A long time between releases

[zamarky1]

Hi Everyone

Its been a long long time since we had an updated version.....is all well in the dev camp ? Just wondering.., having withdrawal symptons.

I know Mr dobbs will do it in his own sweet time as it should be but just wondering if maybe its on hold for now or something\




Regards

Mark

[TheSeeker]

Jdobbs had mentioned in a thread that in this release or possibly the next release of RB that he would be including seamless branching support. Im guessing that is what is taking a little longer this time, since that is a pretty major update. Or he is just taking a break. Who are we to complain though, its a free tool and he does lots of hard work on RB.

[jdobbs]

Yes, that and I've also been very busy with the "real" job. When you only have 3 hours a day left to yourself (after work and sleep) there isn't a lot of time to spend on programming DVD-RB -- and when I do I catch myself dozing in front of the computer...

Sorry for the whining...

I definitely haven't given up on it though. I've got a significant portion of the ILVU code done (it's a real pain in the ass, by the way).

[SansGrip]

Originally posted by jdobbs
I've got a significant portion of the ILVU code done (it's a real pain in the ass, by the way).
I can well imagine. I don't think the designers could've made the DVD format more obtuse if they'd tried. I've pieced together some IFO, VOB and MPEG parsing tools but they're a far cry from the functionality of DVD-RB. I think every user of DVD-RB should be forced to read the information on MPUCoder's site before being allowed to use the program -- maybe that way more people would donate ;).

[zamarky1]

Hi Again

Of course you are right..its a freebie and we are lucky to have a talented guy like Mr Dobbs to give it to us.....if every user of this prog gave Mr Dobbs just 5.00USD he could give up the day job and we would be up to version 5.0 ;-)

I wasn't complaining , just wondering ..i thought something must be brewing.....now its confirmed...so i'll just keep checking like i do every log on , every day..my fav past time for a while now ( hmm that could be construed as sad :-)....)

[DVD Maniac]

With all this talk about support for seemless branching, I was wondering what has happened with the old Audio Drop out problem? Will there be a fix in the next release or is this something that there is no foreseeable fix for?

Please do not take this the wrong way, and with due recognition of free pies and all, but isn't this a higher priority fix than providing branching support?

Enough beta testers have reorted the audio drop problem for it to be recognised as a problem that needs some priority attantion???????

[jdobbs]

The audio dropout is something I and almost all of the DVD-RB users have never seen. I've analyzed until I'm blue in the face, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of problem that I can find. I won't give up -- but I'm starting to feel I'm on a snipe hunt.

[BruceL]

@jdobbs
Yes, that and I've also been very busy with the "real" job. When you only have 3 hours a day left to yourself (after work and sleep) there isn't a lot of time to spend on programming DVD-RB -- and when I do I catch myself dozing in front of the computer...
3 hours is probably a generous estimate! On a lot of days I barely find 2.

Sorry for the whining...
No need to apologize! Everyone needs time for them self. You definitely do not want to get burn out.

Thanks for the great program and keep doing it on your own terms. Your heart will be in it that way and I am sure it will turn out better that way (just my opinion). ;)

[DVD Maniac]

The audio dropout is something I and almost all of the DVD-RB users have never seen. I've analyzed until I'm blue in the face, and there doesn't seem to be any sort of problem that I can find. I won't give up -- but I'm starting to feel I'm on a snipe hunt.

Its not my intention to snipe on you and appologies if it comes across that way. It is just very frustrating for those of us having this problem being unable to use such a great creation for reliable results.

Maybe if you could explain in some more detail what tests you have been running to isolate the route cause, what things you have eliminated etc we might be able to help?

[Video Dude]

@DVD Maniac

Do you experience the audio problem with every disc or just some?

If you play the DVD-RB files off your hard drive using a software DVD player like PowerDVD do you have the audio problem?

Is the problem every few seconds, or is it just at chapter breaks or cell segment borders?

[wmansir]

Originally posted by DVD Maniac
Its not my intention to snipe on you and appologies if it comes across that way. It is just very frustrating for those of us having this problem being unable to use such a great creation for reliable results.


Snip hunt (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=snipe%20hunt) is a term for chasing something that doesn't exist, at least not where you're looking for it.

[DVD Maniac]

Do you experience the audio problem with every disc or just some? If you play the DVD-RB files off your hard drive using a software DVD player like PowerDVD do you have the audio problem? Is the problem every few seconds, or is it just at chapter breaks or cell segment borders?

I get this problem with about Half the Rebuilder + CCE Encodes attempted so far. Episode based discs tend to do better for some reason and I have only had one failure with a DD2.0 sound type (I originally thought this was a consistency which might explain the occurence)

It only appears on set-top players (both of mine) with Digital amps (with either digital or analogue connection types)

It is totally random as far as I can tell. It can be all the way through, every 10 seconds or so or it can be at 3 or 4 specific points in the movie which only sometimes coincide with cell or chapter points.

I do not know enough about the way that Rebuilder does its Rebuilding stage to make any meaningful comments about what might be causing this and jdobbs has had some sample material for testing purposes for some time now. Reading his comments, it appears that he is not able to detect any "issues" with this cell and the problem is not repeated on his set-top.

The whole thing is equally frustrating for those experiencing the problem and for jdobbs himself!

[jdobbs]

Have you tried v0.57 yet? I made some changes that might have an impact -- since I can't see the problem I can't tell whether it fixes it.

[erdoke]

Originally posted by jdobbs
Have you tried v0.57 yet? I made some changes that might have an impact -- since I can't see the problem I can't tell whether it fixes it.

In 0.57 version history I find nothing on the support for CCE SP 2.67.00.27 Trial and Retail. Have you tested it with and without EclCCE?
THX

[DVD Maniac]

v0.57?

Oh yes released today :)

I will run our "test" movie with it and see what happens

[jdobbs]

Originally posted by erdoke
In 0.57 version history I find nothing on the support for CCE SP 2.67.00.27 Trial and Retail. Have you tested it with and without EclCCE?
THX Sorry, no. This was mainly a maintenance release because I'd had some fixes that had been in-place for a while, but not released to the public.

[erdoke]

Originally posted by jdobbs
Sorry, no. This was mainly a maintenance release because I'd had some fixes that had been in-place for a while, but not released to the public.

OK, no problem. Good explanation to my wife, why searching RB forums every day. It's for v. 0.58.:D

[DVD Maniac]

I ran the test with v0.57 and there is drop out from the word go on the opening titles exactly as with previous versions and the cell I sent you jdobbs. I have run this movie through with Shrink 3.2 and there are no drop outs with the same media and player combo.

Looks like this problem is going to be a tough one to nail :(

Any other ways we can identify whats going on here?

[TheSeeker]

@DVD Maniac

Out of curiousity, what movie is it that your experiencing this audio drop out? And have others done this movie without experiencing the dropout? In which case the problem is something on your end and not on JDobbs'. Not meaning to imply that you dont know what your doing or that your setup doesn't work for every other movie, but maybe for some reason rebuilder and this movie just dont get along with your computer. I might start looking into using the Big 3 to do it if Shrink isnt giving you acceptable results. No piece of software is perfect.

[DVD Maniac]

@The Seeker

Thanks for your well written response! I must say, I do get rather upset at responses from SOME of our forum members on this subject implying that we are either incompetent at application use or just plain imagining the problem!

So to answer your question, the movie in question is Paycheck. I have also has problems with other movies namely -

Master & Commander
Open Range
Intolerable Creulty
Matrix Revolutions

Plus some other PAL based episode type discs sucj as "Blake's Seven" (our US friends will not have heard of that one!), all of which transcoded perfectly with Shrink 3.2

It would be unfair to say that I am "unhappy" with the results I get from Shrink 3.2 - they really are rather good. But, if there is a way I can get CCE type results reliably then of course I am willing to explore them.

Now I keep hearing about "Big 3" but I must say I am ignorant to what it is (I have been busy with my day job recently like mr dobbs!)

:sly:

I must say though, I am skeptical about any theory of Movie + PC + Transcoder / Encoder combination and compatibilty thereof. Then you are in the realms of Chipset discussions and the like which really do get rather "out there" in my opinion ;)

[jdobbs]

If you think DVD-RB can be complicated... wait until you try the Big 3. Not that it isn't good... but the learning curve is huge.

[brashquido]

Yep, you're not wrong there jdobbs. I'm actually a Big 3 convert as I was finding as my free time becoming less and less, the amount of time I had avaiable to process a project with the Big 3 simply wasn't allowing me to get to the final product as quickly as I was wanting. There is absolutley no doubting the quality that the Big 3 can provide, not to mention the amount of control you get over your project. I just didn't have the hours of spare time (which WILL be needed for learning the Big 3) like I used to so I was needing something simple and reliable that still produced quality results. For the most part I think DVD-RB is there. Keep in mind with the Big 3 it is almost unavoidable to have this extra control with out complication which as jdobbs pointed out increases the learning curve somewhat. Still, if I was able to get my head around it, anyone should :) .

The way I look at it is if you want the absolute uncompromised very best method for converting your DVD projects, then the Big three is the way to go. Also keep in mind though that the Big 3 requires Scenarist which is a studio grade DVD authoring package, and as such costs 10's of thousands of dollars. However, if you are willing to make a few small compromises (and I do mean small), DVD-RB will save you a huge amount of time. There is no doubting that DVD-RB still has a way to go to fully realise its potential, but even as it is it is by far the best conversion method available while still maintaining quality and minimizing your time at preparing you projects assets.

[Axlemar]

Yeah I used to use the big 3 also. Even gave a donation to be a beta tester and all. It is very powerful, but I dislike installing all the needed programs when I can just use dvd-rb (that doesn't even need to be installed, so I can run it off my linux file server from windows without any problems) and all I need to do in most cases (after initial setup) is check for language tracks then click a button. Thanks for all the hard work.

[TheSeeker]

@DVD Maniac

Check out the guides here on Doom9 for a guide on how to back up a dvd with the big 3. But keep in mind what the others have been saying on this thread. Big 3 requires quite a learning curve and about 6 or 8 different programs. You DO get a little better quality than rebuilder but that is just because you have such control over every aspect of the project. But you can get very similar results by using shrink to encode menus and extras then running the main movie through rebuilder. But if you got some free time you may want to give it a gander. Especially if your a quality minded person. To be fair the big 3 method looks really intimidating when browsing through the guide but its a little easier after you have a few titles under your belt and it really isnt as bad as it looks.

[jdobbs]

I personally don't think the quality difference is that much... but if you are someone who wants to understand exactly how DVDs are built, authored, encoded, structured, etc... Big 3 takes you through all of that... DVD-RB insulates you from a lot of how, why, and where of reauthoring.

[TheSeeker]

I agree Jdobbs, that the quality really isnt much better. The only reason you may get a little better results is like i said because you can shrink down the menus and extras hardcore and save more bitrate for main movie video. But you can get the same effect using a shrink, rebuilder combo so really the big 3 is just needless hassle. Or you use it when you have a seamless branching or multiple angle title that you just dont want to strip apart. But thats going to change soon I think with the next version of Rebuilder *crosses fingers*

[lamster]

Originally posted by jdobbs
The audio dropout is something I and almost all of the DVD-RB users have never seen.

Well, I never saw it until I tried one of my rebuilt DVD's on a different player, Then, I saw it big-time, and on each rebuilt DVD that I tried in that machine. (See my post in the "Will the stutter ever stop?" thread for details.)