which LOOKS better: one click, big3 and scenarist or a big divx file?

[sunchaser]

hey guys,
i'm trying to make a decision on dvd backup procedure. i'm going to be hooking a projector up to my computer.
so i guess i could watch movies straight off my hard drive, but i'd like to have an actual disk for back up.

backing up dvd's to dvd-r has proved to be problematic for me so far. i've been trying to use the big3 with scenarist guide and havn't succeded yet. i'm curious about making divx movies. I love mpeg4. but i havn't tried the one click dvd9 back up solutions.

any opinions on which would look better: a dvd9 disk compressed to fit on dvdr or a dvd9 disk encoded with divx and saved on a dvd9?

and how much worse does a one click backup actually look? i have prety sensitive eyes, watch a lot of movies and don't want a big loss in quality.


little side question -> when i've watched dvd's on my computer before there's this nasty zigzag line that wipes across the screen in between some shots. anybody ever get that? know what it is?

thank for your time and information!

sunchaser

[Dimmer]

This kind of questions can only start a flamewar. The answer is in the forum rule #12: whatever you prefer personally is the best for you. Since you're going to store the movies on HDD, you don't need to compress them at all hence keeping the original quality.

If you want to back up on a disc not for viewing but for emergencies such as HDD failure, simply rip in File mode and copy the files onto two DVDR in Data mode. They won't play as DVD-Video, but you will be able to restore the untouched original on HDD if required.

[sunchaser]

thanks dimmer,
i understand rule 12, but i don't want peoples feelings or opinions

maybe i should restate the question:
on a megabite per megabite level, which compression will stay truest to the original?

how about that.


and, as for storing them on the computer - i can't keep that many 9 gig movies on my computer- i would only keep them on the hard drive if i went with divx. and even with movies that small, wouldn't they look better if i compressed them to 4 gigs and put them on a dvd?

the reason i'd like to burn them to disk is so i could play them on stand alone players, with out having to put them back onto my computer- reencode them and make a new dvd. might as well do that upfront right.

what do you say about the megabite comparison?

[Lagoon]

MPEG-4 certainly has best compression than MPEG-2.

I'd say a Q2 XVID encode with a good matrix will look better than both transcoding and reencoding MPEG-2, of course you need to encode them @ 720x480(576) anamorphic, which I'm not sure standalone players accept.

For full standalone compatibility and best possible quality, reencoding MPEG-2 is the best choice, not transcoding via one-click apps.

[MysticE]

If it's just movies you want (no extras) DVDRebuilder with CCE would make the most sense. You will have to strip out the original. You could use Shrink, re-authoring movie only and no compression first. The end result should be quite nice.

[ddlooping]

Hi all. :)

sunchaser, I would first suggest you do movie-only backups whenever re-encoding/transcoding is required.
In most cases, this will bring down the neccessary "compression" to less than 20%, enabling you to use a transcoder with good results.
In some cases no compression will then be required.

My recommendation:
- DVD Shrink when 20% - or less - compression is needed (the whole backup process should take you an hour or less).
- CCE-based re-encoding (with DVD Rebuilder, DVD2DVD-R,...) when more compression is required (this process takes several hours).

Another option is to split the DVD to two DVD-Rs.

[Imperial Zeppelin]

If you're also WATCHING the movies on your 21" computer monitor and not on a large, widescreen TV, you won't really see much difference between one clicks and the Big 3 route no matter how much compression

My rule of thumb is for movies that I'm only compressing 20%, one click provides a visually acceptable product on my 51" WS TV. Anything more than that and I break out the Big 3. My Return of the King Big 3 backup is visually indistingushable from the original.

My $0.02...

Zep

[darkangle73]

hi sunchaser welcome to the forums. :)
the decision of whitch backup program to use is yours alone.

But I think you should start with trying to get the big 3 to work for you, if you have the time. but if you are like me and work fultime and have children, I would sugest you give the 1 click solution (dvd shrink) a try. It has worked wonders for me as I could not get the big 3 to work for me either.:p I gave up on trying it when I found dvd shrink and that's when I made my first backup an hour and a half later. I have about 300+ backups now and I reciently bought a sony hd 40" tube flat screen and I have a sony 5 disc progressive scan dvd player and I must say my backups using the latest version of dvd shrink is good for my eyes, not that I could see that mutch of a difrents betwen the backup and the original but if I wanted to see the best possible pic then I pull out my original. but I still watch the backup 99% of the time.
good luck in whatever you decide to do!

ps let me know if you ever get the big 3 to work for you.