Burn DVDs with DVD Shrink
Posted by Andy Atkinson on 02/14/06 in Freeware, Software, Tips, Windows
DVD Shrink is a lightweight, freeware, windows application that makes DVD burning easy. If you have a DVD burning drive, you can rip and burn a DVD by following just a few steps. A couple of years ago, I would have to use something like DVD Decrypter to decode the built-in encryption on the DVD, then rip the disc to an image on my hard drive, then use a burning utility like Nero to burn the image. DVD Shrink simplifies this process, down to one click if you have two optical drives.
DVD Shrink is free software that makes ripping and burning DVDs very easy
DVD Shrink takes you from start to finish with just one piece of software and using just one drive (if that is all that you have). Of course, if you have two optical drives in your computer, say, a DVD-ROM and a DVD±RW, you can rip an image with one drive, load a disc in your DVD±RW, then burn the image from the hard drive to the second drive when it is done ripping from the first drive. In addition to its ease-of-use, DVD Shrink lets you burn discs as region-free by first decoding their encryption, then burning an image WITHOUT a region code embedded in the files. In other words, you can buy a Region 2 DVD from the UK, and play it in a Region 1 USA DVD player by first backing it up using DVD Shrink. At the time of this writing, most store-bought DVDs are pressed on a dual-layer DVD9 discs that hold approximately 8.5GB while most of the blank DVD-Rs or DVD+Rs that consumers purchase at electronics stores are single-layer (DVD5) discs.
What this means is that you have to “shrink” the file sizes from DVD9 media in order to back it up to the blank DVD5 DVD-Rs you just bought from Best Buy. Many people are now buying DVD burning drives that are dual-layer compatible (i.e., they burn DVD5 and DVD9 media), but the actual DVD9 media remains expensive and more difficult to find. DVD Shrink lets you re-encode (shrink) the file sizes easily, and gives you complete control over the .VOB (menus, feature, audio, etc.) files. What this means is that you can take a particular chunk of the movie, say, a special “featurette” that was included on the disc, and choose to reduce it’s quality by 50%, thus reducing the file size from, e.g. 1GB to 500MB. This gives you more room on your disc for the movie file itself, which is where quality is most important.
You might ask, “If I reduced a movie file to 50% of its original, would it not look poor?” Not really. If you are watching a re-encoded DVD on a standard definition TV, it is difficult to notice the difference. However, it should be noted that if video quality is very important to you, you may want to purchase the movie (or an additional copy) or back it up to DVD9 media. Then again, you could wait for it to be released on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. DVD Shrink also allows you to reduce audio file sizes, or even cut out audio files altogether. For example, audio portions of movies are displayed as files, 1 for stereo in English, 1 for surround sound in English, 1 for stereo in Spanish (for example). Audio options vary from movie to movie. In order to save space, you can simple remove the “2-channel Spanish” audio file (for example), and free up hundreds of megabytes, which can be used for the main feature.
DVD Shrink will automatically increase the size (with a convenient slider bar) of the actual movie file with each “non-essential” file that you either reduce or eliminate. The official DVD Shrink website can no longer host the installation files for this application due to “U.S. Laws.” However, you can download the ZIP file of version 3.2 right here.
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Susanne | Jun 16, 2006 | Reply
When trying to shrink and burn a dvd9, all I get is “cyclic redundancy error”. I’ve tried saving it as an ISO file also, but with the same result. I have followed the given guide to the letter. Any ideas, anyone?? If you do, please write me at susanne_strandvoll@hotmail.com.
Andy Atkinson | Jun 17, 2006 | Reply
I addressed this exact error message in this article on DVDFab Decrypter. Use “Decrypter” to rip the DVD, then DVD Shrink to reencode the files and burn a copy. The guide should help you through this process. Post a message with your results.
Jeff | Jun 23, 2006 | Reply
when trying to use dvd shrink after the disc has been analized and I hit backup nothing happens but I get a error codeerror in MMC.DLL what is this and how can I use shrink again
Rob | Oct 29, 2006 | Reply
How do you convert PAL region DVDs to region 1 format?
Stiffmeister | Nov 8, 2006 | Reply
Very simple use AnyDVD (systemtray icon activate with your regioncode) use DVDdecrypter or DVDshrink to encode , rencode , burn in your region format , Done
Mike | Nov 12, 2006 | Reply
Hi, I was wondering if this method would actually convert the video to NTSC, or does it just change the headers in the ifo file, to make it look like a ntsc disc to the dvd player. I have seen the other methods for converting the video to ntsc but I need something that will keep the menus and chapters intact.
Thanks for any help on this, Mike
Tazzie | Nov 29, 2006 | Reply
i can analize the dvd and it works..then i hit backup and it incodes…but then i can’t get my nero to work anymore..it just stopped…was wondering if there is any other software thats easy to use like nero to burn ???
Anonymous | Jan 3, 2007 | Reply
Is it possible to burn a dvd with one drive using dvd shrink??
Andy Atkinson | Jan 3, 2007 | Reply
As long as the drive writes to DVD-R or DVD+R (RW not likely to play) then you can rip and burn with a single drive. If you will be playing backup disks on a standalone living room DVD player, try and get a DVD-R or DVD+R to test read compatibility. If your player is newer you should be fine (even the cheap 30 USD ones from Target or Wal-Mart). If you are playing on a computer, you should be fine even with rewritable disks.
cntrygrl8098 | Jan 16, 2007 | Reply
I am having the same problem if you have figured out how to fix this please let me know. I get the dvd on the computer with dvd shrink and hit back up and then all of a sudden the whole thing shuts down. When I try to just use nero it just shuts down too. Is there a better way to do this? This is VERY frustrating! Thanks.
troy | Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
can get yhe movie to download but dont know how to burn from that ponit
Anonymous | Feb 19, 2007 | Reply
What you need to do is go into preferences in Shrink and uncheck burn with NERO then go get the latest version of IMGBURN this program will act automatically with Shrink when the movie is backed up K?
Suzanne | Feb 22, 2007 | Reply
I’ve been using DVD Shrink for a little while now. I have it set to rip the files to my slave drive. Now, the program itself works just fine. However, now that I’ve ripped, burned, and then deleted the files, it is still showing that my secondary hard drive (which should have around 80 gigs available) is full. I’ve gone through Explore and looked at the files. None of the 5 folders on the drive is that big. The largest, which is unrelated to the dvd files, is the music folder and it’s only 32 gig.
It seems like there are some sort of temporary images for the dvds that are still being stored, but I can’t find them! I also can’t seem to find anyone else having the problem!
I’ve cleared my temporary files, set the File Options to display any hidden files, restarted, done searches for anything with the dvd rip extensions, run Disc Cleanup, Tried to run Disc Defragmenter (I was told there was not enough memory, but when I chose to continue anyways, it showed it would only clear up 1% of my drive)…. but no matter what I do, my slave drive is still full.
If anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE HELP!
Frustrated | Apr 16, 2007 | Reply
DVD shrink is working fine for me but when i have the dvd on my hard drive there are several unrecognized items that if i delete the dvd will not play. But when i burn all of the burnt items to a DVD-R it works fine on my p.c but when i put the cd into a commercial dvd player, the player either says the disc is dirty or the disc can not be read. could you please contact me on bhatia_rules26@hotmail.com on how to burn my files so that i can watch them on a conventional dvd player or on my play station 2 or 3 instead of having to watch them on my computer.
Anonymous | Apr 23, 2007 | Reply
I was using DVD shrink 3.2 and it was working like a dream but then when i tried to backup newer dvds (ex. MI3) it said it couldnt decode the R.P.C (Reginal Protection Code) Is there a newer version on Shrink or another program i can use that anyone knows about?
Shelly | Aug 25, 2007 | Reply
I am wanting to get the dvds that I own now, ripped into my pc so that I can get them into my ipod. Is this what I need?
Paul | Oct 17, 2007 | Reply
I have used both DVD Decrypter, DVDFab, and DVD Shrink. To burn I have used Nero and DVD Decrypter. When I was able to set Nero at 2x burn speed the DVD’s worked in and player. Now, and I don’t know how this happened, I only have the option of 4x burn speed. Burning the ISO image with decrypter produces the same result. The DVD’s work on my computer but not a DVD player, and it’s not the player, I have many copied DVD’s that work in it. Any help is much appreciated…