Summary: DVD Shrink is a software program used to make backups of DVD movies. Using DVD Shrink, you can read data from one DVD then write it to a blank DVD or to your hard drive. The copied disc can be played in standalone DVD players or computers that contain a DVD-ROM with the appropriate DVD player software. Part 4 deals with using DVD Shrink to make a backup of a DVD movie disc.

Note: This tutorial may not be used to illegally reproduce copyrighted materials. American readers should review the Digital Millennium Copyright Act before attempting to circumvent any form of copy protection.

The following steps illustrate how to make a full backup of a DVD (or mounted DVD Image) using DVD Shrink.

1. Insert the DVD disc into a DVD-ROM (or, if you are using disc images, mount the disc image in a virtual drive). Start DVD Shrink and click on the Open Disc button



2. Select the drive containing the DVD or DVD image. Click on the Ok button



3. [optional] Select the region of your DVD drive (typically this will match the region in which you are located. Exceptions may include cases where you are exclusively backing up DVD’s from a different region). Click on the OK button



4. Wait for DVD Shrink to complete an analysis of the DVD disc. If this process takes more than 2 minutes or generates an error message, DVD Shrink may not be able to read the copy protection on the disc. In this case, please see the section titled “In Action: DVD Backup using Disc Images”



5. Verify the content of the DVD title. Note the compression ratio on the Compression Settings tab. A higher number indicates better video quality. Typically a compression ratio of 75% or greater will result in video output with little visible quality loss. One good way to boost the compression ratio is to remove unwanted audio tracks by deactivating the check boxes under the “Audio” label. Generally speaking, it is safe to remove director commentary channels and foreign language channels. Click on the Backup! button when verification is complete.





6. Click on the Target Device tab.
   • To burn directly to a blank DVD, select a DVD burner listed under “Burn with Nero”. Ensure that a blank DVD is in the burner before selecting this option (Nero Burning ROM must be installed to use this feature)
   • To create an ISO image for later burning (or mounting) select ISO Image File. (make sure hard drive has at least 5GB free)
   • To create DVD files for use with a software authoring program, select Hard Disk Folder then select an output folder. (make sure hard drive has at least 5GB free)



7. Click on the Quality Settings tab. Verify that both deep analysis and high quality adaptive error compensation are activated. Select Sharp (default) from the drop-down box under “DVD Shrink 3.2 Quality Enhancements”. Click on the OK button to start encoding.





8. Wait for DVD Shrink to create the output. Transcoding can take anywhere from 15 minutes (if no compression is required) to several hours. CPU speed and memory capacity are factors in transcoding speed. DVD Shrink will indicate when the process is complete.