is it really worth all this trouble?!

[geniv]

I'm an "oldie" in the DVD scene dating back like 2 years ago. just sorta back in to the scene.

... that was BEFORE DeCSS came out

I was the guy that the ugly rumor of the "VCD Bootleg" ripping program. in http://www.cdrom-guide.com

wow things have changed but yet stay the same.
I noticed most of the people have basically a general goal.

Convert their DVD to VCD/SVCD.
I see there are so many programs out there. vdub, powervcr,tmgenc, dvd2avi etc...

I'm reading some of the guides, and forum topics... about how you gotta capture with this card and that program, separate video/audio, sync, mux, etc...

I've been doing DVD to VCD "rips" even before the CSS is hacked. and all I got was a SNAZZI mpeg1 encoder and a sony dvd player...

2 hour movie takes me 2 hour to "rip" none of that "waiting hours for encoding/ripping/muxing/converting etc..processing"

I set my DVD to play and my SNazzi to record and that's it..
and bam, after the movie I can burn directly to a vcd with the file no intermediate processing.

I would have to admit It might not be as good of picture quality as vdub or tmpgenc (not that i actually did compared direct video, but I trust the review that tmpgenc is good quality) but still the quality of the snazzi capture is good.

just today I actually directly compare a 2 minute capture of a scene from the movie "soldier". using POWERVCR, NANODVR and my Snazzi hardware encoder... anyway the hardware capture was the sharpest and smoothest of the three.

also my VCD have no menus.. but that's just me too lazy to gothrough the touble of making it.

well anyway unless someone actually make a "vcd bootleg" program (a program that directly convert/rip DVD to vcd with a simple click of a mouse) I'll stick to my hardware coding method.

[sracer]

Well geniv, for a long time I was like you... MPEG hardware-only capturing. Using my Dazzle DVC (USB) (The Dazzle is the successor to the Snazzi). However, after upgrading my DVD player to a Pioneer DV-434, I've found that digitally ripping DVDs results in VCDs that are absolutely stunning! My Dazzle captures of DVDs always looked great, but I was shocked that ripping was even better...noticeably better.

Playing these VCDs ripped from DVDs shows absolutely no evidence of artifacts/compression. Not just-as-good as VHS, but BETTER.

Yes, I still use my Dazzle to capture from VCR and camcorder, but everything else gets ripped.

[geniv]

I"m sure digital ripping is better quality but just reading the how tos seems like alot of trouble to ripping digitally..

maybe someday my as will learn how to do it.

[sracer]

geniv, you're in a great position right now to begin ripping. Sefy's guides are as straightforward and easy to follow as ever. I used one of the early versions of the guide: SmartRipper -> DVD2AVI -> TMPEGENC Except for selecting the VideoCD template in TMPEGENC, everything uses the programs' default settings.

[mike416]

sracer,
I wondered ? I used to have that Dazzle USB and I gave it up because the result of the mpeg is out of sync. The file in the harddisk is still in-sync but if I write it into vcd and play it in a stand alone,then the audio sync problem is obvious. Don't you have that problem ?I'm using Broadway card wich result in perfect sync now. Athlon K7-650/512 Mb

[Vejita-sama]

Although there are some people renting and making copies, a lot of guys there few video editing as their hobby. I just like editing video and adding affects (I have no idea why).

So is it worth it? Well I like it, so yes. If you mean could you just bootleg a movie a lot easier, sure

[geniv]

actually my main reason to purchase a VCD encoder was to convert MY (as in I owned it) VHS to vcd. but then since I have the equipment already, why not make good use of it..

btw: I just realized something the other day when I was doing vcd capture quality test. I tired, WINTV, SNAZZI, Asus video card with TVin and capture dvd movie, than it hitme that DVD has macrovision and it had no effect on my capture...

[sracer]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-23 18:05:10, mike416 wrote:
sracer,
I wondered ? I used to have that Dazzle USB and I gave it up because the result of the mpeg is out of sync. The file in the harddisk is still in-sync but if I write it into vcd and play it in a stand alone,then the audio sync problem is obvious. Don't you have that problem ?I'm using Broadway card wich result in perfect sync now. Athlon K7-650/512 Mb
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope...never had that problem. But the fact that the MPEG file on your harddrive is in sync, but isn't when played on a DVD player tells me that either (a) Your VCD-authoring software is at fault or (b) Your DVD player is at fault. (Apex player perhaps?)

geniv, macrovision? What's macrovision.

[mike416]

sracer,I don't think the player is at fault as I never have that problem playing other vcd's. And I've tried several cd burning software,Nero,WinOnCD,Adaptec with same result and as I've said before,since I've change to Broadway card,the problem ended.
I've Pioneer standalone vcd player and Pioneer standalone dvd player.
Probably factory defect of my Dazzle USB ? but the file on the harddisk plays OK. Well.... I gave it up anyway