DIGITAL DIGEST - http://www.digital-digest.com
DIGITAL DIGEST | LIVE UPDATE Issue 36
17 August, 2003

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TOP NEWS SUMMARY :

1. What's happened on DivX Digest since the last newsletter?

2. What's happened on DVD Digest since the last newsletter?

3. What's happened on DVD±R Digest since the last newsletter?

4. What's happened in the Digital Video Forum since the last
newsletter?

5. How to cancel/change your subscription email address/settings
- how to maintain the subscription to this newsletter even if
your email address has changed

6. A simple thank-you and some concluding words

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1. What's happened on DivX Digest since the last newsletter?

The last two weeks have been dominated by no less than four test
releases of the multimedia players, RadLight and The Core Media
Player (TCMP).

TCMP 4.0 is nearing the end of its testing phase, with the final
release build looking to come sooner, rather than later. It is
already at the fourth release candidate, build 44 actually, so it is
obvious that the developers are keen to get all the bug ironed out
and getting user feedback before releasing the final build.

The developer of RadLight is taking a similar approach, having just
released the fifth alpha version of, incidentally, also the 4.0
version of the multimedia player.

Both players are looking quite good already, so I can't wait for the
4.0 Final version to be released.

Speaking (or typing ... whatever) of multimedia players, everyone's
favorite (according to our download logs anyway) multimedia player,
BS Player, has also been updated. Compared to TCMP and RadLight, BS
Player is the more mature out of the three, having been released
earlier and already in it's fifth hundred build.

Related Links :
BS Player : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/bs_play.html
The Core Media Player : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/tcmp.html
RadLight : http://www.divx-digest.com/software/radlight_player.html


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2. What's happened on DVD Digest since the last newsletter?

A new version of WinDVD Tweaker was released in the period between
the last newsletter and this one. Tweaking is an art form that you'll
either love, or absolutely hate. I fall into the former category, so
WinDVD Tweaker is like the perfect application for me. Having the
ability to tweak every little setting of WinDVD just to get that
extra little bit out of it is what WinDVD Tweaker is all about.

In the same period, a new build of VirtualDubMod has also been
released. VirtualDub, a tool that no digital video enthusiast should
be unfamiliar with, just happens to be open-source, and as with all
extremely popular open-source programs, modifications for VirtualDub
were endless (the most popular mod was probably NanDub). It was
getting to a point where there were dozens of modified VirtualDub
versions, each adding something unique to the original featureset of
VirtualDub. As a result, VirtualDubMod was released with the aim to
encompassing all the most popular modifications to VirtualDub within
one single version of VirtualDub. VirtualDubMod is now a favorite,
frequently used as an alternative to the original VirtualDub on which
it is based, and all the other popular tools that once used
VirtualDub (eg. Gordian Knot), now use VirtualDubMod instead.

And just a few hours ago, a new beta version of DSPlayer was
released. DSPlayer is a free software DVD player. And as with all
(legally obtained) software DVD players, the catch is that DVD
decoder filters are needed to playback DVDs. One of the advantages of
these types of free software DVD player is that since they're free
(or available as shareware or for a small price), they are usually
developed by enthusiasts like you and me, and hence, the focus is
usually on features that would interest enthusiasts such as
ourselves, rather than the general public. Zoom Player, for example,
takes this idea and focuses it on the ability to zoom/change the
aspect ratio of DVD playback to suit TV-out displays.

Related Links :
DSPlayer : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/dsplayer.html
VirtualDubMod : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/virtualdub.html
WinDVD Tweaker : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/windvd_tweaker.html
Zoom Player : http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/zoom_player.html


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3. What's happened on DVD±R Digest since the last newsletter?

The last week or so has been a busy time for those following the
development of DVD Shrink. No less than 5 beta version of 3.0 version
of DVD Shrink has been released.

On the surface, the difference between DVD Shrink 2.0 and 3.0 is not
so apparent, at least not as apparent as the difference between 1.0
and 2.0 (when DVD Shrink was completely re-designed). But there has
been some extensive tinkering underneath DVD Shrink's hood, and it is
now a much more complete DVD backup tool.

First up, compression levels are now automatically detected, which
saves you the trouble of setting them manually (and not using the
most efficient combination either). DVD Shrink now also supports the
removal of RCE region protection as well as Macrovision protection.
Prohibited User-Ops, like the disabling of fast forward during
copyright notices, can also now be removed as well!! The final 3.0
release version should be coming soon ...

In between the DVD Shrink betas, a new major version of DoItFast4U
(which has already went through several betas) was also released.
DoItFast4U 1.2.0 (and then shortly followed by 1.3.0) basically
addresses all the issues of the previous version (such as no PAL
frame order detection) and attempts to fix all those little bugs that
may have prevented a successful DVD backup. For those not familiar
with DoItFast4U, it is a tool that is used in a DVD backup method
which reduces the file size of DVDs (so it fits in a standard DVD±R
disc) by removing content from the DVD and/or re-encoding it using a
professional quality MPEG-2 encoder. DoItFast4U allows you to select
which part of DVD you want to remove from the backup, and then
proceed to do this by demultiplexing (ripping apart) the DVD files,
removing the part you don't need. The demuxed parts can then be re-
encoded within ReAuthorist, DoCCE4U and Scenarist, for example, to
get a very well re-encoded DVD that has great quality given the file
size constraints. Still confused? All of the instructions for this
method is covered in the Quality DVD Backup Guide (see link below).

Related Links :
DoItFast4U : http://www.dvdr-digest.com/software/doitfast4u.html
DVD Shrink : http://www.dvdr-digest.com/software/dvdshrink.html
Quality DVD Backup Guide : http://www.dvdr-digest.com/articles/24_1.html


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4. What's happened in the Digital Video Forum since the last
newsletter?

Quite a bit, actually.

I would first like to welcome "ddlooping" to the forum as a new
moderator to the DVD Shrink forums. He comes highly recommended from
the author of DVD Shrink, and already, he has had a huge impact on
the forum (so huge, that I've started a new newsletter section just
for the forum :) ).

The structure of the DVD Shrink forums has been changed somewhat, a
new "Announcements" forum added, and the bug reports forums have been
divided up based on the DVD Shrink version number. DVD Shrink beta
testers will shortly get their own user group and forum on the
Digital Video Forum as well.

ddlooping has also been busy designing a new forum style
called "glassyBlue". While it's still not technically finalised, it
is currently going through live testing in the forum, and a lot of
the bugs have already been ironed out. Have a look and see if you
like it or not.

And this is probably a good place to apologise for messing up the
VBulletin 2.3.1 update. Actually, the developers of VBulletin made
the mess when they released a version that didnt't got through CVS
properly, and long story short, the code was all messed up. 2.3.2 was
released a few days later and everything *seems* to be fine for now.
It happens to the best of us, I suppose ...

Related Links :
DVD Shrink Forums : http://forum.digital-digest.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=48
New forum style thread :
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?threadid=23559


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5. How to cancel/change settings/email address for your subscription
to this newsletter

Changing subscription status for this newsletter is pretty easy.

To un-subscribe :
- Send an email to liveupdate-unsubscribe@egroups.com using the email
account that receives this newsletter.

To change the email address that receives this newsletter :
- Un-subscribe using your current one, and sign up using a new email
address


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6. A simple thank-you and some concluding words

Just a note to thank all the thousands of people, including you, who
joined the Digital Digest LiveUpdate list. I've spent quite a bit of
time developing this site, and making it what it is today, and really
do appreciate your continued support.

I hoped you enjoyed another issue of the LiveUpdate newsletter. You
won't have to wait seven more months for the next issue, I promise :)

Thanks!!


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