Once again a year has passed by faster than we thought. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved in creating this site, starting with the people providing the hosting, people administrating servers and forum, the forum moderation team, all the programmers who have created all these little tools we use on a daily basis, the people who have made a donation one way or another, people submitting suggestions, corrections or simply sending a thank you letter and last but not least YOU! That's right, every visitor - without visitors there's no site so thank you so much for coming here and I hope to see you again in 2003.

And to celebrate the new year I've worked a bit on the VobSub guides all over the place and I've written an introductory article to digital video. It starts out with how TVs work, explains why we store video the way we do, tells you what interlaced and progressive is and finishes in IVTC and deinterlacing.

Today I came across an XviD clip that would be played back with horrible artifacts using my default filter (ffdshow). I downloaded the latest ffdshow alpha and all problems are gone so I thought why not put the latest alpha online.

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a new laser which eventually could lead to 16x DVD burners. The 200 miliwatt device which should be commercially available in 2004 could reduce burning times to a mere 3.5 minutes. As an intermediate step 140 miliwatt lasers which are already well underway to being marketed should bring 8x recording by mid 2003.

I've completely rewritten the AVI/AC3 guide. Using AviMux we should have less playback problems and thanks to the AC3Filter playback filter SPDIF is easier to get. Then I've written a small document on forced subs in VobSub.

SubToSup is a small tool that can convert VobSub subtitles to the sup format required for IfoEdit DVD reauthoring. It's especially useful for multi VOB ID movies (VobEdit resets the timecode to zero once it encounters a new VOB ID, now you can use VobSub to extract the subs, then SubToSup to convert them to an IfoEdit compatible format).

Today I have some more changes in the XviD guide and I've adapted the GKnot guide for DivX3 and DivX5 to GKnot 0.27.

Pioneer has released a new firmware for the A05 burner. According to Pioneer v1.21 improves DVD-R/W readability and writeability and the same for CD-R/W. Most notably the long loading times for CD-Rs should be gone (it was about time, even my A04 has the same problem and every time I insert a disc I fear that this may be the last time my drive operates properly, the noise is really scary). There's also a page giving some more info on writing speeds on Pioneer DVD-R devices.

I spent Christmas day working on guides again. This time I went over the menu stripping guide and the DVD2SVCD guide. I've also written an AVI2SVCD guide based on DVD2SVCD and I'm currently looking into AVI2DVD-R methods.

DoItFast4U 1.03 can demux by Cell ID, supports audio file renaming, duplicate audio files for VOB IDs are now deleted automatically, language track selection has been added, duplicate video and audio files corresponding to the same cell are now deleted when demuxing in cell mode, mpeg2dec.dll has been replaced with mpeg3dec3.dll for faster CCE encoding and the subtitle demux no longer gives inaccurate .Sub files.

Once again, Merry Christmas.

The slow news season has finally started but considering that quite a few people will find a DVD burner under the Christmas tree I thought it was about time to have another look at the IfoEdit guides and I've updated them as far as I could (a bug prevented me to dig into multiangle stuff).

I suppose it varies from family to family but we celebrate Christmas today so Merry Christmas everybody.

The ReClock DirectShow filter can help you get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC. The Ulead Video server allows you to use your favorite MPEG (TMPG, CCE, Nero MPEG encoder, LSX, Mainconcept) or other (WindowsMedia, VirtualDub, Cleaner v5) from any Ulead product. The new firmwares I've announced 2 days ago have been patched to RPC-1 status and to write every media at 2x speed. Get them at the firmware forum. Asus has announced a new DVD burner, the DRW-0402P has the same technical data as the Pioneer A05 - DVD-R/W at 4x/2x, read DVDs at 12x, CD-R/W at 16x/8x and read CDs at 32x. AC3Filter 0.63b should finally fix the SPDIF output problems. Decomb 4.05 fixes a bug in the y0/y1 exclusion band, greatly expands the manual override capability and adds 3 new parameters.

AC3Filter 0.62b allows you to turn off AGC, clips signals on overflow, bugs in seeking, lost timestamps and SPDIF output have been fixed and WaveOut/DirectSound switching on W98 is working better now. Gspot 2.0a fixes a couple of bugs. Gordian Knot 0.27 supports AVI input (but it's experimental at the moment, finally has 100% correct pixel-aspect ration values, it allows you to edit a script manually before doing a comp-check, fast deinterlace uses a more powerful method of deinterlacing, in the options you can specify an alternative for mpeg2dec.dll (that allows you to use the P4 optimized DVD2AVI and the required mpeg2dec.dll), the BeSweet commandlines have been updated and there have been some cosmetic improvements. Now GKnot comes in two packages, the RipPack which contains the main program, the documentation, DVDDecrypter 3.1.4.0 (which replaces SmartRipper), vStrip 0.8d CSS, DVD2AVI 1.76, BeSweet 1.5b8, all AviSynth plugins, VDub 1.4.13 and Nandub 1.0RC2. Then there's the System pack which includes AviSynth 2.07, Huffyuv 0.2.2.1 (CCE-Patch), DivX3.11alpha, DivX5.02, VobSub 2.23 and all required audio playback filters (AC3Filter, mpgaudio.ax and the Morgan Stream Switcher). And then there's an executable only distribution.

Sorensen has announced the Squeeze 3 MPEG-4 codec. It supports MPEG-4 the same MPEG-4 profiles as most other codecs, support AAC audio, one and two pass compression, batch processing, direct DV capture, adjustable playback filters and cropping.

Now I have the changelog for DriveInfo. Version 2.2 shows the drive letter in front of the drive. SubCreator 1.2.0.117 has an automatic line duration adjustment in function of text length and number of words, non English languages should be better supported, there's a multilevel undo feature, a smart timestamp adding function has been added, it is possible to define the amount of time by which a timestamp will be decreased when adding a timestamp during movie playback, it's possible to set a time offset to synchronize movie and subs, there's an interactive line dividing function, the subtitle preview has been improved and last but not least mousewheels are now supported. Pioneer has released new firmware for the A03 and A04 burners. The new firmware releases support 2x writing on 4x media and contain various CD/DVD writeability improvements. For the A04 Sony DVD-Rs are now supported at 2x speed. Pioneer also made a statement on 2x writing capability which you can find on the abovementioned site. It basically outlines why there are so few 2x capable media. Since there's no standard for 2x writeability (but there is for 4x so things should be a lot better once production is ramping up) all DVD-Rs are basically rated for 1x speed (unless they fail to pass the standard tests). In order to support 2x writing the burner needs a customized writing strategy which allows the higher speed without producing useless crap discs.

Protectfairuse.org is a site dedicated to protect fair use in the US.

Now it has finally happened: movie studios are sueing 321studios - maker of DVDXCopy (on which Derrow is working now) - for violation of the DMCA and are asking for an immediate stop of sales and distribution of DVDXCopy. You may know 321studios for their infamous DVD Copy Plus software which is basically a package of freeware software and a guide. After releasing this "software" 321studios went to court challenging the DMCA and seeking a declaration that the product was legal. Now the empire strikes back. In other news Microsoft has released DirectX9 - but before you rush to install it read this thread.

VobSub 2.23's DirectVobSub fixes the double arrow icon and sound keeps playing after closing bug. MPC 6.4.2.0 is the latest Media Player Classic release. Changes to the version I've previously hosted are too many to list but rest assured that the upgrade is worth your while. D2VSource is a filter that allows you to play back .D2v (DVD2AVI Project files) in any DirectShow based media player. Yet Another Temporal Smoother (or yats) 1.1 is a temporal smoother filter for VirtualDub. AC3Filter 0.61 is an open source AC3 playback filter. It supports multichannel (including LFE) playback, SPDIF passthrough, DRC, gain level controls, stereo to multichannel mixing, Dolby Surround/Pro Logic/Pro Logic II downmixing and it has a built-in equalizer. More info about this filter can be found in the forum. There's also a winamp plugin based on AC3Filter which has the same functionality as the filter.

Elcomsoft has been found not guilty to violate the DMCA by distributing a software which removed copy protection on Adobe's e-books. This is the first time a company has been sued under the DMCA and walked. In other DMCA news the Electronic Frontier Foundation is seeking exemptions from the DMCA for copy protected CDs, region coding on DVDs, user option prohibition circumvention on DVDs (the ads you can't skip, etc.) and movies in the public domain released on DVD.

It seems that 4x DVD+Rs are finally reaching the marketplace. I've found the first discs at supermediastore. These discs may be especially interesting for the few owners of the NEC ND-1090A DVD+R/W burner (sold in many countries as ND-1100A - the official name of the upcoming DVD±R/W burner by NEC). Talking about it, the dual format drive will only start shipping at the end of January. Let's hope that in return it will read DVD-9s faster than its major contender, the Sony DRU500A.

On the software side there's SubRip 1.14 which finally fixes the IFO -> VOB stream language assignments, has improved post OCR correction, the maximal subpicture height has been increased to full DVD resolution again and a few language files have been updated. ImgTools 0.99.7 can change filesystem flags, saving actual settings is possible and if reallocation fails you'll be asked if you want to burn without it.

DoItFast4U 1.0 supports demuxing by VOB ID, it can rip subtitles by VOB ID and demux files already on your harddisk, there's a rename engine that has now become the heart of the program, the bugs in the angle demuxing function have been fixed, the logfile now shows some instructions, the no drop frame option has been added for pulldown.exe processing and some workarounds for the missing DVDDecrypter 3.1.5.0 version have been implemented so you no longer will have to manually hack the registry.

I've also found a very interesting article on music piracy. It indicates that the decline on CD sales could be related to a significant reduction in new CDs being released. I cannot tell how accurate this info is and there have been studies showing very different things in the past but I'm sure about one thing: the story is more complex than the RIAA would like us to believe. I also have the English version of the article I linked to yesterday - thanks to a reader - but it's quite a bit shorter. In any case, sentencing is not expected until at least next week.

ImgTool 0.99.5 fixes the phase/longline bug in the log, has better handling of non empty CD/DVD media and the image file will be named the same as the volume label.

Talking about translations there's somebody looking for people willing to set up a Korean Doom9 mirror and there's also a Greek Mirror in preparation.

BeSweet GUI 0.6b66 contains some improvements in the filelist department.

In the DeCSS case there hasn't been a verdict yet. This was due to a last minute change in charges against Jon Johansen. Closing arguments are now to take place on Monday. The Norwegian Aftonposten has more on the subject. On a personal note I find it rather strange that you can change the charges in mid-process but then again I'm studying engineering and not law.

Last but not least the Dutch Doom9 mirror has officially started. Of course they're looking for volunteers to translate so don't be shy...

Sony has released a firmware upgrade for their latest DVD burning which should improve DVD reading speeds and allows the drive to write DVD+Rs at 4x speed (4x rated media is of course required). This makes the DRU-500A the first drive in the market to write both DVD formats at 4x speed. And since you need 4x capable discs to make use of the new feature Verbatim has released their 4x certified DVD+R discs.

Today was the first day of the Norway vs. Johansen case. For those who are unfamiliar with the case the MPAA pressed the Norwegian government to press criminal charges against the creator of DeCSS (btw: Jon Johansen didn't write the program all by himself and many important parts were not written by him which makes this case so ludicrous). For more info visit the EFF site.

DoItFast4U is a program that makes DVD±R reauthoring easy. It can rip DVDs, create DVD2AVI projects, create AviSynth scripts, prepares subtitle processing in SubRip, can run all your files through pulldown.exe and then there's batch renaming.