Questions about using both DVD shrink and DVD rebuilder

I downloaded the freeware version of dvd rebuilder. I know the freeware version of rebuilder does not allow you to remove audio tracks and menus. Can I run the movie first thru DVD shrink, remove audio tracks and menus, and then encode thru DVD rebuilder and get good results? Since I ran the movie thru Shrink first will that effect the picture quality and defeat the purpose of running it thru rebuilder? Also I have yet to be able to get DVD rebuilder to work. DVD shrink is much more user friendly. I know there are a lot of guides and FAQs but they usually refer to older versions or I follow them and I still cant get it to work. I get an error on directing it to the correct path and havent figured it out. Anyone have a link to a user friendly guide to the latest verion of DVD rebuilder basic? Also is it normal for the run security file application warning menu to pop up everytime I hit the shortcut icon for rebuilder from my desktop?

 

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=55302

that should help. And running it through shrink i would think would defeat the purpose of RB.

 

I have to concur it's a frivelous pursuit to use shrink first. rebuilder free will let you remove unwanted audio, and steal space (quality) from extra's.

it doesn't how ever allow the use of movie only settings.

I think when viewing the difference between shrink and rb quality wise you will not miss such features.

some people are set-off by the time involved but that's a matter of prefference.

 

You can edit it in Shrink to remove the unnecessary things and then have your setting to DVD9 as to not compress the file, but even so IMHO it still changes the image. I tried this with VobBlanker and The Cave and my backup did not come out well as CCE had to pull out the still images that were inserted by VB. Better to just do as L8ter suggests and steal space and remove the unwanted audio. Even at 50% RB comes out very good, and the extra time is worth the end result.

 

I like to use dvdremake to remove unwanted extras and previews but it is not freeware so I would recommend vobblanker to perform the task. I like L8ter and arniebear don't recommend dvd shrink (even set at no compression) to edit your folders prior to running them through rb. IMHO dvd shrink even set at no compression processes (alters) the files. Some don't believe this but I have seen where it does.

 

@Mort

I believe you

 

@arniebear,

That's why I like you. You're so easy :~)

 

@Mort

Lol, that's what my wife tell me all the time.

 

Will DVD rebuilder make a copy better than the original? The reason I ask is I finally got around to comparing a DVD shrink copy with no compression to the original using two identical DVD players hooked up to my 51 sony HDTV via progressive component inputs. Switching back and forth between the copy and original and even comparing identical freeze frames I could not really tell a difference. I thought the original looked a little sharper but it was not really noticeable. I asked my wife to see if she could tell a difference between the two and she actually prefered the DVD shrink copy over the original (after several minutes of not being able to decide). Has anyone performed a similar test with a DVD Shrink copy to DVD Rebuilder copy?

 

ive compared on a hdtv, and also on a laptop, there is deff. a difference. Also what was the compression % for the movies u used shrik and RB with?

 

With dvd shrink at little or no compression you probably won't notice much difference from the original except that shrink seems to have a smoothing affect that some ppl like. Personally I don't unless the original has a lot of video noise.

No backup software can improve the original. They can however filter out video noise if the original is noisy. There are several filters that can be used with rb/cce. You probably won't notice a lot of difference between a backup made with shrink (except the smoothing affect) and one made with rb/cce (will be sharper) on projects requiring 80% compression or less but on anything over 75% compression the difference will be dramatic.

 

I used no compression for the test. I also noticed the same observation that the shrink copy was a little smoother or not as sharp as the original. I think my wife preferred the shrink copy because when we watch movies we usually watch the shrink copy and not the original and she is probably use to the smoothing effect of shrink. I guess the consesus is that at no compression there should not be much of a difference between a shrink, rebuilder and original copy and anything requiring compression especially below 80% should be run thru Rebuilder. I can definately tell a difference between an original copy compared to a shrink copy with compression below 80%.

 

If there is no compression or the movie is 90% and above you will not see much difference. I have not noticed though that Shrink has a smoother effect, especially if the default is sharp. Unless I use AEC in Shrink then I do.

 

When you used dvdshrink for your test, did you enable either of the Quality options? Clearly, some sort of filter is being applied to the video to give it a smoothed affect which leads to less detailed video. I'm thinking this could be Adaptive Error Correction that defaults to "Smooth". Fortunately, both this and deep analysis can be turned off as they are useless unless compression is being used. Can anyone verify whether the video is a perfect rip without any postprocessing when Adaptive Error Correction is disabled in DVD Shrink?

I would like to rip DVD9 episodic disks to 2 DVD5s while retaining the original menus. I know DVD Shrink can do this by converting the last 2 episodes on the first disk to still images, and the first two episodes to still images on the second disk. However, I don't want any filter to be applied as I prefer crisp, sharp video.

I know that DVDFab Gold can do episodic disks automatically, and no transcoding or filters are used. It simply splits the DVD9 over 2 DVD5 disks. I believe it retains the menus but I don't know. Does anyone have experience with the episodic DVD option in DVDFab Gold/Platinum, and know if it retains menus?

 

To disable AEC and Deep Analysis in DVD Shrink which are useless, and possibly harmful when using no compression, follow these instructions:

The easiest option is to use Re-author mode, select the main title which will be the movie, and if it fits on a DVD5 choose burn. Then choose "Quality Options" and make sure AEC and Deep Analysis are unchecked (disabled).

 

It's been my experience that dvd shrink even set at no compression and deep analysis and AEC disabled, alters (processes) files and causes a smoothing effect. I don't recommend using it for a ripper editor. If you use reauthor mode you will lose menu function.

Do however you choose but I would rip with anydvd rip to hdd feature, dvdfab decrypter, or dvd decrypter and then edit and combine folders with dvdremake.

 

When you hide the unused menu options in dvdremake, are the buttons themselves removed or are they simply no longer a link to now-deleted video files?

 

The guids on the dvdremake site are quite contradictory. The first guide (LINK: http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremake/ud_dg_01.php ) says to use DVD Shrink as a ripper to remove unnecessary audio and extras. This is quite stupid. As you said before, DVD Shrink wasn't designed as a ripper and doesn't produce a bit for bit copy, so you're already dealing with less than optimal source when you import the exported folder into dvdremake.

The second guide (LINK: http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremake/extra_guide_gf.php ) says to use DVD Decrypter in File mode. He then uses DVDRemake to remove the unwanted extras, audio tracks, trailers, FBI warnings and in addition removes the now defunct links from the menus. He then exports the completed project to a new folder which is still larger than a DVD5 disk can hold, so he uses IC 8 to compress- this time at 87%, rather than 55% without removing extras.

Is the second guide correct? Should I decrypt the whole disk in file mode and then remove content in DVDRemake or use IFO mode to choose what titles to rip to disk?

 

I rip in file mode and then choose what I want to remove with DVDRemake, if I did this in Shrink all I would be doing is substituting stills for what I removed. Then I get to DVDRemake and got to remove those. It is redundant.

 

Yeah, that second guide is fairly correct. Remake will only work with folders ripped in file mode. Although remake can be used as a ripper on non css protected dvd's, I never had much luck using it this way. I rip the dvd to my hdd using anydvd (rip to hdd feature) although you can also use dvdfab decrypter or dvd decrypter (on most). I don't mess with disabling the fuction of titles in the menu that I have removed (previews etc.) because nothing will happen anyway if I have removed that content from the folder.

I don't use remake to remove unwanted audio streams either. I leave this for the encoding/transcoding software to remove (dvd-rb/cce 99% of the time). I do however use remake to remove any menus in languages other than english (if there are any). I also use remake to combine folders preserving functionality of all menus.

My last project using this method, I took law and order season 3 consistng of three dvd10's and combined both sides of the dvd10's and then used rb/cce to compress down to fit a dvd9 (3 total). All menus are functional and they turned out great.