fewtch
8th March 2005, 20:59
List your favorite freeware video apps (out of the ones you've tried, of course) in descending order starting with #1 -- you can do top 5, top 10, top 20, whatever. Put the reasons why (power, utility, flexibility, etc) after each program.
Also (if you like), list some non-free apps you use regularly, and what you like/dislike about them.
Note -- don't include codecs or plugins, just programs. Unless you want to, that is :D.
Freeware:
#1: AVISynth (IMO this program should be selling on the pro market in the upper half of 3-figure $$$, yet it's free!).
#2: DVD Decrypter (flexible, very useful, non-buggy, updated regularly).
#3: DVD Shrink (extremely useful, excellent picture quality, surprisingly flexible, very low level of bugs).
#4: DMPGDec/DVD2AVI (without this one we'd be somewhat lost as a community, this is so useful in so many ways).
#5: VirtualDub and derivatives (useful, flexible)
#6: Gordian Knot/AutoGK (makes things easier for all of us. Because AutoGK runs fine when the adware is removed, I still consider it a freeware).
#7: IFOEdit -- very many uses, actually forces you to learn something about reauthoring before doing it ;).
#8: Media Player Classic/BSPlayer (tied). MPC wins on "built in everything," and BSPlayer wins for its superb resize algorithm and interesting interface.
#9: GSpot (very useful to tell a lot about encoded movies, there's little else like it anywhere).
#10: DVD Identifier / Nero CD-DVD speed (tied) -- useful in many ways.
Commercial Apps
* TMPGEnc DVD Author -- very easy to use, almost simplistic for beginners, remarkably bug-free (all apps should be that free of bugs).
* TMPGEnc -- annoyingly slow, but overall it works well and offers a lot of options.
* Ulead DVD Player -- I like it better than PowerDVD... picture quality is better, directshow filters are better. PowerDVD only has the advantage in many sound plugins (for the right price).
* Nero 6 Ultra Edition -- aside from a few useful elements, this suite is almost embarrassing. Lots of bloat, bugs, and useless programs, with a few very useful ones scattered around. Why not get rid of the detritus and just sell the good ones? Burning ROM + Express, Recode, toolkit, maybe InCD... get rid of the rest. And for god's sake, work on fixing bugs before adding more features.
Also (if you like), list some non-free apps you use regularly, and what you like/dislike about them.
Note -- don't include codecs or plugins, just programs. Unless you want to, that is :D.
Freeware:
#1: AVISynth (IMO this program should be selling on the pro market in the upper half of 3-figure $$$, yet it's free!).
#2: DVD Decrypter (flexible, very useful, non-buggy, updated regularly).
#3: DVD Shrink (extremely useful, excellent picture quality, surprisingly flexible, very low level of bugs).
#4: DMPGDec/DVD2AVI (without this one we'd be somewhat lost as a community, this is so useful in so many ways).
#5: VirtualDub and derivatives (useful, flexible)
#6: Gordian Knot/AutoGK (makes things easier for all of us. Because AutoGK runs fine when the adware is removed, I still consider it a freeware).
#7: IFOEdit -- very many uses, actually forces you to learn something about reauthoring before doing it ;).
#8: Media Player Classic/BSPlayer (tied). MPC wins on "built in everything," and BSPlayer wins for its superb resize algorithm and interesting interface.
#9: GSpot (very useful to tell a lot about encoded movies, there's little else like it anywhere).
#10: DVD Identifier / Nero CD-DVD speed (tied) -- useful in many ways.
Commercial Apps
* TMPGEnc DVD Author -- very easy to use, almost simplistic for beginners, remarkably bug-free (all apps should be that free of bugs).
* TMPGEnc -- annoyingly slow, but overall it works well and offers a lot of options.
* Ulead DVD Player -- I like it better than PowerDVD... picture quality is better, directshow filters are better. PowerDVD only has the advantage in many sound plugins (for the right price).
* Nero 6 Ultra Edition -- aside from a few useful elements, this suite is almost embarrassing. Lots of bloat, bugs, and useless programs, with a few very useful ones scattered around. Why not get rid of the detritus and just sell the good ones? Burning ROM + Express, Recode, toolkit, maybe InCD... get rid of the rest. And for god's sake, work on fixing bugs before adding more features.