November 19, 2007California based DVDxDV today announces DVDxDV Pro 3.0.4 for Macintosh. DVDxDV Pro rips unencrypted standard definition DVDs for importing into iMovie, iDVD. DVDxDV Pro $79.99 Import DVD video into video editing systems, mobile phones and tablet devices.
DVDxDV Pro
http://www.dvdxdv.com
$80.00
Review by Steve Douglas
I really haven't had the need to rip files from DVDs in the past, yet I found the need recently and was concerned with any loss of resolution I might find when doing so. It was suggested that I take a good look at DVDxDV Pro and so I had a go with it.
To make a short story shorter, DVDxDV Pro is one of the easiest applications to use that I have come across. DVDxDV allows you to extract high quality, multi channel audio and video from DVDs and convert to a QuickTime format of your choice for re- editing in Final Cut Pro. This works for any application capable of using QT and enables a straight drop into FCP without rendering. In addition, while not tested by myself, the DVDxDV support team state that it works just fine under Leopard.
There are actually two versions of this application, DVDxDV for $25.00 and the Pro version for $80.00. While they both use the same extraction engine, the Pro version makes it all the more worth while with its many additional features which include video time code, audio level meters, batch conversion, video cropping, wide screen 16x9 resizing, 24 bit extraction and 3:2 pull down removal. They both have audio and video preview in common as well as Field order reversal and 16 bit extraction. In addition, while the base version of DVDxDV is limited to a 720x480 and 720x576 video output, the Pro version will output as small as 240x180 right up the sizes to 768x576.
The extraction is done digitally so there is no further compression or analogue degradation to the footage. This application's interface is intuitive and simple to access.
DVDxDV Pro's interface consists of a basic Title Browser, Preview window and timeline.
After placing your DVD in the computer you just go to DVDxDV Pro's menu and click on 'Open DVD'. A Title Browser opens up with the various items from the original disc, which you then highlight for extraction of whatever footage, you need. A timeline can be played for you along with a sizeable preview window enabling you to place your in and out points.
In and out points are set as you would in Final Cut Pro while using the Preview Window. Keyboard shortcuts worked as well.
I did not find this to be 100% frame accurate, but that was not an issue as the purpose of this app is to enable you to extract footage for additional postproduction work in Final Cut Studio. Any additional trimming could be accomplished there. Back to the menu and you are given two choices, either batch export multiple sets of in & out points or, if you are just trying to extract a single section, click on 'New Movie'. This will prompt a new window wherein you set your format as being either a QuickTime to Final Cut Pro or iMovie or compressed with the appropriate settings to iPod, Apple TV or a host of others in either NTSC or Pal. Should you choose 'Expert Settings' your Compression Settings window will open wherein you can set your compression codecs, quality, frame rates and the rest.
Multiple formats are yours to choose from though for better tweaking you might want to use the Expert Settings choice.
Next a 'save to' window comes up wherein you set your destination folder. A Status window shows you what percent of your clip has been extracted and the remaining time until completion.
Like most time predictor windows, you will find the extraction goes quicker than indicated.
For an additional test I was given a DVD with 16mm footage originally shot sometime in the early sixties. There were 48 minutes of this ancient footage to be extracted in one shot. DVDxDV Pro did it without a hitch and was easily imported back into Final Cut Pro for further editing.
If you were hoping to rip store bought movies, which are copy-right protected, you will be disappointed, as DVDxDV Pro cannot do this. I know, for strict research purposes, I tried and failed with a copy of 'The Italian Job'.
Thus, my bottom line here is that, for the price, the DVDxDV Pro is the way to go. For a few extra dollars you get a significantly greater versatility than the standard version and the knowledge that there isn't much you will not be able to extract off a DVD.
Steve Douglas is a certified Apple Pro for Final Cut Pro 6 and underwater videographer. A winner of the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition, 2003 IVIE competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic competition, and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the Sea Film Competition, where he also won the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater Videography and 'Diver of the Year', Steve was a safety diver on the feature film 'The Deep Blue Sea', contributed footage to the Seaworld Park's Atlantis production, the History channel's MegaDisaster show and other networks. Steve is one of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition and leads both underwater filming expeditions and African safaris with upcoming excursions to Indonesia and the Coco Islands, Costa Rica in 2008, Kenyan safari in Africa and the Red Sea for 2009, and Truk Lagoon in Micronesia for 2010. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in joining Steve on any of these exciting trips. www.worldfilmsandtravel.com
copyright © Steve Douglas 2007
© 2000 -2007 Ken Stone. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FinalCut Pro, Macintosh and Power Macare either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Othercompany and product names may be trademarks of their respectiveowners.
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General Questions:
General Trouble Shooting:
DVDxDV Pro Trouble Shooting:
General Questions:
What is DVDxDV?
DVDxDV is a program that can extract the audio and video from a DVD.This is the reverse process of the DVD authoring or creating a DVD.
DVDxDV creates a Quicktime file on your computer that is a copy of the video on the DVD.This file used to share with others, edited into a new video, or even burned on to a new DVD.
How is DVDxDV better than just using ffmpeg or another extraction tool?
DVDxDV is easier to use than a command line utility like ffmpeg.You simply insert your DVD into your MacIntosh, and DVDxDV will display the video that is stored on your DVD. You can then select a video clip and extract it to any Quicktime supported format.
DVDxDV will preserve the original look of the video.A single video frame is made up of two smaller parts called fields.These fields can get can lost with other DVD extraction programs, causing the picture to look very bad when viewed on a television screen.DVDxDV is capable preserving these fields, so that the video will look smooth if it is played back on a television screen.In order to do this, you must extract the DVD video to a Quicktime format that supports interlaced video, such as DV.
Does DVDxDV contain any decryption software?
No.DVDxDV will not decrypt any material that contains CSS encryption,or any other type of encryption. DVDxDV Pro will work with third party libraries for reading dvds.
Why am I not receiving product updates?
DVDxDV doesn't currently send product update emails. Version 1.39.5 of DVDxDV and 1.09.5 of DVDxDV Pro contain an automatic software update feature which checks for the latest version. If a new version of the software is available, the software update feature will prompt you to download the new version. In order for this feature to work, the computer running DVDxDV or DVDxDV Pro must have access to the Internet. If you didn't receive an upgrade notice about the latest release please contact support at: support@dvdxdv.com.
- Is DVDxDV freeware?
No. DVDxDV is a shareware program.The Beta initial release of DVDxDV does not require the user to register or pay a licensing fee to use. The released version will require the user to small fee for using the software.
Trouble Shooting:
- Whenever I extract with H.264 DVDxDV crashes.
Currently, H.264 is not usuable with DVDxDV.
How come I can't remove the DVD from the drive when DVDxDV is running?
If you need to remove the DVD from the drive, delete the video clips from the DVDxDV window, or simply exit the program.An eject DVD button may be added in the future.
The audio and video are out of sync. How do I fix this?
The audio and video may be out of sync in the preview, but the extracted audio should be synced.
If you encounter a sync problem with an older version DVDxDV, you need to ensure that you loaded the entire DVD using either 'open DVD' or 'open VIDEO_TS'. In addition, try extracting without setting an 'in' point. If you have done both of those things and the video still doesn't stay in sync, please let us know by emailing support@dvdxdv.com. If you've done the first two steps correctly, you shouldn't have any audio sync problems.
If you have a VHS or analog tape source that was transfered to DVD, you may experience problems if there were control track breaks in the original source. Some DVD recorders break up the audio and video portion into different lengths and cause problems for DVDxDV. You can work around this problem by setting 'in' and 'out' points in DVDxDV to avoid these gaps.
- The Audio and Video are out of sync in Final Cut 6, but playback correctly in the Quicktime Player.
If you encounter this problem, make sure you upgrade to DVDxDV Pro 1.09.9 or higher. It handles this issue from film sourced material. If you are using DVDxDV regular, you upgrade to DVDxDV Pro or you can proceed with the following work around.
Final Cut Pro 6 can have a problem with certain DVDs that contain material originally shot on film while Final Cut 5 plays the same material correctly. If you encounter this problem, use Quicktime Pro or compressor to re-compress the video files to conform to an exact 29.97 for NTSC or 25 fps for PAL.iMovie gives an error message when trying to import the video from DVDxDV.
iMovie has a two gigabyte file limit. Files above two gigabytes need to be split up into smaller sizes to be imported into iMovie. DVDxDV will automatically split up the video into 8 minute chunks when you use the 'iMovie' export preset.The audio doesn't sound as good as the original DVD. How can I fix it?
In some AC3 sound tracks the audio may be recorded low. When extracted by DVDxDV the audio may not be, as good as, the original. DVDxDV Pro offers much better audio extraction than DVDxDV because it can output each audio channel to a separate file at 24 bit resolution. To improve the quality of the audio, you may want to try DVDxDV Pro.
- The video doesn't look as good as the original when I play it back.
DVDxDV should create video that looks almost exactly the same as the original DVD. However, to judge the quality of the output video you need to view the DVD and the output from DVDxDV on the same television monitor. Viewing the video on the computer screen will give you very different results than what will be seen on a television.
What are those horizontal lines that appear in the video around anything that is moving.
The are there because the video is interlaced. When you playback the video on a television monitor these horizontal lines should disappear. If you plan to display the output video only on a computer monitor and never on a television, these lines can be removed by using DVDxDV's built in de-interlacer or a third party de-interlacing filter. DVDxDV's de-interlacer will cause many digital artifacts to be added to the video, so a high quality third party de-interlacer is recommended. Final Cut Pro and Express both have good de-interlace filters that can be added to the video. They will look better using one of these filters than the one included in DVDxDV.
Why is DVDxDV asking suddenly asking me for a license key? I already installed it and typed in the license string.
When you purchase DVDxDV you receive a download link and key code. This first key code will only work for 60 days. In about two weeks, we send a second permanent key code which will be good forever. This is done so that we can prevent fraud or mis-use of our product. We are sorry for the inconvenience this might cause.
The installer is telling me a 'There is nothing to install' because a newer version already exists.
Dvdxdv Pro
When this happens do the following.
For DVDxDV, remove all the files called DVDxDV.pkg from your MacInstosh HD->Library->Receipts folder. Then try to re-install DVDxDV.
For DVDxDV Pro, remove all files called DVDxDVPro.pkg from your MacInstosh HD->Library->Receipts folder. Then try to re-install DVDxDV Pro.
DVDxDV Pro Trouble Shooting:
Dvdxdv Pro Software
The video flickers or looks jumpy when played back on a television monitor.
This may be the result of interlaced field order reversal. Try changing the interlaced field ordering in the Preferences panel and check the output again (see 'Using the DVDxDV preferences' for more information).
I can't find the AIFF files that contain the movie's sound track.
Make sure you have the 'Export multi-channel audio to AIFF' setting enabled in the Preferences panel (see 'Using the DVDxDV preferences' for more information). In addition, you may want to read 'Understanding multi-channel audio', as well.
Dvdxdv Pro Mac
With the 24 bit audio precision selected, I don't get a 24 bit sound track in my Quicktime Movie.
Dvdxdv Pro Mac Free
To create a 24 bit mix of the audio from your DVD, you must have the 'Export multi-channel audio to AIFF' setting enabled in the Preferences panel. Only a 16 bit sound track can be included in a Quicktime Movie file.