If you’ve ever wanted to string a bunch of images together into an animation then PhotoFilmStrip is for you. Three things make this program notable:

1. It is extremely easy to use. I was able to create a fairly decent film literally within 10 minutes of installation.
2. It is very nicely laid out. The interface design is intuitive and simple.
3. The output videos are smoothly-animated and of excellent quality.

Decisions: part of why this is so easy to use is that the decisions that the user has to make are fairly straightforward, and there really aren’t too many of them. First off you have to add images to the movie, arrange them in the right order, rotate them if necessary, and choose whether you want to recolor them(b&w or sepia). Next, for each image you have to choose the beginning and end state of the camera; i.e. how the camera will zoom in or out. This is the most “creative” part and is done via two rectangles for the beginning and end states (see screenshot above), and is surprisingly simple to do. Lastly, you can type in a subtitle for each image (which is optional) and specify the duration in seconds that each image animation will occupy within the movie. You will need to make a couple more decisions once at the very end once you’re ready to render, including resolution, output format, and whether you would like to add a soundtrack. The program does not support any fancy transitions between one image and the next; all images simply fade in and out of each other.

More notes on this program:

• Subtitles: if you enter subtitles they will be rendered in .SRT format; they will not be “burned into” the final output movie. (Most decent media players, such as The KMPlayer, will be able to play this format of subtitles).
• Rendering the filmstrip: you can use pre-defined profiles in the settings, including DVD and other profiles for different resolutions (can go up to an impressive HD (1920×1080) resolution). I like that PhotoFilmStrip has the Xvid encoder built in and doesnt require the user to install codecs.
• Adding audio: once you’re ready to render, you can add an audio track. If you want to add narration you will need to do some post processing with external programs (e.g Audacity to record and something like VirtualDub or Avidemux to add the new audio track to the video.)

Wish list (or how this program can be even better)

• Support for custom, pre-built transitions: I just had to put this out there, even as I acknowledge that it will add a layer of complexity and that the default fade in/out transition works just fine.
• Burn-in subtitles: the option to burn subtitles in rather than output them in a sperate file.

The verdict: an excellent program that is both powerful and easy to use. You will be up and running creating animations out of your images in minutes. The program may lack some fancy bells and whistles, but the flip side but compensates for that in usability and good user experience. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.1

Compatibility: Windows, Linux.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 14.9 megs).

If you, like me, think that there’s something.. um, magical … about right clicking on a file and being able to quickly perform the operations on it then you might want check this program out. Explore and Burn is a simple CD/DVD burning program that is launched from Windows’ right-click context menu. More notes below.

• How to use: select a file or group of files and right click the Explore and Burn context menu. This will launch the program’s wizard-style file burning process.
• Burning images: Explore&Burn can burn .ISO and .IMG files to CD/DVD; it can also optionally associate itself with these file extensions.
• Supported media: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM discs including Dual Layer discs.
• Bugs on XP: I encountered a problem in XP whereby the program did not burn ISO images to disk and I got a "Cannot Complete the Disc Writing Wizard" message (regular files burned just fine though). Someone posted this issue in the forum; and although the prescribed fix did not work for me, there’s the promise that this will be addressed in future versions.

Wish list: (or how this program can be even better)

• For non disk image files, this program installs two context menu entries which offer exactly the same functionality, making one of them absolutely redundant (see image to the right). It would be nice to be able to keep only one of them.
• Fixing the disk-burning problem with XP mentioned above.

The verdict: for what it tries to achieve (which is quick, on-the-fly file burning from the desktop), Explore&Burn works beautifully (assuming of course that bugs are eventually dealt with). For most users, however, Explore&Burn is no replacement for a full-fledged, full-featured CD/DVD burning program (such as CDBurnerXP), and it does not claim to be.

Many users will like the quick spontaneity of this. Moreover, this program is perfect for non tech-savvy users who just want to burn files quickly (a perfect thing to install for your grandmother for example).

Version Tested: 1.2

Compatibility: Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7, 32bit and 64bit. XP and Server 2000 may require installing the KB932716 update package from Microsoft.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 2.7 megs)

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• PowerPoint to video to DVD: using “EM PowerPoint to Video Converter Free” (PPT to AVI), then doing the DVD authoring using DVD Flick (AVI to DVD).
• PowerPoint to Flash SWF to AVI to DVD: using iSpring Converter Free (PPT to SWF); then using either SWF2AVI or CamStudio (SWF to AVI), and finally DVD Flick (AVI to DVD).
• PowerPoint to JPEG to DVD: using PowerPoint Image Copier (PPT to JPG) then authoring a DVD slideshow using DVD Slideshow GUI (JPG to DVD).

Notes:

• All of the methods described here require that PowerPoint be installed on your machine.
• While I use PPT to refer to PowerPoint files you could in fact convert any PowerPoint file extension that your version of PowerPoint supports (e.g. PPS, or PPTS, PPTM, etc. if using PowerPoint 2007).
• It took a while to research and write this post so if you like this post please Digg or Stumble it.

I am going to segment the process of converting a PowerPoint file into 2 parts: (1) capturing the visual part of the presentation, and (2) packaging it into a DVD.

1. PPT to AVI: EM PowerPoint to Video Converter Free .

• Experiment first to see if everything works out as you want it to; note that in testing this application I have encountered instances where a visual element in the original presentation is incorrectly placed in the output video.
• This program installs a media player and DVD burner in the program directory, and these cannot be uninstalled seperately. The DVD burner component, moreover, requires VOB or MPG files as inputs to author a DVD, but refused to burn my resulting presentations when I converted them to MPG.
• Burning to DVD: see “DVD Flick” in “Part2 below – Packaging the presentation to DVD”.

2. PPT to SWF: iSpring Converter Free . This is a powerful free PowerPoint extension that can convert PowerPoint files to flash (SWF) files. Some notes on this one:

• Output: the resulting SWF file when I tested this program was 720×526 in resolution ; it did not offer me any resize options. iSpring will preserve all animations, transition effects, sounds, and videos that may be in the PPT file but will not capture any rehearsed narration that may have been saved into the PPT file (this is available in the paid version only).
• HTML/Player: iSpring will also generate an HTML page that incorporates a player to play the converted SWF within your browser (or, alternately, uploaded and played from a web site).
• Settings / auto play: if you plan to eventually convert your SWF to a video file (AVI) in an automated fashion using a SWF to video converter, in the “Publish” settings, make sure to check “change all slides automatically” and “auto-play on-click animations”. This will ensure that your resulting SWF file plays continuously and does not wait for user input to advance (and therefore behaves like a video rather than being interactive).
• Settings / manual play: if you plan to convert your SWF to a video file (AVI) using a screen recording program and would like to set the pace/speed of the presentation manually, uncheck “change all slides automatically” and “auto-play on-click animations”. This will give you on-click control over animation events and slide transitions.
• If you’ve not sure what I mean by the “settings” above, see the “SWF to AVI” sections (2a) and (2b) in Part 2 below.

3. PPT to JPG: PowerPoint Image Copier . This little free gem will process a PowerPoint file and output each slide and/or animation event as a series of JPG’s.

So, for example, a slide with 2 animation events (say click: get a bullet point, and then click: a chart flies in) will output 3 jpg’s with PowerPoint Image Copier (the initial slide with just the title, the slide with the bullet point displayed, and the slide with the bullet point and chart together).

This program is a small, no-install program that is able to capture all of the visual content of a PowerPoint presentation as distinct JPG images; on the other hand it will not capture any animations or transitions that may have been used and certainly not any sound or narration.

PowerPoint Image Copier works in a rather quirky way: it will open your PowerPoint presentation using PowerPoint in full-screen mode and then proceed to scroll through all the slides and events and take snapshots of them. However, any on-screen events that may occur during this process will also be captured (for example your IM client window suddenly popping up on-screen, etc.) – so make sure to have a controlled environment where nothing else is going to interrupt the on-screen activity.

A nice surprise, this one. Totally Free Burner offers a set of features that will cover most people’s CD/DVD burning needs. It also offers a sleek design and nice look-and-feel as an added bonus. Here are more notes on this program:

• Automatic data verification: for all burning operations.
• Bootable: can create bootable CDs and DVDs (see image to the right).
• Technical specs: an impressive array of configurations supported; “all current hardware interfaces (IDE/SCSI/USB/1394/SATA)”. Multi-Session or Disc-at-Once mode for all formats; any combination of UDF/ISO9660/Joliet bridged file systems, and UNICODE support.
• Burns Audio CDs: supports mp3, wav, ogg and wma files. Does not rip audio cds (use the free BonkEnc or Exact Audio Copy for this).
• Burns disk images: supports ISO and BIN/CUE. Burns images on the fly without first staging locally on your hard drive.
• Burns video CDs: from Mpeg1 VCD files.
• Burns DVDs: for both data and video DVDs. For the latter it can burn from local DVD files or ISO. Supports using UDF format, for compatibility with hardware DVD players.
• Drag and drop: [updated Aug 14, 2008] as of the just released ver. 4.0, supports drag and drop files and folders (a good thing, since adding files and folders individually through the two seperate dialog buttons is not very practical.

Wish list (or how this program can be even better):

• On the fly disc copying: would be great; also ISO image creation from files/folders.
• Support for “new” media: namely double density DVDs and Blue-Ray. Not sure if these are supported; could not find any documentation.
• Support for overburning: as above, not sure whether or not this might already be supported

The verdict: a very nice, clean and simple burning program that offers a good range of functions (and looks great).

Although this program has a lot to offer as is, I couldn’t help but feel that with a couple more options it could have been significantly better (keeping my fingers crossed for files and folders drag and drop). This is a good idea and will give this program a boost given the many excellent freeware CD/DVD burners out there.

Having said that, this program will cover the CD/DVD burning needs of the vast majority of users and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Version Tested: 4.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 1.11 megs).

The KMPlayer (not to be confused with simply “KMPlayer”, which is another product) is the kind of free software that is so good it makes you wonder how anyone can still manage to charge money for a program in the same category. The reason I give it such a high endorsement is that software manages to juggle four things at once, each of which is remarkable in its own right:

1. Supports a very wide range of formats: (including obscure ones).It includes all essential decoders internally (including RealMedia, Flash video, and Quicktime) that are not registered to the system, but also interacts with system filters through a “fully controlled environment”. This means that The KM Player will (a) eliminate any possible errors due to codec conflict, (b) none of its internal filters will be running in the background at all times, taking up resources, and (c) If you have a media file that you cannot get to work this program will most certainly play it.
2. Has a very light footprint: takes up only 16 megs in memory and a (negligible) 50 megs on your hard drive.
3. Delivers an unusually rich selection of features: from those features that make you think “finally someone thought to include this” to “I can’t believe they thought of this”.
4. Delivers a simple and straightforward interface: despite all the supported features, everything is context-menu based, and the program can be used in a simple way without overwhelming the user with the diversity of options. On-screen tooltips are displayed on hovering over an element that tell you what it is.

This does not mean that this program is perfect but, in my view, is very close to it. There are a number of drawbacks which I will get into in my “wish list” section below. For now here is an overview of some of the features on offer:

• Formats supported: a listing would take a lot of space and would be superfluous. Suffice it to say: every conceivable video format (including DVD), audio format, playlist format, image format, and even disk image formats.
• Image processing: allows you to apply a wide range of effects to your video as it is being played, including color controls, (e.g. greyscale, auto-level control), sharpening, blurring, denoise, resize, flip/rotation, etc. Resize, flip, etc. Variable playback speed also supported.
• Capture: frame (image) capture, video capture, audio capture. Also playback by frame (e.g.single frame forward, backward, etc.)
• Plays incomplete/partially downloaded files: will not make the missing parts appear magically but will play what is there, even files that are “locked” by another app such as a torrent client and corrupted files.
• Plays streaming video/audio: delivered via HTTP (ASF, OGG, MP3, AAC, MPEG PS, MPEG TS, including non-streaming media). Internet radio supports both Shoutcast and Icecast. Can capture these to the hard drive (see below).
• Custom codec use: allows the user to select which codec to be used on per-video basis and to specify the external/commercial filters, if any, that they might wish to use if they want (e.g.commercial h.264 decoders).
• Support for compressed archives: will play media files that are compressed into archives (.ZIP, .RAR).
• Favorites: not favorite files, but rather selecting parts of a media as favorites. How cool is that?
• WinAmp plugins: can use general plugins of Winamp2/5.
• Dynamic skins; i.e. change a skin dynamically depending on a media type playing. (Which I find interesting, but not my cup of tea ).

Wish list (or things that can be addressed make this software even better)

• Comparatively low playback quality has been reported while playing some files. I haven’t seen this personally, but it was mentioned in forums as happening in some cases.
• Does not add itself to the Autoplay menu as the default DVD player. This can be easily remedied with a program like TweakUI or Autoplay Repair though.
• Help file: is underwhelming, especially for such a feature-rich app.

The verdict: that I like this program is pretty much summed up in the 4 points listed at the beginning of the review. Although designed as a player for both video and audio, I am inclined to use it only for videos/DVDs and use a music manager type software for audio. However, if you need to install only one program to play video files this is the one you need.

The KMPlayer holds its own alongside such freeware heavyweight media player (VLC Player, GOM Player), and probably has the edge. See the image on the right for a feature by feature comparison (adapted from Wikipedia’s “Comparison of media players” article).

Note on the sale of The KMPlayer: before concluding this review I will mention that as of Dec 2007 this program has been sold by the orignal developer to a Korean YouTube-style streaming video site named Pandora TV. This prompted some concern in various forums about the new owner bundling spyware and/or adware into it or changing its freeware status; however from what I’ve read the new owners have since stated their intention to keep The KMPlayer free and in any case so far after more than 6 months this is still the case.

Version Tested: 2.9.3.1428 final release

Compatibility: Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista.

Go to the official KM Player forums to get more info and the download link for the latest version (approx 14.2 megs). Download link here and also here.

I’ve been making terrific conversions of DVDs into video files using all freeware tools for a long time, my programs of choice in this regard being AutoGK and more recently Handbrake. Both of these, however, will start processing your files from the DVD/VOB files after the DVD encryption/protection is removed using another, external, program and in most cases after the DVD had been saved (”ripped”) to your hard drive. What BitRipper offers is an integrated solution that consolidates the ripping and conversion parts into a single process, and then attempts to make it as simple to run as clicking a single button.

BitRipper started life as a commercial product that only recently became freeware. Note that in my evaluating this program I will be implicitly comparing it with Handbrake (mentioned above).

What I like about BitRipper: some cool features

• Decrypts and converts: combines the DVD decryption and conversion processes, so that you no longer have to think of these as two distinct parts requiring different programs. More convenient but also will save you a lot of time and manual involvement with the process.
• Handles any DVD: whether its a normal 4.7 Gig size or a double density 8 Gig+ DVD. “Decryption” mentioned above means that BitRipper will copy most commercial, copy-protected DVDs (includes “3rd party” CSS decryption module. (I am guessing that some very recent DVDs might have protections that it will not be able to decrypt).
• Converts on the fly: i.e. does not save the DVD to your hard drive first and therefore does not require gigabytes of free space on your hard drive to run.
• Installer includes codecs: installing BitRipper will also install a number of codecs that you need to perform a conversion, but the program will also use any codecs that you might have pre-installed on your system. I would advise downloading and using the LAME MP3 codec which provides better audio quality options than the included MP3 codec.
• Simplicity: the program is designed to suggest a simple, 1-click conversion (see screenshot above), where you merely insert a disc and press a button. My experience, however, is that this is the case if you do not want/need to customize the conversion settings, at which point things can become both complex and confusing.
• Ability to convert all parts of a track at once: by this I mean that BitRipper will allow you to select all tracks within a DVD at once. Can be very useful, especially when you want to convert all episodes of a TV series at once into a single AVI.
• Customizable: to a good extent; in terms of quality, resolution, aspect ratio, and output file size. More on this in the “wish list” section below.
• Audio normalization: you can easily raise (and lower, if you like) audio volume from the main conversion interface.
• Performance: is quite fast, although this is somewhat subjective and variable.
• Compression: use the Xvid video and Mp3 audio codecs for high compression.

Wish list: what could have been changed and/or done better

• Only AVI/Mpeg supported: which is good and well, except that many would want to watch DVDs on Ipods/PSPs/Handhelds and support for MP4/M4V would have been a great idea. If you want to convert to Ipod Handbrake can do it for you.
• Quality customization is somewhat confusing: e.g. I’m not sure why there are two bit-rate calculators (the function of both being to tell you what you should set the bitrate of your video to be if you want a certain AVI file size and a certain audio quality). If you dig in you will find that there are profiles and presets aplenty that are not intuitive and somewhat difficult to figure out, and not much by the way of explaining what all of it is about. Rather confusing, esp. for a program that prides itself on its simplicity.
• Aspect ratio: although I am listing this as a liability it could conceivably be considered an asset of sorts. If you set the video height/width such that it is larger in aspect ratio than that of the source (and ask it to preserve the original aspect ratio), the program will insert black colored bands on top and bottom of the visible video. I personally prefer how Handbrake automatically resizes the height of the resulting video in accordance with your desired width and the original’s aspect ratio.
• Batch processing: is not supported, although as mentioned above BitRipper will allow you to convert multiple parts of a track (e.g. episodes in a TV series DVD) into a single AVI. (Again Handbrake can do this).
• Subtitles: do not seem to be supported in BitRipper.

The verdict: this program is fantastic if you (a) do not care to customize your video, inwhich case the default settings used (original aspect ratio, original resolution) will probably work just fine, and you can worry about the file size later on, (b) you value the ability to convert in a single click, without ripping to the hard drive first and messing with other programs, and (c) if you are OK with AVI or Mpeg as the output container.

For myself I (a) require more control over the conversion process, and (b) need to convert to Ipod format, which means I will stick to the combination of Handbrake and DVD43 (which when run together can also deliver the option to convert straight from DVD without ripping to hard drive first). Ironcially I find Handbrake to be the better designed of the two despite BitRipper’s focus on a 1-click conversion. Alternately I would also recommend the combination of RipIt4Me or DVD FAB HD Decrypter, and Handbrake.

Version Tested: 1.31 (018)

Compatibility: tested on XP; no info on Vista.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 1.15 megs).

Imagine the following scenario: you’ve just successfully decrypted a DVD and copied it to your hard disk, but when you try to burn it to a DVD you realize that the decrypted data exceeds the 4.7 capacity of your burnable media and will not fit.

If this has happened to you then Amok DVD Shrinker is what you need. Not only will this program quickly and easily compress the DVD on your hard drive into any size that you want with no apparent loss in quality, but it will also preserve all the elements of the original including menus and extra features (or, otherwise, if you specify that you are only interested in the main title it can do that as well).

More info on this program:

• The User interface: is simple and straightforward, with only a limited number of decisions that the user is asked to make (see below).
• Performance: in my test, Amok DVD Shrinker successfully compressed a 6+ gig DVD into 4.7 gigs in 20 minutes (with the quality/speed slider pushed past the mid-point to favor quality over speed, and the preview window enabled). The Amok site states that Amok DVD Shrinker is faster than the well known DVD Shrink, and although I did not scientifically compare these two under the same conditions I remember that DVD Shrink, hitherto the freeware standard bearer for this kind of task, typically took hours to process anything, not minutes.
• User input: the user is only required to make 4 decisions, as follows; (1) the desired output size (e.g. 4.7 gigs for a normal DVD), (2) whether you want the only main movie or the whole DVD with menus and features, (3) whether you want all the different language tracks included or select a singe audio track from the dropdown, and (4) the user’s preference for speed of processing vs. performance on a 5 point scale.
• Encryption: please note that this program is not designed to remove encryption from commercial DVDs, but rather processes the DVD data once it has been decrypted. If you need a freeware DVD decryption program try RipIt4Me/DVD Decrypter, DVD FAB HD Decrypter, or DVD43 (which decrypts in real time without needing to save to the hard disk first).
• Creates ISO: at the end of the shrinking process. If you need a free program that can burn your ISO file to DVD use IMGburn.
• Portable: two versions available, a setup version that installs normally and a zipped version that you can unpack and use without installing.
• The preview window: gives you a glimpse of what the program is processing at that particular moment (the aspect ratio in the preview is incorrect but don’t worry the DVD is processing correctly). Switch this off for faster processing.

The verdict: this is simply a great program that finally brings another free alternative for doing this sort of task aside from DVD Shrink. What I like about it is that it is simple, straightforward, and narrows down the decisions that a user has to contend with to the bare minimum. It’s also probably the fastest freeware program that does what it does.

Version Tested: 1.30

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 585K).

If you need a simple free program that can perform most of your CD/DVD burning needs check out this program. It combines a nice range of features with a simple interface and is generally light on system resources. Here are the reasons why you would want to use this software:

• Very nice interface: simple and straightforward and generally has a very nice look and feel. Runs in the system tray for quick access.
• Lightweight: very small footptint, less than 8 megs memory usage when running. Does not require .NET Framework as some other freeware CD burners do.
• Formats supported: all CD/DVD media types, including Blue-Ray; write Audio CDs and DVD-Video files. I am assuming this includes double density DVDs as well.
• Writes data CDs/DVDs: verifies written data, supports writing simulation, supports multisession (i.e. adding files to a burned disc later on), can erase re-writable media.
• Disk-image support: burns ISOs and can save your project as ISO; however it does not create ISOs from existing CDs/DVDs.
• Creates audio CDs: from your audio files. Supports MP3, WAV, and WMV audio files.

Here are reasons why this software might NOT be the one for you. Note that while BurnAware lacks the features listed below, adding them would likely have made a lightweight app more complex and/or top heavy. If you are looking the features below check out the free CDBurnerXP or InfraRecorder.

• Lacks on-the-fly disk copying for data/audio/DVD disks.
• No support for ISO creation from an exising CD/DVD. Burns only ISO burning and not other disk image formats. Does not convert disk image formats (as CDBurnerXP mentioned above does).
• No context-menu integration, no floating “drop zone” or other desktop based interface.
• No UDF support in the free version. This means that your burned DVDs might not work with many standalone DVD playing machines.
• Not sure if it supports overburning. Could not find any documentation on this.
• No support for bootable media in the free version.

Differences between the free and paid versions: a number of the above features are provided in the paid version.

The verdict: if your CD/DVD burning needs are straightforward then you will like the simplicity of this program. It goes a step or so further that the overwhelming majority of free DVD burning software by supporting ISO burning, but in my opinion should have allowed for on-the-fly disk copying to make it stand out from the crowd. Still this program has some appeal given that it is lightweight and simple to use. Try it for yourself.

Version Tested: 1.2 Beta

Compatibility: Windows 98/NT/2000/XP and Vista (32 and 64 bit).

Go to this page to get the free version (approx 4.4 megs). Also visit the program home page.

In the outset it is important to point out that there are two ways that you can use this program (a) you might want to upload a whole bunch of images, perhaps tweak the background color and add an soundtrack, and then export your slideshow to DVD or video file. Simple and easy and not too involved.

Or, (b) the other way to use this program is deliberately produce and plan out exactly what happens every step of the way in your slideshow, decide on what kind of transition you want between each and every picture/video, what filters to apply to your images (that might change or tweak the way they are displayed), and exactly how to animate each picture: where it comes in and out, what parts (if any) to zoom in or out, etc… In fact when used as described here this program functions nothing less than a video editor; and, at that, it does an extremely good job and brings to the table a set of very powerful tools for you to work with. Here’s more info on this program:

• The program: this program is a frontend that brings together a number of free tools including Avisynth, Dvdauthor, HCenc, Media Player Classic, FFmpeg, Flvtool2, Mplex, Demux, mkisofs, etc. All tools are included within the installer.
• The user interface: is one of the nicest things about this program in that it is really simple and straightforwad. If you’re the kind of person who likes to just pick up a program and figure it out you’ll be up and running with DVD Slideshow GUI in very short order. One rule of thumb: if you can’t figure out how to do something its probably in the "presets" section.
• Imports: the following types of media: image files, PNG images with alpha, AVI videos, and Avisynth scripts (AVS). Also accepts MP3 and WAV audio file for the soundtrack.
• Exports: into an impressive range of video formats: DVD folder or ISO (for burning onto DVDs), MPG, AVI, FLV (and will generate HTML code to embed FLVs into your website). Also exports to DVD audio, DVD chapters, DVD subtitles, Avisynth script, storyboards, single images with backgrounds.
• To burn to DVD: use a free program such as ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP to burn the DVD folder or .ISO image to DVD.
• Customizability: pretty much everything can be customized, from the time that each image or video is displayed to the display filters and the animation effects used to bring it into and out of the screen (more on filters and animation effects below). The placement of images can be adjusted, including the margins around them (called ’safe area as it might not show on a TV) and border if any.
• Animation: your images can be zoomed in and out of and yanked around/animated on screen (panned and rotated). The program’s range of canned pre-defined animations make it easy to animate your images (and fun to experiment with all the things that can be done).
• The soundtrack: you can import an MP3 or WAV sound file. The audio by default will loop with your images and will be tapered off once it reaches the end of your slideshow. To add an audio file, use the button on the main interface NOT the audio entry in the "presets" section (not sure what that one is for; does not seem to be 2 ways to do the same thing). I will also add that I tested this program on 2 computers and on one of them the audio output was slowed down and not useable.
• Previews: one of the coolest thing about this program is that you can preview everything. Note, though, that the preview function can at times run slow.
• Transitions: a transition is the pattern by which one image is removed and another introduced. The program offers an impressive range of transitions (180 in total), with the option to create your own. View a list of available transitions here.
• The filters: you can choose from many available display filters that do all manner of interesting viual candy with your images. These can be applied to any individual slides or all slides at once. View a list of available filters here. You can also create your own filters and share them with other users.
• Subtitles: you have the option to add subtitles and change their placement on screen.
• The Help file: is very good indeed and generally comprehensive (and as a bonus is not so large and you can browse through the whole thing in about 10-15 mins)

Wish list:

• The use of default Windows open/save dialogs when importing files rather than the custom implementation used now. Also the ability to drag and drop images/videos to the project would be nice.
• The ability to enlarge thumbnails in the main interface, as they are a bit too small for my taste at the moment. [Update: this is now possible in the latest version]
• Bugs. There are a few that sometimes cause the project to be lost, so save frequently. I am assuming that these will be eventually taken care of in new releases.

Overall a very nice program that is generally easy to use and quite powerful. Highly recommended.

An example slideshow from the DVD Slideshow GUI site which I uploaded to YouTube.

Version Tested: 0.80

Compatibility: WinAll; no info on Vista.

Go to the download page to get the latest version (approx 16.7 megs). Also visit the program home page.

Rating

Version tested: 4.0

DVD43 is a program that runs in the background and decrypts copy-protected DVD’s on the fly. It has the effect of making a DVD unrestricted and region free, allowing for simple copying of files to your hard drive within the Windows file system and/or unrestricted access to the DVD by third party software. It will also remove audio CD protection.

The first thing that I’d like to note is that this software is different from DVD ripping software in the vein of as RipIt4Me/DVD Decrypter or DVD FAB HD Decrypter. What DVD43 does can be though of (in a way) as transforming an otherwise encrypted DVD into what for all intents and purposes acts as a ’normal’, unencrypted DVD (similar to the shareware software AnyDVD).

In many cases using a program like DVD43 is will save you the need to spend 20-30 minutes ripping a DVD to your hard drive first (not to mention the 4.7gig-to-8gig hard drive space you might not have on hand). For example, if your objective is to ’shrink’ an 8gig DVD and copy it onto a standard size blank DVD (for which you would use DVD Shrink), DVD43 would spare you the need to rip the entire 8gigs into your hard drive first, allowing DVD Shrink to get access and get to work on the files on the DVD itself.

Or let’s say that your interest lies not in copying the DVD itself but rather in converting it into a video file that you could load up on your Ipod or mobile device using a program such as Handbrake. In this case as well DVD43 will allow Handbrake to process/convert your desired titles straight from the DVD itself, saving you the time, effort, and hard drive space of ripping the DVD first.

Here are some notes on this program:

• How to use: after installation, DVD43 will run in the background and show itself as a yellow smiley in your system tray. Once you insert a DVD into your drive it will take a few seconds to recognize it and then will change to a green smiley, indicating that it has successfully removed the protection.
• Random testing: tested DVD43 on the 3 very random DVDs that we happened to have Netflixed at the moment and it was able to decrypt all of them without hitch.
• Types of protection(s) removed: unfortunately this info is not clearly stated on the program’s home page. After some Googling I found a statement in relation to this new version (4.0) cryptically declaring that "DVD43 removes most types of copy protection found on movie DVDs".
• Resources cost: extremely small; less than 2 megs in memory.
• Audio CD protection: also supported. Did not test this one personally.

The verdict: this is just what I’ve been waiting for. I’m personally more interested in converting DVDs and viewing on my Iphone than copying them to other DVD media, and DVD43 will save me a lot of time and energy that would otherwise be spent waiting for DVDs to rip to my hard drive. A great, simple program overall that works just as intended.

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32 bit).

Go to the program page to get the latest version (approx 527K).

Rating

Version tested: 0.9.1 (Windows GUI build 2.4.1)

Handbrake is a free program that can convert DVD’s or VOB files into video files. Supported containers are: MP4/M4V (for Ipod), AVI, OGM, and MKV, while supported video encoders are Xvid, H264, and Mpeg4.

Handbrake has established a reputation as being a 1-click solution for converting DVDs to Ipod video format (MP4/M4V), but it can also be used simply for encoding to AVI/Xvid, as well as to a variety of handheld devices such as PSP, PS3, Iphone and a number of other formats (e.g. Quicktime, "Apple TV").

I’ve been looking at Handbrake for some time now and waiting for a version that works well on Windows; which I think is accomplished with this release (if you have problems running it, see "Tools and codecs" below). Here are some notes on this program:

• DVD sources: Handbrake will NOT convert encrypted DVDs. This means that you will need to decrypt your favorite films and TV shows and copy them to your hard drive before Handbrake can process them. This can be done using a number of freeware programs such as RipIt4Me/DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, or DVD FAB HD Decrypter. Once this happens you will need to point Handbrake to the VIDEO_TS folder that is copied to your hard drive as the source.
• Profiles: Handbrake comes with a number of pre-defined profiles that are very useful for getting your desired output format. If you are interested in creating a video file for the Ipod, for example, you would simply select one of the three existing Ipod profiles (Ipod High-Rez, Ipod Low-Rez, or Iphone/Ipod Touch). Or you can use these as starting points and change them to your desired settings, which you can then save as a profile (e.g. I start with Ipod High-Rez, change the encoder to Xvid, then lower the bitrate to 1000 in to get a smaller output file).
• Performance: is simply fantastic. Using single-pass settings, I have found Handbrake to be extremely fast compared to other DVD encoding software I have used, and to generate videos that are of very high quality. I used this program to convert more than a dozen DVDs and have not experienced any audio syncing issues whatsoever.
• The user interface: is simple and very nicely laid out with different tabs that cover the various settings/decisions that you can make.
• Tools and codecs: unlike some other programs which do DVD encoding (e.g. AutoGK), Handbrake is self contained and does not need or install a handful of third party apps. And even though this is a great thing, it also does not install any of the codecs that it needs to encode your video, which means that if they’re not already installed on your machine you will have to take care of that yourself. Here’s an example on how to do this: for my configuration I use Xvid and AAC as the video and audio codecs, respectively, and its possible to simply search Google for "Xvid codec download" and "AAC codec download". Otherwise download and install CodecInstaller and it can find the installers for you.
• Width/Height settings: what I like immensely is that Handbrake only requires a value for the Width setting and, if height is left blank it will encode your video automatically based on the aspect ratio in the original DVD source. This relieves you from having to calculate height values and guarantees that the output video will have the correct aspect ratio. Leaving the width/height settings blank will result in a video that is encoded as per the original width/height of the source.
• Output size: you can input the max size in megabytes of the output file if you want, and Handbrake will use this info to calculate your video’s bitrate that will result in the correct size. Very cool.
• Selecting Featured content: Handbrake will allow you to select any of the featured content on a DVD for conversion. This can be done through a pull down menu (under "Title"), but the only way to identify these features seems to be through their length in minutes (e.g. the feature programme will be more than an hour in length, while the bonus materials will be 10-15 mins or so, and the trailer 2-3 mins, etc). For each feature it allows you to set the range of chapters to be encoded if available.
• Batch encoding: you can set up multiple conversions in a queue for batch encoding. Very useful when you are interested in the main feature on a DVD as well as the bonus materials.
• Audio demuxing: is not available as far as I can tell (Handbrake will not allow you to skip selecting a video codec). If you are interested in demuxing audio from a DVD source use Any Audio Converter.
• Other features: subtitling support, multiple audio tracks supported (I have not tested these features myself).

Wish list: or how this program can be even better.

• Automatic codec download: it would be great if, knowing that the codec it needed to encode was not installed on the system, Handbrake would inform the user and open the webpage where the codec could be downloaded.
• Support for audio demuxing: i.e. processing the sound only without the video, would be great.
• Integrating custom presets into the presets window once they are created, instead of having to load them each time.

The verdict: this is just an excellent, well designed and user friendly program that gets the job done. It is simply a must if you have an Ipod/Iphone/PSP or other device and would like to view your DVD collection on these devices. Highly recommended.

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux.

Go to the download page to get the latest version (approx 3.88 megs for the Windows GUI verison). Also visit the program home page.

Rating

Version tested: 4.0.013

CDBurnerXP 4 is a complete CD/DVD burning solution for the creation of data CDs and DVDs, audio CDs and Video DVDs. It offers full set of features including on-the-fly disc copying, copying to and burning from ISO images, and ISO image conversion. Supports new DVD formats such as Double layer DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.

This program is the mother of all freeware CD burning solutions. The strength of this program is that it is comprehensive in scope, meaning that it allows you to do pretty much everything you need to do when it comes to burning CDs/DVDs. One of the things I didn’t like about the older version I used (3.0.116) of this program was that it looked and felt junky like the various features were added on as afterthoughts; CDBurnerXP 4 on the other hand is very well designed both in terms of how it looks visually as well as the user experience it provides. Here are some notes on this program

• Copy audio and data CD’s on the fly: (swap source and destination media within the same or alternate drives). Copy to ISO file supported
• Burn Audio CDs: with or without gaps. Supports MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA, and FLAC files. Allows for adding tracks from audio CDs without ripping them first (cda-files). Does not rip audio cds (use the free BonkEnc or Exact Audio Copy for this).
• Burns Video DVDs: in UDF file format; i.e. they will play on your DVD player.
• Saves and burns ISO files: Converts .BIN and .NRG images to ISO format.
• Support for new media formats: double layer DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs.
• Verifies data after burning; can simulate burning for error detection.
• Supports overburning from the FAQ “just add as much data to CD layout as possible and .. ignore warning messages if any”).
• Dropbox: is a cool feature whereby you can drap and drop files to a floating “drop box” (see screenshot on the right). I am a sucker for cool features like this one.
• Bootable CDs/DVDs/ISOs: supported.
• Automated backups : not implemented in 4.0.013 but promised in a future release.
• Other features: simple cover printing, integrated audio player, visual representation of disk space, file filtering by extension, etc.

Wish list: context menu entries for adding files to projects, image file conversion/burning, etc.

I was waiting for the release of CDBurnerXP 4 for a long while; finally the wait is over and is well worth it. Highly recommended.

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server,Vista.

Go to the download page to get the latest version (approx 1.97 megs). Also visit the program home page.

Rating

Version tested: 3.2.0.15

DVD Shrink is a free program that can rip DVD’s into the hard drive and compress them, if needed, to fit on a standard 4.7-gig DVD. It will create a DVD image that can be burned into a DVD using a number of third party programs. It can also re-author DVDs to allow the creation of custom DVD program compilations.

An increasing number of the DVDs that you watch are stored on a so-called double density DVDs that can store up to twice the amount of data that a standard DVD. What makes this program unique is its ability to compress DVD data to the standard 4.7 gigs, which means you can use a standard DVD instead of having to buy expensive double-density blank DVDs. You will rarely, if ever, notice any decrease in video quality.

This review will include 3 sections: (a) ripping, (b) compression, (c) burning, and (d) re-authoring.

DVD ripping: DVD shrink can read an encrypted DVD and save it to the hard drive. This is a very simple process; just press the ’backup’ button and the program will analyze your DVD and be on its way. I will be honest in saying that I do not use DVD Shrink to rip DVDs myself as I prefer the more powerful RipIt4Me/DVD Decrypter combination. I ripped a DVD using DVD Shrink for the purposes of this review and it worked very well; however, you will find that some more recent copy protection methods will require something like RipIt4Me to rip/decrypt (you can still use DVD Shrink to compress the ripped DVD afterwards).

Compression: when you compress your DVD into the desired size (typically 4.7 gigs for use with a standard DVD), DVD shrink will allow you to choose exactly which parts of the programs you want to include. This means you can leave out bonus features, audio data for languages that you do not want, previews and other programs, etc. (Or alternately you can choose to include everything).

The process is surprisingly fast (compressing the data for a ripped 6.5 gig DVD took all of 19 minutes (on my Pentium core duo 1.66mhz/ 1.5 gigs of RAM) using default settings. The quality of the resulting DVD was virtually indistinguishable from the original. Note that I’ve used this program to back up more than a dozen DVDs that I compressed to fit on a standard DVD; I’ve not once noticed any deterioration in quality that I could see.

Burning: DVD Shrink can burn the resulting DVD images by integrating with Nero if you have it installed. But since Nero is not freeware we will not dwell on that … instead rest assured you can burn the resulting DVD image (in ISO format) using freeware programs like Imgburn or DVD Decrypter.

Re-Authoring: this option used to create your own compilation of programs on a DVD. I did not really use this functionality so I cannot say much about it. Note, however, that this is NOT the program you want if you have media files that you would like to a standard DVD (for that, check out AVI2DVD or DVDFlick).

The Verdict: I love this program, and here’s why:

• It works really well.
• It has a simple, straightforward user interface.
• Its the only freeware program of its kind/

Note on downloading: use the download link below (the last line of this review) for version 3.2. Read this scam alert to learn about fake DVD Shrink sites.

Compatibility: Windows 9x/2000/XP (no info on Vista).

Download DVD Shrink v.3.2.0.15 here (approx 1 meg). Also visit the official DVD Shrink home page.

Version tested: 1.2.0 build 260 final

DVD Flick is a free, open-source DVD authoring tool that can convert and write almost any video file or files into a DVD (or ISO) playable on any hardware DVD player

This program will let you (a) combine a single file or multiple files into a playable DVD, (b) add subtitles, and (c) add secondary audio tracks. It has a number of definite strengths, as follows:

• Simple, straightforward interface design. It is remarkable how simple and intuitive this UI is, especially for a DVD authoring tool. This alone is reason enough for me to switch to this program.
• Will convert almost any video file, which means that you are extremely likely to be able to put any video that you may have on your hard drive on DVD. This is not to be taken for granted, as I recently tried to convert a video file to DVD using another favorite program of mine, AVI2DVD, only to find that it was not able to handle the audio.
• A partial list of supported formats are as follows: AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, ASF, FLV, Matroska and MP4. Supported codecs are amongst others, MPEG-1\2\4 (Xvid, DivX, etc.), Windows Media Audio\Video. MP3, OGG Vorbis, H264, and On2 VP5\6.
• You can convert to ISO image on hard disk if you do need want to burn to DVD or there’s not one handy.

One thing that this program does not have is the option to create a title menu with custom backgrounds and/or music. My guess (from looking at the program’s feedback page) is that this will be coming in a future version. In any case if you must have this use AVI2DVD.

This is the kind of freeware program that you just love, simple and sleek and gets the job done. If you want a simple program to convert your video files to playable DVD’s, it doesn’t get simpler than this. Highly recommended for any user, but especially if you are not technically inclined and just want something that is easy to use and just works!.

Compatibility: Windows 2000 professional, Win XP (Vista not tested). P3 or higher or AMD K-6 or better. 64MB Ram minimum.

Go to the download page to download the latest version. The program home page.

Version tested: 0.5.1.build 2845

Mediacoder is a free universal transcoder that can be used to convert across many different audio and video formats. It offers advanced features including batch encoding and extendability through plugins.

If you’ve ever wanted a program that can convert any media format to another (audio and video), this is the program that you’re looking for. Here are some of the most important features this program offers:

• Fully standalone; all codecs, filters and/or media players it needs are built it. This means that (a) it will not install a bunch of codecs and filters on your system that you may or may not use or need, and (b) there is less of a liklihood that your conversions may suffer from any conflicts and/or problems with the codecs that may exist on your machine.
• Allows for batch encoding
• Allows you to convert audio across multiple formats. Reads and writes the following: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, AAC+, AAC+V2, MusePack, WMA, RealAudio, FLAC, WavPack, Monkey’s Audio, OptimFrog, AAC Lossless, WMA Lossless, WAV/PCM.
• Allows you to convert video across multiple formats. Can read and write: H.264, Xvid, DivX, MPEG 1/2/4, H.263, Flash Video (FLV), Windows Media, AVI, MPEG/VOB, Matroska, ASF/WMV, and MP4. Will read only (i.e. will convert from but not to): 3ivx, RealVideo, RealMedia, Quicktime, OGM, CD, VCD, DVD, CUE Sheet.
• Can rip audio from a CD or DVD, although without CDDB support the former is really not that useful.
• Ability to re-multiplex a video file into various container formats on the fly, in batch. For example, you could re-multiplex an Xvid encoded .AVI file into .MP4 container format without having to re-encode (note: this doesn not mean that, in this example, the new .MP4 file will work on the Ipod necessarily).
• There are a number of downloadable plugins and extentions available for Mediacoder which primarily seem to offer customized user interfaces and profiles for various portable devices (mobile phones, PSP, etc.). Strangely, I was not able to find an Ipod plugin.
• Can convert video straight from a non-encrypted DVD, and will allow you to choose which tracks and/or specific chapters you want. Can also convert DVD VOB files that are ripped to the hard drive.

This program is really cool. If I had a criticism, however, it would be that the version I tested was somewhat buggy and transcoding would somtimes fail for no apparent reason. It was beta, however, and I assume that the stable release would not have these problems. I also wish the interface were more streamlined, as I find the current design less intuitive than it could be. A “wizard” mode would be an excellent addition.

This is a program that can essentially convert anything to anything. One of the best things this program has going for it is the community that has growin around it and that participates in the forums. This community (a) creates plugins and extentions for Mediacoder, and (b) generates a rich online body of knowledge that you can tap into to find answers for all of your encoding needs.

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the download page to download the latest version. The program home page. 

Version tested: 2.5.047

MagicDisc is a program that can create disc image files from CDs and DVDs as well as mount disc image files of various types through a virtual CD/DVD drive.

Here’s what you need to know about this program:

• Will work with both CDs and DVDs
• Allows you to open and use disk image files without the need to burn them into CDs; will create a virtual drive that will behave exactly as a normal CD/DVD would.
• Offers 200x speed (much faster than a normal cd drive) and noiseless emulation.
• It can create image files from CDs/DVDs; can also create bootable image files.
• Supports reading and writing ALL disk image formats (16 in all), including .ISO, .UIF, .IMG, .BIN,.CUE, .NRG, and .CIF.
• It resides in the system tray and has a simple, clean interface.
• Will allow you to compress (and decompress) a disk image for the most efficient use of hard drive space.

If you regularly run CD or DVD based programs then this program will prove very useful; all you have to do is use MagicDisc to create an image of your CD/DVD on your hard drive (assuming you have the space), and mount that image; you will no longer need your actual physical media.

Note that if you are trying to create/mount disc images for copy protected CDs/DVDs this program will most likely not be able to help you; for that you can use the (adware) Daemon Tools.

I like this program because like simple software and I like it even better when it is efficient and free. You will like it too.

Compatibility: WinAll; including 64bit Windows and Vista. Make sure to download the right version for your system.

Go to the program page to download the latest version.

Version tested:  0.4.4 Beta

AVI2DVD is a tool that will convert your AVI files into playable DVDs, VCDs, or SVCDs, or alternately convert DVDs into VCDs or SVCDs. It will generate an ISO file that you can burn into DVD or CD media.

AVI2DVD is a a front-end GUI that utilizes a number of freeware tools to do the conversion. For the purposes of testing I converted a 700 meg Xvid-encoded AVI file into DVD format. It took AVI2DVD 2 hours and 45 minutes to do the job, and the final product was excellent! Note that the time it takes will depend on your source file(s), your chosen settings, and the processing power of your hardware.

Note that AVI2DVD is still BETA software, and may be buggy. Having used it I can report that I have not found any problems with it so far.

Here’s what you need to know about this program:

• The program has a 5-step ‘tabbed’ interface that simplifies all the different decisions you have to make to create your DVD; very streamlined and easy for the average user to navigate.
• You can add multiple video files to for batch encoding into a single DVD.
• AVI2DVD will also create a DVD menu for you and allow you to upload an image file as a background. It will capture images from the video for you if you want to use that, and will also allow you to use your own MP3 audio track as menu background music.
• Available encoding options include de-interlacing (if your source is interlaced), setting aspect ratio, splitting across multiple CD’s/DVD’s, setting length of each DVD ‘chapter’, setting audio bitrate, converting from PAL to NTSC or vice versa. If you do not know what these settings are then leave them alone and go with the default choice.
• If your video source files has multiple audio tracks for different languages (these are rare but some actually do), you can define the language for up to three different audio tracks.
• If you are interested in including subtitles, the program supports up to three different subtitles options; you will have to provide the subtitle files in .SRT or .TXT formats. You can find subtitle files all over the internet if you need them; search Google for these.
• AVI2DVD comes with 4 free encoders that it uses to encode the DVD files. You can choose the one you want; I used the default QuEnc and it worked great, though I’ve heard good things about HCenc in terms of reliability.
• The installation process also installs all the tools, encoders, and filters that you need; you need not worry about installing any codecs or filters seperately.

Once the conversion process is finished AVI2DVD will have created an ISO file (typically called DVD_Image.iso), which is all you need. All the other files can be deleted. You can burn the resulting ISO file to DVD using most CD/DVD burning programs, with IMGburn, or DVD Decrypter. You can find instructions on how to download DVD Decrypter in the RipIt4Me posting.

I recommend this product wholeheartedly!

Go to the program download page for the latest version. The program page.

AVS Disk Creator is a simple yet powerful CD/DVD burning program that offers many useful features including data verification, multisession support, and ISO support. AVS can read/burn a wide variety of media formats, including dual-layer and the new Blu-Ray.

Rating: 5 

Version tested:  2.1.6.101

This is one of the most powerful and best looking CD/DVD burning solutions; my definite choice for freeware programs in its category.

What this program offers:

• A straightforward design that is simple and easy to use. Working with files and folder (adding, deleting, renaming, etc.) is very intuitive.
• A clean, compact sleek look (comes replete with a handful of skins).
• Support for a wide variety of drives and media formats, including dual layer the next generation Blu-Ray formats. Supported media formats include: CD-R/RW, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-RAM, Double/Dual Layer DVD and the latest Blu-ray technology BD-R and BD-RE.HD-DVD format support promised in future versions.
• Data verification option upon burn completion
• True multisession support; according to the developer’s website, you can add new files to a existing sessions that were previously created on other software, even on DVDs.
• Works with ISO disc images (create, read, and/or edit existing images).
• You can save projects that work on for later access.
• Bootable CD/DVD’s support promised in a future version.

What it will not do:

• Will not convert between ISO (disc image) formats.
• Will not convert your video files into a compliant VCD, SVCD, or DVD video discs.
• Will not burn your MP3’s into Audio compilation cd’s (unless you convert them to WAV’s yourself).
• Will not rip your Audio CDs into mp3s or other compressed formats.
• Will not copy CD’s, DVD’s
• Will not support any other naming convention besides JOLIET.

That it does not do these things, as far as I am concerned, is a definite PLUS, as (a) it keeps the program small and simple and (b) there is free software that does all of the above functions extremely well if you need them.

Definitely recommended!

Download ver 2.1 here. Program seems to be discontinued by the publisher, but you can visit the developer’s home page here.

Imgburn is a program that will burn any image file into CD’s or DVD’s. It will burn ripped DVD images generated by DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink. It will also burn to DVD or build an image from ripped VOB files on the hard drive.

Rating: 5 

Version tested:  2.1.0.0

Moreover Imgburn can burn 8 gigabyte double-layer DVDs. For these, it can either use the layer break in the IFO file (which can be user-specified) or it can calculate the best break location on its own.

This image burning functionality is provided by a number of commercial CD/DVD burning software, such as Nero. I like to use Imgburn because (a) it is a small program that works really well, (b) it works with most CD/DVD writers, and (c) unlike those other burning programs, it is 100% free.

Go to the program download page for the latest version. The program home page.

Ripit4me is a program that works with either DVD Decrypter or DVD Shrink to rip copy protected DVD’s onto the hard drive. It acts as a front-end for those other ripping programs and will not do the ripping itself; RipIt4Me’s added value is that it enables these programs to handle stronger copy protections that some newer DVD’s come with, such as ARccOS and RipGuard DVD.

Rating: 5

Version tested:  1.5.1.0

RipIt4Me can also adjust the ripped DVD files into better DVD compliance – I’m not sure exactly what that means but I know that in some cases this will enable you to fix an issue where burned DVDs would have problems working on a standard DVD player even when they play just fine on the computer.

It’s a good idea to use this program even if you’ve been happily using DVD Decrypter to rip your DVDs, as the creator of that software has stopped all development on it. RipIt4Me will help  DVD Decrypter keep up to date with newer protection mechanisms.

RipIt4Me is very easy to use; ripping a DVD will not take more than 3-clicks or so, and the interface is very intuitive.

Note: this program does not have an installer; simply unpack and place in the right place. Go to preferences to make sure it knows the correct paths to the programs it needs.

Go to the program home page. If unavailable use this link to download RipIt4Me v.1710 and DVD Decrypter 3540 both.