Have you tried CloneDVD?

organism_seven wrote on 2/29/2004, 5:14 PM

Hi,

I don't know how many of you have heard of or used CloneDVD, but I have just found it to be extremely useful.
I always try to maximise the average bitrate when converting my DV footage to MPEG2, to maintain the best image quality.
I'm sure you all try to do the same
But doing this and not producing file sizes that exceed the capacity of 4.7 discs can prove to be a bit of a black art!
On my last project I produced a file size of just over 5gig.
Bugger, I thought, I have miscalculated and will have to re-encode the whole damn thing again.
But then I remembered CloneDVD.
So I ran my finished files through it and wrote to disc.
The result is great, and has saved me a great deal of time.
Visually, I cannot tell the difference between the original and recompressed version.

Just thought you guys may have come across the same problem and might like to try this as a solution for yourselves.

Regards
Organism Seven

Comments

stormstereo wrote on 3/1/2004, 8:46 PM

Interesting!

philpw99 wrote on 3/1/2004, 9:40 PM

I can give you a even better program: dvdshrink .
you can find it in www.dvdshrink.org

it has all the feature you mentioned, and it's free.

MrMikeC wrote on 3/2/2004, 1:40 AM

what exactly does this do? I don't understand...I mean I understand it copies and backs up dvds, but what about with respect to what oranism_seven was saying?

RBartlett wrote on 3/2/2004, 3:15 AM

After a bit of a google, it appears that motion prediction sourced data takes a hit, a bit like removing the B frames from the GOP but ensuring the original timing. It seems like a worthy candidate for the next generation of authoring tools to use. It doesn't have to undo all the MPEG encoders good work, just enough to fit the disc. Also unlike recompressing MPEG-2 as MPEG-2, it appears that it processes the file at about double the speed of realtime (half the programme running time) and doesn't suffer the same artifacting. Although I guess some perceptive loss is encountered.

I'm glad I looked this up. Although I doubt this type of tool was made for the likes of us who value the rights of the original owners and artists. Might help when a deadline is approaching too fast. I'd watch out for watermarks though, as I'm sure this illegal fraternity get some sort of kick out of knowing how much their tool is used.