Battleangel

So this new video compression tool seems to be all that some people are talking about. Slyck recently posted an interview with the lead programmer of ratDVD.

Is it any good? Don’t know, never tried it, but obviously, at 1.36 GB / DVD typically it can’t compete with an XVID of equal size. The video compression (or transcoding) routine is not as sharp as XVID and considering that the ratDVD will also contain menus and typically alternative languages it just wont work. But it could still be “good enough” and I would consider a slightly larger archive size, say 2 GB (the equivalent of 3 CDs), for instance in the event that the extras are worthwhile. That is still half the size of a DVD-5.

ratDVD takes a full featured DVD-9 movie and puts it into a highly compressed .ratDVD container format file of about 1.x GB in size - while preserving all the features of the original DVD such as:

• Full anamorphic picture, 16:9, 4:3, Pan/Scan, WideScreen, Letterbox based on original DVD video content.
• Support for full seamless branching, 9 multiple video angles, 32 subpictures, 8 audio channels, etc.
• Keep movie versions (Directors Cut, Theatrical version, etc.), Alternate story endings, making of, visual commentary , cut scenes, animated anecdotes, etc..
• Keep or transcode multiple audio channels without deterioration loss by staying AC-3.
• Fully working original DVD menus, title navigation, quick seeking and bonus features.
• IMDB connected XML tagging scheme with automatic search for title, actors, directors, plot and DVD cover.
• Reliable high quality, valid check-summed container.

I still think they should have used a video compression format that is more widely used (and better). Also ratDVD does not provide native decryption of DVDs. But the concept of having it all (video, subs, audio and metadata) tucked away in one archive is appealing. Just look at the thumbnail demo screenshots. And the encoder is of course included as well. All neatly packaged and easy to use. I think many will be hooked on the concept and it is the future, just not at or around 1 GB.