VirtualDub 1.5.4 shows an estimated bitrate in the file information dialogue and has a workaround for infinite B-frame delay interaction with DivX 5.0.5 Pro and it contains some bugfixes. Intervideo, maker of the famous WinDVD software DVD player, is entering the DVD backup market with DVDCopy, a tool that not only creates DVD±Rs but can also output your favorite movies to (S)VCD and DivX. It retails for $59.95 and a trial version is available.

Then I found some interesting DVD burner information. First of all, NEC's dual format burner, the ND-1300A seems to be virtually identical to the ND-1100A (which initially was supposed to be the dual format burner but due to some naming confusion the +R/W drive was finally launched as the ND-1100A), which might offer some interesting firmware upgrade possibilities ;) And in news that many DVD-R/W owners will not like to hear, Pioneer's next DVD burner, the A06, is going to be a dual format burner. The drive will do the usual: 4x DVD±R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 2x DVD-RW (those discs are currently virtually impossible to get as Pioneer has stopped making them and other manufacturers haven't stepped in yet), 16x CD-R and 10x CD-RW. And while we're at the subject, the Sony DRU510AX has started showing up in local stores. It's the successor of the pretty popular (and often hard to get) DRU500A(X) and has the same technical data as its predecessor except that it writes DVD+RWs at 4x and the 4x RWs seem to be reasonably priced when comparing with high speed DVD-RWs. Last but not least, Waitec has announced the DVD-X4, a DVD player which can also play SVCDs, MP3 CDs, DivX / MPEG4 and has a progressive scan output.

DVDToolbox 0.13.4 fixes a bug in the multiangle area and some new change CD graphics are also available. BeSweet GUI 0.6b76 supports drag & drop of DTS files in batch mode, allows for bit order selection in AC3 output mode, there are some presets for 5.1 output and a CLI bug in the boost section has been fixed. OggMux 0.9.5.0 has improved handling of invalid parameters, the split now allows for video overlap, settings can be saved and loaded and several bugs have been fixed. OGMCalc 0.1 is a small calculator that calculates the 2nd pass size to be used for an XviD encoding session when all audio and subtitle files are present in the same directory. VirtualDub 1.5.3 (hopefully) fixes all the bugs that plagued the 1.5.2 release. Chopper XP 2.6 can extract more advanced types of VOBs, has improved playback functionality and more controls for easy positioning. Last but not least, Tombettworks' channel downmixer is a generic purpose multichannel downmix filter. It can downmix any kind of > 2 channel audio file to 1, 2 or any other channel configuration.

Plextor has announced ConvertX, a hardware MPEG1/2/4 encoder which can be used to encode analogue video and audio input (so you can finally convert your VHS tapes to a useful format).

In other developments, the movie industry has now started attacking more companies selling DVD backup software.

CoreCodec.org and Toff, one of their lead TCMP developers, have unleashed "CoreAAC", a Directshow AAC Filter and the first to have 5.1 Multichannel support. The source code is available on CoreCodec.org and on the CoreAAC project page.

Zoom Player v3.10 RC1 has been released. Changes include better Hardware Color Control, better customized support for AVISynth and bug fixes.

Gspot 2.2 build 030518 has some cosmetic GUI updates to prevent misunderstandings.

aspect is sort of a new approach to a resize calculator: Most resize calculators crop first, then resize to reach the target resolution / aspect ratio. You can usually get much closer to the desired aspect ratio by resizing first, THEN cropping, but that isn't quite so simple to calculate. This is little command line utility takes your input parameters and spits out a list of target resolutions to choose from, along with how best to reach them (crop then resize, or resize then crop, it picks the method with the least error).
Feel free to design a GUI for it as it's a command line tool (sources included).

The capture guide (by BaronVlad, Killingspree and Wilbert) is updated.

The DivX 3.11 firmware for the KISS DP-450 seems to be working, a new link and a discussion can be found in the forum.

AVS2AVI 1.29 should now work correctly with XviD thus making it a requirement for the new version of R4R_ENC 2.0a a tool to use XviD,AVS2AVI and OGGMuxer within Robot4Rip. More about this in the forum.

There are also rumors spreading about a alternate driver for the KISS DP-450 making it possible to play DivX 3.11 but this is not confirmed and the links to the actual driver is dead.

DoCCE4U1.0.1.4 has the filenaming convention revoked to the original, an update in how the installer handles template registry entries and there's also a helpfile. Zoom Player v3.10 beta 2 has been released. The changelog includes, amongst other things, a button to verify that the selected filters is actually registered.

There's also a read speed remover for the the Toshiba SD-M1612 and SD-M1712 that seems promising.

And everyone has noted the searchbutton in the left frame?

Thanks to ÜberIDX you can now perform searches on all documents contained on this page.

If you're into MP4 you might want to check out an interesting thread in the forum about the subject.

Does this sound vaguely familiar? Flexplay, along with Buena Vista Home Entertainment (part of Disney) introduce EZ-D, a DVD that can no longer be read after 8-48h after you open the shrink-wrap. Once the disc no longer works you put it in the trash. Now for those of you who weren't in the game when DVD started out, this sounds like a revival of the infamous DIVX pay per play DVD derivate, in which you'd buy a disc with a license to watch for 48h. Your DIVX enabled DVD player would have to be hooked up to a phone outlet and would phone home to verify your authorization to view the disc. After the 48h you could either put the disc into the trash (there was no recycling plan, and neither is there now), or buy additional 48h periods for a somewhat lower price than the initial one. It was also possible to buy unlimited viewing for a price similar to a regular DVD but that license would be restricted to your player and you couldn't give it away. The staunchest supporters of that format were, surprise surprise, Disney, but also Fox. The system eventually failed (thank God, DIVX discs were not only pay per play and give the studios complete control over when and how you watch a disc, but they were also crippled, being 4:3 only and having zero extras, multiple languages, etc.) but now it looks like they have come up with an alternative: DMCA plus disposable discs are almost as good (from their perspective of course) as DIVX. If you can't control what they do in their home, let's make sure they can only do it for so long...

Extreme Movie Manager 1.4b1 has a faster codec engine, properly working database conversion and the multiple changes manager has two new functions: replace words on titles and replace words on series. IfoUpdate 0.72 names backup files automatically after the selected original filename and the browse buttons all start in the directory of the last backup. Last but not least Pioneer has released firmware 1.41 for the A04/104 DVD-R drive. The upgrade features writeability and readability upgrades for both DVD-R/W and CD-R/W discs.

In the 321 Studios Vs MPAA court case there have been no substantial news. Both sides have been heard and while the judge has gone on record making statements in favor of the MPAA, no ruling has been made yet.

Today I have a more elaborated DoItFast guide, based on the movie Unfaithful, written by Sxcd1 (note that I do not approve of fullscreen editions ;) I have also updated some of the DVD-R guides again, including the ReAuthorist guide (a link to that document will be given to all beta testers shortly).

Yesterday, the MPAA vs. 321 Studios trial seems to have started but so far I haven't seen any followup story so I suppose it's still ongoing as I'm writing this.

DoCCE4U 1.0.1.3 fixes the incorrect auto bias setting when importing a CCEData.txt file, the quality setting is now taken properly from the selected template, debug info for the filesize calculator has been added and CCE 2.67.00.08 - 10 are now supported.

Verbatim has announced a new dual format DVD burner. The features are pretty much standard: 4x DVD±R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 2x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-ROM, 16x CD-R, 10x CD-RW and 40x CD-ROM.

I'm also proud to announce that this site is now available in the 10th language: Hungarian. As with every new translation project volunteers are more than welcome.

There's a new release of DoItFast4U 1.1.1 that fixes a force film problem that could occur under special circumstances. I have also made some additional updates to the DoItFast guide, most notably I've added a document explaining when to process by VOB ID and when not to.

On2 has released a preview of their VP6 codec. The new codec supports HD material, real-time encoding at full D1 resolution (nothing amazing so far if you recall my codec comparison) and they claim 40% better image quality and 50% faster playback than VP5. I think you recall the VP3 and VP4 test results, maybe with all the improvements the new codec can finally measure up to the ruling class. As usual, there's only a decoder and sample clips available. And last but not least two interesting bits of hardware have been released / tested in the online press: The Athlon XP 3200+ and the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900.

BeSweet GUI 0.6b57 supports azidts for DTS transcoding. Gordian Knot 0.28.2 beta fixes most of the bugs of the original 0.28 release, path settings have been introduced, the rippack has been updated to include the latest applications and the latest VDubMod is now fully supported. And if you missed it, the source code of the Fair Use application has been released.

I have updated the DoItFast guide. It is now based on the latest DoItFast4U (the changelog is too long to even bother... just upgrade, it will be worth your while) and DC4U releases. A ReAuthorist based update to this guide is already in the works and should be released for beta testers shortly.

A new version of the DVD subtitle converter has been released, unfortunately without a changelog. I've also re-uploaded SubRip 1.17 to replace the corrupt version I had yesterday.

TheReg has a good story on Microsoft and DRM. And in case you missed it, Mozilla 1.4b has been released. Mozilla is imho the best alternative for IE and it works on various operation systems, not just Windows.

SubRip 1.17 has DVD Studio Pro (MAC) and FAB Subtitler export, can import SubViewer 2 files, has a character map, supports multi colored subtitles and manual font color selection is back in another form.

I've made some tests regarding the latest CCE and it appears as if indeed can handle YV12 input now, but unfortunately it doesn't get faster.

Phew, I've finally catched up with all the feedback. There were some good suggestions regarding the layout of the codec comparison which I've now implemented (no, still no switchable images). I have also updated the MP4 creation guide with some tips and additional playback methods (also thanks to site and forum feedback) and I have written a document entitled VirtualDubMod procedures, which as its VDub cousin, deals with basic video editing and creation concepts. Most notably, I put OGM / Matroska creating and editing (including splitting) into this document.

The mmswitch multiple audio switch filter has been released as open source project. Hypercube has released two new tools: a DirectShow filter for easy DTS playback in WMP, and a tool to convert a regular DTS stream into a DTS-WAV converter. You can discuss both softwares in the audio forum.

After more than 3 weeks of work and no free time during that period it has been done: The latest codec comparison is online. 7 codecs have been put through one of the hardest tests in the history of codec testing. The results: find out on your own ;) I had planned to change the presentation somewhat but certain events (forum problems and such) prevented me from completing this for the release. I plan to eventually supply an updated version of the comparison. While I was at it I noticed some improvements in the MP4 file area so I updated the MP4 creation guide as well. Most notably, it's now possible to play AAC containing MP4 files in your favorite media player without hassle.

For developers I have the SmartRipper 2.41 source code.

GordianKnot 0.28.1 works with the new VDubMod and includes the 2GB splitting and 2nd audio bugfixes.

DVD Decrypter 3.1.6.0 fixes DVD-RAM writing support, resolves hanging when searching for devices along with a DVD+R finalization problem, a PCM demux bug, a bug in the GOP patching code and CSS cracking code. The program can also use a user specified decryption key, has an increased maximum software retry count and supports an alternative format for DVD Maestro chapter files. VirtualDubMod 1.5.1.1a is finally based on the 1.5 VirtualDub series, includes MPEG2 and AC3 support, MP3 and AC3 import have been extended to properly handle corrupted data and a fix for CBR MP3 files has been included, the audio menu has been restructured to support multiple audio tracks for all containers, there's a new preference tab where you can set certain audio defaults and there's basic support for the Matroska container format. And here's the full changelog. Speaking of Matroska, the first public alpha should start appearing today at this place but it looks like the guys are running a little late because the release was due some hours ago. VirtualDub 1.52 has also been released and supports arbitrary frame rate conversions, has a better MPEG parser to detect and report timestamp discontinuities, the audio filters have been optimized, incomplete audio format headers are automatically fixed and a workaround for AVIs that are incorrectly recognized as MP3s in WMP8 has been included as well. The full changelog also includes the bugfixes. If you're using the core media player (TCMP) you might also want to look out for a new release. Last but not least, TMPG 2.511 fixes memory allocation problems, audio synch problems when muxing closed GOP video without a header, invalid video files when muxing MPEG video without a sequence end code, errors when reading MS MPEG-4 AVI files when WMP9 is installed and auto-closing when adding too many chained files.

Update: Matroska has just been released. You can read the official announcement in the forum or go directly to the homepage to download.