pathfinder thingy

[mike20021969]

i shouldnt really post this on here (so feel free to delete this.sorry in advance).
what are you guys making of this 'pathplayer' feature in dvdfab?
it sounds interesting,but is it just a gimmick?and will it help to copy dvd's?

 

[Charlie]

i shouldnt really post this on here (so feel free to delete this.sorry in advance).
what are you guys making of this 'pathfinder' feature in dvdfab?
it sounds interesting,but is it just a gimmick?and will it help to copy dvd's?

To me it does sound like a gimmick but that's more of an opinion.

 

[zebadee]

Hi
It sounds interesting & is not just a gimmick.
Initial feedback on other forums imply this has mixed blessings.
Working well with some discs, while apparently taking a step back with a few others.

 

[RedFox 1]

To me it does sound like a gimmick but that's more of an opinion.

Its not a gimmick. All the software vendors are working on new ways around copy protection. Some will be successful, others will not.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

I find the concept of the PathPlayer ™ technology to be very interesting. If it works then awesome. Each product is going to have to come up with their own newer and more innovative ways of combatting the growing amounts of garbage [so-called copy protections] being thrown at them by The Industry. Hats off to DVDFab for this new method in their software.

Personally, I'll be more excited to see the Slysoft AI Scanner ™ in action, however.

 

[Zeratul]

can someone please explain exactly what the AI Scanner™ is and what it does? ive seen in mentioned repeatedly, but i think i missed the original post.

 

[DetroitBaseball]

can someone please explain exactly what the AI Scanner™ is and what it does? ive seen in mentioned repeatedly, but i think i missed the original post.

I think it allows you copy any movie that can play in a DVD player. It kind of simulates a DVD player. They won't need to add updates for every new protection scheme as a result.

 

[Rich86]

AI Scanner vs. Pathfinder

I think it allows you copy any movie that can play in a DVD player. It kind of simulates a DVD player. They won't need to add updates for every new protection scheme as a result.

Isn't that basically the same objective that Fengtao is trying to accomplish with "Pathfinder"? Sure sounds like a very viable concept and I expect both Fengtao and Slysoft have the ability to pull it off successfully.

 

[DetroitBaseball]

Isn't that basically the same objective that Fengtao is trying to accomplish with "Pathfinder"? Sure sounds like a very viable concept and I expect both Fengtao and Slysoft have the ability to pull it off successfully.

They are very similar, yes.

 

[SamuriHL]

The idea behind both is that you scan the IFOs for every playable part of the disc and only copy those parts. That allows you to copy ANY disc that's playable in theory. This is somewhat the idea behind how R4M works and why, after 6 months with no updates, it's still able to copy almost any disc with the exception of that crappy Protect DVD nonsense in Germany. Feng Tao claims the PathPlayer thing will only add 30 seconds to the ripping time of a DVD. James has said the AI Scanner(tm) will work on the fly. I asked whether this will be used to replace the specific protection bypassing code built into AnyDVD and he said it would not because it would be significantly slower. He said it would be an option you can turn on within the AnyDVD GUI. I'm guessing this will be a situation where when you run into a disc you can't backup, you go check the option for the AI Scanner(tm) and allow it to do its thing. Then when they get around to it, AnyDVD will be updated to handle that disc natively without having to use the scanner. That's my understanding, anyway.

 

[mike20021969]

i wonder how the industry will react to PathPlayer and AI Scanner developments?
if computers are now going to be able to access dvd's in a way that a standalone dvd player can,where does this leave ARccOS,RipGuard,ProtectDVD and other protections designed to prevent ripping on a computer?
(all that standalone dvd players to dvd recorders have to contend with is macrovision to protect the content on the dvd disc from being copied.apart from a couple of ARccOS incidents affecting certain standalone dvd players,other developments such as ProtectDVD and RipGuard dont seem to affect standalone players-they are specifically for computers are they not?).

 

[SamuriHL]

i wonder how the industry will react to PathPlayer and AI Scanner developments?

Poorly.

if computers are now going to be able to access dvd's in a way that a standalone dvd player can,where does this leave ARccOS,RipGuard,ProtectDVD and other protections designed to prevent ripping on a computer?

Dead.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

i wonder how the industry will react to PathPlayer and AI Scanner developments?
if computers are now going to be able to access dvd's in a way that a standalone dvd player can,where does this leave ARccOS,RipGuard,ProtectDVD and other protections designed to prevent ripping on a computer?
(all that standalone dvd players to dvd recorders have to contend with is macrovision to protect the content on the dvd disc from being copied.apart from a couple of ARccOS incidents affecting certain standalone dvd players,other developments such as ProtectDVD and RipGuard dont seem to affect standalone players-they are specifically for computers are they not?).

These purely my own speculatory [is that even a word?] thoughts...

We know the purpose of DVDFab PathPlayer ™ technology and pretty much how it works from Fengtao's description. James hasn't been very vocal about how the Slysoft AI Scanner ™ technology will work yet. Some people are more in the know than others but I don't assume that just because DVDFab went the path they did that Slysoft is going to go down the same path in order to evolve their technology in getting around the newer protections the studios are using. Until it's released and James explains the new technology I will not even begin to assume anything as to how it will function.

Now, on to the answer to the question. I would assume the creators of protections will most likely reverse engineer the newer technologies and find loopholes or techniques that will cause the newer method, be it DVDFab's PathPlayer ™ or Slysoft's AI Scanner ™, to become confused or simply trick them into doing things that cause problems when making the backup. Of course these loopholes will be closed when they are discovered but as always it'll be a game of cat and mouse just like it always has been. As much as DVDFab's PathPlayer ™ technology approaches the DVD like a standalone DVD player it still isn't one.

Of course everything I just said is completely my own thoughts, opinions, speculation, etc and worth a grain of salt if even.

 

[SamuriHL]

There's one thing you have to remember here...if they do anything to try and screw up the PathPlayer or AI Scanner technologies, they risk screwing up stand alone players, as well. Remember that they work by scanning all valid paths in the IFO files. Those are the exact same paths that the players would take. So, they need to tread lightly on this one otherwise they risk another backlash like we saw with Pursuit of Happyness and Casino Royale. This is also why I think they went after R4M so viciously...it basically has been doing similar things from the beginning. And it's still working, even now. I don't think there's an easy way to defend against this kind of technology.