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Jim's Words : DVDx project relaunched, open-source, exciting...
Software: new DVDx IntoTool 0.9.1. Pre-Release
Software: play MKV video files on your PC
Software: new DivX codec 6.8 release
Friends top ten: sites who link to labDV.com
Software at labDV.com: November updates
VIP Pass: get DVDx updates with 2-year VIP Pass renewal

November 30th, 2007

1. Jim's Words : DVDx project relaunched, open-source, exciting...

Yes, we've done it!

I mentioned it a couple of times during last months, we've being prepared to relaunch DVDx project:

more releases
new DVDx utilities to help DVDx users
more open-source code to be published
still sooner and faster for labDV VIPs

and being prepared for

new DVDx 3 user experience (next year).

The first visible stuff is that I've migrated DVDx source code repository from obsolete CVS to new SVN (Subversion).

Then I uploaded 2.6 to 2.10 source code to this new repository so is up-to-date.

You can easily get DVDx source code on your desktop:

download and install free TortoiseSVN,
create a local folder and right-click SVN Checkout... then set URL to https://dvdx.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/dvdx/trunk and you'll get DVDx current source code (known as DVDx-trunk in SVN world) on your desktop!

DVDx setup files will be added further as we expect to move to Visual C++ Express 2008 soon (yep! very optimistic for the new year!).

Download:

DVDx and DVDx InfoTool source code at Source Forge SVN repository
DVDx standard version "ripper free" (and sources) available from Source Forge.
DVDx Ultra Edition (and all versions and sources) available from DVDx download page.
DVDx InfoTool packages (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X) available from Source Forge.

2. Software: new DVDx IntoTool 0.9.1 Pre-Release

Starbuck just finished a very first pre-release of DVDx InfoTool which displays DVD-Video IFO data and Title data in a window (code from ifo_dump in libdvdread) running on Windows, Mac OS.X and Linux!

Thus it's our brand new contribution from labDV to open-source community, preceding a lot more!

What’s in this DVDx InfoTool pre-release:

VTS top level
Video attributes of VTSM_VOBS
All PGC
Playback time
Prohibited user operations
Program Entry Cell
STC_discontinuty
Time Search table (VTS_TMAPS)
Menu Cell Address table
VTS VOBU address map

More at DVDx web site...

3. Software: Play MKV video files on your PC

You may have downloaded nice video titles in MKV (Matroska) format and may have trouble in playing them on your PC running Windows XP or Vista. For example Media Player Classic plays MKV files (in WMR9 renderless mode) but fails to respect aspect ratio. Here's a solution which works for me and should for you.

What you need:

Matroska Playback Pack
VLC Player
proceeding like explained below

If MKV files already associated with Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic or whatever player which doesn't work with MKV files, you have to delete the file association: open a folder window on your desktop, in Tools menu, choose Folder options; then in File types tab browse to MKV and delete the item.

Now to associate MKV file to VLC, it's very easy: double-click a MKV file and choose select the application to open, set the Always open with this application box, and browse to VLC installation folder, choose the VLC exec and set a file description like "Matroska Video". You're done! Enjoy your MKV movies!

Download Matroska Playback Pack from labDV.
Download VLC from its web site (or from labDV).

4. Software: New DivX codec 6.8 release

The DivX Codec takes the power of advanced digital video compression to the next level, encoding video at resolutions up to high-definition 1920 x 1080. That's right, you heard it straight: 1080i and 1080p, at a fraction of the file size.

Benefits

Up to 50% faster decoding on multi-core computers for better HD playback
New custom matrices that allow better fine tuning of the encoder for specific content types
Compress digital video 5 to 10 times more than MPEG-2/DVD format and hundreds of times over raw digital video
Encode high-definition (HD) video at resolutions up to 1080p
Play DivX videos on almost any 3rd party software media player
Achieve the perfect balance between visual quality and performance with six carefully optimized encoding modes
Enjoy maximized performance for all multithreaded processors (Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2 and Athlon 64 FX)
Reduce grain and low-light noise (common with DV cameras) without significantly degrading the video with the automated noise reduction feature

More at DivX.com...

5. Friends top ten: sites who link to labDV.com

This rubric is to thanks labDV friends who link their web sites to labDV.com:

Major search engine aren't part of this list (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Excite and Web Crawler).

6. Software at labDV.com

Now there are 234 software available from labDV.com, most of them are freeware.

New software added in November

In DVD copying, we've added all DVDx InfoTool packages: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and source code.

In video codecs, we've updated DivX codec to DivX 6.8 and the bundle is available for download. We've added the Matroska Playback Pack 0.5 to play MKV files (with VLC recommended).

In video players , we've updated VLC to 0.8.6d release.

Get the whole software list available from labDV »»

Latest software updates

Video codecs: DivX Bundle 6.8; Matroska Playback Pack 0.5
DVD copying: DVDx InfoTool (Mac OS X) 0.9.1; DVDx InfoTool 0.9.1; DVDx InfoTool (Linux) 0.9.1; DVDx InfoTool (source code) 0.9.1
Video players: VLC media player 0.8.6d

7. VIP Pass: get DVDx updates with 2-year VIP Pass renewal

You can extend your current VIP Pass for 1 year or 2 years for $29.90 or $49.90 (19.90€ or 34.90€).

We hope this will help you to get more connected on DVDx updates and help us to sustain the development efforts so we can initiate a DVDx 3 major release...

With a VIP Pass, you'll access the whole labDV library, a lot of Digital Video articles and how-to's as well as a huge Digital Video software database, most of them are free. And you will navigate DVDx web site as MyDVDx and all its features.

The 1-Year VIP Pass is only US$ 39.90 (€29.90) and joining us is a strong support for all our efforts such as DVDx project relaunched and our new ambitious 2008/2009 roadmap!

And you can also currently join us for US$19.90 (€14.90) for a 3-months VIP Pass.

Support us: from time to time , we're sustaining our continuous efforts to develop DVDx software so the 1-Year Pass is likely the best deal for now as well as the 2-Year Pass extension.

Thank you for your support by joining us