DVDx

[Airsy]

I have been using DVDx to encode my VOB files. It seems to work well and split up the disc properly. I was wondering if this was a good program to be using and how it compares to other encoding programs. Also, sometimes at the beginning of each separate MPEG it makes, a message pops up that I have to reply to about audio. When I am away from my computer this becomes a hassle because it will not finish encoding until I reply. Is there a way to bypass this? I haven't made an SVCD yet but I see it has the capabilty to do so. When I make an SVCD do I burn it the same way as I do the VCD with Adaptec EZ CD creator Photo/Video button? I read somewhere that I have to make an image but I didn't fully understand.

Thanks.

[BadAsh]

I think DVDx is a good program in theory but it still needs some work. The creator is in a PAL territory and hasn't test much at all with NTSC DVDs so we poor Americans have to live with all the bugs. I've been thinking seriously of mailing this guy some NTSC DVDs.

I have found that even on PAL DVDs there are some problems. I ripped Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" using DVDx and it cut of the first second or two of the movie which was okay but I would prefer it not do that. I reencoded using SmartRipper, DVD2AVI and TMPGEnc and that worked better.

My main gripe is that there is no way to clip a video. In other words, if you get a non-anamorphic DVD and you want to clip out the black bars you can't do it in DVDx. My copy of Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" is simply letterboxed and poorly I might add. After encoded to MPEG1 the black bars become static ridden dark gray bars. I fixed this by going the SmartRipper/DVD2AVI route.

Hang in there though. For now I would use other methods such as SmartRipper/DVD2AVI but I think this guy is paying attention to boards like this and knows what the high volume problems and requests are and he is adjusting the program accordingly.

The latest version allows frameserving via Premiere plug-ins. I haven't tried this yet but it may work better that way since you could then use TMPGEnc as your encoder.

DVDx is still early alpha (pre-beta) in my eyes. I'm sure we will see better things later.

As for making a SVCD, I don't think EasyCDCreator can do that (but I may be mistaken). You can make SVCDs using Nero and what you have heard about making an "image" is to use VCDImager.

There are several FREE GUIs for the command-line driven VCDImager. VCD Composer and TSCV are among the best. You can find all kinds of info on the use of VCDImager and the GUIs here and at the VCDImager website.

Basically, you will create an "image" using VCDImager. This will output a BIN and CUE file. The "BIN" file includes the CD Image and the "CUE" file is a text based Table of Contents used by CD Burning software packages when burning the CD.

You can use CDRWin, Fireburner and CDRDAO to burn a BIN/CUE image. Nero can also be used to burn BIN images but that is not what it was made for and it doesn't do as good of a job. Most people here prefer CDRWin. The CDRWin program is finicky about what drives it works with though so if you have a problem, try Fireburner. Basically you just load the CUE file and burn the image from that.

Its easier than it sounds.

Check around here at VCDHelp and do some searches in the Forums for more specific help.

Good Luck!

[MicoMan]

I have just done my NTSC copy of the Matrix with DVDx to NTSC VCD and it worked fine.

[kqt]

I tried using DVDx 1.3 to rip a copy of The Patriot (NTSC). After a few seconds (~200 frames) it invariably stopped with an buffer overflow error. As suggested in the error message, I tried forcing the frame rate to something other than 29.97, and also tried to increase the VBV setting to >112kb. Nothing worked. Has anybody seen this or got a solution for it? Thx.

[kwag]

DVDx 1.4 is out
http://www2.labdv.com/dvdx/