I've done some reading and the more I read the more confused I get. I have Free DVD Decrypter which is good to save dvds to my hard drive disc. I also have DVD Shrink, Menu Shrink, DVD Flick, and I've also downloaded Windows Media Player, an xviD codec, and also a trial version of divx codec & player & converter. I was wanting to convert my dvds on hard drive to a smaller version on my hard drive - divx or xviD then I would like to burn the dvd to a dvd possibly dual layer. so they can play in aregular dvd player. whenever I've used any video converter, it will only convert without sound. so that option is out! If I don't burn dvd files to dvd, then I'd like to burn it into something that will play on a regular dvd player. also, do all dvd burners compress the dvd?
You cannot convert DVD files to play on a regular DVD player unless that player is Divx certified. It will state so on the front of the player. The DVD files must remain DVD compliant. The files you copied using DVD Decrypter can be compressed to fit on a DVD-5 disc. Then burn with ImgBurn using top quality discs.
what the difference? if I need to compress, would it be better to burn with dvd shrink or dvd flick? where does imgburn come in? or what about burnaware?
Yes but if your files are from the DVD as you first stated, you don't need to use DVD Flick. You can use DVD Shrink to make them fit on a DVD-5.
Let's see here... You use DVD Shrink/Decrypter to make unencrypted copies of your DVD's on your hard drive. These are the Video TS/*.Vob ect files... This is DVD format. DVD Shrink will compress when it rips, but you still end up with DVD format files. This type of compression is good, but only to a point. If you compress too far then the movie starts looking real bad. So, you look into converting to DIVX which can do a much better job of compressing, but the resulting file will be an AVI file in the DIVX format. Only DIVX compliant DVD players can play these and they play them as a "Video" file or "Media" file. No menues, no chapters, ect. The good thing is that you can get 5 or 6 movies onto one DVD disk. In order to do that you'll want to rip your movie using DVD Shrink with ZERO compression and then use a video conversion program (I use media coder) and spend hours figuring out the best settings to get small files but good quality. It's an artform and is why the guys who make the torrents have so much pride in their work. If you do this the result will be DIVX compliant AVI files that can be coppied to a DVD disk as a FILE that will play on DIVX compliant DVD players. Does that help?
ok, let me rephrase what I want. I want to burn dvds as dvds on dvds. But I want to convert them to xvid or whatever to watch on the computer, to save room. if I wanted to I guess I could just burn a bunch of xvid on a dvd also, but I was especially wanting it as a dvd.
Ahhh, I see the step you are not understanding... Once DVD Shrink is done you end up with a folder on your HD called "Video_TS" ... To make a DVD all you have to do is burn that to a DVD. Some burner software (like Nero) gives you the option to create a "DVD Video" in which case it will create the Video_TS folder for you. All you do is burn those files in the Video_TS folder on your hard drive to the Video_TS folder on the DVD. Any competent DVD burning program should work to do this. When it's done it will work just like a normal DVD in your DVD player.