cinematic
16th August 2003, 03:09
This is an explanation of how I approached backing up the 7.87 GB (where 4.38 GB is capacity of DVD+R) huge extras disc 2 of Moulin Rouge. My approach here is to keep the DVD structure coherent by not omitting things (causing navigational errors), and avoid re-encoding which lowers video quality. If you want to cram all this onto a single 4.38 GB disc, read no further. If you want everything (including Easter Eggs that work like original disc) w/o loss of video quality, consider this method, as it avoids building from scratch in a program like Scenarist (which might be my next project).
Normally, I would use DVDFab for a project like this, but the structure of this disc will create an error (can't find suitable split point) because there is not one single long titleset that contains a 'main movie' with chapters. Like episodic DVDs, this extras disc contains many smaller videos of similar size, with some exceptions. There are no chapters in the longest videos (or any videos for that matter). By using DVDShrink (ver 2.3), I was able to use the 'full disk' method, and reproduce 2 separate discs, eliminating roughly half of the content each time choosing Still Pictures (rather than compression) for those titles I DID NOT wish to include on a particular disc. This method allows keeping all menus which ensures the structural integrity of each disc, allowing all navigation commands to function correctly. Sound should also be dropped for those features minimized using the Still Picture treatment (explained in program help).
The extras disc has a pretty obvious point to 'split' (not really splitting in the ifo sense) the disc content. I essentially placed all the features accessible from the first page of the main menu on the new disc 1, and those on the menu's 2nd page (accessed by selecting 'more') on the new disc 2. There was only 1 minor change required to balance the disc size. The items under 'more'; The Dance; The Choreography that included the interview of the choreographer, and the video of the rehearsal (both items on the submenu) were moved to disc 1. Nothing on the disc one required re-encoding. Unfortunately, I did have to re-encode some content on the second disc (7 total out of over 30) at 15 and 20%, but surprisingly, it did not look bad. I chose things that I was not thrilled with to begin with (the multi angle dance stuff-- not the extended which looked great). You may have different ideas, but the point is that re-encoding was kept to a bare minimum to preserve quality.
In a practical sense, it is pretty easy to remember exactly which features are on which disc, and it will be obvious when played. Anything that 'steps' (Still picture reduction feature) and is mit out sound is on the other disc. I have attached an excel file which shows exactly what was done (not sure I can do this here, but will try). Just do the opposite for the disk 2. It is important to change preferences to show all the files even if under 1 mb. The idea here is to use the Still picture feature to reduce wherever one can, including opening all menus. The feature that allows you to see the video content is great. Identify clips in titleset 17 and elsewhere by original size to avoid making wrong choices. I set a custom DVD size at 4482 MB and a 0 margin. I found that when the bar read 4609 (still partially in the red), I went ahead and backed up, disregarding the warning. The resultant file size was 4471 (from an estimated 4609) just 11 MB under the legal burn limit! This was because I used the Still Picture reduction on as many small files (that would not be viewed on that particular disc) as possible, and I don't think the program always figure those into the estimate. Any file that will appear in the disc should just be left alone (except for a few cases on disc 2 where re-encoding is required-- shown on the attached file). Be sure to set the target folder as VIDEO_TS, since DVDShrink does not create the properly named directory. It is easy to forget this, and you will wonder why your disc gets a load error in a set top, or a 'file format not recognized' in a software player if you succeed in burning the disc w/o the proper directory structure.
I think this was the easiest method to use, based on what I wanted to achieve. After seeing the quality of the few re-encoded files, I was impressed. The methods described using the 'big 3' (doitFast4U, etc.) to go DVD9 to 5 are better suited to full movies w/ a few extras. If one were to re-encode files with CCE and use these tools on this project, one might get good results, but keep in mind that you must essentially halve the size of this original disc to burn it to a single disc.
Normally, I would use DVDFab for a project like this, but the structure of this disc will create an error (can't find suitable split point) because there is not one single long titleset that contains a 'main movie' with chapters. Like episodic DVDs, this extras disc contains many smaller videos of similar size, with some exceptions. There are no chapters in the longest videos (or any videos for that matter). By using DVDShrink (ver 2.3), I was able to use the 'full disk' method, and reproduce 2 separate discs, eliminating roughly half of the content each time choosing Still Pictures (rather than compression) for those titles I DID NOT wish to include on a particular disc. This method allows keeping all menus which ensures the structural integrity of each disc, allowing all navigation commands to function correctly. Sound should also be dropped for those features minimized using the Still Picture treatment (explained in program help).
The extras disc has a pretty obvious point to 'split' (not really splitting in the ifo sense) the disc content. I essentially placed all the features accessible from the first page of the main menu on the new disc 1, and those on the menu's 2nd page (accessed by selecting 'more') on the new disc 2. There was only 1 minor change required to balance the disc size. The items under 'more'; The Dance; The Choreography that included the interview of the choreographer, and the video of the rehearsal (both items on the submenu) were moved to disc 1. Nothing on the disc one required re-encoding. Unfortunately, I did have to re-encode some content on the second disc (7 total out of over 30) at 15 and 20%, but surprisingly, it did not look bad. I chose things that I was not thrilled with to begin with (the multi angle dance stuff-- not the extended which looked great). You may have different ideas, but the point is that re-encoding was kept to a bare minimum to preserve quality.
In a practical sense, it is pretty easy to remember exactly which features are on which disc, and it will be obvious when played. Anything that 'steps' (Still picture reduction feature) and is mit out sound is on the other disc. I have attached an excel file which shows exactly what was done (not sure I can do this here, but will try). Just do the opposite for the disk 2. It is important to change preferences to show all the files even if under 1 mb. The idea here is to use the Still picture feature to reduce wherever one can, including opening all menus. The feature that allows you to see the video content is great. Identify clips in titleset 17 and elsewhere by original size to avoid making wrong choices. I set a custom DVD size at 4482 MB and a 0 margin. I found that when the bar read 4609 (still partially in the red), I went ahead and backed up, disregarding the warning. The resultant file size was 4471 (from an estimated 4609) just 11 MB under the legal burn limit! This was because I used the Still Picture reduction on as many small files (that would not be viewed on that particular disc) as possible, and I don't think the program always figure those into the estimate. Any file that will appear in the disc should just be left alone (except for a few cases on disc 2 where re-encoding is required-- shown on the attached file). Be sure to set the target folder as VIDEO_TS, since DVDShrink does not create the properly named directory. It is easy to forget this, and you will wonder why your disc gets a load error in a set top, or a 'file format not recognized' in a software player if you succeed in burning the disc w/o the proper directory structure.
I think this was the easiest method to use, based on what I wanted to achieve. After seeing the quality of the few re-encoded files, I was impressed. The methods described using the 'big 3' (doitFast4U, etc.) to go DVD9 to 5 are better suited to full movies w/ a few extras. If one were to re-encode files with CCE and use these tools on this project, one might get good results, but keep in mind that you must essentially halve the size of this original disc to burn it to a single disc.