The main DVD Shrink pupose is DVD backup (encrypted or not). Reencoding is only an option to fit the content on a smaller capacity disk, as reauthoring is.

technically it does not re-encode ... it uses the same process that is used for tv station rebroadcast of digital signals .. the file is not re-encoded , all the same data and vector info is used - just the data rate is reduced , up to about 80% (20% reduction) -- you can not see the diff by eye ... it is also very very fast ..

this program is so good - that nero/ahead hired the author and nero/ahead recode is also the same program written by the same guy with some improvements as to gui and speed and quality ..


dvdshrink itself has stopped development ..... great program though ..

this is a great program! Ever created a dvd, that ended being just a little bigger the the size of DVD? Put it in DVD shrink and Bam within minutes its the right szei

How is this different than "Optimize DVD" in the DVDA menu?

DVDA re-encodes , dvd shrink uses another process ... if more than 20% compression is required , - re-encoding will produce better quality (but MUCH slower)

dvd2one is another product , much the same (except not free) , some prefer the quality more ..

Additionally, DVD SHRINK cannot re-author MENUS. It will only re-author video/audio.

That's where you'd need to use dvda - for menu optimization and inclusion...in general.

but then again, if you made the menu/dvd in DVDA - full quality, you could then through those files into dvd shrink, and get the perfect size to fit on a dvd - therefore saving you a lot of time if you had mpeg-2s to start with...
yields pretty sweet results. ha.

holler!

I use it all the time to rip my own DVDs. It's one of my favorite 'Freewares' of all time. The re-authoring feature, while ruining menus, does come in handy if you want to take a 'short' off of a couple of different DVDs and combine them onto one new DVD, with no quality loss. If the menu is disabled, each piece plays one after the other and you can skip (jump) up to the section you want.

I love DVD Shrink as well. One of the best free programs out there IMO.

But unfortunately the use of DVD-Shrink is not legal in some countries. So on my web-pages I'm not allowed to mention DVD-Shrink.

Marco

DVD shrink is a tool for making copies of commercial DVDs. Not only does it shrink the authored and encoded DVD, it also defeats the copy protection.

Since this amounts to stealing, it's not a tool to use in your professional life.

Rob Mack

It may be a tool that can be used for that, but I could care less about copying any Pro DVD. If they disabled that ability, I would still praise it. I just use it to copy my own stuff and it works great. On top of that, I barely need to use it anyway, so it's nice that I didn't have to pay for it. I don't have room in my computer to save DVDs, ready to be burned, so it comes in handy if I need to reload something back into the computer.

Steve, you don't need DVD Shrink for that. You can copy the files from one of your own existing DVDs to the hard drive with Windows explorer. For that matter, if you have another DVD drive in your computer in addition to your DVD burner, you can burn a copy straight from an existing disc; no need to copy to hard drive first.

DVD Shrink is a life-saver, and it can be used for totally legitimate, legal, and worthwhile purposes.

For instance suppose you encode a bunch of MPEG-2 and AC3 files so they just fit onto one 4.7 G-Bytes disk. You then put them into DVDA, author the disc, and then later decide you need to add one more MPEG-2 file to your creation. I've had this happen often. I can either go back to all my original projects in Vegas and re-encode all of them to make them smaller, or I can simply add the extra file, author in DVDA, ignore the "too big" warnings, and then use DVD Shrink to reduce the size slightly so the finished VOB files just fit onto a single DVD. Used in this way, the shrinkage needed is usually only 5% or so, and the artifacts introduced are minimal, especially if you use the advanced features (deep analysis, and "quality enhancements").

At the risk of being flamed (please be gentle) I have one quick note on not using this software because of its “illegality:”

A copy machine, a tape recorder, a gun, a knife, and almost any other implement can be used for illegal purposes, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't use them for legitimate purposes. While it is definitely true that -- unlike the examples I just gave -- DVD Shrink is probably used more often for illegal purposes than for legal ones, that certainly doesn't invalidate its legitimate uses. It is therefore, in my humble opinion, kind of silly to not use something that is this good and which can save you a TON OF TIME. I mean, think about it: The way you use it is not illegal. The tool itself is not inherently illegal. The tool is free, so you are not enriching anyone whose intent (at least as you have deduced it) is not congruent with your ethics.

I guess the one response to all this is that DVD Shrink does contain the DeCSS decryption technology, and this code is illegal, even if you don’t use it. I will admit you’ve got me on a technicality on that one. Of course my car has an engine that lets me drive 100 mph, even though that speed is illegal everywhere.

One legitamate use is making copies of kids movies to play on the DVD player in our minivan. I have a 4 year old. As any current parent knows, video is an important part of driving with young children. Here are a couple of reasons I use my legal "fair use" privileges and use copies in the minivan and keep the originals on a shelf at home.

1/ He watches the same movies over and over. They get scratches and fingerprints and in general have a short life. Even though I have bought a "licence" and not actual content, the DVD distributer won't replace my damaged discs. Theoretically they should.

2/ With the originals, you have to sit through about 10 minutes of previews before you even get to the point where you can select the movie. With my copies, the actual movie starts by itself automatically and immediately. I don't know why they do that, but especially on kids movies this practice really sucks!

3/ In the minivan, we have a disc case full of movies. It's just easier that way. With copies I don't mind this. With originals, I hate separating them from their original cases. They get mixed up and lost.

In a few years, none of this will be important to me I'm sure, but for now, DVD Shrink is invaluable.

It is not illegal to make backups of your OWN dvds and not every country has the same laws as the usa. I'm not about to carry original copies of some very expensive disks in the truck on trips for example. Or some of the kids movies (which i can not even get replacements for) , plus i can remove the 20 minutes of advertising Disney likes to add.

But dvdshrink has also a very good use in combining your own projects - say you have a title off 2 or 3 different dvds and you want to combine them together, with dvdshrink, you can do this is a few minutes - doing it in say, dvda, would take quite awhile .. There are also other tools to rebuild menus and such -- lot of good free tools out there...

I just posted a similar need in the DVDA forum. I need to get some video off of a dvd burned with my stand alone recorder. I would like to be able to pull it into vegas for some triming but I would settle for just getting a file(s) I could use with DVDA2 to create a nice menu for the video. The standard ones are very basic. So, is there a way to just copy the right file(s) or does it need to be ripped with something like this DVD Shrink product?

"The main DVD Shrink pupose is DVD backup (encrypted or not)."
I agree. Please note that DVD Shrink is such an amazing application and IS INTENDED TO BACKUP your own productions/your own DVDs. Point.

DVD Shrink will copy the signals off the DVD to your hard drive. But you cannot properly edit the mpg2's in Vegas or almost anywhere for that matter. For editing, you would have to feed the outputs of your DVD player through a A/D converter and then to the PC as an .avi to edit with and when you're ready, then you convert it to mpg2 for the DVD. Mpg2 is near impossible to edit without major problems.
There may be a way to use the mpg2 files, once on your hard drive, to make a new menu, but it may require re-naming the mpg2 to another name before you can use it.
This topic has been covered a million times. Do a search for "Editing mpg2s" and sooner or later you'll find the info you need.