Use Winzip / WinRar to compress Dual Layer DVD into 4.7GB DVD

[rock_king_my]

Hi

This is a wierd question, NOT about DVD/VCD related software.

I want to compress some of my dual layer DVD collection (i.e. >4.7GB disc) to fit into a regular single layer disc (4.7GB).

This is purely for storage/back-up purposes, I know you canNOT player ZIP/RAR files on a DVD player / software!

I tried reading the HELP! files for WINZIP & WINRAR & I still don't know if it's possible.

How far can WINZIP or WINRAR compress a file / folder anyway?

If possible, somebody please to a guide!

CHEERS!

[Chewy]

winzip/winrar will not compress video files

[rock_king_my]

Oh .. bugger!

Hi

Ok but are are there any software that do this?

What about that thing called RATDVD?

[Chewy]

use dvdshrink to edit out extras and compress to single layer size

use dvdrebuilder to keep more stuff and compress more

dvd's on average hold 7-8 gigs of already compressed mpeg2 video, I have heard uncompressed it's maybe 10 times that size

[blutach]

MPEG Video is already highly compressed. Because of the nature of MPEG2, there are few repeated "strings"; therefore not lending itself easily to compression via ZIP. Some things compress well - credits for example.

Regards

[anonymez]

What about that thing called RATDVD?

quality is lost in the process. and to play it on a standalone you must encode back to mpeg2, further degrading quality

if you want a dvd5 you're better off using dvd rebuilder and/or stripping unwanted extras as mentioned

winzip/winrar will not compress video files

uncompressed video compresses quite well

[Calimari]

This is purely for storage/back-up purposes
CHEERS!

This is what I sometimes do. When you've ripped the original, and checked everything for compliancy (check in Media Player Classic for example), you could RAR the whole folder. Your video won't be compressed any further. As blutah said, DVD video signal is mpg2 so already highly compressed.
But! In Winrar you have an option to split your archive to volumes. One predefined volume is DVD+R 4481MB. So you'll end up with two rar files. The first one being about 4481Mb, the second one containing all the rest.
With the cheap prices these days for single layer media, this is a good solution to store the original, a lot cheaper than bying a dual layer disc. So burn the rar's to two single layer discs. You can't play it, only store it. Whenever you decide to do something with it (edit, transcode, encode, DivX, XviD,...), unrar the rar files to your harddrive and you're back to where you started: your original rip.
Oh, don't make a self extractor of it. I've experienced problems with that, probably because the archive is bigger than 1GB, I don't know...
It's also a good idea to check 'put recovery record' when backing up to optical media, gives less chance on read errors and you have to burn two discs anyway.

Good luck.