SPlayer is a free, open source media player that is lightweight, well designed, and quite powerful. It promises to play every conceivable media format (including DVD’s and streaming media), and to optimize your audio and video quality to best utilize your hardware specifications. It is light on power consumption, making it ideal for laptop/travel use, is truly portable, and offers a handful of innovative features such as on-demand automatic downloads of subtitles.

Wow! Where did this one come from? To start let me just state that there is an undeniable wealth of fantastic free media players available, such as The KMPlayer, which I am very fond of, VLC, GOM Player, BSPlayer, to name a few. Which is why it is quite an achievement when a newcomer can lump all of the others together and somehow differentiate itself. Splayer does exactly that by means of its sheer “economy”; i.e. by being lightweight, having a small footprint, being truly portable and light on power consumption, and by its sparse yet sleek interface. It does this while simultaneously being innovative and offering a breadth of features. Here are more notes on this program:

• Lightweight: low footprint, low startup and playback memory footprints, low energy consumption (perfect for laptop travel use).
• Design: a lot of attention to detail when it comes to interface design and look and feel. Splayer seems sparse and simple; on-screen controls appear only when you hover over the program dialog. They succeed in presenting a clean, minimalist interface even when the program has a lot of features on offer.
• Optimizes picture and sound quality: reduces screen noise, features algorithms that are enhance image and sound quality, optimized for multi-core SSE2 SSE3 MMX GPU etc
• Portable version available: unzip and run; includes all internal codecs that can play any media file in any environment. Look for the word “portable” on the program page to find the download link to the portable version.
• Streaming: streams any format; allows users to supply URL for media on the internet.
• Audio and video capture: to disk from device, supported.
• Other features: “subtitle matching” automatically downloads and displays subtitles, bookmark favorite media, pin as topmost window, tweak transparency, capture screenshots, automatically remove black bar (if any) for widescreen video, etc.

Wish list

• One thing I noticed switching from KMplayer on Windows 7 was that video file icons added after the switch no longer automatically displayed a preview screenshot as their icon. A minor issue but I hope it will be addressed.

The verdict: a very nice player that is also open source. With its combination of (a) being extremely light on resources, (b) having a very nice and sleek interface, and (c) playing every conceivable media format this program has won itself a permanent stay on my machine. It has also just become the default media player that I would recommend to people if asked. You will like it.

Version Tested: 3.3 (build 1021)

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 5.75 megs).

See the screenshot to the right above to get a sense of what this program can do. The actual purpose of these “scenesheets” is a bit open ended and really depends on your needs and the way you manage or view your video collection. For example, you could use Scenegrabber to batch-create a library of these thumbnail sheets that you can use for content preview purposes, especially if you have a great number of videos in your collection and/or you are not entirely familiar with the content. You could save these images in a single, centralized location or otherwise save each “scenesheet” in the same folder as the video itself. This would be especially handy if you use your PC as a primary media player. Moreover, these thumbnail sheets could be very useful for content preview purposes if you are publishing videos on the internet.

If you can think up a practical use for these thumbnail sheets that is not mention it please share it in the comments. Here are more notes on this program:

• Manual vs. automatic: you could jump to specific points in the video and grab specific screenshots manually, or otherwise click “grab screenshotS” and have the program automatically scan the length of the video and grab images for you.
• The settings: you can specify the length and width of the output image in pixels, the number of columns to use, as well as the number of screenshots to grab.
• Video information: Scenegrabber .NET is able to display extensive video information, much like MediaInfo, for example.
• Editing the sceneshot: aside from the settings above, the program will create captions for each image that contain the timestamp for each image. You can edit these manually to whatever text you like, change the font size or color, or even do away with captions altogether. You can also drag thumbnails to rearrange them as well as specify the media info fields that are displayed with the thumbnails.
• Formats supported: supports any video file that is playable on Windows Media Player; if you have the appropriate codec installed on your system it will load up the video.

The verdict: a very nice, handy program, especially if you are looking for a functionality such as this or if you are looking for a quick and easy way to preview videos.

Note that there may be an issue with WMV format videos, but that the author is aware of this and it will be fixed.

Version Tested: 0.9.3.1

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, Seven. 32bit or 64bit. .NET Framework 3.5 is required for XP.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 2.81 megs).

Screenr works on Mac or PC, essentially any computer with a modern browser and Java installed. You can capture up to 5 minutes of video at any resolution up to 2560×1600 on a PC and 1920×1200 on a Mac. You can integrate the use of a microphone to voice-over your video capture, but unfortunately there currently isn’t any means to add captions or annotations to your recording.

You’ll create an account with Screenr to make your recordings and it integrates your Twitter account if you have one. After you have your account, you can just click the Record button in the top-right corner. This will take you to a page that loads a Java element which provides your recording interface. You can move the box with the dotted border anywhere on your screen and resize it by dragging any of the black squares. You can also choose a pre-selected resolution from the control bar at the bottom. There you also control the microphone sound as well as begin, end, or cancel the recording. I used Screenr to making a recording that showed much of the functionality of Google Image Swirl for the article I wrote last week on it.

Once you have everything lined up where you’d like it, just hit the record button and walk through your screencast. You can minimize the browser and record anything on your primary display. After you’ve completed everything you want to capture, hit the Done button which will take you to the Summary screen. There you can add some commentary about your video and publish the automatically-provided shortened URL to your Twitter account (or check the box to not tweet it) and hit the Publish button.

This will send it through a very fast (considering) publishing process.

After it’s published, you’ll end up on the video page like this: http://screenr.com/nIB

From there, you can see the URL to share with people, the code to embed a Flash player version of your video and options to upload directly to YouTube or download the .mp4 file.

The YouTube integrated process is very convenient to use and if you have your own site, you can embed the video easily with the code provided. Along with anywhere on the net, Screenr also states that the videos can be played on an iPhone.

You can see the screencasts that are being produced through Screenr and made publicly available through the Public Stream. If you find a favorite author, you can find an RSS subscription per author as a subtle feature of Screenr.

Screenr is easy to use, fast, convenient, and provides the hosting for simple screencasts. If you have more complicated screen recording needs, you might check out previous reviews of BB Flashback Express or CamStudio and other Camtasia alternatives.

For simple cases though, Screenr will be a perfect, no-install-required choice. Check it out at Screenr.com.

Requires: Modern browser with Java installed.

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).

Ever wanted to insert YouTube videos into your PowerPoint presentations? AuthorStream desktop makes it extremely easy to do so. Here are more notes on this program:

• What it does: embeds a YouTube video or images from the web into a PowerPoint presentation, allowing you to place and resize your media on the page as you would any image object. Does NOT download videos, and does NOT save the actual video inside your PowerPoint files.
• User interface: click on the authorStream ribbon (in PowerPoint 2007) to access its functionality. Very straightforward. Note that I did not test on PowerPoint 2003 and am not sure what the interface looks like there.
• Two ways to embed: you can either provide the URL for the YouTube video or image you would like to embed, or otherwise use the built in search functionality (will display search results from Google or Bing image search).
• Sharing your files: you can email or share your Presentations with other users and they will be able to view them without having to have AuthorStream Desktop installed (they will need an internet connection though).
• Uploading: AuthorStream Desktop provides 1-click PowerPoint presentation uploads to the AuthorStream online presentation sharing service, which could come in very handy if you use that service to share your presentations.

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

• The ability to embed private video uploaded to hosting services such as DivShare or even incorporating into Powerpoint any standard HTML code used for embedding video into sites/blogs .This would make this software EXTREMELY useful in some settings (conferences, business presentations) where the video content could not be uploaded publicly to YouTube for privacy concerns (note that private YouTube uploads are a headache that requires setting up YouTube contact lists, logging in with a YouTube user ID and other non-practical measures).

The verdict: a great idea that is implemented in a very simple, straightforward way. This software presents a very practical and easy way for many people to use video in PowerPoint presentations by their videos into YouTube and embedding them into their presentations (which has the added benefit of keeping the PowerPoint files small and compact for the purposes of email, etc.) Not to mention the useful opportunity it presents to PowerPoint spammers everywhere

On the other hand AuthorStream Desktop can be so much more useful if it supported embedding FLV videos that are uploaded privately to file hosting services where only the people you share the video link with have access to it (DivShare is the service I use). This would make it possible to use PowerPoint with private video content in professional and business settings where uploading this content publicly to YouTube is not an option.

Version Tested: 1.0.0.1

Compatibility: WinAll. Requires PowerPoint 2007.

Go to the the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.56 megs).

If you’ve seen the previous incarnation of this program you’ll be happy to know that this new version is a complete departure from its predecessor, completely re-written in JAVA. It avoids or circumvents all of the problems/issues that afflicted the previous incarnation including false positives reported by some anti-malware programs, restrictions on some (adult) sites, memory issues, and issues with registry entries and drivers that the program installed and left on the system (in truth, by the time the last version of Tubemaster plus was released all of these were actually already remedied, but I wanted to make sure to mention that these issues were a thing of the past).

Improvements also include a better looking user interface (the built-in browser of the predecessor is done away with). In fact the only feature of TM+ that I liked that TM++ does not have is portability. Here are more notes on this program:

• How it works: once you launch TM++ (it will reside in the system tray), use your browser to navigate to the video or audio that you want to download. TM++ will display a notification and start downloading your media as soon as it starts playing in the browser. You will need to keep the browser window open for the duration of the download in order for TM++ to download your media properly.
• Media conversion: on-the-fly. Includes a couple dozen conversion presets, my favorite of which is the quick MP3 extraction.
• Audio/video search: the search functions are very impressive. For video search, you can specify which site you want to search from a rather expansive list of sites.
• Virus/malware free: a clean bill of health from Virustotal.

The verdict: I’ve seen the development trajectory of this program and I think that developer deserves a lot of credit for taking this software in the right direction and creating what is undoubtedly an excellent product. But what makes this product noteworthy compared to others in its category is its ability to download from almost any site, including ant-leech encrypted media. It can be independently launched when needed and does not install itself as an extension in your browser.

Although TM++ is no longer portable (like TM+ was), this is understandable given that it relies on a number of other apps/technologies (including JAVA, which it will install if absent). Overall I highly recommend this.

Version tested: 1.0 beta

Compatibility: WinAll. Requries JAVA. Will soon be available on Linux and Mac.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 180K).

Imagine that you’re at work pulling reports from the database or working on spreadsheets, but that you also just absolutely need to follow developments in the Wimbeldon match that is going on at the same time, or a landmark speech by President Obama (that would be me in the latter case). Typically what I would do is use my headphones, minimize the browser or media player, and follow the audio alone. Except now multitaskers and bored workers everywhere can rejoice: with Double Vision you can do your work while having your video showing semi-transparently under your spreadsheet or whatever application you’re using.

studies have shown that worker’s productivity increases by 15% while they use Double Vision (yes I’m just making this up). The irony is that I was actually introduced to this software by a coworker (thanks DAK!). More notes below:

• Plays video from the internet: i.e. anything that you would use the browser to view; does not play local video files.
• Transparency: you can control the level of transparency you want through a slider.
• How to use: browse to or type in the URL of the website you want and navigate to your video. In some cases (e.g. for YouTube) Double Vision seems to automatically zoom onto the video and hide all other page contents; if not, resize Double Vision around the video such that only the video is showing. Finally press the “Go Double Vision” button on the top left, which will sort of “burn” the Double Vision semitransparent player onto your screen so it shows through all other windows.
• Hotkeys: Ctrl+Alt will bring the player back into focus, while Ctrl+Esc will exit the semitransparent state and allow you to use the controls. You can set it to mute the sound as well, although curiously it doesn’t automatically un-mute when you resume playing the video (for that you’ll have to go to your volume control dialog).
• Auto skins: an option where Double Vision automatically changes its skin to match that of the video service being used (for example Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube).

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

• A redesign of the user interface: currently it looks somewhat … unprofessional; they could do a lot better.
• The ability to customize the hotkeys used.
• Hulu support: while both the website and the player purport Hulu support, I was not able to get Hulu videos playing on this (got page missing/404 errors). And yes I am in the US and can get it to play on other browsers.

The verdict: I would say this is a very innovative and interesting software that does exactly what it purports to do and does it quite well. I would be happier if they made it look better (as per my wish list above), but other than that I would recommend it to overworked people everywhere!

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista. Requires an internet connection

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 2.15 megs).

Hulu desktop is a free desktop client for Windows and Mac that connects to the Hulu service and plays Hulu videos and programs within a sleek, feature-rich interface, without the need for an internet browser. It features a spectacular look-and-feel, high-definition video, and offers the ability to resume partially watched shows. It also supports standard Windows Media Center or Apple IR remote controls.

Hulu, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is a web site set up by a group of TV networks in order to publish their programming in high quality, as a means to keep their content under their control and as an alternative to video sharing sites like YouTube.

You might ask: why watch programs on the Hulu desktop client rather than in the browser? The answer simply is that Hulu desktop manages to offer a user experience that is simply excellent, and is far better than the desktop experience. Here’s a rundown of some of its features.

• Quality: unlike the web version, Hulu desktop displays high quality streaming video by default. Very nice indeed. For slow connection low-bandwidth situations you can lower the quality to “medium” or low.
• Control using IR Remote: for those who use their PC as a media center and/or like to use a physical remote control device, Hulu desktop offers full IR support support for both PC and Mac.
• Navigate: the player can display full video unencumbered by controls until you hover with the mouse. Can navigate using the keyboard, mouse, or remote (or combos). Navigation feels very sleek and professional: press Ctrl+F for fullscreen then use the keyboard arrows, mouse and mousewheel for zooming. Breadcrumb-style browsing history makes it easy to retrace your steps and find your way around.
• Ads: Hulu desktop will display some ads in the programming itself (much like watching TV), but it comes without the display ads that are featured on most websites (including the Hulu site).
• Resume shows: at the moment where you last left them. Very cool.
• Personalize: once your register an account and log in you save videos of interest in your queue, you can subscribe to certain channels or programs, rate programs, and look at your viewing history (note: you can do all of this in the website version as well).

Cons: issues that can be addressed to make this a better product

• Memory consumption: is very high at around 250 megs on my machine. It is actually less resrouce intesive to watch Hulu in Firefox3 (apprx 150); surely it should be the other way around? I am hoping that resource consumption is improved once this is out of beta.
• Bugs: this is beta software and in my testing of it had a couple of hiccups where it became strangely unresponsive, but went back to normal after a few seconds. I am assuming these will be eventually ironed out post-beta.

The verdict: a very impressive viewer that will surely become the preferred vehicle for accessing Hulu videos for all but the very casual Hulu users. If you’re an avid Hulu viewer you should check it out immediately; if you are an occasional Hulu user … you should also do the same .

Version tested: 0.9.3.1 BETA

Compatibility: Windows XP or later; Mac OSX10.4 or later. Requires Intel Pentium Core Duo 1.8GHz (Windows), at least 2.0 GB of RAM, a 2 Mbps Internet connection, and Flash 9.0.124

Go to the Hulu Desktop page to download the latestr version (approx 866K).

I must admit that I almost passed over this program for a number of reasons: the “Express” (i.e. free) version has two paid counterparts, and it requires registration with a valid email to get a free license key; plus there are a number of good, free, screencasting freeware (e.g. CamStudio, Debut Video Capture), as well as well known web services like Wink and Jing.

However let me tell you from the get go that this software is simply excellent, and is in fact one of the best free programs in it’s class. It provides some excellent options than most freeware programs I’ve used do not, and it is a well thought out, well designed software.

Top 10 12 things that I really like about BB Flashback Express:

1. Change resolution while recording: you can capture the whole screen or part of the screen and the software can automatically resize the output to a pre-set resolution. For example you can capture fullscreen and set the output size to, say 640×480 and not have to worry about resizing it later on.
2. Can record moving graphics: from the options, you can specify whether to use the normal capture driver (for regular screen activity) or GDI/DirectX, for moving graphics and animations. I successfully tested capturing full-screen games; the results for both 2D and 3D graphics were excellent (although I did witness some choppiness with the 3D graphics, but am unsure as to what degree the settings I used contributed into this).
3. Can capture fullscreen, a user-defined region, or a specific window: I particularly like the third one (locking on and capturing a specific window); very useful when demo-ing software and for some reason most free screen recording programs lack this option.
4. Can record videocam input: how cool is that? I don’t have one so I did not test this.
5. Can create AVI’s, FLV’s, but also SWF’s: The latter is notable in that BB Flashback Express provides the option to create an interactive video (see below).
6. Can create interactive events inside a video: specifically when outputing to SWF, you can define “mouse click” events to stop/continue the video
7. Autoscroll (keep mouse in or near center): if you decide to export only a smaller subset of your movie (for example export a movie captured at 640×480 at, say, 320×240), you can ask BB Flashback Express to track the mouse and export the area around it. Which is to say you can keep the mouse at or near the center.
8. Cursor highlighting: you can highlight the mouse and mouseclicks so that they are emphasized on the screen (very useful for demoes). You can even edit exactly what the highlighting will look like (see image to the right).
9. Export specific range/frames only: although this free version does not allow you to edit the video directly, you can make a note of your desired beginning and end frames and enter those into the “wizard” that pops up on the export process.
10. Automatically upload to Youtube/web page: with your YouTube username and password. Or it will provide HTML and embed code to easily insert videos into your webpage.
11. Hotkeys: allows you to define hotkeys for use
12. The interface: can reside in the system tray or, interestingly, as a cool-looking strip in the taskbar.

Differences between free and paid versions: paid versions allow you to add text to your videos, to edit them visually on the timeline, and to export in more formats. There are other differences listed here. A nice set of features, but you can find freeware programs to substitute for them if you need to.

The verdict: simply terrific. One of the best in its class.

Version Tested: 2.6.1.1122

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP, Vista; 32 and 64 bit.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 7.2 megs).

[Editor's note: this review was written by reader Gaurav Paul with some subsequent editing by the webmaster].

Imagine a situation (or perhaps this may have actually happened) where you may have cleared a very difficult level in a game that nobody from your circle ever dreamed of. “I did it man” you tell them, to which their response is, unfortunately: “give us the cheat, where is it ?!”. The problem is that almost all screen recording/capturing software will record normal desktop activity but will not handle 3D graphics. Don’t fret, though, for this tiny software, which comes up to a mere 257K download, is here to help you produce some proof.

Taksi is able to record 3D applications that use DirectX 8, DirectX 9, OpenGL, or GDI API. It screen-records your favorite applications, allows you to choose your FPS setting, and encodes the output into video files using your favorite codec(s). It can also capture screenshots easily so you can share them with others – and it’s FREE. Here are more notes on this program:

• How to use: the first thing you have to do is let Taksi know which app you want it to record. You cannot specify an area of the screen; it will record the output generated by the app you select (whether it is 3D graphics output or normal app activity).
• App Hook: this allows you to tell Taksi to latch on to the next app that you open or select.
• Recording: Taksi will (optionally) superimpose a small, square indicator on the top left of your screen that is there to show the current app which is being recorded/captured.
• Half-size output: you have the option to produce full size videos or half the original output resolution. The latter can be very valuable in terms of cutting the video size down. I personally would always use this option by default, especially if the videos are intended to be ultimately published on the net (where chances are they will be made even smaller).
• Hotkeys: you can define hotkeys for various controls such as record/pause/stop functions. Many of these are function keys by default but can be changed, which is good in the case that your game or app actually uses that hotkey (for example you can change “begin recording” from F6 to Alt+F6 if you need to).
• Codecs: choose the type of video and audio codecs (installed in the system) to encode with. Keep in mind the device you may want to play it on when you do this. If you are unsure of a good codec, download and install Xvid, found here.
• Target frame rate: choose the target FPS as per your convenience. Be mindful that the higher the frame rate the larger the size of the captured file.
• Performance: is generally very good although the game I was recording was somewhat choppy and less “smooth” in its 3D rendering than usual.

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

• Audio support: will make a huge difference, obviously. The Taksi website states that Audio support is in the works but it seems to be taking a long time (the last update of this app reviewed here is dated June 2006). You may want to record audio separately (e.g. with a program like Mp3MyMp3) and re-combine with your video using an editor such as VirtualDub or AviDemux.

The verdict: overall this is a great app to work with and use. Initially you might have to experiment with codec, compression, and FPS settings as these relate to your desired video quality, but you are certain to figure it out quickly after two or three trials. You will finally end up loving it just as I did!

Anyone will quickly be able to use this tool, from budding gamers playing Counter-Strike (or any other game) to people who may want to create and publish video tutorials on, say, 3D modeling software.

While Taksi specializes in 3D graphics, it is also great if you are interested in video-recording a specific (3D or non 3D) app or apps without worrying about specifying the exact recording area around it, etc. For screencasts of general desktop activity other free apps such as CamStudio or Debut Video Recorder are probably more suitable (and will record audio to boot).

Version Tested: 0.76. Tested apps: Counter Strike 1.6, Google Chrome, winRAR, Notepad.

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 258K).

t

• 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.

[Review Updated July 4th 2009] Check out the new version of this app, TubeMaster++; forget about reading the rest of this review.

This program is a tool for downloading videos/music/streaming media from video and music sharing sites. I have learned a lot more about this program since first publishing this review two weeks or so ago, hence this updated review. Note that my original review of version 1.3.1.4 which as of this writing has been updated to 1.3.1.5.

This program combines streaming media downloads, FFMpeg for video conversion, an IE based internal browser, and a some sort of internet searching resource for finding (and downloading) audio files on the internet and videos across multiple video sharing sites. This program has multiple pros and cons, which I will list as follows:

PROS:

1. Downloads media from sites that have anti-leeching technology: I tested TubeMaster Plus with Last.FM, Pandora, and Imeem and it worked beautifully! Note: this functionality is provided courtesy of the Orbit Downloader component of TubeMaster Plus.
2. Downloads various media formats: video and audio in multiple formats (see image to the right).
3. Does not install itself as a plugin inside your browser: instead uses it’s own internal multi-tabbed embedded browser.
4. Music search: can search the internet and find downloadable tracks. It works very well and I highly recommend it.
5. Downloads YouTube vidoes in “HD” mode: when browsing YouTube, TubeMaster Plus will ask whether you want to download the higher-resolution MP4 video file versions of your desired video if these are available. (Not only are these higher in resolution but they can be uploaded to Ipods easily without conversion).
6. Global video search: looking for a video? Try using TubeMaster Plus’s media search, which offers a “Global Video Search” that can search up to 100 video sharing sites simultaneously.

CONS:

1. Claims to be portable but isn’t: installs 2 drivers into your system folder and 2 registry entries without warning and without an “uninstall” option. To remove these I have created a .BAT file which when run will remove all of these. Download it here. Note: make sure that TubeMaster is not being run when you run this. If you would like to know which files/registry entries are being deleted simply open the .bat file in a text editor. Works on XP, Vista only, assumes C: is you system partition).
2. Restricts adult sites: the developer has restricted this program such that free version will not download media from “adult” sites. How does it know that a site is adult? My guess is that it simply has or downloads a list of these sites that it refuses to download from. If you want to get around this try other media downloading programs such as Moyea FLV downloader, Orbit Downloader, xVideoService Thief, or VDownloader.
3. Media conversion is not what it could be: although it uses the powerful FFMpeg as its conversion engine, it doesn’t offer the user much control in terms of the conversion quality and settings, and I personally would probably forgo it in favor of other, more powerful converters myself. (Converts from FLV to AVI (320×240 or 640×480), MP3, MP4 (Ipod/PSP), MPEG, WMV, and from AVI to FLV.)

More notes on this program as follows:

• Note on downloading: when downloading a file on a web page you will need to keep that page “open” (i.e. not browse away from it) until the file has downloaded in it’s entirety; otherwise you will probably see a broken download.

The verdict: overall a good tool that has a lot to commend it, but installing the “Orbit Downloader” instead may be a better idea. Still. TubeMaster has a lot to recommend it; the main draw for me is the ability to download protected media files without needing to install the program as a plugin into my browser (as for example is the case with Orbit). I also think the MP3 search function is terrific. Moreover, if you are like me (in that 90% of all videos that I download come from YouTube) you will love downloading YouTube videos in HD mode.

Version(s) Tested: 1.3.1.4 and 1.3.1.5

Compatibility: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista .

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 4.6 megs).

This is an extremely useful and impressive tool that can make the process of finding and downloading your favorite shows very easy; TED brings an easy to use iTunes-store like interface to the world of torrent TV shows.

This program is particularly suited for average users who (a) do not want to wade through torrent search sites and get bombarded with dubious ads and popups, (b) do not have the time or inclination to be searching for torrent sources needed for downloading, and (c) would like a reliable and easy way to find just the episodes that they want to watch. Here are more notes on this program:

• Shows in the database: you can choose from dozens of shows that are listed (I counted 191, and more shows are being added continuously). For each entry TED will download information from the net about the show including an overall rating, etc. (see first screenshot above). A search box is provided that makes it very easy to filter the list by keyword and quickly find what you’re looking for. Despite the expansive list I was struck with the number of shows I could think of that were NOT there (although these can be added by the user – see "adding to the list" below).
• Episode selection: you can choose whether you would like (a) a specific (custom) episode that you are looking for, (b) the last aired show, or (c) to put in a request for TED to look out for the upcoming show. The program will display a list of available episodes as well as a gauge that indicates the "availability" (i.e. likelihood and/or speed of downloading).
• Torrent client: you will need a torrent client to download; TED will NOT download anything without one. I recommend uTorrent.
• Adding to the list: if you do not find the show you want listed you can easily add it yourself. All you need to do is simply type in the name of the show and (optionally) choose the season and episode number you want, if any, and TED will generate a list of feed sources for you. I successfully added "Clone Wars 2008" and "Man vs. Wild" (as an experiment for research purposes of couse; I didn’t actually download ).
• Filtering: you can filter the files that TED will list by size of the found file, no. of seeders, or keywords (for example "xvid","2008", or"ipod" in the torrent).
• Scheduling: imagine coming home from work to find that TED had initiated the download of the latest episode of the show(s) on your list. By default TED uses an online resource (EPguides) to determine when an episode will air and therefore when to start looking for it (the period it will wait between lookups is user defined). Or you can use a rules-based scheduler to tell TED exactly when to go out and search for new episodes (e.g. if you know the show will air on a certain day you might set TED to go out and look for it on or after that day). Scheduling assumes that the program will be running in the background, which is a good segue for the next point.
• Resource consumption: approx 35 megs in memory, which is more than I would have thought, and would certainly give me second thoughts about having it run in the background while I’m using the computer.
• Sources: part of the genius of this program is that it circumvents the need for finding torrents on the internet by the user (after investigating I found that TED seems to be looking for torrents using the RSS feeds from four torrent sites: btjunkie, tvrss.net, mininova, and xtvi). In the off-case that you would want to add custom source(s) for a show on your list you can do that easily (in the form of a URL that contains a keyword query of the new site’s RSS feed).
• Is it legal?: downloading these shows is mostly probably not legal. Freewaregenius does not condone any illegal use of this program

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

• Simplifying the user interface: for example adding "select from available episodes" to the right click menu on the user’s list of shows. It didn’t seem quite intuitive to have to go inside each entry using "edit" in order to find previous episodes that can be downloaded.

The verdict: if you are serious about finding and downloading your favorite TV shows TED may just be exactly what you’ve been looking for. This program is well suited for recurring downloads rather than a one-time deal, and has the potential to be very useful, especially, for example, on a machine that sits mostly idle where the scheduler can find and download new episodes of your favorite TV shows on its own.

The other added benefit, of course, is not having to deal with Torrent sites and search engines (TED is the sort of program you can recommend to your technology-challenged sister who lives abroad and wants to keep abreast with the latest episodes of her favorite TV shows). There is also an element of discovery while browsing the dozens of available shows that is very gratifying.

Version Tested: 0.95

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, or Linux with Java5+ and a Torrent client.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.32 megs).

Although I’ve often extolled the virtues of Media players such as The KM Player and VLC that support internal codecs and do not need codecs/filters to be installed system-wide, I have found that many situations will invariably require system-wide decoders. This is the case when you need to access the files in your media library by programs other than your all-internal-codecs media player, as in the following examples: you need to embed a video or media file inside a presentation software, you need to open a media file using video editing or conversion program, you want to generate thumbnails for your media files inside a media management or file management software (or even in explorer).

This is why I was recently looking into installing a so-called codec pack (such as CCCP, which is one of my favorites). However, what I also noticed was that there was a big difference between the media formats that I need my programs to be able to READ (i.e. pretty much all of them) and those that I need to WRITE. In the past year, for example, I have only encoded videos using the Xvid encoder as well as FLV, and aside from these I have very little use of any encoder on my system, as it will simply consume resources and clutter up my system all the time without having any practical use hardly ever. My guess is that 90% of PC users out there (if not more) are in the same situation.

This is where a software such as the Satsuki Decoder Pack is most helpful. What this is is a decoder pack that provides codecs and filters to allow your machine to read/view almost all media formats out there, but it does not install encoders that facilitate the process of encoding/writing files. This means that you will be able to view most every kind of media file, but will have to seek out and separately install any encoders when and if you need them. Here are more notes on this program:

• Supported formats: mpeg 4, real media, mp1, mp2, mp3, ac3, ape, ofr/ofs, flac, aac/mp4, ogg/ogm, mkv, dvd, xcd, wmv 7/8, vp6, mpc, XVD, h264, as well as flash (FLV, SWF).
• Quicktime support: is not included in the installer; if you need this you can install quicktime alternative (without the player) before or after the decoder pack.
• The Control Panel: you can use this (see screenshot above) in order to enable/disable filters, configure filters, backup settings, check for updates, or tweak file associations with the various players that you may have installed (although this latter function is less than user-friendly, in my opinion).

The verdict: if you need to have multiple apps accessing your media files this is a great option. Install this pack and know that you can pretty much view any media format from any app, and that the filters and encoders work together without conflict. You can then separately find and install any individual codecs that you need if you are going to be encoding media.

Satsuki Decoder Pack will install everything you need to play any media/video file and, unless it provides you with some specialized functionality, you could consider removing any other media player(s) from your machine. Overall a very nice tool that I recommended highly.

Version Tested: 4.0.0.0

Compatibility: Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 8.37 megs).

If you’ve been looking for a tool that can work with FLV video (merge, cut, demux, edit) this may be the one you were waiting for. What is interesting about this tool, aside from being FLV-specific is that it can handle (read/write) FLV without the need to install any external codec packs on your system.

Here are some notes on what this Adobe Air application can do:

• Merge FLV: do this by first opening a file then from the import menu select FLV (stitch) and select the next FLV in line. Save the combined file and repeat for any subsequent files (note: use a new filename everytime; do not save over a file you are merging). Unfortunately it does not seem possible to simply select multiple files simultaneously in one fell swoop.
• Cutting sections from an FLV’s: this is extremely simple; all you have to do is define the inpoint and outpoints (by dragging and dropping these visually or from the keyframes section), and saving it from the "export" menu.
• Export to audio or SWF: once you set the inpoint and outpoint, this can be perfomed from the export menu. Your audio file can be either in FLV format or MP3.
• Cue points: you can define "cue points" on your video, and add informational "parameters" to these. These can be saved within the video itself or exported to XML files. Having said that, I am unsure as to what the usefulness of this is in practice (somebody please advise).
• Performance: excellent. Saving and exporting is ultra fast.
• Metadata: you can define your own labels and values and store them in the video. Again, not sure why you would do that, as standalone players other than RichFLV do not seem to read or display the metadata.
• Memory consumption: is completely out of whack in that it consumes way too much, depending on the size of the FLV file you are working with (e.g. was using 120 megs when editing a 6a0 meg video). This is due to this software being beta and the developer is aware of this and working on it. Let’s hope it improves with subsequent versions; in the meanwhile if you do not use RichFLV as your main FLV player and only launch it when you need it you should be OK.
• Interface: warrants a mention. Very good looking, provides a nice user experience. The information and control panels can be minimized at will. Only criticism: no drag and drop support.
• Keyframes section: seems to be there entirely for navigational purposes.

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

• Merging multiple FLVs at once: honestly with a program like this it should be possible to specify a number of FLVs, sort and/or organize them, and merge them all without having to go through the dance described in the "Merge FLV" section above.
• Splitting an FLV: somewhat baffled that it is not possible to use the cue points I set to split the FLV. This program needs the addition of rules-based splitting (e.g. every 10 mins, x number of equal parts, etc.) as well as the option to use user defined cue point for splitting.

The verdict: overall a nice tool especially given the dearth of free tools that edit/manipulate FLVs. If you need to merge FLVs occasionally, extract video segments, audio or image stills from them or convert them to SWF this is probably the tool you are looking for. Otherwise check out the following tools: FLV Extract, Flash This!, Avidemux, Movica (these last two being generic video editors that can handle FLVs if you have appropriate filters/codecs installed on your system). My favorite video converter SUPER can also split FLVs – see this thread.

Also bear in mind that this is beta software and that as the author takes it to the next level it will continue to improve (keeping my fingers crossed that he will take my wish list items above into consideration).

Video of RichFLV in action:

Version Tested: 4.0 beta

Compatibility: Multiplatform (Windows Vista/XP, Mac). Requires Adobe Air.

Go to program page to download the latest version (approx 503 K).

I was recently faced with the need to make videos of a user (me) interacting with a site that we’ve created at work. This presented me with the opportunity to do some research and find a good screen-recording program; the last time I’d posted something like this was the Krut Computer Recorder way back in April 2007, but since then there seems to have been a proliferation of good free options. I decided to post this program because it is simple and straightforward, extremely easy to use, and offers a good number of output encoders and formats. Here are more notes on this program:

• Input sources: you can record any input coming from a USB video input device (including a videocam with USB input). You can also record your visible screen or a sub-section of the screen.
• Defining an area of the screen to record: is extremely easy; click on the "select a desktop rectangle tool" and draw a rectangle anywhere on screen. Debut will only record that area and any visible events that take place within it. Alternately you can click the "capture the whole desktop" button to record the entire screen.
• Output: can output in a variety of formats, including AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, 3PG, MP4, MOV, and FLV). You can use a number of encoders which the program – I believe – installs (including DV video), as well as any encoders that you might have installed on your system (e.g. I installed an Xvid encoder and was easily able to use it to encode video screen captures with Debut).
• Editing output: you can resize the output video on the fly while recording and/or change the framerate to something that you set manually.
• Video effects: you can apply a number of filters on-the-fly (black and white, negative, sepia), and also have the option to change output color settings (brightness, contrast, gamma).
• Text annotation: also supported is adding an on-screen text message that is present across the entire video. You can choose it’s on screen placement, alignment, whether or not to use a background color, font, font-style, and font size, etc. The program also allows for variable date and/or time stamping.
• Hotkeys: you can define hotkeys for most program functions. This is useful when you do not want the program dialog to be visible on screen, and therefore can minimize it and control Debut using the keyboard.
• Other options: include pre-determining the recording time, sending a recorded video on completion as an email attachment, uploading to an FTP server, recording to multiple drives (including network drives), and running an external program, command based or otherwise, after recording to process the resulting file.
• Audio setup: the first time the program runs it will present an "audio setup wizard". There are two sources of audio: internal audio and an audio input device such as a microphone. If you are not interested in the latter you can dismiss this dialog and probably not need it again (if you need to re-run it later you can).
• Installation: please note that the installer for this program will present the option to download and install a number of other programs as well. Most of these programs are non-freeware trial versions. For the purposes of this review I unchecked/disallowed all of these and simply installed the Debut Video Capture software only. If you do not know what the other programs are that are on offer I suggest you not install them.

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

• Selected area: the option to dim the screen around the selected recording area and/or the ability to (optionally) draw a frame around it. Would be great. Also the option to point to an open window and have its dimensions be automatically selected as the screen-capturing area.

The verdict: I really like this program because it presents just the right amount of features and options while still managing to be extremely straightforward and easy to use. The output formats comprise those that 99% of users will ever need (including FLV and MP4 for Ipod/PSP).

The developers of this software are making it available for free in the hope that you will like it and want to add some of the other, related for-pay software that they have on offer, which is fair enough. Just be mindful when installing to pay attention to those checkboxes that will download and install other software that in fact you might not want.

Version Tested: 1.34

Compatibility: Windows 98/2000/XP/2003/Vista .

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 416K).

I received an email from reader Christ T (CT) which had insightful things to say about a number of freeware titles written by Dirk Paehl. CT kindly allowed me to use his mini reviews as a posting.

He has a LOT of nice SMALL programs, notably:

• SimplyZip: 2.22 MB Multi-Archive Tool, with GREAT Encryption ability, spanning/multi-zip, supports Many, MANY Archive types, and it can even run Portably! It’s directory looks like “Universal Extractor”, but it can Create as well as Extract, and more – Very Nice! (screenshot above).
• DP MediaInfo: 0.54 MB, kind of like “GSpot”, only much more comprehensive, IMHO! [Note: for a full Freewaregenius review of the related MediaInfo, go here].
• IndexMaker: 187.28 KB (yes, ’KB’!) & CDtoHTML, 208.35 KB – Which create HTML from Files & Folders and from CD’s/DVD’s (respectively), very handy for cataloging.
• UPXG [UPX Graphical]: the reason I found his site, only 372.55 KB (with Docs & Uninstaller); It’s a Single-File GUI for UPX, but with the UPX 3.03 ’Engine’ BUILT-IN to the single 351 KB ’EXE’ file, Totally Stand-Alone or with optional Shell Integration, plus many other options – I still haven’t figured out how the heck he did it, UPX is 265 KB by itself! Maybe his brain thinks at Machine-Language Level? Beats “UPX Shell”, “UPX Front End”, or “UPX Tool+” – Scary Efficient!

I really like UPXG & SimplyZip particularly, and have been using them a lot lately, with no problems at all.  SimplyZip and Pismo File Mount are working beautifully together.

[Mr Paehl] has many more, not as many as Nir Sofer [NirSoft], but close, and because he speaks German, some documentation takes re-reading/interpretation, but TRULY worth a good look! This guy honestly compares to Nir Sofer or SysInternals software!”

It is also worth noting that Dirk Paehl is involved with the Amok group, who have their own site full of good freeware programs. (See my review of Amok DVD Shrinker; also noteworthy is Amok CD/DVD Burning - a portable full featured “Nero Replacement” type CD/DVD burner.

Go to Dirk Paehl’s Freeware page. Also go to the Amok freeware page.

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).

This is Adobe’s foray into the content streaming market, competing with the likes of Miro, Joost, and a few dozen others that have mushroomed over the past few months (see this posting).

With all these streaming video services popping up its hard to see why a user would favor any particular one over the others. I think I am a typical user in that I personally would seek out YouTube first and foremost whenever I am seeking video content, but Adobe Media Player is distinct from YouTube in a number of ways, although it is not really differentiated from the many other desktop content management/delivery platforms. Here are more notes on this program:

• The content: the video content offered is licensed from a number of networks such as CBS, MTV, PBS and others, such that you are able to watch older episodes of CSI for example.
• Finding what you seek: although the videos are sorted into subject categories as well as networks, I got a feeling that the complete unpredictability of the kind of programming that is offered will make it unlikely that I or a user like me would be turning to Adobe Media Player to watch video content. Unless the user has the time and inclination to simply browse what’s on offer, in which case he/she might find some gems. The search box, unfortunately, offers search within episodes but not across networks.
• The user experience: the program feels like a very sleek iTunes or Podcasting client for videos. It actually looks and feels good, very responsive and intuitive, making navigating through the program quite a pleasant experience. The option to bookmark favorite channels is quite convenient.
• Downloading: although in general downloading media takes places efficiently and seamlessly, some programs are blocked and are only viewable when online.
• Quality: in general the quality is excellent.

The verdict: overall a nice product, whether or not it will be successful and/or relevant. Programs such as Miro and Joost have an advantage and Adobe has some ground to cover (Miro has a large, thriving community that contributes content, Joost has a larger network and more licensing deals). It is difficult to imagine that any of these content management platforms will differentiate itself based on content, as they are all dependent on the same content sources/networks, so perhaps what it will boil down to in the end is the design of the product and the community that is built around it. I do not think that the fact that Adobe requires the installation of it’s AIR platform to run this will end up being a liability for the product.

To summarize, a good product with good content and a good user experience, but to be honest I’m not sure that I will keep it installed on my machine, the simple reason being that I do not have the time to browse random content. The question is whether Adobe Media Player can get to the critical mass of content that can compel users to actively install and use it, and that remains to be seen.

Version Tested: 1.0 Build 391096

Compatibility: Windows Vista/XP, Mac. Requires Adobe Air.

Go to Adobe Media Player page to download the latest version (approx 1.4 megs).