| Date |
News |
| 6/30 |
OggMachine 0.5 supports BeSweet's external plugins and comes packed
with libvorbis.dll.
I've finally gotten the Abit
AT7 mainboard which I've mentioned a while back. Another step
towards a completely legacy free PC :) Considering that I got 8
USB ports, 2 Firewire ports, 4 channel IDE RAID, Lan and 6ch audio
onboard (including SPDIF out) giving up the serial/parallel/PS2
ports sounds like a fair deal, especially since I didn't use any
besides the PS2 keyboard connector (but the new Logitech USB keyboard
is pretty nice). If only Abit would've had the courage to go all
the way and dump the mother of all legacy devices, the floppy disc
controller, too, I would be even happier. Hopefully the next incarnation
of the MAX series (KT400 anyone?) will go that extra inch (and in
the process also make the SPDIF input mandatory which is sadly missing
on my board).
|
| 6/28 |
IfoUpdate 0.43 also updates the VTS_TMAPTI
table and updates the cell entry points properly. And it seems that
BeSweet users can get an
additional speed boost using mitiok's lame compiles. |
| 6/27 |
VobSub 2.16's Submux will no longer loose any streams,
DVobSub supports the HTML tags allowed in ogm subtitles and localized
resources are now stored in external dlls. DVD2SVCD
1.0.9b3 supports MPEG2 multichannel audio (requires that you use
I-Author for the CD image creation and your hardware must be capable
of handling that sound format, most DVD players on the market cannot
handle MPEG2 MC audio, especially not when it's on an SVCD), you can
now change the order of TemporalSmoother, Sharpen and Resize, DVD
Half width size (352x480/576) is supported and there's a
lot of bugfixes. |
| 6/26 |
BeSweet 1.4b12 has an improved (or corrected?) DS2 downmix
as discussed in the forum.
TMPG
2.56 defaults to bottom field first for DV sources, TGA input
support has been improved and the AVI output has been improved. |
| 6/25 |
BeSweetGUI 0.6b51 contains more profiles and supports
Dolby Digital WAVs. Xiph.org, the creators of Ogg, have announced
project
Theora. Xiph will start extending the open source VP3 codec by
On2 to create an integrated, open source, royalty free digital A/V
solution (using Ogg Vorbis for the audio part). The project should
be ready within 12 months. |
| 6/24 |
ZoomPlayer
2.70b2 has been released. The link will take you to the changelog
including download locations. DVD Decrypter 3.1.1.0 has improved IFO
parsing (only shows streams present in a PGC), patching IFO/BUP files
during ripping is possible (including RCE removal in ISO mode), you
can now ignore read errors or set how many retries you want if a sector
can't be read, there's ASAPI support, semi automatic destination path
generation, in IFO mode the delay value is added to the filename and
a chapter file for OggMux is created and last but not least there's
some bugfixes. |
| 6/23 |
BeSweet 1.4b11 supports VOB input again and OggMachine
0.46 fixes various little bugs that have been discovered. |
| 6/22 |
I did a mini-update to the DVD
ripper comparison. The only new program I tested was DVD Decrypter.
But since it's the program that has been improved the most I guess
it deserved that update. I'll have a look at the rest of the rippers
when my finals are done. BeSweet 1.4b9 integrates the DS2 downmix
plugin, OggMachine 0.4 has a switch to auto-set the delay. |
| 6/21 |
I have written a brand new DVD Decrypter
guide, covering almost every little detail that there is to
know about the program. If you find some settings that look different
than in your DVD Decrypter version don't worry, I was using the
yet to be released 3.1.1.0 version of DVD Decrypter. And as the
translation teams to over my complete site there's always little
changes I have to make, relink stuff, remove old guides. I've started
adding timestamps to the various documents I edit so you'll know
right away when something has been changed. I've also taken some
old guides from the main guide pages and put it on the new Old Guides
page. The German
translation has a "new" URL as the redirector is currently
off-line. And there's now also a French
translation project starting up. Don't hesitate to volunteer
;)
Mode2 CD Maker 1.4 is a lot faster, supports wildcards, subdirectories
for mode2, has an option to keep the original extension for mode2
files and a more compatible .Cue file structure.
|
| 6/20 |
I've updated the OggMachine guide. The German
translation project is coming along nicely but we wouldn't mind
getting more volunteers. There's also a Spanish
translation project starting up. Volunteers please report to the
email address provided on that page or use the
forum. |
| 6/19 |
OggMachine 0.3 supports silence insertion, partial encoding
and contains some fixes. |
| 6/18 |
OggMachine 0.2 supports the DS2 downmix plugin, allows
you to select between Gain and PostGain along with setting the thread
priority. Then I was asked by the admin of labdv.com
- where DVDx is hosted, but where you have to get a $12 VIP pass to
access the official homepage - to remove DVDx 2.0. You can find more
info about this in the
forum. |
| 6/17 |
BeSweet 1.4b7 supports the Dolby Surround 2 downmix plugin via
the azid commandline parameters ( -azid( -s surround2 ) ).
Then there's something for all German readers: We've started a
page where you can find my guides translated to German. Right now
there's only a small number of guides but we're hoping that having
such a page will encourage other German speaking people to come
forward and help translate even more guides. If you're interested
in helping out or just want to see what has been translated so far
visit the official
German Doom9 site.
|
| 6/16 |
VobSub 2.15 has new commandline parameters for the cutter,
enhanced ASS format, Submux can handle OGM input and output, Subresynch
can export VobSub subs to ASS, OCR subs, export to Scenarist/DVDMaestro
format and last but not least DirectVobSub supports ASS subs, you
can force fps for playback and the property pages have been redesigned. |
| 6/15 |
I've added MP4UI to the software archive. For those who
don't know it's a GUI for the MPEG4IP tools. BeSplit 0.7 can handle
AAC files. BeSweet 1.4b6 fixes a problem with Dolby Digital WAV files.
BeSure 1.2 fixes the
index out of bound error and supports the creation of Dolby Digital
CDs. I've also updated the BeSure guide
to reflect the changes in the new BeSure version. DivxManager
0.9 now allows you to store DVD information (like region, etc.),
the database is faster, the covers save procedure has been improved,
import for additional websites has been added along with asp output. |
| 6/14 |
ZoomPlayer
2.7b1 is out. The changelog is long as usual, but what I found
most exciting is that there's OGM/VobSub support built-in now and
finally you won't have to uninstall one of the two subtitle filters
when watching a movie. And there's some interesting news regarding
DivX
playback on the Xbox. |
| 6/13 |
Small update to the XCD guide.
Apparently using the .Ogm extension on the CD causes some filter problems
and the Riff CD/XA filter is no longer used and thus playback would
not work. IfoUpdate is a small utility that will update the original
.Ifo with the PGC/cell structure of the Scenarist generated IFO (IfoEdit&
CCE method). Then there's another .Srt
to Scenarist subtitle script converter. TMPG
2.55 has OpenDML AVI output, an indicator in the project wizard
that will warn you if your project will require more HD space than
you have, seek speed of AVI input has been improved, the DAR flag
should now be set properly even if you change the system stream format
and there's a couple more bugfixes. DVDx 2.0 has a skinned and resizeable
GUI, buttons for easier use, fixes for stream handling, MPA decoder,
decoder initialization and W2K/WinXP shutdown, 48KHz audio support
for AVI output, a new version of nlame.dll and improved AV synch.
Note that I've removed the VideoServer plugin package from the zipfile
in order to reduce the amount of traffic. If you already have the
old version you should already have these files, otherwise get the
package from the download page. |
| 6/12 |
I've updated the BeSweet guides to
use the profiles that the latest GUI comes with. Audio encoding has
become even easier now. I've also updated the Mode2
CD guide to now use the new Mode 2 CD Maker GUI which makes things
much easier and supports the additional features of v1.3. |
| 6/11 |
BeSplit 0.6 now allows you to extract the AC3 stream
from Dolby Digital WAVs. And those of you having problems getting
the subtitle colors right using the CCE & IfoEdit re-encoding
method you might find Eyes'Only's
DVD subtitle guide useful. Last but not least there's BeSweet
1.4b5 which can finally transcode AC3 sources to 2.0 AC3 (there was
a bug in that configuration in previous builds). |
| 6/10 |
I've written a new AC3 transcoding guide based on AC3Machine.
It also tells you how to create Dolby Digital audio CDs. I've also
mentioned AC3Machine in the (S)VCD
to DVD-R guide as it's now possible to convert the audio to AC3
for such projects. Jackei has come back and released DVD2AVI
1.77.1. It's mostly interesting for P4 owners as it has SSE-2
optimized MPEG-2 decoding. AviUtl 0.98a supports YUV2 input and output,
improvements in the way profiles are being handled, a better ghost
removal filter, improved automatic IVTC and a lot of bugfixes. The
RIFF CD/XA filter 6b has a new install script that should be W9x/ME
compatible. MP4UI
is a GUI for the mpeg4IP tools. It allows you to open and create MPEG4
files, add, delete and extract tracks, view info of MPEG4 files and
comes with an installer. |
| 6/9 |
SubRip 1.00 now has SSA v4.0 output,
all subtitle streams are shown by default upon clicking the open dir
button, text styles (italic, bold and underlined) can now be stored,
chars wider than 45 pixels are now properly supported and the synch
problems when ripping VobSub subtitles should be fixed. AC3Machine
0.3 adds WAV/MPx input, 2.0ch AC3 output and Dolby Digital WAV output
(for AC3 audio CDs). In order to use the new features you'll need
BeSweet 1.4b3. Koepi has written an application
that can set the BtWinCap BT8x8 driver into compatibility mode
so it won't crash when using applications like DScaler, MoreTV, borgTV,
etc. anymore. It has been tested on W2K and WinXP. |
| 6/8 |
BeSweet 1.4b1 is an update to v1.3 (version 1.3 is required, this
package is just an update) and it supports AC3 encoding and adds
the -6ch switch to the plugin selection. A GUI called AC3Machine
is also available.
In other news Microsoft has made a public
statement against the CBDTPA (the act that would require every
electronic device to contain DRM technology). It is interesting
that a company that is pushing anti software piracy efforts on a
worldwide scale and is working on their own DRM solutions is actually
against a government imposed DRM solution.
|
| 6/7 |
BeSweet 1.3 is out and it features an enhanced plugin
interface and supports external encoders. BeSweet GUI beta50 fixes
all reported bugs. |
| 6/6 |
Mozilla 1.0 was released
today. If you don't like to use MS IE you might want to give it
a shot. I've tested mozilla extensively since RC1 (replacing IE6
as my default browser) and it worked pretty well on almost every
webpage. However, don't expect the same quality from an open source
1.0 than from a commercial 1.0.. Personally I wouldn't have released
the browser as it is and there are a few issues that are extremely
annoying and un-userfriendly, especially for people coming from
IE6. Here are just two issues: multiple
mail accounts in Mozmail and linewrapping
behavior in the browser. If you have a bugzilla account don't
forget to vote for these issues. And while you're at it there's
a good enhancement
request for the download manager.
For those expecting some ripping news, I'm afraid there is nothing
new today :/
|
| 6/5 |
BeSweet1.3RC3 comes with a new lame_enc.dll and has been compiled
using a different compiler (may be faster now). The GUI has also
been updated, it now supports post-gain assertion for Ogg Vorbis,
thread priority selection, DRC algo selection in Graphs, a new DRC
algorithm, properly named aif output, support for BeSweet profiles,
support for 5.1ch WAV output and some W98 related problems should
be resolved. Then I've bundled BeSplit 0.52 with Wbias 0.8, the
official GUI for BeSplit. BeSplit is a WAV/AC3/MPx cutting and fixing
program and can also remove WAV headers of audio streams extracted
from AVIs and fix some playback problems of WAVs and VBR MP3s.
Apple has released a public
preview of Quicktime 6. The new version supports the MP4 fileformat,
MPEG-4 video, AAC audio and a new skip protection to prevent interruptions
in streaming media.
|
| 6/3 |
100fps.com has a nice article
on interlacing and how to fix it. The same guy has also written
an aspect
ratio calculator. DSPGuru has started a page
for BeSweet plugins, right now there's a fade-in plugin and a
noise gate effect plugin. Last but not least the people in my forum
have found a way to get AC3
into ogm. Right now it works only for one audio track but it's
a start, isn't it? |
| 6/2 |
ImgTool 0.89 includes VOB mux and demux
functionality. The dlls alone are required to create an image in IfoEdit
but you can use the standalone edition if you prefer to. |
| 6/1 |
DVD
Genie 4.10 supports WinDVD4 and CoolDVD2.4 and allows (un)registering
of the PowerDVD filters. AviSplitCalc
4.32 corrects the large filesize bug. TMPG
2.54a fixes an audio reading problem when using VFAPI. OggMux
0.8.5 now splits properly at 640MB, the GUI is non blocking, the
muxing process can be stopped and 800MB has been added as another
splitsize. And I've updated the Mode2 CD Maker GUI to the latest
version which supports the latest Mode2 CD Maker.
|