VideoReDo owner passed away, product ceased, seeking alternatives ?

[Marayong]

Getting back on topic .. this tread is about VideoReDo after all.

Since my last post I had a major pc meltdown, the mobo died and took out the main drive. Luckily I'd done a clone the night before. Built a new pc based on the clone and after a lot of messing around with windows to get it working properly, I then tested out all the software. VideoReDo worked as usual, straight off, so the installed licence key remained intact on a cloned copy of the boot/software drive which was then put into a totally new machine. The only hardware carried over from the old machine was my pcie hdmi recorder card and various peripherals. Videoredo wasn't the only licenced software that survived the transition intact (office also did), but some software had to be either relicensed or reinstalled.

Given that Win10+ allows you (at least in theory) to take the boot drive [with software installed in the default /programs(86)/ etc] out of one pc and put it into another pc and have it work, this means licenced users of Videoredo have another option than the registration website for keeping their copy licenced after moving to a new pc, and that is by moving their installed copy onto the new computer, by either physically moving the boot drive from one pc into another or cloning/imaging the drive in one pc and building a new pc around that clone.

Be warned however, whilst this is possible .. I've done it after all .. it is not a simple process and you need to know a lot about windows to pull it off & have a lot of spare time. Whilst a Win10+ boot drive should boot in another machine, it will do so with all the drivers from the old machine, which you have to hunt down and remove (translated: lots of BSODs) and then install all the new drivers, windows itself will need a new licence and random programs will need to be reinstalled over the now non-functioning older installs, others will need to be erased & then reinstalled to get them working.

[seoras]

Thanks. This wiill take time to learn but so far it doesn't seem to save H264 video - just mpeg.

I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be any procedure for anyone to buy out VRD. Such a waste.

[Bridgy]

Hi everyone, just found this Thread after checking out the VRD section over at Reddit, which i don't really like using, so i decided i might try my luck here.

I was known by another username in VRD forum, but i was/am a long time user of VRD Pro, and the forum as well.

I have read a lot of stuff on the internet about the demise of VRD after the passing of Dan Rosen, and i would firstly like to thank Dan Haddix for his wonderful help and support to everyone since Dan passed away, and i just wish that i was able to help out in some way to keep this software safe and usable going into the future.

I got to know Dan Rosen quite well as we had many conversations over the internet (skype etc) and i was actually one of his Beta testers for a few years too, so i am hoping that i can retain my Pro version for as long as i can.

I am in a dilema because i want to upgrade my 4 year old Metabox Editing laptop to a much more powerful model, but because i have been told that my Pro key will not work if i install VRD Pro on a new laptop, it seems like i have to keep this current laptop for VRD use until the day it dies, or until i no longer need to use VRD Pro any more.

Oddly, it seems strange that Dan had a different licensing system for the Pro version, and that while other non Pro users can seemingly continue using their VRD, we Pro users are not able to do the same thing.

Anyway, i have been playing with at least 8 alternatives to VRD just in case i lose my VRD Pro, and i have not been able to find anything as yet that gives me everything that VRD can, the closest i can get is probably LosslessCut which i saw mentioned in the Reddit forum, so i tried it out for a few hours, and although i kind of got the hang of it, it seems that this tool only cuts video and outputs it back to the original format without any conversion, no wonder i couldn't work out how to cut and then use some profiles to output to other formats like VRD does.

I tried using TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7 last year in trial mode, but i stopped using it when the trial period expired, and it too seemed to offer some similar features to those of VRD as far as output formats go, but i installed the latest trial version last night but it too tells me that the free trial period has ended, so i really have no way to test it more to see what it can offer as far as the output profiles go.

I could buy a license but if it turned out not to do what i need it to do, then i have wasted my money.

Has anyone had any updates regarding the licensing for VRD Pro into the future as i really don't want to give mine up.

BTW, i am still using version 6-92-11-836a which has editing and output for H265 (HEVC) files, and that is what i now use for all my video editing and outputs, especially if i record 4k video in AVC (80Mb/s) i use the Smart Render option to output to 4k or 1080p after i have done my cuts and added Titles and credits when required, or i create my own custom profile and output (force recode) to a specific resolution and bitrate when required too.

No other software that i know of can do all this stuff, and if there is, i would guarantee that it is nowhere near as simple as VRD Pro is to use.

Cheers everyone.

[The_Doman]

I am in a dilema because i want to upgrade my 4 year old Metabox Editing laptop to a much more powerful model, but because i have been told that my Pro key will not work if i install VRD Pro on a new laptop, it seems like i have to keep this current laptop for VRD use until the day it dies, or until i no longer need to use VRD Pro any more.

In a previous post here above a clone image of the system was made to a new PC with the Videoredo license kept intact.
Swapping/cloning a Windows drive to new hardware is (most of the time) pretty easy to do with Windows 10/11, even i have done that from a external USB drive successfully.
But i don't know how the Pro version licensing scheme works differently from the regular Videoredo version?
If it really fingerprints your hardware (like the Windows 10/11) activation and/or contacts a licensing server with the risk of invalidating it?

But even then making a full system image backup is always good practice.

[Bridgy]

Hi, i have been using EaseUs ToDo Backup for several years to run monthly Windows 10 system images from the 500gb Crutial P5 Plus M.2 card in my laptop, i usually do it on the first day of each month, and i transfer this image onto a spare 500gb Crutial P5 Plus M.2 PCIe card which i keep in my drawer just in case something happens to my current install, i can quickly swap out the existing Card to the backup and be back up and running in a few minutes.


[Attachment 81492 - Click to enlarge]

I used to do a lot of laptop repairs and computer builds as a sideline business many years ago, so i have already run a few images from one pc or laptop onto new ones and mostly never had any real issues apart from hardware drivers etc, which windows always took care of anyway.

I did not however realize, nor did i even think about the software licensing of all my apps, whether they would carry over with the image onto the new machine, so i was interested to read about that in some previous posts.

I shall continue doing this imaging process now that i know about it, however, it will not fix the licensing or activation issue if the activation server ever goes offline for some reason, and especially more so for us VRD Pro users.

I was a professional video editor for many years and when i found VRD back in 2013 i was so elated that finally i had a software app that had everything i needed, plus a lot more in the one program, and the biggest surprise for me was being able to do frame accurate cuts, but also having use of the Smart Render option, and later on using the Pro version we moved on to 4k and HEVC editing as well.

Prior to that, i had to use at least 2 programs to do my workflows the way that i wanted to do them.

More input here regarding VRD alternatives might also be helpful, i mean, i would be keen to find out if anyone has successfully found and used a new application that closely matches VRD Pro.

Cheers

[Marayong]

I'm the one with the clone story. I clone my main drive (with the os, all the software & licences) every week. I had VRD on an old Win7 machine which killed itself. Took the clone from the night before the crash, imaged that onto a fresh drive and built a new rig around that. Had to image it since the boot drive in the Win7 machine was MBR not GPT. Almost all software licences carried over intact. The Win licence naturally didn't, but that was the only obvious exception. Some software would not work on the new pc and had to be reinstalled & the licence added back in -no idea if the licences carried over with those. Since Win10+ is a lot more amenable to pulling a boot drive out of one machine and putting it into another (apart from having to get another win10+ licence), this should work with preserving your VRD Pro licence, theoretically for as long as your version of VRD Pro will run on future versions of windoze. Even my MS-office licence was carried over and MS is pretty possessive about it's own licences.

The one caveat with cloning a drive with a licensed install of VRD (or Pro) is that the licence is for an install on one pc at a time. So avoid booting up the clone on an internet connected machine whilst you have VRD on another machine that's also internet connected. That warning is from the Reddit forum. May not be an issue for the Pro versions, but is for the non-pro versions since they still have a registration website thanks to Dan Haddix.

As for the issue with getting TMPGEnc to work after the free period for an old version expired, have a ferret around windows registry and nuke any mention of TMPGEnc. Also make sure there're no left over files in ../programs/.. or .../users/... Wiping all of those should give you the full trial period back again, unless you had to register an email address to get the trial period and their server keeps track of it. In that case, use a different email address to get a fresh trial.

[Neon50]

Hello, I have been using Videoredo for ages and am shocked that the company has ceased operations. I only bought the license for V6 last year (I had previously used V5). Where can I download Videoredo TV Suite 6 if I have a valid license key? I would like to install the software on my new PC. Thank you very much!

Here I provide my setup file (version 6.63.7.836).
The link is available for 50 days from today.
https://www.upload.ee/files/16138920/VRDTVS-6-63-7-836d.exe.html

I purchased version 6 and it ran fine but I've just had a Windows meltdown and had to reinstall my software. Didn't keep a copy of the installation file. Just joined the forum to thank you for a link that's still working.

[Baldrick]

Hello, I have been using Videoredo for ages and am shocked that the company has ceased operations. I only bought the license for V6 last year (I had previously used V5). Where can I download Videoredo TV Suite 6 if I have a valid license key? I would like to install the software on my new PC. Thank you very much!

Here I provide my setup file (version 6.63.7.836).
The link is available for 50 days from today.
https://www.upload.ee/files/16138920/VRDTVS-6-63-7-836d.exe.html

I purchased version 6 and it ran fine but I've just had a Windows meltdown and had to reinstall my software. Didn't keep a copy of the installation file. Just joined the forum to thank you for a link that's still working.

Adding a mirror here https://www.videohelp.com/download/VRDTVS-6-63-7-836d.exe

Virustotal test https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/c85dbf2415c4510fcc9a6221d420b9e81937d2d3056c6a72a330d227d9cea891

[hydra3333]

Thank you.

[Bridgy]

Thanks for that link to download 6.63.7.836d, i assume this was the last stable version created, because i always got the latest beta versions from Dan Rosen to test on some of my recorded camera files prior to it being posted to the old forum, and my current version is 6.92.11.836a (beta) so i won't need to install 6.63.7.836d.

I am dreading the possibility of losing the activation of my Pro version, either the server goes down or something happening to my windows and i can't activate my license any more, but i am now running my windows system backup with EaseUs ToDo Backup every other week now just in case, and i am still using Windows 10 and will probably be forced to upgrade to 11 at some time in the near future, so i will need to do it via the current in place upgrade option so my software apps are retained, if i did a fresh installation no doubt my VRD Pro will not be activated.

These days i only record family and travel related stuff, and some other less important random stuff as well, so i mostly use my Samsung S24 Ultra mobile phone (soon to be test driving the new Pixel Pro XL for it's supposedly slightly better camera) and i record in 4k/60p high bitrate HEVC mode, i then use VRD Pro to trim out the video and smart render it back to the same format, and from there i will re-render it to other formats as required using the built in output presets, or i create my own if required, and i always retain the original trimmed and smart rendered video file until i no longer need it.

I know that mobile phones are horrible for videos and photos to the point where it makes me cringe most of the time, and the issue with recording video on my S24 Ultra, which claims to record at 60fps, is that most of the time it might, but every now and then it will record at 59.940, but in some cases it will be some other random frame rate such as 59.748fps or something similar, and i still don't know why it does this, i wish it would just record at the 60fps like it should.


Unfortunately we can't always carry dedicated photo or video cameras with us, so mostly we just need to accept what it is, and mostly the end result will be acceptable to most people, but not so much myself.

For me, if i ever lose VRD Pro, i will miss the Smart Render and frame accurate cutting features mostly, and the title creator to a lesser degree.

[Bridgy]

I had not read this entire thread before posting here, but tonight i decided to read every reply to see if anyone had posted up anything relating to any other application than could do everything that VRD Pro could do for me, and i noted many posters suggesting various single application options, or using multiple applications together to achieve what VRD can do, which might be ok for some, but for me i would find it almost impossible.

As far as i can tell from trying over 12 different point and click programs, none of them touch VRD for what it can do, LosslessCut is great for chopping bits out of my high bitrate 4k/60p HEVC files and joining the file (very quickly too) without re-encoding, but in my trials using 4k/60p HEVC video files, it seems to only work at every keyframe, which in my files seems to be every 1 second or 60 frames, and it does not offer any re-encoding options, so one will need to use something else to re-encode the cut files.

TS-Doctor was mentioned as having the same features as VRD, but it is not an option for me, i find it to be very clumsy and horrible to use, compared to how simple and easy VRD is, and it still does not do everything that VRD Pro can do for me (or not as good) so my options are limited right now as far as alternatives go.

Also, i just want to add that it is an insult to Dan Rosen (who i knew very well) for anyone to enter this Forum/Thread and sprout anything to do with VRD (or any other program) being obtained from a peg leg man with a parrot on his shoulder, this is outright theft, and anyone who is using such software should be ashamed of themselves, and they should not be mixing with other members of any forum who did pay money to Dan for using his software, and should not be asking for help with issues either.

Yes it is unfortunate that Dan Rosen passed away, yes it might seem unfair that we paid for a lifetime license and might not be able to use it forever because of the way the activations were done, but that's life, still no right for anyone to use this software if obtained illegally.

I often read back in the old Forum where some people were complaining about the cost of VRD or VRD Pro, obviously these people had no respect nor did they understand how much work Dan Rosen and Dan Haddix put into VRD, and i personally would have paid 10 fold what i paid for my version 6 Pro license back in 2016 or whenever it was.

At least for now things seem to be ok as far as our activations are concerned, let us hope that it stays this way, those who are using the non Pro version have a manual activation method available, us Pro users don't have this available unfortunately.

I read in a post made by Dan Haddix (maybe it was Reddit) where he said that he approached Dan Rosens wife about selling VRD, but apparently she was not interested (something to that effect) which is a shame, as there would surely be someone out there who would buy it, but it would obviously be an impossible task for a new owner to take over and learn the ropes without Dan to help them, as he was the sole operator of this business.

I still don't know, nor do i understand how the Pro and Non Pro licensing works, and why it was done differently to each other, but i assume there are still ongoing costs to maintain the Activation servers etc, i just don't know what those costs are, and who is currently paying for it all.

I would be keen to help out in some way if i had to, and i can easily continue using my 6.93.7.836a Beta version without needing any other features, as long as my activation doesn't konk out.

If anyone wants the 6.93.7.836a Beta installer i can provide my copy.

[Bridgy]

The one caveat with cloning a drive with a licensed install of VRD (or Pro) is that the licence is for an install on one pc at a time. So avoid booting up the clone on an internet connected machine whilst you have VRD on another machine that's also internet connected. That warning is from the Reddit forum. May not be an issue for the Pro versions, but is for the non-pro versions since they still have a registration website thanks to Dan Haddix.

Even as a Pro license owner, i will take this onboard for when i want to upgrade, or i am eventually forced to upgrade to Windows 11, just in case.

I will do the same when i eventually buy my new Metabox editing laptop, hopefully by the end of this year, as my current one is 4 years old, and with using 4k/60 high bitrate HEVC video files, it gets a bit sluggish when seeking frames to cut on my timeline, 8 cores just doesn't cut it these days, next one will be a 24 core machine.

As previously discussed elsewhere, i won't be able to buy a new laptop with windows 11 pre-installed because i won't be able to activate VRD on that, buying a Metabox laptop we can buy it with just the blank windows SSD installed without windows installed, and i will just remove that and install the windows drive from my current laptop instead, and hope that the new laptop will boot up and install what it needs to as far as the new hardware goes, and pray that everything works.

[Tom Saurus]

I have VideoReDo V 4 and have pleased with it since I bought it. The Owner was a nice man and I think I sent a money order to pay for it which was kind of him to accept as most places wanted a credit card. I noticed that in the Tool Section here at Videohelp that there is a program called LosslessCut that I think I will give it a try. I have VideoReDo on my Windows 7 Desktop and I thought I would put LosslessCut on my Mini PC Windows 11 Computer. I recently bought TubeDigger so I am getting some videos to edit on the Mini PC. I don't expect this freeware program to work as well as VideoReDo but I at least want to give it a try. What I have been doing has been to transfer the files to a thumb drive and then put them on the Windows 7 PC to edit.

Taking a closer look at the documentation it may be limited to cutting on keyframes which I can do now with AviDemux. But there is mention of "smart cut" and it is termed experimental so maybe that can do mimic VideoReDo?

[davexnet]

ProWo's Clever FFMpeg GUI can do smart cuts, could be an alternative option

[Seeker47]

Hello, I have been using Videoredo for ages and am shocked that the company has ceased operations. I only bought the license for V6 last year (I had previously used V5). Where can I download Videoredo TV Suite 6 if I have a valid license key? I would like to install the software on my new PC. Thank you very much!

Here I provide my setup file (version 6.63.7.836).
The link is available for 50 days from today.
https://www.upload.ee/files/16138920/VRDTVS-6-63-7-836d.exe.html

I purchased version 6 and it ran fine but I've just had a Windows meltdown and had to reinstall my software. Didn't keep a copy of the installation file. Just joined the forum to thank you for a link that's still working.

Adding a mirror here https://www.videohelp.com/download/VRDTVS-6-63-7-836d.exe

Virustotal test https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/c85dbf2415c4510fcc9a6221d420b9e81937d2d3056c6a72a330d227d9cea891

Thanks for posting that. (Just discovered this thread, which I've not had time to read through yet.)

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/407142-VideoReDo-owner-passed-away-product-ceased-...es#post2668813 [post #18 in this thread, from 2 years ago, by usually_quiet,

This is just my opinion, but when a piece of software becomes abandonware, I think that it becomes fair game -- as opposed to simply leaving its users in the lurch. I don't know the exigencies of the file posted above, but there is another source for it that should be working -- as is -- which also fully passes VirusTotal. If you are in need of this and have no other recourse, feel free to PM me for details.

[Bridgy]

I would put LosslessCut on my Mini PC Windows 11 Computer. I recently bought TubeDigger so I am getting some videos to edit on the Mini PC. I don't expect this freeware program to work as well as VideoReDo but I at least want to give it a try. What I have been doing has been to transfer the files to a thumb drive and then put them on the Windows 7 PC to edit.

Taking a closer look at the documentation it may be limited to cutting on keyframes which I can do now with AviDemux. But there is mention of "smart cut" and it is termed experimental so maybe that can do mimic VideoReDo?

You are correct, it only cuts video files, nothing else, and only successfully at key frames, which might be fine for most, but not for others, even i can get away with it with at least 75% of the files i need to trim out, so that is good, and it is faster compared to VRD Pro on my editing laptop, but you will need something else installed to do the rest of what you need to do, this tool does not do anything else.

I'm not sure about the so called Smart Cut mode, i read somewhere that it does not work properly on some types of files.

Anyway, i did some further testing of LosslessCut last night because i was having issues with cutting high bitrate 4k/60p HEVC file where they would just lock up in my media player on the laptop if i made my cuts between keyframes, if i made my cuts on a keyframe the file played back ok.

I then tried various trimming options using a 1080/60p AVC file and the files played ok, but with slight stuttering right at the start or end where i made the cut between keyframes.

This is just my opinion, but when a piece of software becomes abandonware, I think that it becomes fair game -- as opposed to simply leaving its users in the lurch. I don't know the exigencies of the file posted above, but there is another source for it that should be working -- as is -- which also fully passes VirusTotal. If you are in need of this and have no other recourse, feel free to PM me for details.

Ok well if you look at it from that perspective then you might not feel so bad about obtaining an illegal copy of VRD, as long as you have already paid for a license previously, but my issue is more with those who get a copy of something illegally and use it, when they never paid for it originally, so if your copy of VRD is still running, which it should be, then nothing to see here, but nobody should be offering suggestions or links or any other information pertaining to illegal use of software.

[hydra3333]

I am more interested in a replacement for QuickStreamFix (QSF) than anything else, so I asked ChatGPT and received this answer:

Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD and TMPGEnc Smart Renderer are both strong contenders for handling video streams, particularly when dealing with MPEG-2, H.264, and H.265 streams. They offer advanced features that can approximate or even exceed some aspects of VideoReDo's QuickStreamFix, especially in terms of frame accuracy and handling corrupt frames. Here's a closer look at each:

### **Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD**

#### Features:
- **Frame-Accurate Editing:** Womble allows for precise frame editing without re-encoding, which is critical when trying to avoid degradation of video quality.
- **Stream Repair:** The software can repair minor stream errors, correct GOP (Group of Pictures) structures, and handle timecode issues.
- **Seamless Cuts and Joins:** Like VideoReDo, Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD excels at cutting and joining video streams without introducing glitches.
- **Audio/Video Sync Adjustment:** You can manually adjust the audio sync if necessary, and the tool attempts to maintain sync during edits.

#### Handling Corrupted Frames:
- **Automatic Correction:** Womble is known for its robustness in handling slightly corrupted video streams. It can often automatically correct or bypass problematic frames without desynchronizing audio.
- **Dummy Frame Insertion:** If the corruption is significant, Womble might insert a repeat of the last valid frame to maintain continuity in the video, similar to what you are looking for.

#### Limitations:
- **Focus on MPEG Formats:** Womble is particularly strong with MPEG-2 and H.264 streams, but its capabilities might be more limited with newer formats like HEVC (H.265).

### **TMPGEnc Smart Renderer**

#### Features:
- **Frame-Accurate Smart Rendering:** TMPGEnc Smart Renderer is designed for frame-accurate editing without re-encoding most of the video, which preserves quality while allowing precise edits.
- **Stream Error Handling:** TMPGEnc can handle stream errors and maintain sync, similar to the QuickStreamFix feature. It’s particularly good at handling complex video streams, such as those found in .ts files.
- **Support for Multiple Formats:** The software supports a wide range of formats, including MPEG-2, H.264, and H.265 (HEVC), making it versatile across different media types.
- **Output Quality Control:** With its focus on smart rendering, TMPGEnc ensures that only the necessary parts of the video are re-encoded, which helps in maintaining overall quality and preventing unnecessary loss.

#### Handling Corrupted Frames:
- **Frame Replacement:** TMPGEnc can replace corrupted frames with the last valid frame to avoid introducing visual artifacts, keeping the playback smooth and in sync.
- **Automatic Sync Correction:** It has strong features for ensuring that audio and video remain in sync, even when repairing streams.

#### Limitations:
- **Learning Curve:** TMPGEnc’s wide array of features might come with a steeper learning curve compared to more straightforward tools like VideoReDo.
- **Price:** TMPGEnc Smart Renderer is a commercial product, so there’s a cost associated with its use.

### **Conclusion**
Both Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD and TMPGEnc Smart Renderer offer capabilities that can serve as excellent alternatives to VideoReDo’s QuickStreamFix, particularly when dealing with corrupted frames and maintaining audio/video sync.

- **Womble** might be your go-to if you’re working primarily with MPEG formats and want a tool that can handle minor stream repairs and maintain sync with ease.
- **TMPGEnc** is highly recommended if you need broader format support, advanced smart rendering, and strong error correction features, especially if you frequently work with more complex formats like H.265.

Both tools are worth considering, and they offer trial versions, so you might want to experiment with each to see which best suits your specific needs.

Can anyone comment on those 2 tools, I guess particularly re "TMPGEnc" since "strong error correction features" ?

I guess this is an ask too far, but I do need it to run from a commandline without interactive intervention.

I tested TSDOCTOR, however windows popped up and it balked at some streams which VideoReDo fixed.

edit:
Ah.
After drilling down a bit, ChatGPT backed out from what it said above
in the end it went with TS-DOCTOR

[Bridgy]

Thank you for that post, i was running a trial of TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 7 last year but it expired before i had time to complete my comparisons to VRD Pro, and i can't use another trial version on my editing laptop, would need to get another temporary laptop to be able to get another 30 day trial.

I had a feeling from testing that it was close to VRD in the features that i need for my high bitrate 4k/60p HEVC files.

So what is the difference between Smart Renderer 6 and Video Mastering Works 7, i might assume that Mastering Works is a full editing package and Smart Renderer might just be a cut down version.

I am not prepared to pay for a Mastering Works license just to test it out again while ever i can still use VRD Pro, but it would be nice to give it another go.

Actually i was using the full version of TMPGEnc Xpress (i think it was called) up until 2016 when i discovered VRD and moved over to that, now they call it Video Mastering Works.

[Marayong]

A combined reply to several posts above .

Bridgy .. laptops, especially branded ones, often have tailored versions of windows. That means taking a boot drive from one win10/11 laptop (or a clone) and putting it into another laptop may not work in the new laptop. The idea of being able to switch boot drives between win10/11 machines is more for desktops. It might work .. or might not .. with a laptop. This isn't a win10/11 issue, it goes all the way back to XP and probably before - laptops are very brand hardware specific, desktops are much more generic in their hardware architecture. My success in cloning a system drive containing a VDR registration and putting that into a new machine involved moving from one desktop to another.

If you can justify it, I'd recommend getting a cheap and small desktop, and put a clone of your old laptop boot drive into the desktop and hope it boots. If it does, you can then clean out the laptop drivers and install all the relevant drivers for the desktop, tho' an out of the box copy of win10 should work in any desktop, When the new desktop dies, just put a close of the boot drive into a new machine and so on and so on.

I'm curious as to any differences between v.6.92.11.836 (beta) and the latest stable release. Having said that the latest stable release which I've been using for years perfectly meets my needs.

To try the trial of the latest version of TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works, you'll have to clean up any references to TMPGEnc in your windows registry and also make sure there are no stray remnants of the software left from the previous trial, both in the programs folder & also any relevant /user/ folders.

Seeker47. VDR is not abandonware. It was a joint project between two people, one handled the software development, the other handled sales and the like. The former died a few years ago however the 2nd member of the team is still alive and occasionally pops up on this forum. He is also maintaining at his cost a website so licenced users can regenerate activation codes if they have to install the non-pro versions onto a new computer. So whilst the code is no longer being updated, VDR is very much not abandonware. It is also my understanding that videohelp does not condone piracy and sooner or later a moderator will take notice of any such suggestion. I'd recommend you remove your post before a moderator notices it.

Neon50. As well as the installation file you will also need a new activation code. Scroll back a page or two and you'll find a webpage link for getting the activation code (assuming you still have your purchased registration key)

[Bridgy]

A combined reply to several posts above .

Bridgy .. laptops, especially branded ones, often have tailored versions of windows. That means taking a boot drive from one win10/11 laptop (or a clone) and putting it into another laptop may not work in the new laptop. The idea of being able to switch boot drives between win10/11 machines is more for desktops. It might work .. or might not .. with a laptop. This isn't a win10/11 issue, it goes all the way back to XP and probably before - laptops are very brand hardware specific, desktops are much more generic in their hardware architecture. My success in cloning a system drive containing a VDR registration and putting that into a new machine involved moving from one desktop to another.

When you say "Branded" laptop, all laptops are branded as far as i know, and i am not aware of any laptop brand having their own tailored version of windows, and i have been working on and with laptops for over 20 years, and even if they did, how would that affect or prevent my windows 10 cloned image drive from my current laptop from booting up on a brand new model, the only thing that might prevent it from working properly would be if there is one or more hardware components in the new laptop that does not have windows 10 support, which means that windows 10 has no drivers for it to function as it should, and this could happen, but it is not not very likely unless the older laptop is much older than the new one.

If it did happen, you could go to the specific hardware vendors website and see if they have a suitable windows 10 driver to download and install, because the vendors do continue making drivers for some hardware for several years.

My current windows 10 from my 4.5 year old metabox laptop will run perfectly on all of the current Metabox laptops because i called the store to make sure, and my VRD Pro activation should be ok on the new laptop as well, the main thing to remember, as you have previously mentioned, is to take the old laptop offline, or remove the windows drive, or simply not turn it on when booting up the new laptop with the cloned drive in it, or you can just uninstall the VRD from the old laptop first to prevent detection by the VRD activation server, so it will detect it on the new one.

When it comes to the Metabox laptops, they are all custom built at the store where you buy them, and there are many models to choose from, so you can buy a stock model and leave it as it is, or you can then go thru their customize page in their website and select various hardware changes to suite your needs, the price will go up or down depending on what things you add, delete, or change, you can even buy them without any drives installed if you prefer, so that you can install your own, but any hardware installed by you will not be covered by warranty unless it is a brand/model that is approved by metabox.

You can also buy it with or without windows, which you pay extra for anyway, and with my current Metabox i ordered it without Windows 10 installed on the 500gb Crucial P5 Plus NVMe M.2 2280 SSD, so when i got the laptop i installed my own copy of windows 10, windows loaded everything up that was needed (drivers etc) and i left it that way, although the dedicated Nvidia graphics card still gets driver updates at least once every month or so, and it also has the built in Intel Graphics too.

After i bought the laptop i installed a 2nd Crucial P5 Plus 512gb NVMe M.2 2280 SSD for use with my video editing work, and i also installed a 2tb 2.5" SSD as my files drive, and i have the same drive hooked up via USB as my backup files drive, and i also have my 2TB IceDrive Cloud storage service too, which is sync'd to my IceDrive folder on the laptop.

My windows 10 system image that i now run every fortnight using EaseUs Backup creates a 40gb image file and i store that on my laptop files drive, with a copy stored on my backup SSD as well, so when i buy the new Metabox laptop, i will order it without windows 11, and i will just remove the empty NVMe M.2 SSD from the laptop and run the windows image onto that, then put it back in the laptop and hopefully it will boot, and just let windows update any hardware drivers as needed, so it should be ok based on previous experiences doing this stuff on both desktops and laptops in the past.

The guys at the Metabox store also told me that if i run the cloned windows 10 on the new laptop, and there is a driver issue, they will help me out as best they can, but as of right now, i think i will just upgrade my current laptop to windows 11 before buying the new one, and after i have set it all up, i will just run an image of that setup ready to use in the new laptop.

A combined reply to several posts above . I'm curious as to any differences between v.6.92.11.836 (beta) and the latest stable release. Having said that the latest stable release which I've been using for years perfectly meets my needs.

Just keep your current version if it is working for you, i have had the last 6.93.7.836a beta given to me by Dan Rosen a few years ago, and even before that previous version did everything that i ever needed, so i have stuck with it.

Cheers

[Bridgy]

Seeker47. VDR is not abandonware. It was a joint project between two people, one handled the software development, the other handled sales and the like. The former died a few years ago however the 2nd member of the team is still alive and occasionally pops up on this forum. He is also maintaining at his cost a website so licenced users can regenerate activation codes if they have to install the non-pro versions onto a new computer. So whilst the code is no longer being updated, VDR is very much not abandonware. It is also my understanding that videohelp does not condone piracy and sooner or later a moderator will take notice of any such suggestion. I'd recommend you remove your post before a moderator notices it.

I think the use of the term abandonware might be the wrong word in this case, but who am i to say, but if you leave a car on the freeway and walk away and never go back to collect it, that is what i call abandoning it, but nobody else has the right to take that car without the appropriate permission or paying to do so.

Dan Rosen was the sole owner and creatorof VRD and it was he who ran every aspect of the business by himself, apparently not even his wife or other family members had anything to do with it, so unfortunately that is probably why it has turned into what it is today, and it is a real shame, so to those who criticize, or dare to suggest that he abandoned VRD should keep their mouth closed and show some respect, it is what it is, shit happens, and when things get smelly, we just need to move on, in this case, just make the most of what we still have, because one day it will be gone, and i will never ever feel like i was abandoned or ripped off as i read some idiot suggest in a post over in the horrible Reddit forum or whatever they call it.

Dan Haddix worked on the coding side only, and he did a fantastic job for many many years, so he is not responsible at all for what happens to VRD now and into the future, and it should not be his responsibility to pay for the upkeep of any servers that hold the activation licenses on it, but i was under the impression that Dan Rosens wife eventually paid for the server fees, and i think Dan Haddix moved something else over to his own server for now, i just can't remember what that was, as it is or seems to be a very complex situation, so my hat off to Dan H for his ongoing help and support.

I still believe that the license fee for VRD was worth a lot more than it was back in the day, TMPGEnc Mastering Works will cost me almost $200 Australian to buy, and even that is cheap if it can do what i can get from VRD, so i will never complain about the price.

I would love to be the owner of VRD and take it all over, but i am not a business orientated person, and i would have no idea what to do if i did have it, and i also have no idea what a business like this would be worth to buy in it's current format anyway.

Finally, let those who promote piracy in this forum say whatever they like, one day the parrot will bite their ear off and fly away, and the man with the wooden leg can walk the plank and be taken by the sharks.

[Seeker47]

I am more interested in a replacement for QuickStreamFix (QSF) than anything else, so I asked ChatGPT and received this answer:

Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD and TMPGEnc Smart Renderer are both strong contenders for handling video streams, particularly when dealing with MPEG-2, H.264, and H.265 streams. They offer advanced features that can approximate or even exceed some aspects of VideoReDo's QuickStreamFix, especially in terms of frame accuracy and handling corrupt frames. Here's a closer look at each:

### **Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD**

edit:
Ah.
After drilling down a bit, ChatGPT backed out from what it said above
in the end it went with TS-DOCTOR

Womble has been GONE for several years now.
https://www.videoproc.com/resource/what-happened-to-womble.htm

Comments are based on whatever info was known to me at time of posting. So maybe "abandoned" is not exactly the right term in this case, but situations like the one with Redfox happen from time to time, and it's no surprise that people might default to certain suppositions. What is to be done in cases where there may be need for a certain tool, but it is off the market and no longer available for purchase ? That is getting into some morally murky waters.

[DigitalDelboy]

Personally speaking, as an owner of VRD and TMPGEnc Smart Renderer, the latter is the closest to VRD you will find, still not as good, but very very similar.

[godai]

this program its for persons that know about this imo, i prefer interface of smart cutter. but tends to close itself a lot.

[Bridgy]

Personally speaking, as an owner of VRD and TMPGEnc Smart Renderer, the latter is the closest to VRD you will find, still not as good, but very very similar.

Thank you for this, i did asked before in an earlier post what is the difference between TMPGEnc Smart Renderer 6 and Video Mastering Works 7, i know that Mastering Works is the same as the previous Xpress version before they changed the name, and i was using that for years before VRD.

Mastering Works is a complete package where it offers frame accurate (or near enough) cutting, as well as ability to join files, and output to other formats etc, which is all i need to do with my files, as well as add a title/credit to the start and finish in some cases, which VRD does, but in a very basic way.

Actually i might grab the trial of Smart Renderer and take a closer look, given that for now i am not able to use Mastering Works in trial mode any more, and i am not going to bother cleaning out my system of it's left over remnant files just to use it again, that can be a very time consuming job, and it can be very risky if you don't know how to do this stuff properly.

Cheers

this program its for persons that know about this imo, i prefer interface of smart cutter. but tends to close itself a lot.

Hi, you cannot make any comparison between VRD and this Smart Cutter tool you refer to, Smart Cutter to me is much like LosslessCut where by it only lets you cut or trim out your files and join it all back up without re-rendering it, and you cannot render the files to other formats, so if all you need to do is trim out and join, then both these tools will be ok for most people, it doesn't even mention any support for HEVC (h.265) files, so it is not much use to me.

Quote from notes in the VideoHelp download page.

Cuts videos from DV Camcorder and HD PVR quickly in several mouse clicks.
Supporting M2TS, TS, MP4, MOV, PS, TP, TRP, MTS, MPG, VOB; H.264 AVC, AVCHD, MPEG2, DVD etc. Especially, it is Frame Accurate!
You can observe each scene thoroughly, cut or merge segments of movies. Cut commercials out of video stream.
Especially, only small parts on start and end points will be re-encoded, the middle part will remain untouched, lossless. This gives highest speed while reserving highest video quality. So it is called 'Smart Rendering'.
No need to be worried about formats, frame rate or file sizes, the functions of video join, split and cut can be easily achieved by Smart Cutter. The video editing software allows you to edit video files in all popular formats from DV Camcorder and HD PVR.

[Marayong]

Bridgy, my experience is far more with desktops than laptops, tho' I have had a few over the years. If you've been able to swap boot drives, great. Then you have no problems and should be able to preserve your VRD Pro licence that way. Without getting too offtrack and into hardware, some of the laptops I've had, admittedly many years ago, came with crippled versions of windows - windows normally comes with a full set of drivers so it will install on any machine, then downloading additional drivers to get full functionality. Some of the laptops I've had have come with just the drivers needed for that machine and lacked the generic drivers. I repeat this was years ago, so maybe it's different now with Win10/11 & is clearly not the case with what you have. Others may or may not run into the issue depending on the restrictions on the version of win they may have on their machine. I've made a note of Metabox for if & when I need to replace my laptop, they sound good, tho' I'm not a fan of samsung SSD drives, having had a lot of them develop issues over the last few years.

Thanks for the detail explain about who was behind VDR. I'll clarify that Dan Haddix has moved the online registration server for the non-pro versions onto his own server. When you bought the non-pro version you were given a key, you then enter that key into the website (originally run by Dan Rosen), along with a machine-specific code generated by VDR when you install VDR on your machine, the website then gives you the final key to fully licence your install. With Dan Haddix's website, licenced users can reinstall VDR (not pro) onto a new machine with their existing licence along with the additional key generated from his website.

Whilst VDR was Dan Rosen's project, Dan Haddix worked on VDR and still actively maintains the registration server. For that reason I would argue that VDR does not qualify as "abandonware" in any sense of the term. As for not being able to purchase new licences, since dan Haddix maintains the registration server, try & contact him about that. It is at least theoretically possible he could issue new licences since he is running the registration server???? But don't quote me on that ... or flame me if I'm wrong.

[Bridgy]

Dan.H has already said that he knows nothing about the operational side of the business, especially the purchasing side of things, and that would be expected because these 2 gentlemen live in totally different location in America and very rarely saw each other from what Dan Rosen told me one time in a phone call, and Dan.H already said that he cannot resurrect VRD from the ashes, so according to him, VRD is dead as far as it being an ongoing and viable company, unless someone was able to convince the wife or family of Dan.R to sell it, but because Dan ran the business by himself and never passed on any operational information to anyone else, it may well be impossible for someone else to take it over and start it back up again, even for someone like myself it would seem to be a very daunting task, and time consuming, and very costly.

Dan.H has moved the Non Pro licensing stuff over to his own server because it is probably easy to maintain, he will not touch the Pro version activation server because it works completely different to the Non Pro licensing, and it costs a lot to pay for that server too, which Dan.H is not prepared to pay for, and as of now that server is still being paid for by the wife of Dan Rosen (thankfully) and these are the only 2 reasons for why all of us can still use VRD today, however, should Dan.H decide not to support the Non Pro activation service on his own server in the future, then i assume that all Non Pro users will lose their VRD, just as the Pro users will also lose VRD if the wife of Dan.R decides not to pay for the Pro server any more, but until that happens, so you are correct by saying that VRD is not an abandoned ship just yet, and we can still get to use it, for how much longer is anyones guess.

Let us keep the laptop and windows debate for another time.

Cheers, and thanks for your input here too.

EDIT: i am curious as to where the Pro activation server is located, obviously Dan.H doesn't have it because he is not maintaining that side of the licensing.

[Bridgy]

So it seems that if we install and use just 1 of the TMPGEnc stand alone tools in trial mode, if it expires we can't install and use one of the others,

I just installed the trial of Smart Renderer and it tells me the trial has already expired, obviously because i already used Mastering Works in trial mode before.

Crazy and stupid idea by Pegasys.

I also had another look at Smart Cutter (1.11.2) which i tried using many years ago when i just needed a trimming tool, and not much has changed as far as the user interface goes, still looks like and feels Candy, and it also looks like it was designed by a child, which is a shame for a tool that is not cheap to buy given it's limitations.

[Marayong]

So Dan H. is unable to generate new licences. I suspected as such but could see that as the only option for those who didn't have a current licence.

As for the non-pro version, imaging/cloning a drive containing a licenced install will enable someone to move to a new computer, as per my experience, so that still remains a path should Dan H. stops maintaining the non-pro registration site at some time in the future, so the only thing stopping someone from using VRD for many years if not decades to come will be whether it will be supported by future versions of windows. And if that happens one could always maintain a Win10/11 virtual machine to continue to run VRD. I have a WinXP virtual machine to access and run some software and databases that will not run on anything more recent than XP.

As for alternatives to VRD, am I correct in concluding you've not found anything else that meets your needs as well as VRD does? That's the conclusion I've come to for my own needs, hence I plan to keep VRD running as long as I can, even if one day I have to set up a Win11 VM for it.

As for running other TMPGEnc modules, perhaps you can run a registry cleaner like ccleaner? That may clean up enough TMPGEnc traces for you to trial other modules if you are unwilling to hand clean the registry.

[Bridgy]

So Dan H. is unable to generate new licences. I suspected as such but could see that as the only option for those who didn't have a current licence.

Correct, he seems to be just doing what he can do as far as the Non Pro licensing or activations are concerned, but he will not, or cannot do anything relating to the Pro licensing or activations, which is sad, but i can understand his situation, he was an employee of VRD and was forced to take on another paid job elsewhere.

As for the non-pro version, imaging/cloning a drive containing a licenced install will enable someone to move to a new computer, as per my experience, so that still remains a path should Dan H. stops maintaining the non-pro registration site at some time in the future, so the only thing stopping someone from using VRD for many years if not decades to come will be whether it will be supported by future versions of windows. And if that happens one could always maintain a Win10/11 virtual machine to continue to run VRD. I have a WinXP virtual machine to access and run some software and databases that will not run on anything more recent than XP.

Personally i don't know the technical side of the licensing or activations, i assumed that if Dan.H decided not to host the Non Pro stuff on his server then those Non Pro users would also lose use of VRD, just as Pro users will if the Server fees are not paid by anyone, i think Dan.H mentioned a figure of over US$1,000 to maintain it each year, something that even i would consider paying for if the family of Dan Rosen decided to stop, however i don't know anything about that server or where it is located, i guess the only person who can answer this might be Dan.H.

As for alternatives to VRD, am I correct in concluding you've not found anything else that meets your needs as well as VRD does? That's the conclusion I've come to for my own needs, hence I plan to keep VRD running as long as I can, even if one day I have to set up a Win11 VM for it.

If i recall my trial use of TMPGEnc Mastering Works properly, i do think this would be my next go to software because it is an all in one point and click tool just as VRD is, i think i was pretty happy with the cutting tool, and i think it had a pretty decent set of output presets too, i just can't recall if i could create custom profiles like i do in VRD when i need them.

The main thing is that it supports my high bitrate 4k/60 HEVC video files from my cameras, which i refuse to change to any other format because it gives me the best possible video quality without having to spend a fortune on much more professional cameras, and HEVC can be recorded at around 30% less bitrate than i would need if recording in AVC mode to get the same quality, so that means i can record more video on my cards in the cameras than i can using AVC.

I also can't recall if it has a basic title creator like VRD Pro has, i probably use this feature on about 20% of my projects.

I know one thing for sure, i will never use any of those high end professional editing programs such as Adobe Premier and the likes, i don't need all the stuff that they offer, so i would be just throwing my money away.

As for running other TMPGEnc modules, perhaps you can run a registry cleaner like ccleaner? That may clean up enough TMPGEnc traces for you to trial other modules if you are unwilling to hand clean the registry.

I use to use CCleaner (Crap Cleaner as we called it back in the day) religiously on my machines, as well as my clients machines back in the day, and i am familiar with it's registry cleaner, but i had no idea it would clean up remnants from TMPGEnc so the trial might work again, so i will give it a go.

Cheers

EDIT: they charge you for CCleaner now, only get 30 day trial.