I apologize if this is answered elsewhere, I did look at the guides and through some of the forums but did not find this topic. I've been copying movies for some time and have run across many movies that are less than 2 hours view time. However, when I rip them, they take up more space than a 4.7G disk and I have to Shrink them to make them fit. Why is this and is there a solution to make them fit without shrinking? And yes, I am re-authoring and taking out menus, extras, etc. A secondary question is what software would you reccomend for re-authoring and getting a live menu for disks that have multiple episodes? Thanks for your help! Norm
Norm- Not sure why they won't fit on a single layer (4.7g) disk. Maybe you aren't taking all of the extras out. You can also try "unchecking" the foreign audio features (Spanish, French, Portaguese, etc.) from the main movie. This will give you more space for the main movie possibly eliminating the compression of the main title. Here is some info I posted a couple of days ago about backing up episodic dvd's (tv series). When you mention "multiple episode dvd's", I assume you mean the episodic dvd's like The King of Queens, Seinfeld, etc. If so, follow these instructions and you should have no problems. Post back with any questions. Here's a little info about backing up episodic dvd's using the following method that I posted on May 13. All episodic dvd's that I have backed up can be ripped with DVD Decrypter by itself with no problems. It takes about 20 minutes to rip the full dvd. It takes about 5 minutes to process the first half of the dvd using VobBlanker and about 5 minutes to process the second half if you follow my instructions below. It then takes about 12 minutes to burn the first half of the episodes to a single layer dvd and about 12 minutes to burn the second half of the episodes to another single layer dvd. It takes less than an hour to process an episodic dvd from start to finish. If you use single layer dvd's, the cost is about 20 cents each X 2 if purchased in packs of 100 as opposed to a double layer dvd at about $1.50 - $2.00 each. I use Ripit4me on my movies but DVD Decrypter will work by itself on the episodic dvd's. Follow the instructions below and you should have no problems. *** Garmoon is correct but I would suggest something else that I find to work very well while keeping all the menus intact and working. Rip the episodic dvd to your HD, use VobBlanker to KEEP the first half of the episodes and BLANK out the second half. For example, if the dvd has 8 episodes, keep episodes 1-4 and blank out 5-8. While you're at it you can also blank out any previews and other junk. After you backup this way, use VobBlanker to do the same thing except BLANK out episodes 1-4 and KEEP 5-8. This way you can have all episodes divided into 2 SL discs (1 of 2 & 2 of 2) which help keep the cost down and you don't sacrifice any video quality. Then, there's no need to use Shrink, just burn the end result to 2 SL dvd's. I find it works great for the episodic dvd's and VobBlanker doesn't take a lot of time to do it's job either. You can label your discs like this: The King of Queens S4 D2 (1 of 2) and The King of Queens S4 D2 (2 of 2) meaning season 4 disc 2 having the first 4 episodes on (1 of 2) and the last 4 episodes on (2 of 2). ***
Don't think of the backup in terms of hours, but rather bitrate and compression. You are trying to fit the size in bytes to the disc not the amount of time that is contained in those bytes. As for why the movie won't fit even when removing menus and special features is because the original file is on a DL disc uncompressed and the main title is still outside the limitations of a single layer disc. A little compression isn't a bad thing, in fact there is no indication that the movie has been compressed in most cases. In other words the quality isn't the same, but the decrease is so slight you shouldn't even notice. As Orion has suggested you can split your movie over two discs using VobBlanker or DVD Shrink... http://dvdshrink.info/splitting-v2-3.php Or if you are really concerned about the final product you can use DVD Rebuilder... Here is the FAQ: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/241700 And the guides: http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=54897 http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=55302 The comparison: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/343299
I think you will fine you can fit some older movies on one disk but the new ones seem to take up more space. I can't even get "The Goonies" on one disk without some compression, and thats an old movie. I am thinking about spliting that one. Any movies that are very visual I try to split-like "Titanic" and Star Wars" I just backed up "The Guardian" (movie only) at 76% which I think means 24% compression. It looks fine on my 34in widescreen but it depends on what size tv you have. I was watching one of my backed up DVD's with 30% compression and could see the faluts with the DVD on a 50in screen. VobBlanker is great for episode disks. I just backed up "I Dream of Jeannie" split to two disks-no compression with menus. I was able to blank out the annoying meassages before each episode starts. Now when I select an episode,it goes right to the episode. No annoying messages. Now if I can just get them to stop colorizing classic B&W TV shows.
