A Couple of TCPMP Questions

[dougom]

[dougom]

I am currently typing up my review of the various DVD-to-'Zode tools that I have tested, and it's turning out to be pretty durn long. Tell me, folks: do you want one monstrously long post, or should I break it up into several still-long but more manageable posts? Totally up to you all.

[dmccunney]

[kerplunk]

I second that! Good luck. I am always impressed with the quality of posters on this site! So many people contributing time out of their day to make life easier for all. It is definetly commendable! Tapland is such an awesome site!

[dougom]

[dougom]

DVD to Zodiac Conversion Tools Review

First of all, thanks for your interest in my opinions. I am hardly a professional reviewer of anything, so please bear with me. And by the way, whoever suggested using a card reader to transfer video files back and forth, thank you thank you. I feel like an idiot for not thinking of it myself, but thank you thank you. To all you video enthusiasts out there: it is the only way to transfer these big ol' files back and forth; hotsync takes forever by comparison. (By "forever," I mean 20 minutes vs. 5 minutes for a 400Mb file, approximately.)

About Doug: C.S. degree, 2 yrs. UNIX software tech support, 15 years technical writer on all kinds of software and hardware.

System information: IBM Thinkpad T42, running MicroSoft Windows 2K, 5.00.2195, Service Pack 4. Intel Pentium M processor, 1.70GHz, 523MB RAM.

Zode: Zodiac 2; I use SanDisk 1 GB SD cards, and am running converted .avi files using TCPMP.

Software tested:
o) The_New_Guy's "roll your own" method (TNG), by The_New_Guy (http://www.sitesled.com/members/zodiacguide/ZG.html)
o) VeMoDe, by CoreCodeC (http://corecodec.org/projects/vemode/)
o) Pocket DVD Wizard (PDW), by The Coding WorkShop (http://www.pocket-dvd-wizard.com/)
o) Pocket DVD-Studio (PDS), by PQDVD (http://www.pqdvd.com)
o) DVD Catalyst (DC) (http://www.pocketdvd.ca/)

Note the first: I could not get VeMoDe to work at all; I kept getting error messages whenever I tried to convert. VeMoDe is not included in the reviews.

Note the second: DVD Cataylst has some subroutine in it that (apparently) does a low-level call to Internet Explorer, probably when it is mucking about with Windows (as MicroSoft linked IE and Windows together, it's often hard to tell). If you are running firewall software, DVD Catalyst may not work, depending on the type of security software you are running. I advise disconnecting from the internet (I turned off my wireless card, but do whatever is easiest for you), turning off your firewall software, and then running it. Why? Because these days, I get really nervous if I'm connected without my firewall and security software running. Your Milage May Vary.

Note the third: On software where there are multiple configuration options (PDS, DC), I tested a lot of different combinations of frame rate, kbps, and screen size/resolution. After conversion, I also tested various combinations of display options on my 'Zode, trying to find a good balance. (For example, if you want to watch "Sin City," convert using DVD Catalyst and use the "ATI Infineon Decoder" setting.) What I will do is give you what I think is the best combination of those variables for each tool. No sense in you wasting as much time as I did.

So, here we go. What I have done is compare each tool/method (except for VeMoDe) in four categories: Interface/ease-of-use/bugginess, quality of resulting image (with settings given, as well as notes on the plusses and minuses of various different settings), speed of conversion, and file size tradeoffs. If I've missed a category that anyone is interested in, let me know; those just happen to be the categories *I'm* interested in.

Reviews coming as they get finished. First up: Pocket DVD Wizard.

[Pushwall]

Great stuff, Doug! Can't wait to read all of the review. Hopefully, Scott will post this where it deserves to be....as a news story on the front page and in the review section.
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JoeHedges.com

[dougom]

Pocket DVD Wizard, by The Coding Workshop (http://www.pocket-dvd-wizard.com), $28.95

Overview: PDW is fairly easy to use, produces decent, albeit somewhat fuzzy (in my opinion) output, and takes a while to do the job.

Interface: I hate to use the word "worst," but PDW does indeed have the worst interface of the three "click the button and convert your file" applications that I tried. Its interface is not bad per se, but you are forced to navigate through multiple windows, which is always annoying. When one window is being replaced by a different window, the application actually seems to disappear for a few seconds, causing you to wonder if the durn thing has crashed. You are required to select from a list of tracks before moving on to the main interface window, but there is nothing (other than length) to indicate which track is which; you just have to guess which track is the right one, something highly annoying for multi-track TV episode DVDs.

PDW doesn't provide you with many configuration options other than choosing between different aspect ratios; e.g., you can't choose different resolutions, frame rates, or video bit rates, and the conversion is 2-pass only (the other two apps provide you with a 1-pass option, which is quicker, though giving you somewhat poorer resolution, particularly when there is a lot of movement on film). It is possible that these options exist somewhere, but believe me, I looked, and I couldn't find them. In short, this is an interface that needs a lot of work and cleanup, in my opinion.

Quality of resulting image: To my eye, again, this one produces the worst output. Again, it's not bad, but it's not the sharp image that you would like, and that your Zode can display.

Speed: Average. PDW uses a two-pass conversion process, but the second pass is noticably faster than the first. It ranks in the middle of the options I tested.

File size: middling-to-low. It's hard to compare, since you can set so many other variables with the other two GUI apps. A standard 90-120 minute film produces a 300-400MB file, roughly.

Bottom line: This was the first tool I tested and, ironically, it's the one that I like the least. The combination of the lack of sharp output and configurability, combined with the only-average processing speed, make this an application I would recommend against. If you are worried about file size, both the other two GUI apps provide you with various options that allow you to reduce the size of the converted file (with a tradeoff in image sharpness and resolution).

Next up: Pocket-DVD Studio. (Don't be surprised if that one comes out tomorrow or the next day, though; I do have a day job.)

[ZodiacfreaK]

Try to get VeMoDe working I have never had any trouble getting it to work at all. Maybee you tried to use a codec that you didnt have?
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Myspace proved to me that there are millions of people in this world that should NEVER be allowed to design websites... EVER.

[dougom]