help wanted - newbie

[minnesotatv]

Hello:

I'm a newbie to DVD, SVCD and DivX, and I need some help.
I've been reading the posts in the forums, and searching
for FAQ's on the subjects, but I've been unable to find
answers to some questions I have. I would appreciate it
if some of you could pass along some of the knowledge
you've acquired.

First: After reading some posts and reviews, I was generally under the impression that some ATI and some Matrox video cards with TV-Out did a rather good job for DVD playback. I've also seen posts which claim that no computer video card is any good, and that stand-alone DVD players are the only way to go. Is this a highly subjective topic, or are there some inherent weakness' in computer based DVD playback?

What opinions might you have on the ATI Rage Fury Pro VIVO
card for DVD playback?


Second: its very important to me that the copy protection
(Macrovision?) can be defeated (which is one reasons I've
asked about the ATI video card. I'm not going to let the
kids play with my DVD's. No way, no how! They can destroy
the VHS tapes.) So, I understand that there's a way to defeat the copy protection using an ATI card, ATI DVDPlayer v3.0 or v3.1 and cinemaster 1.0.28 engine. Does this work?

Are there other video cards/players which can be used, and made VCR-friendly (if that's the correct terminology)?


Three: in the early days of Audio DAE and burning, I
remember reading several discussions of IDE vs SCSI drives.
As I recall the overall consensus claimed that SCSI was
preferable. Fewer problems and fewer errors for the SCSI
drives. One of the arguments attributed this to less "noise" on the SCSI bus. My own experiences with DAE bears this out. Does anyone have any experience with both IDE and SCSI DVD?

Is there any real difference in IDE vs SCSI DVD-ROM drives
when it comes to playback?

How about for ripping? Are there more problems with IDE
DVD-ROM drives than SCSI? Or vice versa?

Is there any advantage to 68pin Fast-Wide SCSI vs 50pin Fast
SCSI2?

Any recommendations for IDE DVD-ROM drives?

SCSI DVD-ROM drives?


Four: as I understand it, converting audio .wav or .cda
files to .mp3 is a "lossy" process. If you rip a DVD file,
is converting it to a SVCD or DivX also a "lossy" process?

is this subject to bitrates selected and various parameters
like "constant", 'average" and "variable" bitrates?

I'm under the impression that a typical film on DVD is about
4.7GB. Converted to SVCD, how much space is required?

How about DivX?



Fifth: I've read some posts that explain how to use the subst command to create a virtual drive in order to play the DVD or SVCD or DivX. Why is this necessary?


I appreciate you taking the time to answer some/all of my
questions. Email is minnesotatv@hotmail.com TIA!!!

TV

[siaododo]

Wow, that is a lot of questions, but since I have no life, sitting here on a Saturday morning looking at my computer, waiting for DVD2AVI to frame serve my files, I think I will reply to your post.

I think I am turning into a Geek, I only started burning VCD's about 2 months ago, and I am really hooked. Although I have made closed to 30 VCD's ripped from DVD, I never had the time to really finish watching an entire movie that I made. I guess it's the thought that I am actually ripping off the movie company by ripping their DVD's, really excites me. I'll admit that I pay only $20 a month from netflix.com, ripping the DVD as fast as I could, and send them back to get new ones the next day. It is the thought that the movie company is hurt financially by my action, keeps me going.

Now, stop the rambling and answer your questions.

It is quite subjective on stand-alone vs. computer playback of DVD's. Personally I prefer watching DVD's using the stand-alone player, however, the DVD looks pretty good on my computer also, just not quite up to the speed with the stand-alones. I don't think video cards will ever match up to the DVD Players, but then again, without it, you won't be able to rip DVD's, so my suggestion is: GET BOTH.

I have an ATI AIW 128 card, so I don't know much about the ATI Rage Fury Pro that you have. The playback of DVD looks great with my AIW, in fact excellent, so I don't think there will be much different with Rage, because they are produced by the same company.

I use DVDDecrytor and Smartripper to rip DVD's. I have never have to worry about copy protection. At least I haven't had any trouble ripping all the new releases yet. The programs will take them off. If you are just interested in playing DVD's on your computer, you shouldn't have to worry about this.

I don't understand your third question, what do you mean by VCR friendly?

Your third question should be the fourth question. Don't get into SCSI vs. IDE issues for what we are doing. All we are is to rip the DVD's and store on our HD or playing DVD. To play DVD, it pretty much depends on the speed of your DVD player and video card, HD has nothing to do with it. If you are ripping, the bigger the hard drive the better. If you are capturing, the faster and bigger the better. Of course, having a faster system, will take less time, but quality will be the same.

I really don't feel like answering the following few questions, because I think the answer above pretty much covers it. Just get a fastest CD-ROM drive you can afford. Consider the prices, for what we are doing, is it really worth it to buy a $1000 SCSI drive, while you can do the same thing with a cheaper but fast drive. I would rather spend my money on a faster CPU or MB.

Next question,( I lost count), Whenever you rip the DVD and convert it to SVCD/VCD format, it will never match the original DVD, so yes, it is a "lossy" process. Unless, you are making a VCD that is 1 minute per CDR, then may be it will be as good as the original.

When converting a DVD to SVCD, usually I will reserve at least 8 gig just to be on the safe side, you will need rooms for all the temporary files, and the finished product.

I don't know any thing about DivX

No, you don't need to create a virtual drive to play DVD or SVCD or DivX, just make sure you have the correct Codec, Windows Media Player will play them. Unless you are a linux user, they can't afford to buy Windows, so they have to download free OS. I think they are more Geekier than me.

Have to go, my files are done, now to burn my VCD's. I don't have date on a Saturday night, my girlfirend, suzie-rotten-crotch, is pissed at me. Hey, I think I go rent a porno.




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: siaododo on 2001-12-29 14:31:22 ]</font>