DVD Shrink is a freeware[1] DVD transcoderprogram for Microsoft Windows that uses a DVD ripper to back up DVD video. It can also be run under Linux using Wine.[2] The final versions are 3.2.0.15 (English) and 3.2.0.16 (German); all other versions, such as DVD Shrink 2010, are illegitimate.[3] DVD Shrink's purpose is, as its name implies, to reduce the amount of data stored on a DVD with minimal loss of quality, although some loss of quality is inevitable (due to the lossy MPEG-2 compression algorithm). It creates a copy of a DVD, during which the DVD region code is removed, and copy protection may also be circumvented. A stamped DVD may require more space than is available on a writeable DVD, unless shrunk. Many commercially released video DVDs are dual layer (8.5 GB); DVD Shrink can make a shrunk copy which will fit on a single-layer (4.7 GB) writeable DVD, processing the video with some loss of quality and allowing the user to discard unwanted content such as foreign-language soundtracks.
DVD Shrink is designed to be easy to use. It is contained within a single executable file that is one megabyte in size. The program features a DeCSS decryption algorithm, enabling it to open and decrypt many currently available DVDs, although it is defeated by some newer copy protection techniques. As well as this, it can open DVD files contained in a VIDEO_TS folder or a disk image (ISO, IMG, NRG or MDS/Ixx).
The DVD video may then be re-encoded by the application's VBRencoder. The user is able to choose how the compression is to be distributed across the DVD. DVD Shrink can automatically re-compress video, to as little as 39% of its original size, depending on the aspect ratio[citation needed] of the original DVD (with a corresponding loss in quality) to allow it to fit on a standard DVD±R(W), a Dual-Layer DVD+R, or any user-defined custom size. When "Deep Analysis" and "Adaptive Error Compensation" options are selected, the quality of the resulting DVD is improved.[citation needed] These options are more time-consuming because DVD Shrink runs through the DVD once doing the analysis, and then again doing the transcoding. The transcoder in DVD Shrink was unusual at the time of its release in that it employs compressed domain video processing technology to avoid a full decode and re-encode of the video stream. This boosts performance significantly as only part of the video stream is decoded and scraped.[4]
DVD Shrink operates in two main modes, "Reauthor" and "Full Disk".
In "Reauthor" mode, the interface allows the user to choose specifically which DVD elements (Main Title, Menus, audio tracks and subtitles, and Special Features) to retain on the "shrunken" DVD; the Menu clips are stored in folders and some of them are playable. The compression is automatic if the Main Title only is selected, to fit it onto the selected size of DVD. If Special Features are also selected, their compression may be manually selected at the minimum possible using the Custom Ratio option, to give disk space to the Main Title.
In "Full Disk" mode, DVD Shrink allows the user to make a functionally identical backup copy without changes; alternatively random audio/subtitle streams can be deselected. Sections of the DVD, such as unwanted messages or logos/titles, can be replaced with still images, saving disk space for the Main Title. The compression can be automatic or manual, which allows selection of greatest compression for Menus or Special Features, saving disc space for the Main Title.
In either mode, the program has options to facilitate the stripping of the CSScopy protection, User operation prohibition (prohibiting skipping over previews or "FBI Warnings" and so on), and also allows the copy to be either made region-free (the default setting) or set for any region code. Extra software (such as AnyDVD, AVS Video Converter, or DVD Decrypter) may be required to remove more recent forms of copy protection such as Macrovision Ripguard. DVD Shrink can also shrink hard disk files already ripped by programs that can overcome more recent copy protection systems, but that do not offer the 2-layer to 1-layer compression.
Once the DVD content has been reduced in data size, the resulting output is an ISO file or a DVD VIDEO_TS folder. The program cannot burn these images itself, as it does not contain a built-in burning engine.[citation needed] It can however automatically pass the burning job to either Nero (version 7 or lower), DVD Decrypter or CopyToDVD as long as these programs are installed. This process appears transparent to the end user. To burn with ImgBurn the user can either copy the ImgBurn executable to the DVD Decrypter folder and rename it to dvddecrypter.exe (both engines use the same commands as they are coded by the same programmer) or use the hacked DVD Shrink with ImgBurn version. Alternatively, the resulting ISO file may be burned with any software capable of writing ISO files.
Although DVD Shrink gives the user free rein over compression settings for individual tracks on the DVD, removing content altogether is not allowed as there is a risk of upsetting the DVD's menu software. Audio tracks and subtitles can, however, be removed. DVD Shrink also gives the alternative option of transferring selected sections as a series of stills, which acts as a high-compression "placeholder" for the original.
Recent events (increase in processor speed, lower cost terabyte disk storage, RAID drive functionality, etc.) have made it easier to store the ISO files directly to hard drive, in effect creating large-scale DVD media servers. Playback of these ISO files can be done directly on a network connected computer running a virtual DVD ROM emulator (like Daemon Tools Lite), or even through open source media systems (like XBMC).
DVD Shrink also has other uses. In particular, the 8-cm discs produced by the new DVD-based video camcorders are not fully compatible with all computers and DVD players; "ripping" them with DVD Shrink (or a similar program) and re-recording them to standard-sized DVDs is a quick and very effective solution to this problem. It also allows the recorded footage to be used with drives that do not support 8-cm discs, such as slot-loading drives (often used in Apple Macintosh computers).
Due to new copy protections that have come along since the final edition of DVD Shrink, backups may need the help of one or more other programs such as DVD Decrypter, DVDFab, DVD43 or AnyDVD.
Legal status
On August 17, 2005 the official DVD Shrink website was updated to say that the site "is no more!", prompting many sites to mirror the latest DVD Shrink version and offer it for download. This was a result of DVD Shrink's web host receiving a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice, as compromising limits on the accessibility of a copyrighted work is prohibited in many cases under the laws of the United States, specifically the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.[5] Shortly after, the website was restored, and a search box was put in place of the download link. DVD Shrink is now available from the official web page again, as it is available from many other sites on the Internet as well, and it suggests finding a download source using a general web search, "DVD Shrink".
In some countries, the software in itself is illegal under applicable laws pertaining to copyrighted content. German law, for instance, while allowing the manufacture of copies of copyrighted digital material for personal, non-commercial use, dictates that it is illegal to circumvent mechanisms that prevent copying. Therefore, the use of any software enabling a user to work around copyright restrictions such as CSS is against the law in Germany.[citation needed]
Scams
The final versions are 3.2.0.15 (English) and 3.2.0.16 (German); all other versions are scams.[6] The "official website" (dvdshrink.org) is not operated by the original developers. Alternate sites like Softpedia have been providing a clean, adware-free download of DVDShrink for a decade. A list of checksums for other valid DVD Shrink versions is available at the DVD Shrink Forum as well as at the doom9 forum.
Warez is a common computing and broader cultural term referring to pirated software that is distributed via the Internet. Warez is used most commonly as a noun, a plural form of ware, and is intended to be pronounced like the word wares. The circumvention of copy protection (cracking) is an essential step in generating warez, and based on this common mechanism, the software-focused definition has been extended to include other copyright-protected materials, including movies and games. The global array of warez groups has been referred to as "The Scene", deriving from its earlier description as "the warez scene". Distribution and trade of copyrighted works without payment of fees or royalties generally violates national and international copyright laws and agreements. The term warez covers supported as well as unsupported (abandonware) items, and legal prohibitions governing creation and distribution of warez cover both profit-driven and "enthusiast" generators and distributors of such items.
The DVD Copy Control Association is an organization primarily responsible for the copy protection of DVDs. The Content Scramble System (CSS) was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult, but also presents obstacles to some legitimate uses of the media. The association is also responsible for the controversial Regional Playback Control (RPC), the region encoding scheme which gives movie studios geographic control over DVD distribution.
An optical disc image is a disk image that contains everything that would be written to an optical disc, disk sector by disc sector, including the optical disc file system. ISO images contain the binary image of an optical media file system, including the data in its files in binary format, copied exactly as they were stored on the disc. The data inside the ISO image will be structured according to the file system that was used on the optical disc from which it was created.
Optical disc authoring, including CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc authoring, is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded ("burned") onto an optical disc. This act is sometimes done illegally, by pirating copyrighted material without permission from the original artists.
K3b is a CD, DVD and Blu-ray authoring application by KDE for Unix-like computer operating systems. It provides a graphical user interface to perform most CD/DVD burning tasks like creating an Audio CD from a set of audio files or copying a CD/DVD, as well as more advanced tasks such as burning eMoviX CD/DVDs. It can also perform direct disc-to-disc copies. The program has many default settings which can be customized by more experienced users. The actual disc recording in K3b is done by the command line utilities cdrecord or cdrkit, cdrdao, and growisofs. As of version 1.0, K3b features a built-in DVD ripper.
Ripping is the extraction of digital content from a container, such as a CD, onto a new digital location. Originally, the term meant to rip music from Commodore 64 games. Later, the term was applied to ripping WAV or MP3 files from digital audio CDs, and after that to the extraction of contents from any storage media, including DVD and Blu-ray discs, as well as the extraction of video game sprites.
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CloneDVD is a proprietary DVD cloning software, developed by Elaborate Bytes, that can be used to make backup copies of any DVD movie not copy-protected. The program is able to transcode a dual layer DVD movie to fit it onto a DVD-R, DVD+R or DVD+R DL disc. Users also have the choice to strip audio streams, subtitles and chapters. This is called customize. For example, users can edit and delete certain parts of a DVD that they don't want burned, such as the main menu, bonus features, commentary, or certain scenes from the actual DVD. By moving a quality bar the user can make the DVD fit its target medium.
ImgBurn is an optical disc authoring program that allows the recording of many types of CD, DVD and Blu-ray images to recordable media. Starting with version 2.0.0.0, ImgBurn can also burn files and data directly to CD or DVD. It is written in C++. It supports padding DVD-Video files so the layer break occurs on a proper cell boundary.
K9Copy is a free and open-source DVD backup and DVD authoring program for Unix-like operating systems such as Linux and BSD. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License.
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BD+ is a component of the Blu-ray Disc digital rights management system. It was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their Self-Protecting Digital Content concept. Its intent was to prevent unauthorized copies of Blu-ray discs and the playback of Blu-ray media using unauthorized devices.
Brasero is a free and open-source disc-burning program for Unix-like operating systems, it serves as a graphical front-end to cdrtools, cdrskin, growisofs, and (optionally) libburn. Licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVDs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu-ray Disc, before eventually both were replaced by streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and an MPEG-2 decoder. Commercial DVD movies are encoded using a combination of MPEG-2 compressed video and audio of varying formats. Typically, the data rate for DVD movies ranges from 3 to 9.5 Mbit/s, and the bit rate is usually adaptive. DVD-Video was first available in Japan on November 1, 1996, followed by a release on March 26, 1997, in the United States—to line up with the 69th Academy Awards that same day.
AcetoneISO is a free and open-source virtual drive software to mount and manage image files. Its goals are to be simple, intuitive and stable. Written in Qt, this software is meant for all those people looking for a "Daemon Tools for Linux". However, AcetoneISO does not emulate any copy protection while mounting.
XBMC4Xbox is a free and open source media player software made solely for the first-generation Xbox video-game console. The software was forked from the XBMC project after XBMC removed support for the Xbox console. Other than the audio / video playback and media center functionality, XBMC4Xbox also has the ability to catalog and launch original Xbox games, and homebrew applications such as console emulators from the Xbox's built-in harddrive.
AppleDisk Image is a disk image format commonly used by the macOS operating system. When opened, an Apple Disk Image is mounted as a volume within the Finder.
DVD Shrink on Softpedia - Provides an alternate legitimate, adware-free download.
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