[liveupdate] Digest Number 29

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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 07:54:49 -0000
From: "dvddigest"
Subject: Digital DIGEST - LIVE UPDATE Issue 32

DIGITAL DIGEST - http://www.digital-digest.com
DIGITAL DIGEST | LIVE UPDATE Issue 32
3 July, 2003

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TOP NEWS SUMMARY :

0. Section Zer0 - an introduction to this issue

1. What's happened on DivX Digest since the last newsletter?

2. What's happened on DVD Digest since the last newsletter?

3. What's happened on DVD±R Digest since the last newsletter?

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0. Section Zer0

First of all, let me apologize for the time it took to get this issue
done - 7 month must be some kind of record (although not the good
kind)!!

Many of you will have thought that this newsletter was dead, and in a
way, you're right. I have decided to revamp the newsletter, make it
easier for me to write one, so I can write more often - so in a way,
the old newsletter is dead and long live the new newsletter

The problem with the old newsletter was that :
* I had to make both a text and HTML version
* I only sent a newsletter if there was something important
going on, like a new major release of the DivX codec - if there was
no news,
then there was no newsletter

The new newsletter will be :
* Shorter, less formal (posibly moor speling errers)
* More frequent
* Text version only

Since this is the first issue in seven months, the chance of this
issue being "shorter" is slim, but as the issues become more
frequent, hopefully, each issue will become shorter and easier
to "digest" (and more importantly, easier for me to write)

I will be playing around with the format for the next couple of
weeks, and I will hopefully provide ways for list members to provide
input for these changes.

Enjoy

-- DVDGuy

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1. What's happened on DivX Digest since the last newsletter?

This section will detail the major pieces of news that happened
between this issue of the newsletter and the previous one. And no, I
won't be going over the last 7 months and summarizing "what's new",
but this section should make more sense when the newsletters are sent
more frequently.

As a sample of what this section will look like in future issues,
I'll now write about what has happened in the last one or two weeks.

Let's start with DivX Digest.

The open source development of Gordian Knot is proceeding nicely -
with the release of the 0.28.5 beta version. This feels like a good
place to start my "open source is great" rant, in which I'll say how
quickly bugs are fixed under open-source projects, how quickly new
features are added, and that the collaborative nature of open-source
projects can bring back software projects from the dead and extend
their life for quite a while longer. Umm, yes ...

Anyway, a new beta version of DVDtoOgm has been released as well.
Those in love with Gordian Knot should at least have a look at
DVDtoOgm, which does to Ogm what GKnot does to AVI. I have just
recently updated the DVDtoOgm guide (also updated the GKnot guide as
well) for the latest version of DVDtoOgm, and having used it for
quite a while now, I must say that its probably the easiest way to
encode Ogm files - those familiar with GKnot can pick it up without
having to read any guides. And just because I am hosting the official
site of DVDtoOgm, it doesn't mean I am biased or anything. Did I
mention DVDtoOgm is great

I've also just updated abcAVI Tags Editor - I must admit that I have
a fixation with AVI tags, in that I add them to every AVI file I
encode. In my opinion, an AVI file is just not complete without tags,
and abcAVI Tags Editor allows you to add/edit/remove tags of just
about every type (plus other functions too).


Related Links :
Gordian Knot : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/gordianknot.html
DVDtoOgm : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/dvdtoogm.html

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2. What's happened on DVD Digest since the last newsletter?

Let's move on to DVD Digest.

The biggest news of the last few weeks are the 5.0 releases of both
PowerDVD and WinDVD. I've been busy trying to review both players as
quickly as possible (special thanks goes out to the people at
Cyberlink and Intervideo for providing review versions of both
players). At the time of writing, the PowerDVD 5.0 review is pretty
much done. I guess I should just summarize the review results here
for you, but I won't because I want all of you to read what I slaved
2 days and 2 nights over (okay, so it was more like 1 night, and half
a day) - see the review link below.

I will try and get the WinDVD 5.0 review up in the next few days, but
please note that because all the review results are relative, the
PowerDVD 5.0 review *will* change once the WinDVD 5.0 review is up.


Related Links :
PowerDVD : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/do.../powerdvd.html
PowerDVD 5.0 review : http://www.digital-
digest.com/dvd/software/players/powerdvd.html
WinDVD : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/windvd.html

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3. What's happened on DVD±R Digest since the last newsletter?

Now onto DVD±R Digest.

The biggest single question I get asked regarding DVD±R Digest is not
about "is DVD-R more compatible than DVD+R?" or even "how to backup
my DVD-9 movie to a DVD-5 recordable?". No, the biggest single
question I get asked is how the hell do you type that funny "±"
character.

The short (and rude) answer is : copy and past the damn character
from my site or this newsletter, you moron!!

The slightly longer, but much more polite version is :

1. Make sure the "num-lock" function is enabled on your keyboard
2. Hold "Alt" and type "0177" using your keyboard's numeric keypad
3. Release "Alt" and you should have the "±" character

I've got a link at the bottom of this section for those who are
interested in typing more of these special characters. ©òòl!!

Oh yeah, back to DVD±R stuff ...

There's now a bunch of DVD backup tools on DVD±R Digest - no less
than 12 tools altogether!! I've also now written a bunch of DVD
backup methods, using tools such as DVD Decrypter, IfoEdit, DVDShrink
and DoItFast4U/DoCCE4U/ReAuthorist/IfoUpdate/Scenarist. For those
that want quick and dirty DVD±R backups, have a look at the "Quick
DVD Backup Guide" and the "DVD Shrink Guide". If you don't mind
spending some time (and money), then the "Quality DVD Backup Guide"
is the one for you - I spents ages writing this guide on my sloooow
PIII-1000 machine, most of the time waiting for CCE to finish re-
encoding. Please help me by reading the guide, thereby viewing the
banner ads, and eventually allow me to save up enough money to buy a
brand-spanking-new P4.

Speaking of DVD Shrink, I have had a couple of people ask me what
exactly are my involvements with the development of DVD Shrink. Well,
the author of DVD Shrink emailed me sometime ago about this little
program that he was working on, and wanted my opinion on whether it
is worthy of publishing. From the first minute that I started the
program, I knew that this program was going to be a hit, due to it's
simple interface and the fact that the author was going to release it
as freeware!! A couple of emails and revisions later, the first
public version of DVD Shrink was ready. This meant that DVD±R Digest
(the Alt-0177 combo rules, BTW) was the first site to unveil DVD
Shrink (and the first to be inundated with DVD Shrink download
requests), and the rest, as they say, is history. DVD Shrink, now
with its own official site (hosted by the folks at dvdadvdr.com), is
now *the* most popular download on DVD±R Digest - a success story in
the making (at least until the MPAA starts snooping around).


Related Links :
Creating Special Characters :
http://www.skidmore.edu/campus/colle...m/pdwyer/speci
al_characters.htm
DVD Shrink : http://www.dvdr-digest.com/software/modules.php?
name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=32
DVD Shrink Official Site : http://www.dvdshrink.org
DVD Shrink Guide : http://www.dvdr-digest.com/articles/articles.php?
article_id=23
Quick DVD Backup Guide : http://www.dvdr-
digest.com/articles/articles.php?article_id=18
Quality DVD Backup Guide : http://www.dvdr-
digest.com/articles/articles.php?article_id=24

-- "I'm 30 years too young to date Anna Nicole Smith, and I'm 30 years too old
to date Demi Moore."
Arnold Schwarzanegger, referring to being 55 years old

Ablang