HELP! anyone else having issues?

[SamuriHL]

If you're going to do all that you might as well use VobBlanker and/or PGCEdit...it'll be far more useful than even DVD Shrink. At one point they were talking about adding the selective audio/subtitle feature to CloneDVD but I haven't seen anything on it in months. DVD Shrink is good, I just don't particularly like the re-author mode all that much. When you say you can blank out a titleset you neglect to mention that it simply replaces the entire length of the titleset with a blank screen...that's not exactly the same thing. Like I said, for advanced "re-authoring" I'd go with VobBlanker. 99% of the time I just want to remove unwanted titlesets and CloneDVD does that perfectly. I use Recode for compression. Works very well.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

If you're going to do all that you might as well use VobBlanker and/or PGCEdit...it'll be far more useful than even DVD Shrink. At one point they were talking about adding the selective audio/subtitle feature to CloneDVD but I haven't seen anything on it in months. DVD Shrink is good, I just don't particularly like the re-author mode all that much. When you say you can blank out a titleset you neglect to mention that it simply replaces the entire length of the titleset with a blank screen...that's not exactly the same thing. Like I said, for advanced "re-authoring" I'd go with VobBlanker. 99% of the time I just want to remove unwanted titlesets and CloneDVD does that perfectly. I use Recode for compression. Works very well.

*gasp* No mention of DVD Rebuilder Pro? Blasphemer!!

Seriously though, I can't knock DVD-Shrink but I agree with SamuriHL. CloneDVD2 to remove titlesets and then VobBlanker to remove any buried FBI warnings, etc. Unlike SamuriHL I'll use DVD Rebuilder Pro to compress since it takes about the same time on my system as Nero Recode and the output is far better, IMO.

 

[SamuriHL]

DVD RB is fine, but, I reserve that option for stuff that needs SERIOUS encoding as it takes WAY longer on my ancient hardware than Recode does. But yea, DVD RB is definitely a great option for those more difficult encoding jobs.

 

[linx05]

Do you use the bitrate distribution feature DrinkLyeAndDie? I personally love it.

Good on you for donating towards the PRO!

 

[SamuriHL]

Do you use the bitrate distribution feature DrinkLyeAndDie? I personally love it.

Good on you for donating towards the PRO!

I do and it's awesome. I just don't use it as much these days as I usually pull out a DL disc if I need that much space. It's a great feature though.

I donated way back when. GREAT app that everyone should have in their arsenal.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Do you use the bitrate distribution feature DrinkLyeAndDie? I personally love it.

I have yet to use it, actually. The next movie I need to compress at the point I think CloneDVD2 won't cut it I'll check it out on.

Good on you for donating towards the PRO!

I think it was SamuriHL that got me to look at the program. Once I went to the website and looked at it and then downloaded. I realized there would be a little learning to be done. But, from the reading I did the results would be worth the effort.

I donated w/o ever having run the program. I'm glad I did, of course! I figured anyone willing to put that much effort into such a well thought-out program should get something in return.

 

[linx05]

I donated w/o ever having run the program. I'm glad I did, of course!

Same. I heard so much praise about it from the people who know best about DVD backups that I donated straight up.

 

[Rich86]

If you're going to do all that you might as well use VobBlanker and/or PGCEdit...it'll be far more useful than even DVD Shrink. At one point they were talking about adding the selective audio/subtitle feature to CloneDVD but I haven't seen anything on it in months. DVD Shrink is good, I just don't particularly like the re-author mode all that much. When you say you can blank out a titleset you neglect to mention that it simply replaces the entire length of the titleset with a blank screen...that's not exactly the same thing. Like I said, for advanced "re-authoring" I'd go with VobBlanker. 99% of the time I just want to remove unwanted titlesets and CloneDVD does that perfectly. I use Recode for compression. Works very well.

Actually I stated what DVDShrink does very accurately - and opened up my comments by stating that the one re-authoring capability that CloneDVD2 has that DVDShrink does not have is removing a titleset while still retaining menus (even though technically DVDShrink can do this - but in the unsatisfactory way you described). btw - it isn't necessarily a blank screen left behind in DVDShrink - it can be any number of screens (your choice - but most of them say usually something like "DVDShrink has removed this title" giving the viewer the clue that maybe they need not sit there and look at it for the entire length of whatever title used to be there).
I use VOBBlanker and PGCEdit also. They are far more cumbersome to use than DVDShrink - but they can remove individual portions of menu screens, etc. leaving those menus functional - something which DVDShrink cannot do (and, of course, neither can CloneDVD2). I find this particularly handy when you want to clean something up that already fits on a dvd-5.

I expect the key difference in our approaches to backing up a dvd is - I want the best quality video I can get for the main title - even if it means dumping extras, menus, etc. I have no desire to transcode a complete dvd title - menus and all - ever. I include the main title, and whatever extras I choose (in the sequence I choose) until a dvd-5 will be mostly full. If only the main title fits - that's fine with me. That's all I really care about anyway.

Although Elby/Slysoft offers fine software products - it is ok to admit some other software product has some features which are more powerful than a similar Elby/Slysoft product. Really. And DVDShrink has far superior re-authoring capabilities when compared to CloneDVD2.

 

[SamuriHL]

I thought I did admit that TO ME DVD Shrink has a useful feature over CloneDVD...compression. I understand your approach and that's completely fine. If I need any more editing than what CloneDVD gives me, I'm certainly not going to turn to DVD Shrink, but, that's just my opinion. I understand if you don't share it.

As for the quality argument, um, no. If I want quality, I use DVD+R DL Verbatim discs. I may still remove unwanted titlesets...or I may not. Depends on my mood. When I use Recode to compress it's on a movie where I don't necessarily care about quality (comedies/dramas/etc, non-action movies mostly). If for some reason I don't have any DVD+R DL's kicking around and I care about quality, then yes, I'll bust out DVD-RB Pro and let it go to town. So yea, I care about quality on movies that matter to me. Especially now that I have a 50" Sony LCoS tv and upscale my movies on my PS3 via HDMI.

 

[Rich86]

I thought I did admit that TO ME DVD Shrink has a useful feature over CloneDVD...compression. I understand your approach and that's completely fine. If I need any more editing than what CloneDVD gives me, I'm certainly not going to turn to DVD Shrink, but, that's just my opinion. I understand if you don't share it.

As for the quality argument, um, no. If I want quality, I use DVD+R DL Verbatim discs. I may still remove unwanted titlesets...or I may not. Depends on my mood. When I use Recode to compress it's on a movie where I don't necessarily care about quality (comedies/dramas/etc, non-action movies mostly). If for some reason I don't have any DVD+R DL's kicking around and I care about quality, then yes, I'll bust out DVD-RB Pro and let it go to town. So yea, I care about quality on movies that matter to me. Especially now that I have a 50" Sony LCoS tv and upscale my movies on my PS3 via HDMI.

3 final comments - then I surrender:
1. I don't think of transcoding as a re-authoring feature, and if you still refuse to admit that DVDShrink has superior re-authoring capabilities and power when compared to CloneDVD2 - well . . . I guess I don't drink the Slysoft kool-aid (and don't plan to).
2. Backup dvd-5's made after processing via DVDShrink transcoding in deep analysis mode look great when played back - Sony DVD player upconverting to 1080i played on a 46" 1080p Sharp Aquos LCD.
3. Double layer media is still price prohibitive for my backup purposes.

 

[SamuriHL]

3 final comments - then I surrender:
1. I don't think of transcoding as a re-authoring feature, and if you still refuse to admit that DVDShrink has superior re-authoring capabilities and power when compared to CloneDVD2 - well . . . I guess I don't drink the Slysoft kool-aid (and don't plan to).

Did I say that CloneDVD2 is superior to DVD Shrink in re-authoring? I'm pretty sure I didn't. I said...*FOR ME*...I have no use for DVD Shrink's re-authoring capability. That's all. Nothing about whether or not it's inferior or superior. Simply that it doesn't meet my needs. I also said I fully recognize that for you it works great and that's awesome. For me, if i need re-authoring of any kind other than removing titlesets, I'll load up VobBlanker and PGCEdit as I get full control that way. We simply have different backup styles and that's ok. At least we have the tools to get the job done.

2. Backup dvd-5's made after processing via DVDShrink transcoding in deep analysis mode look great when played back - Sony DVD player upconverting to 1080i played on a 46" 1080p Sharp Aquos LCD.

And depending on the movie, using Recode gives the same results, however, try that on something like Gladiator and you'll find that even with deep analysis the results are less than stellar. I don't have a one size fits all backup plan, personally. I use what *I* consider the right tools for the job *FOR ME*. That's not to say my way is better than yours. The ultimate point is if you're happy with your results that is ALL that matters. Just like the re-authoring mode of Shrink...if it works for you, that's excellent. I just don't happen to have a need for it in my case. In any case, I think you'd find that a re-encoded Gladiator backup would look better than a deep analysis transcoded Gladiator backup. Then again, maybe not. Only your eyes can judge that. I'd at least give it a try and see what you think.

3. Double layer media is still price prohibitive for my backup purposes.

I tend to somewhat agree with this comment. I only use DL media on movies where I REALLY care about quality...i.e. rarely. However, since I care about quality, I've mostly moved on from DVD's and have gone to HD now. Talk about prohibitively expensive backups! Nonetheless, I find the extra quality of BD and HD DVD discs to be worth it. And I get most of them on Amazon.com at a severely reduced price over what my idiot local store charges.