DVD COPYING
GUIDES -> Copy a DVD9 using DVDShrink
This
guide steps through several methods of backing up both DVD
movies and episode discs. Episode discs are typically
described as the discs in tv show box sets. Movie discs
contain a single movie, maybe some extras. This method is
only needed on DVD9 discs. This guide requires the freeware
tool DVD
Shrink (and DVD
Decrypter is optional). It uses the FULL DISC method
that retains all the menus.
In order to use the built-in burning engine, Nero or DVD
Decrypter must also be installed. Otherwise you will have to
save the shrunk folders to the hard drive, or as an ISO, and
burn them later on with other tools. That is not covered in
this guide since most people have Nero or DVD Decrypter.
The THIRD step of this process has
two variations:
- The first is the "MOVIE" variation, whereas the
whole disc is shrunk onto one disc.
- The second variation is the "EPISODES" method,
where half of the disc is compressed 100% and the remaining
disc is compressed 0% ... this method requires TWO DISCS.
This is only suggested when the MOVIE method harms the
video.
DVD Shrink is only suggested for source that has medium or
low bitrates, normally found on discs with extraordinarily
long movies or with many episodes. For high-bitrate source,
which are most 90 to 120-minute movies, DVD2ONE may return
both better quality and better speeds. This process retains
all menus and should be a perfect copy of the original disc.
STEP 1:
Rip the DVD with DVD Decrypter
(optional)
This
step is optional! You can directly open a disc with DVD
Shrink, if desired.
So why use Decrypter to rip? DVD
Shrink takes longer and is is known to choke on many discs
(causing you to restart the project), which is a waste of
time. This guide was made with the final release of DVD Decrypter
v3.5.4.0, and older versions may differ slightly.
Settings. Install DVD Decrypter and make sure the
settings are correct. It needs to be ripped in FILE mode,
with mastering errors corrected, CSS removed, region
restrictions removed, remove PUO restrictions and read
errors retried. See images:
TOOLS -> SETTINGS to enter the
settings menu
Other settings. Set the read error retries to 10
each. Everything else can be left to
defaults.
If you have read errors when trying to copy the disc
to your hard drive, consider lowering the read speed to 4x, 2x
or even 1x. Maybe try another DVD-ROM or DVD burner. Ignoring
read errors is usually not suggested, but can be done if
retries fail.
Once the program is setup, select all the files in
the main screen. If the SETTINGS are done according to the
images above, all files should be selected by default when a
disc loads.
Decrypt. Select a DESTINATION for your files
(remember where this is), and the click on the DECRYPT
button (which is the DVD with an arrow pointing to the hard
drive). Depending on the speed of your drive, and hoping the
disc is clean and free of errors, a rip can take anywhere
from 10 to 30 minutes on average.
STEP
2:
Start DVD Shrink
This guide uses the final release of DVD Shrink v3.2. Older
versions will be missing most of the features discussed here.
Open DVD Shrink. Start the program. Either click OPEN DISC to open files
directly off the disc, or OPEN FILES if you used DVD
Decrypter (then open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file located in the
folder where you ripped the disc). It will then begin to
analyze the video stream. Disable the preview to make the
process go more quickly.
Review the settings. It will then load the DVD
information, broken down by video, audio and subtitles. By
default, the compression is automatically done during the
initial analysis. You can also preview the video in the
lower left window, if you are unsure what a menu, movie or
extra looks like. This is handy when deciding to remove
unwanted content.
Remove unwanted audio. At this time, go ahead and
deselect any undesired audio or subtitles. Since subtitles
usually do not take up much room, I tend to leave them.
BEWARE!
Do not remove audio unless you know what you are taking
out.
If this is a MOVIE, continue to STEP 3-A.
If this is an EPISODE DISC, continue to STEP 3-B.
STEP
3-A (MOVIES): Select the compression
Alter settings. Under
the VIDEO information, the compression percentage is shown
for each title. In the example shown, the French and Spanish
audio will be removed. Subtitles take up almost no room, so
I just leave them alone. The compression ratio is
automatically set.
If you want to remove "extras" from the disc,
please refer to the techniques used in the EPISODES
compression method.
Next. Skip to STEP 4, to backup and burn.
STEP
3-B (EPISODES): Select the compression
Find the "Main Movies" section. In this
area it lists all the "Titles" on the disc. In
this example, each title is an episode. While the MAIN MOVIE
is selected (outlined in BLUE),
the information on the right side (the COMPRESSION data) is
a representation of the whole disc. When "TITLE 1"
or another TITLE is clicked on (outlined in RED),
the STREAM data shown on the right represents ONLY that one
title. Notice how the file size information changes when
selecting the full "MAIN MOVIE" versus just
selecting the title.
Decompress desired movies. In this example, the first
3 episodes of the 6-episode disc will be kept at 100%
original quality and "No Compression" will happen.
The episodes are not altered in any way. However, be sure to
remember to disable any undesired audio. This can be done to
extras too. Select the first three TITLES one by one, and
change them to NO COMPRESSION. You may also want to change
the menus to NO COMPRESSION.
Compress unwanted episodes to still images. Now select
the inverse of the previous process. Shrink the episode to
still pictures. This will shrink the episode down to almost
nothing. You can either use a template image provided by the
software, or insert your own. A size of 800x600 or 720x540
is suggested, in order to retain proper 4:3 aspect ratio
when viewed on tv.
Still too big? Compress. Only compress if the status
bar shows warnings that the disc is still too big. Some
discs may still need a 80-90% compression on the episodes
that are kept, even when split in half. However, this is
unlikely, and dropping unwanted audio normally fixes this
problem.
STEP
4: Backup and burn
Click the big BACKUP! button. If it asks what
region you are currently in, be sure to specify it (USA=R1,
Europe=R2, etc). It will launch a new window with several
tabs.
Target device. This first window gives you
the option of where to save or burn the shrunk/split DVD
files. In this example, Nero is installed on the computer,
and the files will be burned to a DVD-R. Be sure to pick a
temporary spot where you want the files stores. And be sure
to delete them later on, DVD Shrink does not automatically
delete them for you.
DVD Region. Make it region free here. Provider ID is
not important, feel free to leave it blank.
Quality Settings. Deep analysis is always suggested when
material is being shrunk. If the material is being shrunk by
more than about 80% or the source bit-rates were low, the
SMOOTH AEC setting is suggested, although it will about
about an hour to your transcode time (use MAXIMUM SMOOTH if
you let your machine shrink overnight while you sleep; it adds
about 2-3 hours to the transcode time). If discs are being split,
and no compression is taking place, DO NOT select either
deep analysis nor AEC settings, and uncheck them both.
Options. Low priority slows it down, the shutdown
features may not work on all computers, and the play sound
features is probably annoying to most people. Remember these
things when selecting any of these options.
Burn settings. Label the disc and select the DVD burn
speed. Click OK when everything is finished, and let DVD
Shrink shrink and/or split the disc, then burn it.
Done. Leave the computer alone while it analyzes and
transcodes, do not try to play games or work on the computer.
This first status bar is ONLY for the analysis. When that is
done, the actual shrinking (transcoding or
"encoding") phase will start, and a new status bar
will appear. After it is complete, the disc will burn, with
yet another status bar.
Page Last Updated: January 17th 2006
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