okay, what the heck?? i have been using dvd shrink and dvd decrypter and i have been following the guides on this site for those programs... dvd shrink seems to work although i can never tell how big the movie is before or after it does it's thing. where do i go to see the sizes before and after?? anyways, then decrypter opens and either it won't burn because it has a message like "unable to lock volume for exclusive access" or it will burn the disc, but the disc isn't recognized in my pc, ps2 or anywhere. i know my media isn't the greatest (memorex dvd+r 4x), the problem is i bought it before i visited this site and found out that there is "good media" and "bad media". why would one movie turn out fine, but the others burn and then not play in anything?? are there free downloadable programs out there that are easier to use than shrink and decrypter?? HEIDI
Hello Heidi and welcome to aD [bold]:c)[/bold] I'm sorry to hear that you've been finding out about media the hard way (but it is a common occurance I can assure you). For your next purchase you might want to try either: Ritek G04 DVD±R Verbatim Taiyo Yuden Firstly you should be okay w/ DVD Shrink & Decrypter ... as I use both perfectly well. Although I tend to have the output from DVD Shrink as VOB [which I burn later w/ Nero] instead of output being an .ISO file which Decrypter deals with. I would maybe suggest compressing your back ups slighly more than usual [so maybe 4400mb] and also maybe dropping the burn speed in Decrypter too.
HERBSMAN-- okay, dumb question here but, when i use dvd shrink, i never know what the size is to begin with, and what it is after, where do i go to see the sizes?? i've set the size limit at 4200mb as custom before, under preferences i think it was, but i don't know if the size actually shrinks, because i never know what to exclude from shrink to make it smaller. i'm sorry i'm being so confusing, i don't really know how to explain this stuff!! HEIDI
Gotta go eat something before I waste away , here is a quick [animated] guide that hopefully will help you. http://www.dvdshrink.info/re-author.php cioa bella _X_X_X_X_X_[small] Afterdawn Guides: http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/ Afterdawn Rules: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487 IRC : irc.addictz.net / #ad_buddies[/small]
Hi there, Let me see if I may help. I think you settings are fine. The maximum size for a 4.7GB DVD is 4.36GB keeping it at around 4200 keeps you away from the edge of the discs which is important when dealing with crappy media. As far as the size goes, each DVD is a different size and DVD Shrink "Automatically" compresses it to fit your size limit. There is a "size bar" which is green at the top of the right –hand side of the proggy. If you wan to see how big your DVD is, rest your curser over the drive that has the disc in My Computer. To free up more space – see this guide for your options – It doesn't move but I typed it with my own little hands For a trimmed down DVD, let's start with DVD Shrink. First, Click "Open Disk" and let DVD Shrink analyze (rip) your DVD. If you wish, we can edit your movie now. To trim your movie a little, you can "un-tick" audio you don't want like the foreign audio streams, i.e. Outer Mongolian or Eastern Himalayan Yak language selections or the Director's comments. This will result in your DVD requiring less compression and a better quality picture. If you would like, as I do, to get rid of all the extras and trailers thus compressing your movie as little as possible (giving you the best quality picture), click "Re-author" then, under "Main Movie" select "Title 1" If there are more choices, look at the time and select the longest one as that is usually the main attraction. Click and drag the "Title 1" from the right-hand side of the screen to the left-hand side, under the "DVD Structure" (DVD) and release it there. Bingo, Bango, you are done editing, giving you the least compression (best quality), backup possible. Now select "Full Disc" to get ready to finish. If you wish to do a full backup but still want to trim it down a bit, that's all the things on the original disc. There's no problem in doing this as long as we do not see any "Red" on the size bar at the top. (If you should see some "Red" there, on the size bar, simply "Un-tick" any foreign languages, Director's comments or DTS sound boxes until the "Red" disappears.) With no "Red" visible on the size bar we just let the "Automatic" (Default) settings alone. THEN we select "Backup". Take just a second and under "Target Device" go to "Select backup target " once there, select "ISO Image File and burn with DVD Decrypter". Finally, where it says "Select target image file", browse till you find your created folder for your backup and CLICK "Save". That's it ! Click "OK" and DVD Shrink burns that ISO image to your HD As herbs mentioned, you can use either Nero or CopyToDVD to work "automatically" with DVD Shrink. Nero is a package of several programs that you'll find useful for years to come. CopyToDVD is an extremely fast burner and does and excellent job burning VOB files. Both proggys have a trial period for you to see how you like them – Here's Nero – http://www.ahead.de/us/631898252770313.html For Copy To DVD you'll have to "Google" for your free trial version – (sorry I didn't have that for you – Cheers, Pete _X_X_X_X_X_[small] The “old man” Pete (ö¿ô) Compaq 8000, Pent IV CPU 2.84GHz, 1024MB RAM, 520GB HD. Pioneer 107, 8X R/W , Nec R/W ND-1300A, JLMS DVD ROM. 128MB GeForce4 TI 4200, O/S XP[/small]
you guys are totally wonderful!! i followed the little guide that you wrote, scubapete and i have burned 3 discs tonight successfully, which seems to be an astonishing high rate of progress for me!! i think what may have been the problem is that #1 on dvd shrink, i still had the box checked to enable nero. i'm not using nero, i'm using dvd decrypter, so i unchecked the box. the other problem may have been #2 under "select backup target" i had it going to my dvd burner drive and it should've been to my iso file on my hd. so, i changed that. since those 2 small changes, the dvd's i've tried to burn have turned out good. we'll see just how long this success lasts!! but i am happy for now!! it's quite amazing how one little thing not quite right, can mess everything up. i think that is why people get frusterated, they don't understand what to change/fix!! well, thanks again, you guys have been much help and have saved my computer from my foot being kicked into it!! HEIDI
What are the best brands to go for regards DVD-R media? There are three brands mentioned above, one of which (Verbatim) I've used already but I've never heard of the other two (I'm in UK btw). Any other suggestions? Sony? Store brands (UK)?
I use Ritek G04 [branded] a hell of a lot , and if not them I'd highly suggest Taiyo Yuden. If you wanna know where to buy online in the U.K then give me a PM seremtan. I do not ever buy from the store tho as they cost 'way' too much ... always online purchase of media for myself :c)
edit by herbsman: viper try typing without caps lock left on [forum rules link is in my signature if needed]
OK, thanks. I won't buy online though - I'll use mail-order. I'm using DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter, and the ISO is fine, but I'm getting some freezing going on part way thru. Thing is, I'm using Verbatim (DVD-R), one of the brands you recommended. Are ALL brands susceptible to the glitches or are the three listed above relatively glitch free, in which case my shiny Verbatim coaster is a one-off -?
Those three are about as good as it gets for media. I use Ritek most of the time and Verbatim occasionally I have not had one coaster that wasn't because of my own idiocy or screwing around.
I always use DVD Identifier to check my media to be sure http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/ Check it out for yourself - Cheers BTW not all Verbatims are good - just the branded ones and the DataLifes - If you have questions, come back and we'll answer them for you Pete
