V2 BETA Released

[ChrissyBoy]

I am happy to annouce the public beta of SVCD2DVD v2 to registered users of SVCD2DVD.

Latest Build: BETA 3 (build 2.0.1756.23241).

You can download it from the Registered Users area.



Installation

Just run SVCD2DVDSetup.msi and follow the installation wizard.

Windows XP SP2 users should adress the DEP issue pointed out in the wizard.

Registration

You will be using the registration code from your copy of SVCD2DVD v1.5. If you used the registration wizard for v1.5 there should be a file: “C:\Program Files\BadgerSoft\SVCD2DVD\machine license.txt”. If this is not the case please ensure you have the latest build of v1.5 and re-register with the wizard.

See http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Help/v2/registration.htm for a movie of the registration process.

Usage

Please view the online demonstrations to see how to use SVCD2DVD 2.0:

http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Movies/v2/VTS%20setup.htm
http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Movies/v2/Menu.htm
http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Movies/v2/author.htm

Online Help is at: http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Help/v2/index.html - the help is work in progress and it is certainly not complete! I will add to it as I can.


Please note that this a BETA. There WILL be issues. READ the release notes which describe the limitations, known issues and revision history.

A free version will also be built soon.

[philmein]

nice one cb cant wait to give it a whirl.

keep up the good work

[toneman77]

Hi Chrissiboy

You coded a damn cool application with your latest beta.
My first impressions:
overall feel: a bit slower than the 1.5 versions (must be .Net)
What forced me to start the programm 3 times over:
Adding mpgs to a movie takes some time. After drag and drop, theres a delay which made me accidentally add a mpg several times. Is it possible to delete a mpg just by selcting it and press the recycle bin button? (without drag&drop)
Auto playing a mpg that is added to a movie made me loose my nerves several times. I have an XP 1600+ CPU and there are lots of delays/lags when draging and dropping.
When using the Menu Editor (looks very very cool): i messed around with the buttons on top and after some pressing. the 3 titles of my movies were placed one beside another putting the right most title out of the visible area. (all 3 titles were selected) If i know click one of the visible ones it is impossible to get the one that is outside back on screen. i had to close svcd2dvd and make everything all over (because i ignored the save Project feature, shame on me)

Did i oversee it or isnt it possible to just add the bin files to a movie and tell svcd2dvd to automatically rip the images, liek in previous (1.5) versions ?
A button in the menu editor that display the Overscan areas would be very handy.
when closing the log window during ripping of images, i couldnt find a button to bring it back.

and last but not least:
Please please please (with cream on top) make the svcd2dvd window resizable, please. at least with the option to make it bigger (not smaller than initaial size)
oh, and i have nero 6.3.sth installed and your programm told me that it couldnt find it. dunno what i made wrong, but other tools have no problem finding nero (like DVDShrink for example)

overall:

Your tool look amazing. I love the new features
Im looking forward for further versions. (adding pictures and text to the menu)

Greetings

Toneman77

[boggle]

Is it me going blind but everytime i go to registered users section the only download i am offered is the old one?

Latest version: SVCD2DVD v1.51.2 (with registration wizard)


Where is the Beta 3 version?

[Wistow]

I have downloaded the beta 3 version and followed the registration instructions and video, however when I try to register the dialog box just goes away and nothing else happens. Has anyone else got the same problem? What else can I do?

Thanks Wistow

[ChrissyBoy]

Have you delt with DEP?

[Josh4u]

Nope i'm going blind as well - i get into the registered users area on the web site and the only software available in there is the regular 1.51 version?

Has the beta version been taken offline?

I'm sure it will become available soon enough though.

Thanks

[Dixon Butz]

I see it. Do you see this:

SVCD2DVD v2 Beta
If you would like to try the latest beta of SVCD2DVD v2: Download - 4.5 MB

Details about the beta are availiable on the SVCD2DVD forum.

[ChrissyBoy]

You anly see it if you have a valid v1.5 license.

[calisto]

I can't find it on the site either!!

[HighDesert]

I installed it and it loaded some AVI's and made a menu. Once I hit the author DVD button got a huge unhandler error message. Unfortunately, I am still using 98se. I figure most of the development and coding is done on XP. Anyway, I sent you the detailed error log Chrissyboy. I am planning on putting XP on this box next december when my school is out.

[duhmez]

nICE WORK DUDE. yOU'VE ADDED ALOT OF FEATURES i AM VERY LOKING FORWARD TO.
Oops caps lock.

[Josh4u]

Hi Chrissy

I'm sure i do have a valid licence - and no the beta for v2 is not being shown in the registered users area - not to me anyway How would i get into the registered users area if i had not paid to do so?

I paid my money and have never had a problem installing the software (on xp 1 anyway) v 1.51 installs a treat and goes online everytime to check my licence is valid?

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[teedizz]

Chrissy boy...wheres tha registered users area?.......I dont see it & I have donated so I should be able to see it

[HighDesert]

Chrissy boy...wheres tha registered users area?.......I dont see it & I have donated so I should be able to see it

After you donate you should get an email with the link along with the reg file. You won't find the link on the regular site.

Another question for Chrissy, does registering for version 2 count against authentication limit? I can't remember how many authentications one gets. I thing it is three and then it resets after three months. But if one registered both apps and then had to reformat and reinstall both.. that would require 4 authentications to do that. That could easily become a issue.

I also think there should be an easier way to install this app.. cutting and pasting from a text file from the programs folder is unsual to say the least.

I also got pretty confused with the animated documentation where the mouse seemed to be point and clicking all over the place but at mostly at blank spaces. I actually got some movies to load but nothing like what the documentation showed. Anyway, like I said before, after clicking on dvd author button I got an error message. My guess its my 98se OS. I have the lastest .net and direct x installed as well.

[ChrissyBoy]

You will see the download link on the users area (After you log in) IF you have a valid registration. I.e. one that has not expired. If this is not the case please email me.


HighDesert: v2 uses the authentication of v1.5. and doesn't increment the liecnse count. Email me the error and your log file so i can see what the issue is.

[baaelzebub]

Great program, love all the new features however i get this message when it comes to burning.

Type: System.InvalidCastException

Source: System.Windows.Forms

Message: Specified cast is not valid.

InnerException:

StackTrace: at System.Windows.Forms.Control.MarshaledInvoke(Contr ol caller, Delegate method, Object[] args, Boolean synchronous)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.Invoke(Delegate method, Object[] args)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.Invoke(Delegate method)
at SVCD2DVD.d3764d4f1e921081.f81783e1b359ffc3()

[ChrissyBoy]

Have you set your burner in the setting and saved? Is the SVCD2DVD window in focus at this point?

[baaelzebub]

Thanks ChrissyBoy. Tried again this morning and it worked no problems.

I had my burner set correctly, guess i couldn't have had the SVCD2DVD window in focus last time.

[ChrissyBoy]

New build - Beta 4:

2.0 Beta 4 - Released 30 Oct 2004
* Higher quality menus
! Fixed Win98 bug.
! Fixed MPA to AC3 bug.
+ Reset menu button positions
+ Menu safe area guides
+ optional PAL to NTSC conversion of MPEG2 assets (See process settings)
+ Added Chapter support as per v1.5
! minor bug fixes

Grab the latest from the users area.

[HighDesert]

New build - Beta 4:

2.0 Beta 4 - Released 30 Oct 2004

! Fixed Win98 bug.

Grab the latest from the users area.

Finally got around to trying out the new beta with 98se.. getting error message when I add assets. Any Ideas Chrissyboy? I sent you an email with the error report.

[guidorobben]

Just one thing. When can I add vobs to the asset list?? I can renamed vobs to mpg and add them..

Guido

[ChrissyBoy]

Well as mentioned, vobsets need to be concatenated. You can do this independently of svcd2dvd at the moment. I will add a facility to do this automatically soon.

[whittaker007]

Hi Chris,

I have downloaded the version 2 beta 3 version - seems pretty cool. The only issues I have had with my tests have been that while it allows you to demux and resample audio from an mpeg, there is no way to remux them (apart from doing the one-step de/remux). That is something I needed to do with an mpeg I created from 2 programs, one which produced excellent video but with audio that lost synch over time, and another program which didn't do as good a job with the video but kept the audio in synch - so I managed to demux both of them but have been unable to join the audio of one with the video of the other.

It would be good to be able to delete selected assets by clicking on the rubbish bin or by pressing the [delete] key rather than having to drag them onto the trash. The click-and-drag selection method is also non-standard - the standard method is to click and hold the mouse button while dragging and releasing the button commits the selection, but yours works by clicking once then releasing, dragging, and then clicking again. Also, after dragging files to the bin, a new selection is activated in the assets area.

Finally, the progress bar never reaches 100% which can be a little disconcerting.

Scott

[bobbel]

Hi ChrissyBoy,

let me tell u first that I'm very, very happy with v.1.5! It's really worth every cent I paid! The only thing I ever missed was avi2dvd...

I'm not an expert at all but checking v2 Beta, and I hope u don't get angry if I tell u, I still like ol' v1.5 more at the moment...

Some problems I found for myself:

Converting avi is fine in quality but they get much to big without any chance to control bitrate or maybe aspect...That become to a big problem if u want to convert a 2CD-XviD-movie e.g.. You have to transcode it again after conversion... with v1.5 the size of the resulting DVD dosn't blow up much more than the source mpg-file. Why can't this work with avi-files the same way?
I, too, like the smart interface of v1.5 more than the new one...maybe you can offer both in the final version...

cy

bobbel

[ChrissyBoy]

That become to a big problem if u want to convert a 2CD-XviD-movie e.g.. You have to transcode it again after conversion... with v1.5 the size of the resulting DVD dosn't blow up much more than the source mpg-file. Why can't this work with avi-files the same way?

Well, currently the avi files are encoded to full dvd resolution. This gives rise to the huge files. The reason this is the only option is that most avi files have the quality to facilitate this. Going forward i will be adding encoding to svcd. This will allow you to add the normal "five" avi-svcds to a DVDR....

As for the GUI - people didn't like Windows 95 at first....

[bobbel]

As for the GUI - people didn't like Windows 95 at first....

lol - yeah, right

Thx for the info, chris

bobbel

[slyt]

Firstly Chris, I just want to say thanks.

I have found the v1.5 so helpful. The main problem I had with all the other alternatives for file conversions to DVD is a) the time it took to convert, and b) they often are overly complicated.

In short your software is magic.


I have been testing the Version 2 beta v4 and on the whole, total respect dude. The addition of AVIs, in particular AVIs with compressed audio codecs (divx, xvid), is awesome. I have been trying to find such a tool as good as v1.5 is with svcd, for avi. I had no luck and nothing compared to the ease of svcd2dvd.

The GUI is cool and it all seems easy to use once you get used to the changes from 1.5, with a few attempts, using v2 is just as straight forward.

I also like the fact the input files can come from multiple locations, this is a great benefit as it saves moving things about.

The new menu creator is great, I must confess, having a “centralise” icon is something I really appreciate, it helps give the final DVDs a professional feel.

I have many other good points and can let you know a detailed summary of them if you wish.

Whilst a lot of people are giving you there error logs to tweak any compatibility issues, there are a few things I have noticed that if you could add, you would be an absolute star.

Firstly, the having to rip bin images before starting. Having used 1.5 so much, I like the simplicity of being able to dump the bin files in and the software does the rest. By having to rip the bin images first, I cant help feeling it adds an extra stage that is not really needed.

Secondly, there isn’t the configuration option to delete the files along the way. With bin -> mpeg -> DVD mpeg -> video_ts folders with no clean up of intermediate files, the space used is huge. If we could have the same configuration setting options from 1.5 where this could be done, it helps keep the HDD tidy and prevents the likely hood of running out of space and halting the process.

Finally, I know compressed avis are an arse to work with as it is difficult to tell how big they will get, but is there perhaps some way of giving an idea on what the file size would be after conversion? - I tried to slap a couple of avis to a single DVD and the resulting folder was about 8gig. As this is too big to rip to a DVD, I had to delete the files and folders created and run the app again. If there was some way to know the files created would be too big for a DVD, it would help to decide which files to include in a project to get the most on each disc, without going over. This is something that has never been needed as (s)vcd mpegs and bin files, roughly convert to the same size after conversion, thus as long as the input is less than 4gig (or just over) the end project will be the right size.


I hope none of the above comes across as negatives because I truly think your software is awesome. If the above are possible it would make it even better.


Thanks again Chris for not only developing this, but for sharing the tool with us.

If you want to know anything else, let me know.

Thanks mate

[slyt]

Apologies for double posting but this is a separate issue relating to v2.

I ran v2 to create a dvd containing 3 svcds. The process ran through fine and I ripped the Video_ts folder to a dvd. The resulting disk did not play on my standalone, yet plays perfectly on my PC.

I did the same thing in v1.5 and the dvd works fine in both.

Is there something I have done wrong in v2 ? - the I can only assume it is the front menu that isnt compatible but this seems odd as it is fine from 1.5.

Any ideas ?

Thanks

[ChrissyBoy]

Thanks for the kind words. I sall certainly be implementing those points before the final release.

As for the other issue. Could you try the run again without the menu to see if infact the menu is at fault?