What encoder does DVD Shrink use?

[theReal]

I'm going to buy a DVD Recorder soon and I already assembled a few tools I'm going to need. One of them is DVD Shrink 3 Beta 5 which a friend of mine is using for DVD backups. He says the results with the internal encoder in Shrink are perfect - but he has quite an old tv set and he's not a real enthusiast, so I won't rely totally on this... :rolleyes:

So I thought I ask for some opinions on how the quality of the internal DVD Shrink encoder compares to CCE or TMPEG (is it worth testing the internal encoder, or do I rather not use it from the beginning and rely on CCE/TMPEG?)

[Kedirekin]

Might I suggest the FAQ about the Transcoding Technique (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63587)

DVDShrink can give amazing results depending on the movie. You have to try it yourself and see. There really isn't any reason not to - start to finish only takes an hour or two.

In fact, I strongly recommend you try several test runs so you don't get a mistaken impression from trying it on only one poorly handled movie. You don't have to wait till you get your burner either; testing it on your PC monitor will give you a good preliminary impression.

[theReal]

... that explains a lot (in the meantime I've also read some stuff about transcoding on dvdrhelp as well - however I didn't find the FAQ in this forum)

Before, I had been stunned because DVDShrink was able to do a backup in one hour, even with the HQ deep search method on.

[bigjohn]

Originally posted by Kedirekin
Might I suggest the FAQ about the Transcoding Technique (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63587)

DVDShrink can give amazing results depending on the movie. You have to try it yourself and see. There really isn't any reason not to - start to finish only takes an hour or two.

In fact, I strongly recommend you try several test runs so you don't get a mistaken impression from trying it on only one poorly handled movie. You don't have to wait till you get your burner either; testing it on your PC monitor will give you a good preliminary impression.

Yes.. but it really needs some documentation! and the ability to edit the menus to NULL out the buttons for the stuff you don't want... and the ability to cut the stuff you don't want...

John

[Grover]

Yes.. but it really needs some documentation! and the ability to edit the menus to NULL out the buttons for the stuff you don't want... and the ability to cut the stuff you don't want...
You sir have won todays "unhappy consumer prize" and are hereby entitled to 7 times your money back on your purchase of DVDShrink. Just send your receipt to DVDShrink c/o The Internet for an immediate refund. ;)

There are many excellent guides (http://www.doom9.org/guides.htm) for this app and most of the programs discussed in these forums.

Hvaen't tried it myself but this (http://www.dvdstripper.com/) may help with your other request.

Cheers...

[bigjohn]

Originally posted by Grover
You sir have won todays "unhappy consumer prize" and are hereby entitled to 7 times your money back on your purchase of DVDShrink. Just send your receipt to DVDShrink c/o The Internet for an immediate refund. ;)

There are many excellent guides (http://www.doom9.org/guides.htm) for this app and most of the programs discussed in these forums.

Hvaen't tried it myself but this (http://www.dvdstripper.com/) may help with your other request.

Cheers...

Ahh, not unhappy.. just pissing the wife off cause I'm spending hours looking at the 'guides' trying to figure this out... she hates looking at the back of my head.

[bigjohn]

Originally posted by Grover
You sir have won todays "unhappy consumer prize" and are hereby entitled to 7 times your money back on your purchase of DVDShrink. Just send your receipt to DVDShrink c/o The Internet for an immediate refund. ;)

There are many excellent guides (http://www.doom9.org/guides.htm) for this app and most of the programs discussed in these forums.

Hvaen't tried it myself but this (http://www.dvdstripper.com/) may help with your other request.

Cheers...

Ahh, not unhappy.. just pissing the wife off cause I'm spending hours looking at the 'guides' trying to figure this out... she hates looking at the back of my head.

[oddwunn]

So I thought I ask for some opinions on how the quality of the internal DVD Shrink encoder compares to CCE or TMPEG (is it worth testing the internal encoder, or do I rather not use it from the beginning and rely on CCE/TMPEG?)

Far any movie that I am serious about regarding quality, I always go with CCE, but if the source material is pretty poor to begin with (like video based sex flicks), then DVDShrink does just fine. It is a balance between time spent and results desired that determine which will work best for you in any given situation.

[Kedirekin]

Just to throw in an opposing opinion...

For any movie I am serious about regarding quality, I split it to two disks (or reconcile myself to buying a second copy of the DVD - either now or later). Everything else being equal (meaning bitrates on all assets being the same, keeping all the same extras, keeping the same audio tracks, etc), I haven't found that CCE produces much better results than DVDShrink. Some disks simply have too much on them to fit onto a single 4.7 GB DVDR.

[oddwunn]

For any movie I am serious about regarding quality, I split it to two disks (or reconcile myself to buying a second copy of the DVD - either now or later).

Ok, you got me there. :)

I totally agree. I should have stated, if I must compress the video and I am serious about quality....blah, blah, blah

Everything else being equal (meaning bitrates on all assets being the same, keeping all the same extras, keeping the same audio tracks, etc), I haven't found that CCE produces much better results than DVDShrink.

I agree again. :)

My reference was in regards to "movie only" situations. I find that CCE shows dramatically better results on something like LOTR, when compressed to fit onto a single DVD-R.

[Kedirekin]

I concede. Movie only between 2½ and 3 hours might be the only scenario where CCE encoding really outshines DVDShrink.

Movie only up to 2 hours (or a little over), Shrink and CCE both look good so there's not much difference. Movie only over 3 hours and they both look bad (albeit in different ways), so again little difference.

For some reason, factoring in menus and extras screws up the equation though. 2 hour movie plus 40 minutes of extras plus 5 minutes of menus doesn't look good either way, even though the total is 2¾ hours (which would lead one to believe CCE would be significantly better). Maybe it's because most extras are full screen, full framerate, and interlaced.

[mbbransc]

It really is going to be a personal choice. I LOVE DVDshrink. I just backed up my Pirates of the Caribbean DVD (2.5 hour movie) and the compression rate in DVDshrink was somewhere in the neighborhood of 65%. That's by far the lowest I've had to go and was really questioning if I should just put it on two DVDs. So, I gave it a wirl and was quite surprised with the results. So now I have a new threshold I will go to. Before, I wouldn't drop below 75%. Remember that you can also drop extras, menus, and cut credits if you just want the movie. There are tons of software combos to try, and everyone's opinion is going to be different. Pretty much just have to see what will work for you.

One recommendation I will give you though... get a DVDRW to sample with instead of trying a bunch of things that don't work with DVDR.

[bigjohn]

How do you do those things (drop the extras, credits, etc) with DVDshrink?

[oddwunn]

Just hit the "reauthor" button and a new Shrink window will open. Drag the titles you want to keep from the old window into the new one, but keep in mind that you are recreating the disc format from scratch. You can only drag in "titles" and can not get menus to work just by dragging them in. I suggest that if you are going to go this route, then just drag in the main movie only. In this way you will have a fully functional backup that will begin right at the studio logo and will not contain anything else but the movie itself, giving you the highest possible quality (the least amount of compression) for your backup.

[ddlooping]

Hello and happy new year to you all. :)

bigjohn, for DVD Shrink user-friendly guides:
http://www.dvdshrink.info/guides.php ;)

[bigjohn]

Ok. So, now, most 1+ year old DVD player...are they gonna play +rw or -rw disks?

John

[Kedirekin]

I think "most" is a safe statement, keeping in mind that "most" means 51% or more (so it isn't saying much).

If you have questions on specific players, check the player compatibility list at www.dvdrhelp.com. As always, I'll advise you (and everyone) to take the compatibility list with a grain of salt. The list is based on general public input, and not everyone in the general public knows what they're talking about.

[bit-wise]

@bigjohn

The best way to tell is to try. I test on several DVD players with some startling results

Denon DVD-600. Two years old Manual explicitly states that it will not play any recordable media. I have had no problem playing -R and -RW disks. However, sometimes the last 30 seconds of video and audio break up if I fill the disk completely.

Pioneer combo DVD and Laser Disk (remember those?) player 4 years old. Plays all -R media fine. Recordable media not mentioned in the manual because I don't know if they even existed at the time.

Memorex. Cheap progressive player that is less than a year old. Sears gave them out free. No problem with any media. DVDs which had failure in the last 30 seconds on the Denon play fine on this player.

NAD T-562. Reference DVD 3:2 pulldown DVD player. Manual (and manufacturer) state player will play recordable CDs, but not recordable DVDs. Works fine on all media types, plays DVDs burned to the edge with no issues.

So, what the manual says is not the truth. If you have not bought the player, go to a store that has one you want and pop in a recorded DVD to see if it works.

Additionally, the brand of media coupled with the burner also introduces compatibility issues. Some disks authored by some of the burners out there will not play in some stand-alone DVD players, and the same with some media. (This is not an endorsement) I personally use a Pioneer A06 burner with Memorex 2x -R media and have had no compatibility issues.

bit-wise

[bigjohn]

Thanks

My Audiovox stand alone player wont' play +rw media, so I will have to test -rw. My apex player won't play the +rw either.

John

[StrawMan]

Originally posted by oddwunn
Just hit the "reauthor" button and a new Shrink window will open. Drag the titles you want to keep from the old window into the new one, but keep in mind that you are recreating the disc format from scratch. You can only drag in "titles" and can not get menus to work just by dragging them in. I suggest that if you are going to go this route, then just drag in the main movie only. In this way you will have a fully functional backup that will begin right at the studio logo and will not contain anything else but the movie itself, giving you the highest possible quality (the least amount of compression) for your backup.

As long as you are re-authoring, go ahead and delete the "studio logo" too by selecting start and end frames in DVDShrink. Less ads = more space = good eats.

[oddwunn]

As long as you are re-authoring, go ahead and delete the "studio logo" too by selecting start and end frames in DVDShrink. Less ads = more space = good eats.

Yup, and you can also edit out the end credits. I generally leave the studio logo alone, as often there is audio material from the movie tied in with the logo, so the editing out the logo will leave you with a movie which does not start gracefully - same with the end credits. It's just a matter of personal preference.

[ddlooping]

You can also apply "Still Pictures" to the end-credits, so as not to end the movie abruptly (the soundtrack often carries the mood of the movie too). ;)

http://www.dvdshrink.info/mixed-compressions.php