DVD DIGEST - LIVE UPDATE Issue 19 DVD DIGEST - http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/ DVD DIGEST | LIVE UPDATE Issue 19 Your fortnightly (plus of minus a few days) DVD newsletter Tuesday, 20th June, 2000 ************************************************************** TOP NEWS SUMMARY : 0. Section Zer0 - an introduction to this issue 1. New server opened and big changes ahead 2. DivX has gone "multi-platform" 3. French DVD/DivX Guides 4. Big DVD movie news 5. What's new at DVD Digest Downloads ? 6. How to cancel/change your subscription email address/settings - how to maintain the subscription to this newsletter even if your email address has changed 7. A simple thank-you - a thank-you message for all those that joined this list ******************************************************* 0. Section Zer0 Welcome to this, the 19th issue, of the DVD Digest LiveUpdate newsletter. As DVD Digest approaches it's 1 year anniversary (on the 4th of July), we have planned a series of big changes that will make DVD Digest even better ... stay tuned. This month also see DivX becoming even more popular, as efforts to port it over to other (non-Windows) OSes bears fruit. Alrighty then, on with the news ... ******************************************************* 1. New server opened and big changes ahead Due to heavy demand on our existing digital-digest.com server (several GBs of transfers per day), we have decided to open a new server, using our reserved domain name, ddigest.com. Both servers will have identical content, although some downloads will only be located on the ddigest.com server. This new server also comes with more space, so we are able add more content to our site. Already, we have started hosting some DVD related sites (eg. the official site of CladDVD is now on our ddigest.com server). We'll also be adding more direct download links, and as part of our planned "big changes ahead" project for the month of July (to celebrate our 1st anniversary), add more DVD related downloads (eg. DVD-authoring programs, more trailers and more). Stay tuned ... ******************************************************* 2. DivX has gone "multi-platform" Everyone already knows how quickly DivX has been accepted on the PC, but what about on the MAC or Linux? Well, the question has been answered this month, in the form DivX players been released for both of these OSes. Just in case you don't know, DivX is based on the MPEG-4 compression algorithm, which allows high quality video for small bitrates. This makes it possible to achieve near DVD quality on 2-3 CDs (as opposed to the 10+ CDs you usually need). VCD quality video can now be stored on only 1 CD. There has been quite a bit of legal argument over this format (ie. small sized videos are easier to pirate on the net), but I personally believe that this was bound to happen - DivX is simply doing to video what MP3 has done for audio. As video compression technology gets more sophisticated, internet delivery of video content will become more and more accessible. And as with all legal and useful technology, it can be abused for illegal purposes. But if this new technology can be harnesed properly, the days of stamp sized streaming video could be over - and perhaps in the not too distant future, video on demand might become commonplace in homes throughout the world. But for now, this is all still just a dream, and anyone who seriously think that DivX will has become a mainstream video pirating format should go out and try to download a full length movie over their 56K connection - renting DVDs/Videos might be just a little simplier (and cheaper). You can find out more about DivX for Apple and Linux here : http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/mpeg4.html ******************************************************* 3. French DVD/DivX Guides This month also sees some of our DVD/DivX guides being translated to French, by Laurent Godet (excellent work, BTW). So far, the following guides have been translated : AVI to MPEG-4 - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/avi2mpeg4_fr.html> Cinemaster Install Guide - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/cineinst_fr.html> Multimedia DivX CD Tutorial Part 1 : Basics - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/mm-mpeg4_fr.html> DVD Ripping Guide - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/ripping_fr.html> Subtitle Ripping Guide - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/subrip-mpeg4_fr.html> VCD to MPEG-4 Full Instructions - <http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/support/vcd2mpeg4_fr.html We may be able to add German versions of these guides soon, and if anybody else would like to help translate them into other languages, please contact us, thanks. ******************************************************* 4. Big DVD movie news As you probably know already, August 29th is a very special date for DVD fans everywhere. This is because on this day, 3 of the most requested DVDs will be released, Braveheart, The Sound of Music and Terminator 2 : The ultimate DVD edition. This comes after the release of several other "Big Blockbuster films" in June/July, including Independence Day, Jaws and Men In Black. Now, I'll only have to wait for Forrest Gump and Schindler's list to be released on DVD, and of course, the 4 Star Wars movies. The other big new is rather a sad one, and it is to do with the closure of reel.com. Although it's site will still remain open as a DVD information site, it's e-commerce department, will now be close (damn - just after I've spent a few weeks playing their trivia game to earn some store credit - that was a waste of time). The internet bubble has truly burst - and if this continues, Amazon.com could be next ... For more information, please refer to our Movie Zone site : http://www.ddigest.com/dvd/movie/ ******************************************************* 5. What's new at DVD Digest Downloads ? - DVD/VCD/MPEG-4 Players - BS Player 0.41 - Cinemaster Decoder 2.0.37.6382 - DivX (MPEG-4) Player 0.05 - GDivX Player 1.6.2 - Encoding utilities : - Advanced DivX Bitrate Calculator 1.5 - AVI Encoder 0.16 - AVI Synth 0.25 - AV-Sync 1.3.0 - bbMPEG 1.23 - Compact Disc Autorun 1.2 - Compact Disc Launcher 1.5 - Danni Din's GUI v0.19i - DivFix - DivX -4 Video CD Launcher - DivX Autorun 1.56 - DivX Player 0.05 - DivX Video CD Launcher - DVD2AVI GUI 1.03 - DVD->CD Bitrate Calculator 1.6.18 - DVD2MPG Shutdown tool - DVTool 0.21 - FlaskMPEG 0.593 - FPS Setter 1.0 - MicroDVD SubUpdater - MPEG-4 CD Launcher - MPEG-4 Film Launcher - RalfoDivX's DivX CD Launcher 1.5 - SubRipper 0.3b1 - VID to ASF - VirtualDub 1.3d - VOBDec GUI 1.9c - Region-free utilities : - DVD Genie 3.50 - more region-free firmware for the latest DVD-ROM drives (including Pioneer 10x tray drives and Ricoh CDRW/DVD drives) - Ripping utilities : - CladDVD 1.3 - DVD Extractor 0.5b (for the Apple Mac) - VOBDec 3.11+ - VOBDec Quintuplets release 4a - Other : - More PowerDVD skins ******************************************************* 6. How to cancel/change settings/email address for your subscription to this newsletter Changing subscription settings for this newsletter can be hard, so here is a short guide : 1. Go to this link : http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber 2. Enter the email address this newsletter is sent to and also the password you chose when signing up to this newsletter. The email/password should have been sent to you in an email from "ListBot" or "ListBot Verifier", with the subject "Account Activated" or "REPLY REQUIRED: DVD DIGEST LiveUpdate Subscription Verify". 3. You should find options to change/cancel your subscriptions. Note : using your sign-up account, you can sign up to the 1000's of other newsletters available from listbot.com ******************************************************* 7. A simple thank-you Just a note to thank all the thousands of people (3000 at last count), including you, who joined the DVD Digest LiveUpdate program. We've spent quite a bit of time developing this site, and making it what it is today, and really do appreciate your continued support. We have changed most of our click ads into banner impression ads, which means you no longer need to click on them, although it will still help my advertisers. And if you are interested in advertising on our site, please refer to our Advertising page : http://www.ddigest.com/advertising.html If you would like to provide us with some feedback as to the quality of this newsletter, please contact us using this email address : webmaster@digital-digest.com We hoped you enjoyed another LiveUpdate newsletter. We'll try to make this newsletter a regular fortnightly one in the future. Thank-you ======END OF LIVEUPDATE NEWSLETTER======