settings reference

Settings Reference

RVZStudio exposes a small set of settings that control output size, conversion speed and how files are organized. All settings are per-run; the application does not persist them between sessions.

Conversion settings

These options live under Compression Settings on the Convert to RVZ tab.

Compression method

Method	Level range	Engine	Typical use
zstd (default)	1 – 22	RVZSharp	Best overall balance of speed and size
zlib	1 – 9	DolphinTool only	Maximum compatibility
lzma	1 – 9	RVZSharp	Excellent compression, slow
lzma2	1 – 9	RVZSharp	Excellent compression, slow
bzip2	1 – 9	RVZSharp	Alternative to zlib/lzma
lz4	1 – 12	DolphinTool only	Fastest conversion, larger files

When a method that RVZSharp cannot write is selected (zlib, lz4), the conversion always uses DolphinTool. For the other methods RVZStudio first tries the native engine and transparently falls back to DolphinTool if the library reports a problem.

Compression level

The slider range adapts to the selected method (see the table above). Higher levels compress better but take longer. If you switch to a method with a smaller range, the level is clamped automatically.

Memory: the highest zstd levels (20 – 22) use much more memory than the default level 5. RVZStudio 2.5.1 updates the native engine (RVZSharp 1.1.1) so the encoder is sized to the block being compressed instead of reserving the level's full window, which keeps level 22 usable on typical machines. If the system still runs out of memory, the conversion falls back to DolphinTool automatically and logs the reason instead of reporting an error.

Block size

The block size is the granularity at which the RVZ container stores compressed data.

Block size	Notes
32 KB	Best random access, slightly worse compression
64 KB
128 KB (default)	Recommended balance
256 KB
512 KB
1 MB	Better compression
2 MB	Best compression, coarser random access

Recommended presets

Goal	Method	Level	Block size
Balanced (default)	zstd	5	128 KB
Smallest files	lzma2	9	2 MB
Fastest conversion	lz4	1	32 KB
Maximum compatibility	zlib	9	128 KB

General settings — Convert tab

Option	Default	Description
Delete original files after conversion	Off	Permanently deletes each source file (including archives) after it converts successfully. Use with caution.
Scrub non-game Wii partitions (update/channel)	Off	Zeroes the data of non-game Wii partitions before encoding, making RVZ files smaller. Ignored for GameCube discs.

General settings — Verify tab

Option	Default	Description
Move failed RVZ files to '_Failed' subfolder	Off	Moves files that fail verification into _Failed.
Move successful RVZ files to '_Success' subfolder	Off	Moves verified files into _Success.
Include subfolders	Off	Searches for RVZ files recursively and refreshes the list when toggled.

General settings — Extract tab

Option	Default	Description
Delete original RVZ files after extraction	Off	Deletes the source RVZ after a successful extraction.
Output Format	ISO	Target format: ISO, WBFS, GCZ, WIA, CISO or TGC.

All output formats are written natively by RVZSharp. DolphinTool is used as a fallback for the formats it supports (ISO, WBFS, GCZ, WIA); CISO and TGC are RVZSharp-only.

Behavior that is always on

Some safeguards are not configurable:

• Same-folder protection — input and output folders must differ and must not be nested.
• Existing output handling — conversions skip files whose RVZ output already exists.
• Disc header pre-validation — before the native encoder runs, RVZStudio checks the GameCube/Wii disc magic on ISO/GCM files and the real container magic on WBFS/GCZ/WIA/CISO/ TGC/NFS files. Unrecognized data is routed to DolphinTool instead of producing a broken RVZ.
• Automatic fallback — any RVZSharp failure falls back to DolphinTool for that file (where DolphinTool supports the operation) and the batch continues.

Related pages

• User Guide — where to find each option.
• Architecture — how the engines and fallback work internally.