[?] So what is your 1 click of choice

[fozzieb]

well i have given dvd shrink the boot, every 3rd or 4th film i do is messed up near the end. So I am looking for an alternative, what do you recomend?

Cheers

[windtrader]

What is the problem you get with DVDShrink? It does work very well, there is probably something else going wrong.

[fozzieb]

various problems, picture goes all blocky for a bit, some films lost the last five minutes and jump back to the start, in gothika it stalled for almost 2 minutes before getting on with the film. i have tried CloneDVD 2 and it works fine on the 12 films i tried but i'm not sure of the quality.

[windtrader]

How much compression are you applying?

Are you doing a full backup or using the reauthor function?

If reauthoring, what and how are you selecting?

The pixelation problems could related to compression artifacts.

The stalling may be related to the IFO navigation getting created improperly.

Quality of the one-clicks is basically the same if the compression is 10-15% or less. 15%-30% - DVDShrink using the deep analysis is good. After 30% or more all the one-clicks suffer quality problems and one needs to re encode the movie to get better results.

[TheSeeker]

The only time I have ever had issues with dvd shrink was with Aliens from the Alien quadrilogy. It is a seamless branching title and no matter what I did, it never came out good. THere were freezes and stops in it. So I ran it through InstantCopy 8 and it worked out. I wouldnt give Shrink the boot. It is MY transcoder of choice in 99 percent of all I do. For anything that doesnt work in SHrink just use IC8 and oversize it a bit. Nero recode isnt too bad either. But I agree with you that CloneDVD2 isnt that great of quality at all.

[dannyv]

Originally posted by fozzieb

every 3rd or 4th film i do is messed up near the end

various problems, picture goes all blocky for a bit, some films lost the last five minutes and jump back to the start, in gothika it stalled for almost 2 minutes before getting on with the film. i have tried CloneDVD 2 and it works fine on the 12 films i tried but i'm not sure of the quality.

That is a classic symptom of cheap or bad media. This type of media almost always gives these symptoms because the coating is eather not completely to the edge of the disk, Uneven at the edge of the disk or to thin at the edge of the disk. You may want to try a better grade of media before giving up all hope on shrink. Ritek G04's work perfectly with shrink and there not that expensive.

[blutach]

Strongly agree with Danny re Riteks. Have only burned 1 coaster in DVD Shrink in 150+ backups with this media and that was a Nero problem, not Shrink. Also, because of their quality, you can stretch the size to the "full" 4480MB (DVD+R), instead of Shrink's recommended 4464MB.

As to Gothica, it was a well known difficulty, which has been solved by ripping to the hard drive with DVD Decrypter (v 3.5.1.0) first (I do ALL my backups this way and hardly ever encounter a problem).

Shrink's new AEC technology has proven itself in the quality stakes, too (I am viewing on a 3m wide by 1.7m high screen, so any artifacts would be painfully obvious - happily, the backups are indistinguishable from the originals).

Combine DVD Shrink with DVD Decrypter, PgcEdit and VobBlanker and you have the complete set of free tools required for high quality backups with confidence.

[jhmac]

I use DVD-RB, shrink just can't match the quality of DVD-RB...

[fozzieb]

I will check out the media thing,

Some discs are Datawrite Red 8x, I also used Bulkpaq Orange 8x

anyone know if they ar ok?

thanks for the advice

[vaylon]

I only use shrink for my movies and have never had a problem. 600+ and still going strong.
But I have had the same effects as you were talking about, but it was always media related.

As for the media?
Riteks are among the best, but it all depends on where you get them.
I have had bad luck with g04 disc from supermediastore.
It also depends on your burner.

My pio-108 burns almost anything I can through at it.
My pio-106 burns almost anything except for neweegg disc.
my plextor708- only burns g04 disc, everything else comes out choppy.
My sony has a mind of its own.

Also.

Speed can also come into play.
Go down to 4x and see if you have the same prob.
Many disc will burn at 8x but they don't burn well.
Also check the copy of the film you use to burn the disc, the one on your hard drive. See if it has errors. If it doesn't its your media.

[MackemX]

Originally posted by fozzieb
various problems, picture goes all blocky for a bit, some films lost the last five minutes and jump back to the start, in gothika it stalled for almost 2 minutes before getting on with the film. i have tried CloneDVD 2 and it works fine on the 12 films i tried but i'm not sure of the quality.

were any of those 12 films ones you tried with DVDShrink?

[Richk50]

"My pio-108 burns almost anything I can through at it."

My pio 105 burns any dvd-r without a problem.
My pio 108 burns anything. Never get a bad burn. I always burn the cheapest media available.
Pioneer makes a great drive, I would never buy anything else.

[fozzieb]

all my film were done with shrink, only tried others once to test.

it's a sony burner i have, i will try just burning at 4x rather than 8x

thanks for all the help people :)

[candsh]

I have used Shrink since it first came available and normally do "movie only" reauthored backups. The only problems I have had at all is during playback if I skip ahead to another chapter it will sometimes freeze. As long as you put the disk in and let it play......plays perfect. Using a Pioneer DV - C36 Elite progressive scan player and burning with a Pioneer A06 (Ao8 on the way) and wouldn't use anything but Ritek disks. Never a coaster. Used to burn with Nero but currently using RecordNow Max (just for a change) but may have to go back to Nero when the A08 gets here in order to use the higher speed disks and double layer capabilities. Been using DVD Rebuilder lately, longer encoding times but amazing results. One click CCE encoding program that basically put your files to be processed in and come back in 2-1/2 hours and burn

[dragongodz]

a freind has a burner K somthing or other brand, its actually a lite-on internally. he only has 100% reliable video burns to -r at a max of x2. anything higher and some wont play right(stutters etc).

relevance ? sony burners are now actually made by lite-on. make of that what you will. :)

anyway i dont know why people are always wanting to burn at the top speed. with my pioneer 106d i always burn at a max of x2 with dvddecrypter(iso output from dvdshrink or iso made with imagetool from authored files) and absolutly no problems.

EDIT - i have mentioned it once before but will do so again. on another freinds panasonic dvd player dvds burnt with nero would depend on the brnad of media. that is brand A worked perfect while brand B would either not load or if it did it would stutter badly. the same isos burnt to the same media with dvddecrypter worked perfectly however.

[candsh]

I haven't had any problems burning with my Pioneer A06 at 4X as long as the disk is rated 4X. When I had a problem I was using an A05 flashed to write 2X at 4x. As I said before initial playback was good and then problems started showing up the next time I watched the movie. Ordered the Pioneer A08 (16X) burner and some 8x Riteks to cover for the future in case 4X disks get hard to find, but will try to burn the disks at the rated speed until I get a problem. On the other hand, I will not use the cheap disks or if forced to, would always do as you do and burn them at a lower speed than the rating.

I also had a panasonic DVD player (expensive 5 disk changer model) and wouldn't play much of anything. Some vcd's, no svcd's and wouldn't play rental dvd's that weren't in perfect shape. Finally got sick of fooling with it and gave it away and bought a Pioneer player. I think you could put in a coffe can lid and it would read it and tell you the make of the coffee and the price you paid for it.

I think the biggest problem we all have is trying to ask our equipment to do things it wasn't designed to do and do it as cheap as possible. There is nothing wrong with being economical, just stay within he design limits,

Another biggie is stop using labels. I got an Epson R200 printer and I couldn't be happier. Sure it is a little tempramental but I have to be careful now what disk I put back in the original folder.

PS: I will agree with you that DVD Decrypter is an excellent burner for ISO's. Can't remember a single problem with any disk I have burned with this program.

[Richk50]

"anyway i dont know why people are always wanting to burn at the top speed. with my pioneer 106d i always burn at a max of x2 with dvddecrypter(iso output from dvdshrink or iso made with imagetool from authored files) and absolutly no problems."


If you have no problems at 2x, you should not have problems at 4x.
I buy cheap media off the net all the time, if the compatibility chart indicates pio's are compatible, I can't see why you would have a problem.

[dragongodz]

On the other hand, I will not use the cheap disks or if forced to, would always do as you do and burn them at a lower speed than the rating.
i use tdk dvdr's so not cheapo media. :)

If you have no problems at 2x, you should not have problems at 4x.
well with the pioneer 106d and playing on my digitrex(Aus version of apex digital) i doubt i would have a problem either. then again its not always true with all burner and/or all players and/or using different burning software. in some cases it better to play on the safe side IMHO, especially if anything funny does start to happen(which is what started this thread). thats what i was trying to point out. :)

[Holomatrix]

fozzieb, I totally agree with the suggestions regarding the burning speed at which you burn your movies at. I have a Pioneer DVD player and need to burn my Movies no faster than 2X anything faster and I run the risk of digital display/audio problems on playback. I've had luck with alot of different types of media but as long as I stick with the 2X burn speed max, try it out :) I myself use only DVDshrink.

[vaylon]

A few days ago I built a system for a customer.
Its main purpose was to do burn movies.

The only must have he wanted was a sony dvdr drive.
He is a big sony fanatic.

while testing it I found something odd.

It burned 2 movies just fine (aotc, and lotr)
the third was Aotc again but this one had errors. It still burnt and played but it had artifacts and the last part of the disc seemed to freeze.
Then I checked the quality of the first 2 burns against the original.
Quality was ok but the colors were off just a bit.

So I tweaked a bit, no help.

Pulled the sony out and replaced it with a pioneer.

Burns all came out perfect.
colors were crisp and more to the original.
and no errors.

and all I used was shrink.


My conclusion.
Since sony is one of the biggest backers of all these crazy copyright laws, you think they may have intentionally done something to make video burning messy?

In the forums many people with sony's seem to have more minor probs than others. Specialy quality issues.
Just a thought.

The guy still wanted the sony.

[dragongodz]

sony no longer make dvdr burners. lite-on make them for them. so if someone says they want a sony you may aswell tell them to buy a lite-on and save money.... or a pioneer...and still save maoney(just not as much as buying the lite-on). :D

[valnar]

I've found Pioneer burners with quality DVD-R media is the best combination of compatibility and reliability. Now, Pioneer DVD+-R burners aren't the best for CDR's, but that is what Lite-On and Plextor are for.

If you have to buy *one* DVDRW/CDRW drive, then Lite-On is the best compromise, especially since they do good on CD copy protection too.

-Robert

[snek_one]

i am using a nec 2510a flashed to 2500 with a hacked firmware and haven't had any problems so far, closing in on the 100 backups.. all done with dvd-shrink..

yes that's right i flashed a 2510a to a 2500 and it has riplock & region patch removed.. it's now faster than ever hehehe..

two other friends have the same setup..

it also does depend on your pc though.. a slow (1Ghz) machine which is under heavy load can easily create coasters.. even if the media is good. we've experienced this first hand, burning with the same program from the same iso file..

no problems with all the 3Ghz+ machines we all have though...

[m1ckran]

I use DvdShrink exhaustively and I think it's one of the best programs I have ever used.
Earlier versions of the program could cause problems when using very high compression levels, including blocking, jumping and the occasional freeze. I find that these problems simply do not occur in the latest version.
I've even compressed both discs of Return of the King EE onto a DVD5 with good results. Ok, I had to cut the end credits and select only the stereo soundstream but, given that you'd expect poor reproduction with such a ridiculously high compression rate, I think DvdShrink produced a remarkably good quality backup.
I reckon that most people's problems are caused either by cheap, low-quality discs or by trying to write the disc at too high a speed.
ROTK EE took about five hours to transcode in DvdShrink, and about 24 minutes to write to DVD+RW using DvdDecrypter at 2.4x. I use Maxell DVD-R and DVD+RW discs because they are available at a reasonable price at my local supermarket. DvdDecrypter reports the -R as made by Ritek and the +RW as made by Philips.
If it were not for programs like DvdShrink and DvdDecrypter I don't think I would have even considered backing up my DVDs in the first place.

[windtrader]

ROTK EE took about five hours to transcode in DvdShrink, FYI - I'm not sure what your CPU is but I can do a typical movie only shrink using DVD2SVD with CCE in about three hours or less. I'm using a 1.8Ghz Athlon.
There is no better method for achieving the highest quality.

[m1ckran]

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I'm using an Athlon800. Using DvdShrink reauthor, I created a DVD5 from both parts of the main feature of ROTK SEE. Even after cutting out the end credits and selecting stereo audio only, it was still a huge project requiring around 50% compression. It's not the sort of thing I usually do; more of a test of DvdShrink's abilities.
I will probably use VobEdit to combine the uncompressed vobs into a single title, recreate the IFO's with IfoEdit and write it out to a DL disc with 5.1 audio. I've done this already with the first two LOTR SEE's with excellent results.
Point is, DvdShrink did really well with an infeasibly high compression rate, on a slow computer. Full marks to DvdShrink

[blutach]

When your compression is that high, given the price of DVD5 disks is way less than that of a hamburger, on a long movie, you may consider going to 2 disks.

Huge save on time and increase on quality.

IfoEdit is the solution here - it is almost a 1 click in DVD9 - 2x DVD5.

Regards

[m1ckran]

Hello blutach. Fancy meeting you here. Are you following me?

Thanks for the advice regarding the two-disc alternative. The thing is, I prefer to have a single film on a single disc. Switching discs spoils the drama of a good story. That's why I combine the two parts of the LOTR SEE's onto a single DVD.

DvdShrink lets me compile a DVD containing two titles but I want a single title to permit easy chapter navigation. I learned how to do this with VobEdit and IfoEdit using uncompressed vobs. Since there are no dual-layer rewriteables around, I test my work on a DVD+RW. If all is well, I write the completed project to DL.

Even on a dual-layer disc, some compression is required but it is minimal and produces perfectly acceptable results.

I have to admit to being a little pleased with myself because I only have ten month's experience of DVD backup. But I would have made no progress whatsoever if I hadn't been able to rely on people like your good self who offer mountains of good, free advice. Your guides are brilliant.

[blutach]

I trust the "your guides" refer to the collective here. I have only published 2 guides.

2COOL is da man. Speaking of whom, he has published a guide, for chapter navigating between titles of a DVD using PgcEdit. I can tell you, it works 100%.

[m1ckran]

I've read lots of 2COOL's stuff, much of which has improved my understanding of the DVD even though I have not directly used his methods.
Of the guide you mention, rewriting the vobs with VobEdit creates a single title with consecutive chapter numbering, so there's no need to edit it further. I wouldn't presume to criticise other methods but, somehow, the VobEdit method seems cleaner and more elegant than patching two separate titles.
Sorry, I'm beginning to talk like a programmer again but, just as in computer programming, there are so many alternative ways of arriving at the same objective.
Does this discussion still qualify as a one-click solution or are we guilty of meandering?

[blutach]

guilty. will stay OnT now.

[dannyv]

Originally posted by m1ckran

I will probably use VobEdit to combine the uncompressed vobs into a single title, recreate the IFO's with IfoEdit and write it out to a DL disc with 5.1 audio. I've done this already with the first two LOTR SEE's with excellent results.


I would think you may want to just buy the original LOR DVD's. At $15 a pop for DL media and the time invested in the project it would cost you more to back it up then to just go out and buy an original replacement copy.

[m1ckran]

An interesting point. If I were to buy another LOTR SEE (around £20 each) I would have a ready-made backup. The point is, I like to have movie-only backups with no disc-change breaks so such a backup would not be exactly what I want.

Admittedly, I would be more than a little reluctant to spend $15 (about £8?) on a blank DL, but I only pay, £3.60 for a Traxdata DL so it's not such a bad idea.

[dannyv]

Originally posted by m1ckran
Admittedly, I would be more than a little reluctant to spend $15 (about £8?) on a blank DL, but I only pay, £3.60 for a Traxdata DL so it's not such a bad idea.

When DL media comes down to the DVD-R range its going to be a great day for one and all. I would guess its going to be a year from now before you see DL come down to the dvd-r range.

[m1ckran]

I agree. Which is why I use them sparingly at the moment. I would like to see DL RW's but I don't expect they will ever appear.

[jwo62]

Originally posted by m1ckran
I agree. Which is why I use them sparingly at the moment. I would like to see DL RW's but I don't expect they will ever appear.

they said that about dual layer in general.

as far as one click backup of choice,i have used dvdshrink,IC,dvd2one,and dvd95copy. by far the best I have used is dvd95copy. a free trial version is available. the full version is well worth the price. but if you dont want to spend any money,dvdshrink is great also.

[aftertaste]

Alot of good points. Let me sum it up..

1. Buy Pioneer only
2. Buy Ritek only
3. Have a fast enough computer and enough ram to handle tasks at hand
4. Weigh compression % verses a final product you will be satisfied with and decide if you should re-encode rather then transcode
5. Make sure your os system isn't in need of a fresh start(very underlooked solution to a lot of potential problems)
6. Repeat step 4
7. When you run out of blank dvds repeat step 2
8. DEFRAG, DEFRAG, DEFRAG (once again an underlooked solution sometimes)


Personaly the only time i ever use 1-click is when i need subtitles to be able to understand cetrain conversations within the movie. Basically, subtitles not within the video stream that are needed. Another example of times i use 1-click would be made for tv movies/tv shows released on dvd. I won't get into to many details with that. It's just not worth my time to mess with certain video streams so i give in and use DVD-Shrink.

For 90%+ i use AviSynth into CCE and Scenarist to author. You won't find an authoring program more compatible with stand alone dvd players then Scenarist.

I wrote a very nice beginers guide to movie only dvd-r. Just haven't had a chance to make it available online yet.

I've been reading alot about new ways of making dvd backups but nothing i have tried has achieved quality even close to the way i've been doing it for the last 2 yrs. After having said that repeat step 4. :)

[dragongodz]

actually i would say

1. buying pioneer is preferable.
2. buy good quality media(Ritek, TDK,Verbatim etc)

:D

[aftertaste]

Well as for dvd rw drives yes pioneer only.. as for putting ritek in the same cart as tdk, verbatim, or any other high end dvd's i would have to say not quite that good but best of the cheap.. i have been buying ritek's for 2 1/2 yrs and lets just say the plastic coating has improved over the last yr.. but compaired to some of the other cheaper brands they are the best.. remember 99% of the time you get what you pay for..