Quote:
earlier today i went to google and typed in a question i always wanted answered...what encoder does dvd shrink use?...i had a time finding any answer but i found one, and it was 5 or 6 yrs old and it was in here answered by you....you posted a link and a brief explanation of what dvd shrink does to a dvd to make it smaller but the link you posted is dead...i wondered if u have another link that explains the process or you could tell me what it does
thanx
moontrash
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I asked what the link was, to jog my memory. It was 5-6 years ago, after all.
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Originally Posted by Moontrash
here's the old videohelp thread with the question and your answer http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/2...ompress-movies
what about other apps liek dvdfab/dvd2one/ anydvd...do these do the same thing as shrink or do they actually have their own encoder?
i've done 3 or 4 comparison tests over the years and i've wanted to know this question forever but just never thought to ask
thanx
moontrash
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I'm going to back up a bit here, and address this quote: "what encoder does dvd shrink use?"
DVD Shrink doesn't use an encoder. Again, just to be clear: DVD Shrink
DOES NOT USE AN ENCODER.
DVD Shrink uses a transcode method to essentially simplify and re-write the math equations that are used to encode the video. The side effect of this mathematical manipulation is that it can be used to "shrink" the file size of the video data. Now, I'm a journalist and media specialist, not a math whiz, so the
exact process of how this works is best left to others. For example, the link you refer to is a white paper written by Susan Wee of HP Labs some 13 years ago, and discusses the fundamental process of MPEG-2 transcoding. That's the link you were looking for, and the inevitable redo of HP's site seems to have displaced those papers. I've re-archived them here for you:
How Transcoding MPEG Video (DVD Shrinking) Works. (URL=
http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/show...ideo-2177.html)
DVD Shrink is not using another encoder, it was it's own application. The creator of DVD Shrink was rumored to have been hired by Ahead Software (owners of Nero), to create one of the first versions of Nero Recode. It's been suggested in several forums recently that mrbass was DVD Shrink's creator, but I don't think that's the case, that sounds like web-myth retconning.
DVD Shrink also had the (poorly-implemented) ability to DeCSS and remove copy protection from DVDs, but skilled users knew better. The encryption removing feature seemed like an afterthought feature, and the program was best used for the sole task of "shrinking". Even when it was new software, with regular updates, it had trouble ripping DVDs.
Because transcoding is an abusive process, you should
NEVER USE IT ON HOMEMADE DVDs!! The ability to transcode is limited by the bit rate allocation of the source, and works best on commercial/retail sources that have excess bitrate. Or used on DVDs that have enough bitrate that the added compression of a transcode does not overly harm and degrade the DVD image quality. Homemade DVDs generally have poor quality consumer sources (DV cameras, TV recordings, etc), and cannot be shrunk without major quality loss. By "quality loss", I refer to visible macroblocking and other DVD MPEG artifacts.
Transcoding is a very lossy method, as compared to a full decode/re-encode by a true MPEG encoder.
Now to address the software you mentioned...
DVD2One has it's own proprietary transcoding method, as I'm sure
DVD Fab does. DVD Shrink routinely whipped the quality of DVD2One, although some of the most recent versions now use higher-quality methods similar to DVD Shrink. It gets maybe one update per year for about 5 years now, as the tool reached full maturity ages ago.
Honestly, I've not looked into transcoding research heavily for several years now, because the technology had pretty much peaked years ago.
- DVD Shrink was a top-quality DVD transcoder, and
- DVD Rebuilder was a top-quality DVD re-encoder. DVD Rebuilder used an external full encoder, such as the freeware MPEG encoders QuEnc or HCEnc, or a commercial encoder like Procoder or CinemaCraft Encoder (CCE).
Although
DVDFab has premium versions that can transcode, that program became popular as a post-
DVD Decrypter era free DVD ripper.
AnyDVD is purely an encryption disabler. It doesn't rip, transcode or encode, but rather enables other programs to do those tasks.
AnyDVD is a filter between the disc and other video editor software.
There are many retail DVDs that simply cannot be shrunk without looking like garbage. These are usually TV show box sets, including Married With Children, the Pokemon shows, Garfield & Friends, some of the Stargate SG-1 seasons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 80s cartoons, and Thundercats ... just to name a few. For creating a backup for those, you're best to either
buy another copy or use a
Verbatim DVD+R DL blank.
Something more to consider...
I've never been big on copying DVDs. While it is a fragile format, I reserve copying for rare discs that are hard to replace, be it due to obscurity (example: limited-run foreign releases), out of print status (OOP), etc. Mass-produced movie DVDs like The Matrix or Ghostbusters are easy to replace, but that seems to be what so many people backup.
I don't approve of "backing up" Netflix or Blockbuster, that's just a waste of time. If you want to watch it another time, rent it again. Or just buy it. Sales of DVDs, after all, is what tells a studio that consumers like something, and encourages
- more releases of their older back catalogs of yet-unreleased videos,
- creation of more direct-to-DVD releases, such as the many Marvel and DC Comics animated movies from the past 3-4 years.
I just thought this needed to be mentioned.
I've never liked the fact that some of my advice may be used by people who want to amass giant DVD collections with a Netflix subscription and a pack of cheap blank DVDs.
Hope this has helped you. And thanks for bringing that dead link to my attention.
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