--- Forwarded Message from Bob Majors <[log in to unmask]> --- >Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:30:05 -0800 (PST) >From: Bob Majors <[log in to unmask]> >To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: #8430.3 (!) Apple's just-announced iPod phone (and then some) (fwd) >In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> > --- Forwarded Message from "Margo Burns" <[log in to unmask]> --- > For the Mac OS X & GNU/Linux (Windows is coming), there is a free > application called "HandBrake" that makes it easy to extract video from > DVDs and save it as 640x480 MPEG-4 or H.264. > > http://handbrake.m0k.org/ > > Margo Burns, Technology Integration Specialist > Greater Manchester Professional Development Center I'm new to DVD capture programs and am researching what might work best for our video suite; thanks for the Handbrake url. What caught my attention about Cinematize 2 Pro by Miraizon (but I neglected to write) is that Cinematize 2 Pro allows you to select any start/end points within a chapter while Handbrake can only select at the chapter level, as well as the output formats Cinematize 2 Pro supports. Handbrake is free; Cinematize 2 Pro is not. Handbrake runs under Mac OS X and GNU/Linux; a Windows port is being worked on. Cinematize 2 Pro runs under Windows and Mac OS X. Those are possible factors for choice of product. I asked both Handbrake and Miraizon for features/comparisons; I've only received a reply from Miraizon so far. Keep in mind the following is written by the manufacturer (Miraizon) of the product, so keep this strong bias in mind; also, I cannot verify any of the information. I trust this information is either OK to post (since it may be useful for those looking for DVD capture programs), or will be moderated. ------------------------------------------------------- "1. Output Formats Handbrake is a program really designed for a single purpose, namely to rip DVDs for playback on an iPod or other such device. The output can only be an AVI or MPEG-4 file encoded with the MPEG-4 or H.264 codec and nothing else. Cinematize allows you to output into any format supported by QuickTime. Cinematize Pro even allows you to output using export components you might have installed for such formats as WMV, Flash Video, MPEG-2, etc. 2. Video Output Quality The MPEG-4 or H.264 format produced by Handbrake may be okay for viewing on an iPod, but such lousy quality is simply not suitable for any kind of editing operation. Trying to re-edit output from Handbrake for a new DVD or an iPod, but such lousy quality is simply not suitable for any kind of editing operation. Trying to re-edit output from Handbrake for a new DVD or a presentation will result in image quality that most viewers will find unacceptably bad. Cinematize can extract out video at any level of quality you desire, from low quality like Handbrake all the way up to the lossless quality of studio-grade D1 uncompressed video. You can easily re-edit clips extracted by Cinematize with little or no impact on the video quality from the original DVD. 3. Audio Output Quality Handbrake will only output audio in stereo compressed with AAC. This may be okay for an iPod but it is unacceptable for editing or for creating a new DVD or audio CD. There is no way to preserve multi- channel (5.1) audio tracks for a new DVD. Cinematize can extract to high-quality AIFF or WAV formats that you can easily edit without losses. Cinematize Pro can extract out all of the channels from a multi- channel audio track and preserve them all in full quality. 4. Audio/Video Synchronization Handbrake and other similar freeware/shareware programs generally cannot handle DVDs that were encoded with variable frame rate encoding. For these discs, Handbrake will produce output with all sorts of audio/video sync problems. Such discs now occur quite frequently, including the output from many DVD recorders as well as many music video DVDs. 5. DVD navigation Handbrake and other similar freeware/shareware programs were written by authors with little knowledge of the organization of material on a DVD. As a result, they view a DVD as a single, linear, contiguous movie file when in fact it is more similar to hypermedia with lots of jumps and discontinuities. Handbrake is unable to follow the proper playback sequence for any kind of DVD with even a modestly more complex organization. For these discs, rather than clean movie Handbrake will produce a mixed-up mishmash of movie material (e.g. directors cut mixed with theatrical release, mixed up movies in different languages, jumbled recording sessions, etc). Cinematize, however, can handle even the most complex DVDs available release, mixed up movies in different languages, jumbled recording sessions, etc). Cinematize, however, can handle even the most complex DVDs available without any problems. 6. Clip Selection Handbrake only allows you to select entire chapter and title divisions to rip from a DVD. This can be a real problem, for example, if you have a lengthy DVD consisting of only a single chapter. Cinematize will allow you to select clips of essentially arbitrary length, from a fraction of a second out to an entire movie. You can start your clip anywhere and end it anywhere with a precise timecode display to aid you. 7. Speed Cinematize should extract at a much faster speed than Handbrake. Cinematize Pro is also about 20% faster than Cinematize." ------------------------------------------------------- Bob Majors Language Learning Center University of Washington *********************************************** LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for Language Learning (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/). Join IALLT at http://iallt.org. Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask]) ***********************************************