A question in general - do you use dvd-rebuilder all the time to rip dvds or do you use it only when the compression rates are below 60-70%? For example if you put a dvd in shrink and that doesn't need compressing, then are you still compromising the quality of the video?
personally I use dvdrebuilder exclusively, for dvd back-ups but it does not rip it's mainly a compression tool. if the movie needs no compression it needs no rebuilder unless It's of questionable quality then I use "force re-encode" for use w/ filters.
Of course RB will do better than Shrink because the video is actually re-encoded from scratch. Shrink, or DVDClone2 are compressed domain transcoders which are faster but produce lower quality video. For me, I usually go for the speed unless the movie is fantastic. Stuff like King Kong gets rebuilder, while movies like Yours, Mine and Ours goes to Shrink. I'd also like to point out that CCE isn't really all that and a bag of chips. With lower bitrate encodings (like big DVD backups) I don't think there is a significant difference between it and Quenc or HC which are both free. All will introduce some degradation in the process, so there is little, if any, reason to pop for the $60 unless you really want to.
w/ some of the older movie's you will see there age showing through most look like there was dust on the lens or something while filming, w/ some powerful filters you can sometimes improve on the quality of the originals bringing them closer to today's standards. there are also filters that will do certain other things like trim the picture to fit it in a full screen tv or add a water mark. but of course you would have to encode these movie's even if they already fit onto a single layer.
The snow (dust) that is seen on older movies are empty pixels that contain no video information. Filters sample the adjacent pixels and then fill in the empty pixles with the same information.
@dusk77, ya know Rebuilder Pro is simply awe-some when handling those films which require more compression (King Kong, Harry Potter, The Island), and yet I have used it on some minor compression movies (like require only a 10-15% compression) and the outcome is great, I must admit that HC by Hanks(free) is right up with CCE, but I use CCE exclusively (more lazy than anything and just don't want to switch it). I use Clonedvd 2 and Recode 2 for movies that don't require a tremendous amount, though I will make several backups, using a variety of options and then compare. Have fun and enjoy a fantastic tool in Rebuilder. MovieDud
Since I started using DVD RB\CCE I have not used any other tools for straightforward DVD backups no matter what the compression %. It does such a good job I don't feel the need to use other apps. The only exception is if I was in a hurry and needed to do a backup in say less than an hour which is very seldom. I find the batch processing utility included with DVD-RB very handy. I wait until I have a few DVD's to process I create a batch processing project, let it run overnight and its all done next morning.
At what point would you guys suggest using Dual Layers instead of trying to compress to single layers?
@maj1111, good qustion and one for sure to bring an assortment of answers. I use DL's for when I want a perfect copy and including the extras...I really do not spend a lot of time going through extras but once in a while I will do a 1:1 backup...I have found for Rebuilder simply does an amazing job, even when dealing with a big movie that at times it is hard to see the difference between the original and backup. I used DL's to take and back up the extended editions of all three Fellowship of the Rings movies. 1 dl per movie (4 hours on one DL using DTS (which I prefer))...perfect. I used a cool prog...Dvd2one (has a great joining feature that I prefer over shrink, recode 2 or anything else) then just run that complete file through Rebuilder Pro (DL mode) and and then burned using ImgBurn. Even with DL those movies had some compression and I wanted the best for the job. I guess it all depends on what you want for a backup...just movie, movie and menu, movie menu and extras...I have split movies where movie and menu is on one disk and the menu and extras on the other (CloneDvd 2 handles this very well!). Have fun and just experiment. Let me know if I can help. MovieDud
Thanks. I'm not so interested in movie extras. I'll copy them if I can fit them on a disk without compression, but what I'm most interested in is quality loss when the compression rate is too great. So I usually just copy just the movie. King Kong is one movie I would definately use DL, but other movies that are between 2 to 2.5 hours, I'm not too sure. I don't have a big TV screen, so I may not notice the degradation in quality right now but eventually I will get a bigger screen. I use DVD-RB/CCE so I'm just wondering at what compression rate would you guys think is too much where you would consider using DL's.
I haven't used dual layers to the day (other than just experimental. I consider myself a picky person and have no thad the need to want better than that that can be achieved w/ rebuilder. sorry I don't have the answer to your ? but that's my 2 cents.
Are you guys talking about the free version? Is the quality of compressing from DVD-9 to DVD-5 in free version the same as the Pro? THANKS
@DasFox, I have used the Pro version for so long I do not remember the quality before, but I wouldn't believe it would change, except for certain programs that are updated, then it would make both versions better, I like to have Rebuilder create an Iso, which I burn with ImgBurn and I do not believe the free version can. I found the program to be awe-some with all material and from made the $10.00 donation and stepped on board, now I believe it is $30.00, yet if I was doing it all over I would still make the investment, because of the quality you get compared to anything else out there. My family and I watched the backup of Narnia, made from Rebuilder Pro/CCE Basic and it was stunning. King Kong I made two backups, one from Rebuilder and the other was a split copy and beyond a few scenes the quality from Rebuilder was super, not as great as no compression copies, such as split or DL's but since I have the movie if any of the backups get lost or mistreated then I will just make another one. You do not have to purchase the CCE Basic, just stick with HC by Hanks (Free) and see the comparison between that and any other prog. you have and see the quality that Rebuilder can achieve. Enjoy and have a great evening. MovieDud
