Compressing DVD9 -> DVD5 problems!

Movie Copy Software DVDFab / DVD Region+CSS Free
#1

Hello there.

I have been a paying customer of this great application,
DVDFab Platinum since 2007 and I’ve never had an issue
until now.

I like to keep back-up copies of DVDs I own to single layer
blank DVDs which means I have to compress the original
DVD to around 4500mb in size.

It has worked perfectly fine until I tried it with a TV Series DVD today.

When I compressed Desperate Housewives Season 1 Disc 1
it’s apparent that some episodes retain the quality of the original
while some episodes are horrendously compressed and I’d
really like the compression of the size to be spread out equally
throughout all of the contents so that all the episodes have
the same quality.

I hope it isn’t too confusing I’ve tried my best to explain my problem
as clearly as possible. I wait patiently for your help :bow:

Thank you in advance!

Vista Ultimate 64bit,
Intel C2Q Q6600 @ 3.2GHz
4GB Ram
Nvidia 8800GT

Using DVDFab Platinum 5.2.3.0

#2

Hi Isidore and welcome,

On occasion Fab will stumble with disc structure issues, particularly when trying to compress episodic discs and movies with alternate endings.

Fab compresses the entire rip at one and only one level of compression.
For eg., when the Quality % reads as 75%, this rate of compression applies to the entire rip. Fab cannot compress various chapters or files at different rates on the same rip.

This feature is available in the no-longer-developed app…Shrink.
It has been requested here for 2-3 years, but has not yet been implemented by Fengtao. Who knows if and when?

Personally, I’ve always had better luck backing up episodic discs in Customize mode and configuring the discs manually.

While I believe that your problem is related to the compression applied here, it’s not that simple and the files are not compresssed at different amounts.

Hope this helps

#3

First of all, thank you so much for the quick and informative
reply I really appreciate it.

Thank you for hinting me an alternate application as I was
on the brink of resorting to purchasing dual layer DVDs which
are considerably more expensive.

I’ve had some problem initially with the protection but got it to
work nicely after having CSS Free running on the background.

DVDFab has always been responsive to it’s users’ feedbacks
and has always had frequent updates I have faith in them that
they will one day implement this feature.

Also, will DVDFab ever have nifty features like deep analysis
and Adaptive Error Compensation? they seem to dramatically
improve the quality of compressed DVDs and
I mean [B]really [/B]make it look better.

I think I might be on the verge of switching to DVD Shrink
permanently xD

#4

While DVDshrink is and has been a very useful app for many (including myself), I wouldn’t be so quick as to " switching to DVD Shrink permanently "…
As was stated above ,it is a “no-longer-developed app”…
So,eventually you’ll need a, new-constantly-updated app like DVDFab Platinum/Gold, or the free one…
That being said, I would strongly recommend DVDRB Pro or the freeware one, if you’re going to be using a high level of compression…Just keep in mind that it’s not a ripper…
It uses a real encoder(unlike shrink), HCencoder(free ) or CCE(not free) to encode and backup your video…Much better results [B]IMO[/B]…

By no means am I suggesting,that you [B]not[/B] purchase or [B]keep[/B] DVDFab Plat… Fab is my primary backup app,and it works great for [B]me[/B]…

#5

Wise counsel as usual from my good friend Maineman and t0nee also. The effect you are seeing on that disc I suspect has to do with the way it was authored. The level of objectionable visual effects of hard compression with DVDFab or DVDShrink (even with AEC) depend on the bitrate of the original. It is not uncommon on TV episode discs for one episode to get crunched a little harder to make it fit on the disc, especially if the set has some longer season premiere of finale episodes on it. If you compress them all the same amount (reduce the bitrate) the one that began with the marginal biitrate will really look bad after processing. The solution I use is to split up the episodes using Customize Split mode. It is perfect for episode discs and is flexible enough to let you spread the content out with no compression or a little on the “easy” episodes and none on the disc with the tough one. Re-encoding as t0nee suggested will work but the extra time it takes, and it can be hours, is not worth the price of a DL to me.

#6

Desperate Housewives Season 1

That was your problem right there. :doh:

#7

[QUOTE=t0nee1;2203864]
That being said, I would strongly recommend DVDRB Pro or the freeware one, if you’re going to be using a high level of compression…Just keep in mind that it’s not a ripper…
It uses a real encoder(unlike shrink), HCencoder(free ) or CCE(not free) to encode and backup your video…Much better results [B]IMO[/B]…

Interesting - at what point ( screen size & compression level) do you begin to see a difference between DVDFab & DVDRB pro, and how long is the encode taking at that point ?

& do you also notice a difference between Hce & CCE ?

#8

It uses a real encoder(unlike shrink), HCencoder(free ) or CCE(not free) to encode and backup your video…Much better results IMO…

This is an area where discussion of opinions can fill pages. Some will totally agree with that statement and some will totally disagree. Usually the ones that will agree are the old school purists that still burn at 2x. I personally see no image quality difference (on a 32" TV) and DVDR takes way longer (and I do mean way longer) to process than DVD Shrink does.