DVDShrink..how many passes

[FeLLoX]

Hey

How many passes do dvdshrink do ?

And BTW. how can i see the bitrate of a DVD ?

[writersblock29]

@FeLLoX

Well, if you mean "passes" as in the way an encoder such as CCE would do it... none. DVD Shrink isn't an encoder, it's a TRANScoder. The difference is that an encoder takes a video stream, and creates a new video stream within a given standard (avi to MPEG2, for example, or even MPEG2 to MPEG2 reduced bitrate). Encoders use their own motion vectors to decide what information is redundant or repetetive, and most allow for the incorporation of passes to improve the image, pass by pass. A transcoder, on the other hand, meerly reduces the existing bitrate of an existing stream. The motion vectors are whatever the original encoder used. There are better explainations elsewhere on this board (there's one that's a FAQ on the transcoder technique within this thread), so please, give them a looking over if you're interested on how this works.

Now, if you mean "passes" as in "looking over a DVD," then DVD Shrink makes up to three. The first one is quick, meerly to estimate size and content so you'll know how much compression is required or what streams you can live without. The second would be the optional "deep analysis" mode which studies the MPEG stream and decides how best to reduce the bitrate without majorly impacting the quality of the image. The third, of course, is the business end of copying the files into another folder, with a reduced-bitrate image in place of the original's video stream.

Is your answer within any of that?

Now, for the second question -- viewing the bitrate of a DVD -- the best program I can think of (others may disagree) is Bitrate Viewer, which is availible for free download on the Doom9 Homepage's "downloads" section. Such tools are good for curriousity, but the bottom line is whether or not you're pleased with the quality you get. Present bitrate doesn't always reflect how much quality the image has.

[mudda_t]

If you have Powerdvd and want to view the bitrate just right click in the player window and select "show information". Some standalones will also allow you to view the bitrate in the display options.