ratdvd, new dvd tool

[jimmalenko]

I said in the beginning:

My only interest in ratDVD is its ability to shrink large size vobs into rat file and reconvert the rat file to fit on a DVD, though that may not be the main intention of the ratDVD author

I also said at the end:

As I said, the main function of the Rat may not be to shrink a oversized video_TS, but when used this way, those were my findings

My results should only be interpreted within the context of how they were performed.

Exactly.

IN-VAL-ID !


Let me start by saying I wasn't able to play the RatDVD file I made with the first version advertised here - I haven't tried the latest version yet. This is my disclaimer to the fact that I have no vested interest in this particular software, just a concern for comparisons to be made on a level playing field.

If the program is not designed to fit a particular purpose, then it's kinda no surprise to me that it sucks at it - why would the developer focus their hard-earned time and resources into making it good at something that it isn't designed to do ?

DVDShrink IS designed to shrink down a DVD, retaining excellent results; TMPGEnc IS designed to encode at the highest quality (provided your settings are right) ... it's kinda unfair IMO to pit it against the tried and true best programs in their genres (or close to it, anyway) to see where it stacks up in comparison for something it isn't even claiming to be able to be good at. What it IS good at is the "original" shrink, while retaining quality and all of the playback features, menus etc etc of the original DVD for playback on your computer. I'm yet to see any other tool that can do this, although the menu support in DivX may well provide some interesting developments in this area, but within the context, this program is definitely a pioneer in its field.

[inuyasha]

No doubt about it the author of ratDVD is a pioneer in coming up with such an original and unique software like this. That's no other tools that cover what ratDVD does. I totally agree with that.
However, even though the ratDVD site does not explicitly advocate the use of the tool as a dvd shrinker, there is information on the site that hinted its potential and ability to do so and it's why I included it in my shrinkers test:

Quoting from the FAQ page:
Is the reconverted ratDVD (to DVD) as good as the original?

Yes! There might be some small limitations to the quality based on the settings chosen, but it is a fully functional, compatible, high quality DVD-Video.

Does it not mean to you that the rat file converted from the original DVD (done using highest quality setting), when unratted back to a DVD, will render a high quality DVD video?

To me, it is suggesting that the output DVD file will be very close in quality to the input DVD file as long as the highest quality setting is used. The rat file is only an intermediate stage.

In my test, I used highest quality setting all the way through, and with no apparent limit on the output file size of the converted DVD file (converted DVD file size was 4.2G no matter what the destination output type was set to, single or double layer DVD-r). Given these, the video quality of the unratted DVD,IMO, is far from the original quality.

[boldy]

i and a couple of others seem to now be having problems with this ratdvd progy, it gets to a certain point in the movie and crashes any suggestions on how to sort this out and also can anything else convert these rat files back to dvd.

[ukb007]

RatDVD compressed format gives a good quality for size and compression ratio (so does XviD). But conversion back to DVD from the compressed file (RatDVD's main stated advantage) definitely drops quality; whether that drop is acceptable or not is subjective. To my mind, I'd settle for some drop in shrinkage programs (like XviD) but not in DVDs.

Thanks.

[dvd.doe]

Yes, I had this bug also. ratdvd always seems to create single layer DVDs no matter what the destination size is set to.

For most DVDs this isn't a problem but if they are very big the video quality in the ratdvd->dvd step is reduced. It is not so important to me because I use DL media very rarely but still I hope that it'll be fixed in the next version.

[leebo]

Anyone got a handle on what is the lowest speed, acceptable CPU to run this program? Obviously, the faster the better.

I just started testing this software (ver. 0.7 something) using my HTPC, which is running a lowely 1.1Ghz Tbird, 512 megs of ram.

Converting a 6.5 Gig DVD took 9+ hours, and playback is choppy. Plays a couple of seconds, freezes for a second, etc.

Can you guys who have older CPU's but are able to play the Rat files fine please post your CPU speed? I can go up to a 2.6 Ghz with my current MB but if I can get away with a lower speed CPU to save $ right now I'd prefer that. I'm waiting until dual core's come down.

Thanks.