DVD Shrink

Your DVD collection deteriorates normally with use. DVD Shrink is a great option for you to make copies of your discs, remove subtitles and dubbed languages that you do not use and make edits, cutting pieces of the video and inserting others that are recorded on your hard disk.

It is also possible to make a complete copy, with the entire structure of the DVD, into the HD, and record an ISO image so that you can later use it with a recording software. In addition, you can compress the movie so that it fits into media with fewer spaces, such as a regular CD, for example. There are two basic modes of using DVD Shrink: Full Disc and Re-author. See below how to use each one.

Copying a disc or parts of it

With the Full Disc button active, click the Open Disc button. A window will open showing all disks of all optical drives installed on the PC. Choose the one you want to extract and click OK.

DVD Shrink previews the DVD and then shows its structure. Note that there will be a green bar just below the button bar. This bar shows the size occupied by the DVD after its extraction. As you make changes, the size may be reduced. The bar is very useful so you know if the media on which you intend to record the result has enough space.

On the left side of the program you will see two frames. What is above shows the DVD data in the form of folder structure. Just below is a miniDVD player so that you preview the videos and know exactly what is being changed.

The right side of the interface changes according to the selected folder. The first item (Video) allows you to select the compression options of the images on your disc. The higher the compression, the less space after the copy and the lower the quality of the video. Just below is the Audio option. All DVD audio options are listed so you can choose which ones to insert or remove. In Subpicture you hold or remove captions.

Once you have made all the changes, click "Backup!" to open rescue options. In this step you define the output format and the location where you want it to be written. Finally, click OK to have DVD Shrink perform the task.

Remaking the DVD your way

With the Re-author tool, you can edit the disc by cutting entire scenes of the movie and inserting your own videos in the middle to give your movie a touch. This tool is very useful for creating custom videos and publishing on YouTube, for example (even because YouTube is already widescreen and supports high resolutions).

You will notice that when you click the "Re-author" button, the interface changes slightly. On the left side of the window are only the pieces of the DVD you select. On the right side is the structure of the DVD. In the Compression Settings tab you change the same options that you changed in Full Disc mode and the DVD Browser tab allows you to navigate through the structure of the DVD, or even within the folders on your hard disk, to insert other videos to your creation.

By simply dragging the videos from the right frame to the left frame, you insert them into the project. Then, right-click on the item you added and select the Set Star / End frames option.

A window will open to set the points at the time the video will be cut. When finished, click OK and then Backup! to display the save options, which are the same as Full Disc mode.

DVD Shrink is one of the most used and one of the download champions in Baixaki. This is no coincidence, since it is a versatile DVD backup program. Although it has a somewhat confusing interface at first, after a short while, you notice that there is no mystery in using the program.

One of the coolest functions is the Re-author mode: creating videos your way, cutting out pieces you do not want and inserting other videos is the most interesting, since photo sharing is no longer new.