.

[dvdshrink]

Hi,

I can replace each "still picture" with a black screen, which would gain considerable compression, but the playback time would be the same as the original vob, and audio/subpicture would play as normal.

Now I think of it, maybe a blue screen would be better, or green or some other user definable color (so people don't think the player is broken, if they play these scenes).

I can't entirely delete vobs yet. Sorry.

[bratloaf]

I think selectable color (default blue?) would be good, as well as selectable image. A graphic that says "scene deleted" or similar. (User defined possible?)

Compression level 10 = slide show, 11=scene deleted grphic 12=solid color?

Just a thought.

[asd343]

2 Questions for DVD Shrink:

What is the reason that there are these levels, and not a more flexible way of choosing (like the 30 - 100% in IC7) I mean, at some movies at least, level 10 is only 50% compressed.. why not make it possible to compress extras 90% and still keep it a movie (and not a slideshow)


What is the reason that it isint possible to use the Re-Autor tool, and still keep the menus and all that ... will it be soon ?



/Morten

[Bear263]

Originally posted by asd343
2 Questions for DVD Shrink:

What is the reason that there are these levels, and not a more flexible way of choosing (like the 30 - 100% in IC7) I mean, at some movies at least, level 10 is only 50% compressed.. why not make it possible to compress extras 90% and still keep it a movie (and not a slideshow)


What is the reason that it isint possible to use the Re-Autor tool, and still keep the menus and all that ... will it be soon ?



/Morten

Yes I suggest a option for that also. I did a movie that one compression did it at 4.43gb and the next one below did it at 3.87gb. If there was a slider in this instance that could be used, I could have slid it a bit down to 4.3gb it would have had 300meg more for the movie.

[Sbofen]

DVDShrink, can you change to the way DVDShrink starts up? Maybe an option in preferences for automatic or manual scan of DVD files when choosing OPEN FILES Mode

I make movie only DVD backups, and use DVD Decrypter. To save time I just rip the default VOBS. This worked great in 1.03, but now with the newer versions, it tries to analyze the disc before I get a chance to tell it I want to reauthor. This gives error, and compression level estimates messed up.

Regardless, thanks again for such a wonderful program!! :p

[dvdshrink]

Ok, I'll look into it.
This will take a while though because some of the view windows depend on the results of successful analysis.

[motster]

I second the "Scene Deleted" if you are able to swap in a frame versus a color. Or even better "This content deleted, press menu to return" something like that. Or even betterer (;-)) the ability to load a jpg of user's choice :-) Like you mentioned, any of them would save even more space.

I have no idea the trouble involved in doing this, but I'm just a user, I make requests :-) :-)


Thanks dvdshrink!!!

[ephesus79]

I am having some funky problems when trying to backup Frida using ver 2.2. When I highlight Extras and change the compression level to "still pictures", for example, it changes the main movie to that compression level also. And if I go back and change the movie to level 1, then I go back to extras, it shows that both level 1 and the still pictures level are being utilized in the Extras. It looks kinda confusing. I tried ver 2.0 and I am having the same problem. Any idea what might be going on? By the way, DVD Shrink, I love the new interface. Keep up the good work.

[dvdshrink]

Hi,

The main movie and the extras are sharing some common video between them, so it is impossible to simultaneously have all the extras as Still Pictures and all the movie at Level 1.

Because of this, when you apply a compression level to the one, you are also applying it to the shared portions of the other.

You will probably achieve what you want if you apply Still Pictures to the extras, and then apply Level 1 to the main movie. This way the entire main movie will become Level 1, including the parts of it shared by the extras. If you did it the other way round, then the shared parts of your main title would become Still Pictures.

It seemed logical at the time ;-)

I might have to do something about this interface, because somebody is bound to make a mistake and end up with still picture movies when they didn't intend.

[duartix]

I second the "Scene Deleted" if you are able to swap in a frame versus a color. Or even better "This content deleted, press menu to return" something like that. Or even betterer (;-)) the ability to load a jpg of user's choice :-) Like you mentioned, any of them would save even more space. No it wouldn't!
It would only save space if there was only 1 picture like drpaulng suggested.
But from what dvdshrink is saying it looks like the playing time must be kept...
Else you will do better with a very solid background.

As for the color either all white or all black should have better compression since there is no chroma information. All black isn't a good idea as you all can imagine, but all white...

[glocker]

dvdshrink,

Just wanted to say that I believe all the hard work you are putting in to this program is unbelievable. I'm sure everyone here will agree that valuable time is spent creating and improving this little app. Kudos for all your hard work. I believe the suggestions for title modification would be a great little addition to it also. Instead of "Scene Deleted" how about something like "Scene not available" or Scene Removed for Content". Even better would be the option to place a user selected image. Well, anyway for the most part. Thank you for this little gem.

Regards,
Glocker:)

[Mobius]

I read in the revision history that this version fixed the problem with fast forward on the target disc. I used ver. 2.2 and the disc wouldn't fast forward, it just skipped to the next chapter. Could you check this out dvdshrink?

[diogo6]

dvdshrink, I know you've heard this hundreds of time, but not once did you ever answer (I think... :) ), but why won't you let us "DONATE" you money. By now you've clearly made your point that you're not in this for the money, and trust me, we all appreciate and thank you for that, but since we willingly want to give it to you, you might as well take it...:)

[Sarcoptic]

I agree 110%, you offer us the ability to give you feedback and you work your ass off to try to please everyone!!! I really think you need to setup a paypal account and let us donate, I hope you feel it wouldnt lock you into working on the software if we donated, cause personally I could care less if you continue to work on the software ( I mean dont get me wrong I love that fact you are constantly improving) we are still all indebted to you for this excellent piece of software you have created so far!!!

[b0b0b0b]

Thanks for the continuing work on the great program!

[Mobius]

Anybody else had the problem of no fastforward/fastbackward with dvdshrink ver. 2.2?

[dvdshrink]

Hi Mobius,

I am getting a few reports about this problem, trying to track it down now.

Can you give me some more information?

So far it seems the problem only occurs with some titles (not all) in re-author mode. Does this sound right? Or do you have a general problem with all disks you create with 2.2?

[Mobius]

I was using 2.2 on the dvd of The Animatrix, which has a weird structure. I couldn't get it to play doing a straight disc compression, so I tried reauthoring with each episode in a seperate vob. That plays fine, but it skips to the next vob when fast forwarding instead of scanning through the vob. Hope that helps.

[dvdshrink]

Hi,

Any further information about why it wouldn't play in full-disk mode? Did you get an error message? Does it play in PowerDVD or other software dvd player?

Thanks -

[69Mws]

Tested 2.2 today with an episodic DVD with approx. 3 hrs playtime (Buffy), kept both languages (192 kbps each).

All episodes are contained in one Titleset and I had to set compression level 9 for it (!) to fit.

To be honest, I didn't expect very much quality but the result came out very well! Watched different scenes for testing on my TV and expected much blockyness, but really couldn't find much of that.

I'm deeply impressed!

Keep up that great work!

Greetz
69Mws

[papillon]

I just finished a 8.5gb full disk backup with v2.2, using 40% compression for the movie/extras and 45% compression for the menu, and was also very impressed with the video quality.

And the winner is ....................... Shrink :)

[gnutellafan]

I dont know how easy it is to implement but im doing it manually with ifoedit right now. It would be amazing if dvdshrink could select which if any sub titles to have as default on.

[gnutellafan]

I just backed up Princess and the Warior, a german film. I got rid of the 2 ch german sound track and the 2 english director comentaries and kept the 6ch german sound track. Anyway, when playing there is NO sound. I checked it out in ifo edit and all the sound tracks are still showing up but only one of them has sound associated with it and its defaulting to play the 2ch sound that doesnt exist, instead of the 6ch that I kept. Havent had this problem before 2.2

BTW, keep up the great work! DVD Shrink is AMAZING!!!

[Ridgeback]

Give that man a ciiiigar!!!!

[mrchri5]

how does it compare with dvd2one? better, worse, about the same? I think dvd2one still works great for movie only backups and gets the size right on. I still want to thank the author for a great program. I love the cropping feature so I can get rid of credits for more space and bypass the annoying studio logos in the main movie file.

thanks!

[DMagic1]

Shrink just gets better every time you look. You put a lot of work into this product with lots of updates. The other one click apps seem to have started hibernating.

[gnutellafan]

Preserving DVD structure while croping the film:

I believe you could still allow ppl to crop the film by letting them choose the start point and stop point and replacing everything before and after w/ a still black screen.

Then the entry point of the vob could be changed to enter right after the still black.

I think this would preserve the structure AND allow ppl to crop the film for the extra savings.



Also, it would be nice if there were some way to choose which title set to play first so I can start w/ the main movie instead of the menu's. It pretty easy in ifoedit but there is no reason it couldnt be made even easier with a simple check box approach.

[molman2003]

I have just used the ever excellent dvd shrink v2.2 and I have just backed up (can't say copied) Lord Of The Rings 1 keeping all menus intact onto a dvd-r.
I have followed Doom9's guide and it worked a treat.

If I can, anyone can.

Steve

[voo_doo99]

I tried backing up full-disk Antwone Fisher at 40% with dvdshrink 2.2. The image looked great, but the playing was jerky as if some frames were removed. Is this to be expected at 40%?. I had thought image quality would degrade but the playing would still be smooth. Is this the difference between 2.2 and earlier 1.03?. I retried with the movie-only backup and that one was good and smooth.
Regardless, it is a super tool. Thank you, dvdshrink.

[molman2003]

I only have jerky playback on the menus which i shrunk to
still-frame.
I was then able to shrink the film to level 5 and everything was fine, even on my 28 inch widescreen you cant see any pixellation.

go to www.doom9.org and look at the guide for version 2. it is located on the 6/7 news update.

any other probs let me know and i'll do my best to help.

steve

[dvdshrink]

voo_doo99 -

Did you apply "Still Pictures" to any part of the movie in full-disk mode? Like to the extras?

[molman2003]

Yes, all the extras and the menus were made 'still' so that when they played back they appeared jerky.
No part of the film was made still.

[dvdshrink]

If the extras and the main movie shared any common video between them (this happens a lot) then applying "Still Pictures" to the extras will affect the main movie too.

You will see if this happens, because applying still pictures to the extras will cause the compressed size of the movie to change, also when you click on the movie you will see a multiple level selection or "mixed" levels.

You should apply Still Pictures to the extras first, and then apply your required compression level to the movie (which will cause portions of the extras to stop being Still Pictures, but better that than the other way round!).

Does that make sense? I begin to wonder myself now.

Regards -

[voo_doo99]

I understand the 'Still Picture' mode, and yes I might've apply that to some part of the extra to save space, but not the movie part. Are you saying that may have some side effect to the playing of the movie part? I am pretty sure that extra that was compressed in 'still' mode is not a part of the main movie. The question in my head was whether there was a change in compression strategy, i.e. a reduction in frame rate for image quality, because I thought at 40% the image quality was surprisingly good.

[dvdshrink]

No, at any compression level the output should be just as "smooth". What did the jerkiness look like in your main movie? It wasn't the same kind of jerkiness as caused by still pictures?

Might be a bug then :-(

[voo_doo99]

No, not abruptly skipping like 'still' mode. More like you still can see the whole scene but some frames missing so the sequence became jerky. I'll try again this weekend and see if I still have the same problem. Thanks.

[dvdshrink]

OK thanks. Best wait for version 2.3 release which will address a lot of these problems.

[Gil T Pleasure]

DVDShrink,

Wow, we're now at version 2.2 and version 2.3 is already in the works? And you're doing this for nothing? :eek:

Let me just say that you and your lil app are both amazing!!! :)

Thanks again for your hard work and generosity. I do wish you would change your mind about accepting donations though. It's the least we could do.

[thop]

I'd be the first one to send a donation! :)

However i believe dvdshrink isn't accepting donations to not identify himself and avoid legal trouble ... hmm but LIGHTNING UK is accepting donations. So what the hell do i know? :p

[gnutellafan]

Donations:
I too would love to donate. If you dont want to accept money yourself maybe you could have ppl donate to a charity for you. Set it up so ppl could donate to save the rain forest or something in DVD Shrinks name.

[thop]

or to the EFF (http://www.eff.org/)

[molman2003]

Firstly this excellent program just keeps getting better and better.

Is there any reason why this error would come up:

'DVD Shrink encountered an error and cannot continue this operation'

invalid nv_pck:nv_vobu_ea

The reason is:Unknown


Steve

PS

Gratuities should be accepted for a fine piece of work.

[muralin]

moleman2003:

i got the same error if i ripped the dvd in dvddecrypter IFO mode and deleted the chapters i didnt need during rip.

if i used file mode in dvd decrypter, the problem disappeared.

[molman2003]

Thanks for that, but this was shrinking straight from disc.

Any ideas

[hmmmmmmmm]

Firstly, with each release I'm more and more impressed. I honestly think that DVDShrink is one of the best (if not THE best) products of its kind. Frequent updates and the customer support!! Oh my!! How often do you get a reply back from Pinnacle people? And seeing as how I paid for that product!

Just out of curiosity, has anyone done a compression comparisson to the other products? I just backed up my copy of Unbreakable and watched it... it was outstanding. No pixilation or anything. And the subtitle problems I had in version 1.3 are gone now too. But before I drone on and on, like I was saying, I just was curious as to how the compression compared as I remember a while ago someone did a comparison and at low compressions (i.e. not that much compression going on at all) DVDShrink and IC were about evenly matched.

That's it. And once again, DVDShrink, you must be a nuclear scientist because your product is da bomb!!!

[Daether]

Originally posted by gnutellafan
I dont know how easy it is to implement but im doing it manually with ifoedit right now. It would be amazing if dvdshrink could select which if any sub titles to have as default on.

I second that. I would also love to see the ability right click on a certain audio or subtitle stream to set it to default.
No more IfoEdit then, DVD shrink really would be one-click.
Would be very handy considering you get only silence played after deleting the main audio track.

I've tried DVD Shrink 2.0 on a few disks and I think its awesome. I'm trying 2.2 now and I'm really impressed with your work dvdshrink. Thanks!