New Recode is out 0.9.5.2

[Anijake]

http://nero.com/us/nero-up.php#

Just looks like packet 2 is updated. Dont know what is new.

[SirCentipede]

I'm just downloading it, but as I am an "Internet Dinosaur" (56k modem - I know the laughs are on my side :D :D :D ) the download will take another 50 min..

I don't understand why these people at Ahead put 3 or more different programms in one update package, as i just want to have recode right now...if this doesn't change I won't update anymore or I finally have to invest in DSL...hmmm.

Anyway, I'll comment on recode l8r...

[DVDRFreak]

Tested it on my favorite test movie (NARC). The high motion scene at the beginning is watchable and has less macro blocks then DVDshrink 3.0.

The cosmetic bugs are still there.
Custom size is not sticky.
Undersizing 10MB exactly.

No reauthoring yet.

Looks like the guys at ahead are improving the transcoder engine.

Will test it on some other movies later.

[SirCentipede]

Seems that it has also a new burning feature:

Write to an NERO Image file (.nrg), AFAIK that hasn't been there be4.

[quantum]

Is it faster? It seems to have finished quicker than the last version.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by quantum
Is it faster? It seems to have finished quicker than the last version.

I also noticed a slight speed improvement. 25 minutes for a movie that was compressed at level 71% and is 1:40 long.

[SirCentipede]

I took me over an hour to write to an Nero image file and the stupid thing about it is, that Recode asks you after compiling and transcoding the DVD where to put the image file.

If you walk away and think that if you come back later the whole job is finished you r wrong, 'cause you'll see a prompt, where to put the image file. After that (transcoding & compiling took 40-50 min.) you have to wait another 20min. for Recode to write the image.

:mad:

[quantum]

The crazy problem with menu subtitle and audio selection remains. If you want to reduce menu's, then you have a lot of clicking to do.

[JFerguson]

FYI,

Closed captions get stripped with this rev, as did the first rev (per quantum).

But, DVD Shrink and InstantCopy do not retain them either for compressed video.

I am not sure what these three do in the case of non-compressed video, though...

[ephesus79]

Originally posted by quantum
The crazy problem with menu subtitle and audio selection remains. If you want to reduce menu's, then you have a lot of clicking to do.

Careful with removing "subtitles" from menus. They are mostly the rollover selection icons. If you take them off, you might not be able to tell what you are selecting in the menus.

[quantum]

Closed captions get stripped with this rev, as did the first rev (per quantum).Closed captions are retained if the title is not compressed (at 100%). I don't know if the other transcoders keep them when at 100%, but I would guess they do.

[mdeletr]

Hi, i just have done some testing, the new recode is better on quality.
I did AC/DC Stiff upper lip. On old recode it was some blockiness.
Same settings on newest did remove the blocks to almost none, much better quality.
I did compare to dvd shrink 3.0 beta 3.
Dvd shrink without deep analysis is little worse than new recode. with deep analysis on i can almost say the quality is on pair. Very impressing for recode.
I cannot say this is 100% true because i only tested one movie.
But it looks promising.

Jonas Svensson

[SirCentipede]

I got myself NARC, too ( ;) @ DVDRFreak) and tested it on the newest Recode and DVDshrink version.
I must say, that IMHO Shrink did a better job with less or smaller blocks at the high motion chase scene from the beginning of this movie. (Both were set at 65 % of the original movie, Shrink did a deep analysis)

Anyway i liked the DVDshrink result better, which shows us that judging the picture quality of a transcoder is a highly subjective matter. :) :) :)

BTW, NARC IS a very good test movie, DVDRFreak, thanx...

and not only that... i wanted to see it at a film festival here in Cologne but didn't find the time to, and yesterday it was released on DVD in Germany and IMHO it is a great movie, too.

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by SirCentipede
I got myself NARC, too ( ;) @ DVDRFreak) and tested it on the newest Recode and DVDshrink version.
I must say, that IMHO Shrink did a better job with less or smaller blocks at the high motion chase scene from the beginning of this movie. (Both were set at 65 % of the original movie, Shrink did a deep analysis)

Anyway i liked the DVDshrink result better, which shows us that judging the picture quality of a transcoder is a highly subjective matter. :) :) :)

BTW, NARC IS a very good test movie, DVDRFreak, thanx...

and not only that... i wanted to see it at a film festival here in Cologne but didn't find the time to, and yesterday it was released on DVD in Germany and IMHO it is a great movie, too.

Yeah the movie is great (also for testing).

Some Info on my test (movie only):
I tested it with movie only backup. So disabled menu's and extra's with a compression level of 71%. Also I set DVD size to maximum so the result would be exactly 4480MB (set custom size of 4490 in recode).

Did it with shirnk 3.0b3/Recode 0.9.5.2/CCE

Even the CCE copy has macro blocks (very few think they are also in the original). Anyway I thought the Recode version looked better then the DVDshrink version (CCE was the best of course). Maybe DVDshrink 3.0b3 is better at higher compression ratio.

[SirCentipede]

Yepp, the blocks r in some frames of the original, too... i saw it when i tested my results on virtualdub.

So one doesn't have to be too picky when it comes to blocks, sometimes they are in the original, too and you can't blame them allways on the job the transcoders did.

I did NARC with IC7, too: After I've finished i saw blocks in some frames and i was blaming IC7 for them, then i compared them to the original frames and I had to admit IC7 did a wonderful job:

The blocks in my IC7 frames where exactly the same as in the original frames.

I'm still waiting for a transcoder which corrects blocks 'n' errors of the original DVD and produces a better result, is that too much to ask for ? :D :D :D

[JFerguson]

Yep, I did Narc in InstantCopy (didn't strip extras), and mine looks good too.

I've been comparing InstantCopy, DVD Shrink, and Recode and here's my observations:
. DVD Shrink excels at maintaining surface textures; roads, floors, brick buildings in the background, etc. have more detail and look more like the original film than they do in InstantCopy or Recode.
. the above seems to result in a sharper image; InstantCopy and Recode seem to produce softer images
. InstantCopy excels in action scenes; these lose/change detail in DVD Shrink

Now, this is comparing PowerDVD snapshots; I don't know if this is the best, but I'll have to try that other recommended method that's floating around here and report back...

[luphy]

Thanks for your input JFerguson.

It seems to me within the realm of transcoders, IC7, Recode, and Shrink are the top three contenders. Does anyone even bother comparing to DVD2One, DVDXCopyExpress, CloneDVD anymore? Sincere question as I do not use any of the last three and I have no idea how their quality compares.

IC7 still seems to be the reigning champ in regards to video quality, but its under/over sizing problems is a big turnoff for some folks.
Recode has the ability to replace removed titles with an image file and still retain menus - though having no re-authoring like DVDShrink is a turnoff for some. And likewise Shrink has the re-authoring, but does not have the ability to retain menus in re-author or replace titles with an image. Image quality between Recode and Shrink seems to be similar as some folks find one better than the other, and vice versa.

What a wonderful world we live in where we have options!
The perfect transcode package would be Shrink combined with Recode and with IC7's transcode engine (but with perfect size estimation).

[ephesus79]

My friend's DVD player will only play files burned with DVD Decryptor so I concluded that it burns in the most compatible format and I only use IMG Tools classic/DVD decryptor to burn. Will burning in in the IMG format in DVD Decryptor be just as effective or should I stick with IMG Tools Classic/DVD Decryptor?

[JFerguson]

Originally posted by ephesus79
My friend's DVD player will only play files burned with DVD Decryptor so I concluded that it burns in the most compatible format and I only use IMG Tools classic/DVD decryptor to burn. Will burning in in the IMG format in DVD Decryptor be just as effective or should I stick with IMG Tools Classic/DVD Decryptor?

What is the IMG format you refer to? Little confused by your question there...

I've used two different versions of ImgTools do create .ISOs:

ImgTool Classic v0.90 Build 4
Pros: All content (VIDEO_TS, JACKET_P, DVD-ROM content) in source directory is transferred to ISO
Cons: Sometimes, instead of a final ISO size increase of ~1MB, you get a significantly larger ISO (>25MB)

ImgTools v0.89
Pros: In situations where you get the ImgTools Classic Con listed above, this one will produce a proper sized ISO
Cons: Will only add VIDEO_TS content to ISO, regardless of what's in the source directory

ImgTool Classic is essentially a wrapper around Jorg Schilling's cdrtools suite. I wouldn't mind just using that if I knew what the right command-line options were...

[ephesus79]

Originally posted by JFerguson
What is the IMG format you refer to? Little confused by your question there...

Whoops, sorry. I meant the NRG format. If I output to the Nero NRG format, should it be as compatible as using ImgTool Classic v0.90 Build 4, which is what I've been using, and then burning with DVD Decryptor? I do believe DVD Decryptor supports the Nero images...

[aikku]

Originally posted by Anijake
http://nero.com/us/nero-up.php#

Just looks like packet 2 is updated. Dont know what is new.

After two days of testing, I made the following observations:

- 0.9.5.2 seems to correct the bug which earlier caused the disc to be useless in a standalone player if burned directly with Recode (refer to the earlier posts elsewhere). Earlier, it was claimed (in this forum) that this bug was due to the lack of AUDIO_TS folder and the small letters instead of capitals. However, the problem was not resolved with the release of 0.9.5.1, eventhough the audio folder was added and the directory was written in capitals. I do not know how this has happened, but now my standalone (Sony NVS700V) plays it without any problem (if recorded directly by 0.9.5.2).

- However, when I tried to burn a DVD-R media with x2 speed, my system has rebooted three times (ie. three ruined discs). This maybe due to the media itself or my drive (Sony DRU500A) or firmware (2.0fv). Nevertheless, using x1 speed it was ok.