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For James - Peace In Our Time ??

Clams

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Starting off with a great post by James on CDFreaks:

James said:
Future:
For technical reasons, I want to separate the ripper(s) from AnyDVD. Maybe they can use shared DLLs to keep the code size small.
We can't remove them, because many people got used to them, and it is hard to explain why a new version has less features than the previous.

I will try to improve the DVD ripper so Shrink will be happy again. But I say "try", because I sometimes have no clue why Shrink is complaining (in other words - its error handling sucks).
You see messages like "Invalid navigation structure" (well that's the most informative), "not enough storage space to process this command" (huh?) or "VTS... missing" (but it's there?).
What is the program trying to tell me? Speak to me, oh Shrink, so I can make the files nice and shiny for you.
But enough rambling, that's my problem, not yours.

In other words, yes, we will try to keep Shrink happy. But it will be in some form of "ripper" (not on the fly), so you're probably better off using CloneDVD to do the job of the ripper *now* (and benefit of CloneDVD's capabilities combined with Shrink's wonderful compression).

James I like the effort that this post took, and the intent to do something about all this Sony crap. :)

First of all, I don't think you need worry at all about removing the old ripper from AnyDVD. That is, once a new one is done that clears 100% of the Sony crap. It's not like you're "taking a feature away" - so long as you provide the updated AnyDVD ripper as a free download. (of course it only works with AnyDVD) Then all you'd have to do is leave the menu item in AnyDVD, and have it invoke the new ripper. If someone did not download the new and improved ripper - he'd get an error message prompting him to do so. Real simple. This is a case where you can have your cake and eat it too! Win/Win!! You can separate the ripper for technical reasons, keep the AnyDVD download small, and you still please 100% of the people 100% of the time!! (just like the world was 2 months ago. :) ) If anyone dared whine about having to download the new ripper separately, don't you think that myself and everyone else crying for a fix wouldn't be the first to tear him/her a new anus? You'd need asbestos undies to survive our wrath. <evil grin>

As for the second part of the post... it's not just about Shrink. Shrink however, is a good "litmus test" that a ripped DVD is in fact protection free. You don't have to try to figure out "what Shrink wants", all you have to do is develop a ripper that gets rid of all the extra and bogus titles etc etc and Shrink will purr again. CloneDVD2 would benifit!! As it works now, a CloneDVD2 rip leaves most of the extra crap behind, in several cases the CloneDVD rip is too big for Shrink to handle - and worse the CloneDVD output disk has a lot of space wasted by the extra crap. Share the updated ripper with the CloneDVD2 developers - and it's win/win again!

So what say you??? I know many are eager to hear of this.....

-W
 
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As for the second part of the post... it's not just about Shrink. Shrink however, is a good "litmus test" that a ripped DVD is in fact protection free. You don't have to try to figure out "what Shrink wants", all you have to do is develop a ripper that gets rid of all the extra and bogus titles etc etc and Shrink will purr again. CloneDVD2 would benifit!! As it works now, a CloneDVD2 rip leaves most of the extra crap behind, in several cases the CloneDVD rip is too big for Shrink to handle - and worse the CloneDVD output disk has a lot of space wasted by the extra crap. Share the updated ripper with the CloneDVD2 developers - and it's win/win again!

I completely agree with you here! :)

As I said in my other postings recently I don't see the real issue being AnyDVD. AnyDVD does it's job as James explained. The issue, IMO, is with CloneDVD and since we get no input from Elby concerning CloneDVD these days it's impossible for users to get any real answers on that front.

I would love to see one of the following things:

(1) A ripper that is a separate download and written by Slysoft to replace AnyDVD Ripper. I would like it to remove protections as AnyDVD should but also be friendly and compatible with FixVTS. When the rip is complete I would like it to give us the option (via a check-box) to run the resulting VOBs on our HDD through FixVTS. Then we'd have a fully compliant DVD that we could then run through CloneDVD2 or DVDShrink to personalize to our tastes.

(2) A ripper that is a separate download and written by Slysoft that rips to the HDD and then runs the resulting files through a Slysoft FixVTS-based [using the old code with newer tweaks by James] that will create a fully compliant DVD.

(3) Option 2 but completely written by James from scratch w/o being based on any FixVTS code.

In any of these 3 cases the problems with DVDShrink would be removed. Method 1 would require the least work, IMO, and I love FixVTS so I'd have no issues with that option at all.
 
I personally like option #3 the best as it's not relient on anyone else's code, with #2 being the next best thing.

Clearly James has the final opinion on this, the only real opinion that matters is his. :) I'm waiting to hear what his thoughts are......

-W
 
I personally like option #3 the best as it's not relient on anyone else's code, with #2 being the next best thing.

Clearly James has the final opinion on this, the only real opinion that matters is his. :) I'm waiting to hear what his thoughts are......

-W

The problem is, that FixVTS won't give you the freedom you (and I) want. New protections like FluxDVD and ProtectDVD do really nasty things to the filesystem (same file present many times in the directory, .IFO files 1GB in size, files with overlapping sectors, invalid directory entries, ...) so a ripper based on the filesystem (AnyDVD ripper, FixVTS) can give you freedom for the current Sony mess, but quite honestly I don't want to invest much time in a solution that might be already outdated when it is finished.
AnyDVD cannot - as an in place decrypter - repair all the damage that has been done, as it cannat alter the physical position of the sectors on the disc. It already does quite amazing things, but the "in place" concept - as beautiful and useful as it might be - has some technical limitations.
The current AnyDVD ripper has other limitations, as it relies on the filesystem of the disc.
I am still thinking about the best way how to solve this.
 
I personally like option #3 the best as it's not relient on anyone else's code, with #2 being the next best thing.

Clearly James has the final opinion on this, the only real opinion that matters is his. :) I'm waiting to hear what his thoughts are......

-W

Agreed and option 3 would be the best choice in the long run. FixVTS is great but if James can come up with something better then awesome and since it would also be written by Slysoft any issues encountered would be fixable more easily. :)

I'm sure we'll see something when James has figured out the best way. For now I just use my AnyDVD + CloneDVD + FixVTS combo and I'm happy. If I want to use Recode I can but regardless I still run every ripped DVD through FixVTS.
 
James, thank you for the thoughtful reply. Try doing what I do... have a drink and go to bed thinking about solutions, you often wake up with some good ideas. :)

I might be showing my ignorance of these things here.. but it makes sence to me, to perhaps rip it the same way it wants to be played - only faster of course. I mean, instead of letting the file structure dictate "how" it's ripped, let the menu system along with the .ifo's be the guide?? It might take a fairly long time to rip it this way. But so long as the rip is clean, a method like that might prove to work on any DVD that can be played at all - without needed to update the ripper. I think we all understand that these new critters need an "outside the old box" solution.

But again, I run an outboard repair business, I'm not a programmer. :D

Please just try to keep us informed....
If you're anything like me... The Hate(tm) for Sony should provide the force needed to fuel your quest to beat the bastiches. :D

-W
 
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Excellent, and THANK YOU for even giving this a try.

Even a stand alone ripper with Slysofts seal on it would be great. :bowdown:

I had given up hope on Sony discs till now. Now the glimmer of hope reappears.
 
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