DVD Shrink

Is there an equivalent of this for Mac?

Even if there were, I would not be able to discuss it with you. DVD Shrink breaks copy protection which is illegal here in the US under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If this is for LEGAL use and not to break copy protection, Roxio toast will shrink to fit on the DVD you are burning. It's not for illegal use and will not work for that.

I used to use that app for videos I made to make them fix, but with Toast on OSX I no longer have to.

Well, it can be used to break protection, if it's integrated with another software component. But DVD Shrink simply compresses a dual-layer DVD down to a single layer 4.7GB DVD. That in and of itself is not illegal, depending on the content it's being used with.

Toast can do this on-the-fly. That's the easiest to use product on the Mac that I've stumbled upon for this kind of task, although I am aware of others.

Agree completely with Chris. I used to use DVD shrink for that. Back in the 10.3-10.4 days there was an App for OSX that worked just like DVD Shrink but I am not sure it's made any longer and Toast does it on the Fly like Chris said. Worth the $$$.

Not exactly true about DVD Shrink. Read the Wiki definition: LINK My understanding is what it's used for is illegal under the DMC. It's primarily use is for shrinking dual layer movies or music videos to fit on a 4.7 GB standard DVD.

A lot of things (tools) can be used for both Legal and Illegal use. If the OP is wishing to do Illegal DVD ripping, then no help will be provided. Toast will not do that but will shrink just fine.

chscag said:

Not exactly true about DVD Shrink. Read the Wiki definition: LINK My understanding is what it's used for is illegal under the DMC. It's primarily use is for shrinking dual layer movies or music videos to fit on a 4.7 GB standard DVD.

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Back in the day when I was using it, you needed a codec called DVD Decryptor that DVD Shrink was designed to incorporate. When the Feds cracked down, they went after DVD Decryptor, but DVD Shrink was left untouched. At that point, DVD Shrink kind of faded into ubiquity as pirates moved onto other, more up-to-date solutions (which I won't get into here). Perhaps the DVD Shrink authors went on to incorporate another solution, if they did, I wasn't aware of it.

Chris, that is what I remember also, that you needed DVD Decryptor to make it do ripping from commercial DVD's.

Sorry Charlie, I don't mean to pick nits - just wanted you to understand my reasoning.

I am hoping the OP comes back and states just what he is trying to do. It could be legal use like movies he is working on. I have gone over 4.7GB many times with the finished edit.

I well remember the combo - DVD Decrypter and Shrink. Chris is right as they were used together to remove copy protection and at the same time compress or shrink DL movie or video to a standard DVD size.

I have a DVD in poor condition that was assembled some years back on VHS. I no longer have any means to play VHS and the DVD is succombing to the climate here. I want to use DVD Shrink to create a *.iso file from it.

As to what is "legal", there is no absolute on legality, and I routinely and legally do things in both Britain and here in Belize which seem to be illegal in the US. Not for any proper reason, but because the industry has a lot of muscle.

Is there a forum or equivalent for Macs that is not based in the USA, so can freely discuss what is possible without getting hamstrung by what local laws may or may not permit?

Laws vary from country to country. What's illegal here may well be legal in the UK and Canada. An example of that is making a backup copy of a DVD movie you purchased. Not legal here in the US but legal in the UK and I understand Canada.

I don't know of any Mac forums based outside the US but I'm sure some must exist.

peterbj7 said:

I have a DVD in poor condition that was assembled some years back on VHS. I no longer have any means to play VHS and the DVD is succombing to the climate here. I want to use DVD Shrink to create a *.iso file from it.

Click to expand...

If that's all you need to do, Disk Utility (built right into your system) can accomplish this. Insert the disc, select it from the left window pane and then click New Image.

By default, this will create a DMG file (the Mac's native disc image format), however, this can be easily converted to ISO if you so choose.

Here's a lot more information:

How To Create Windows-Compatible ISO Disc Images on Mac OS X

That last may be exactly what I need - I'll try it later. Thanks so much.

Well, I tried Disk Utility and it doesn't want to read the disc. DVD player plays it just fine. Any further ideas?

peterbj7 said:

Well, I tried Disk Utility and it doesn't want to read the disc. DVD player plays it just fine. Any further ideas?

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Remind me again what kind of disc we're talking about? Is this a commercial DVD? It seemed like you were talking about a homemade disc that was comprised of footage from VHS tapes.

The latter - a homemade disk assembled from VHS clips. it plays in DVD Player, though errors are reported shortly after the start. Disk Utility seems to pause for a while without generating any output, then closes itself.

peterbj7 said:

The latter - a homemade disk assembled from VHS clips. it plays in DVD Player, though errors are reported shortly after the start. Disk Utility seems to pause for a while without generating any output, then closes itself.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought. Is there physical damage to the disc?