DV-Tool Help

DV-Tool
by CM of the Muscle Soft Crew
This document was last updated 27^th June 2003.

« Contents

What is DVtool?
Functions
Version history, what's new
Legal stuff and how to contact the author

« What is DVtool?

DVtool is a program coded by me primarily for me. I decided to release it to the DVD community because I felt it might also be useful to others.
In the process of dealing with video files, DVDs, video capturing and other stuff I had to face some tasks that were either very complicated to do or even impossible with the software equipment I had.
So I implemented DVtool, which should help me with these tasks. The program is multithreaded and uses a ring buffer for file-io. This should make it VERY FAST.

« What functions does DVtool provide?

Analyse and backup an inserted DVD

The backup and info module shows the size of the files and chapters of a DVD and how many CDs you would need if you wanted to rip them.

support for single files from anywhere or DVD discs either in your drive or copied to a harddisc

analyses DVD VOB/MPEG1/MPEG2/VCD/SVCD/XVCD/XSVCD files for

audio and video streams
video dimensions, aspect ratio, frame rate
CSS & Macrovision protection and region codes (DVD only)

merge DVD data into one file on your harddrive

Calculate necessary video data rates

When you want to capture or convert a video you need to know what data rate you must use in order for the video to fit on your storage medium. There is also a ratio calculator that you can use to experiment with cropping but keep an aspect ratio like 16:9.

DVtool's data rate calculator lets you input

the size of your output medium (more than one disc per video or more than one video per disc is also possible)
the audio data rate you wish to use (uncompressed PCM or compressed formats like MP3)
the length of the film material
other optional settings in advanced mode

After that it calculates every needed parameter for AVI (e.g. MPEG4 codec) or MPEG output like

video data rate and system data rate in Kbit and kByte, per second and per frame
the resulting bitstream sizes for audio, video and system streams
the film length converted between PAL, NTSC and Cinema

Truncate, clone, split and merge files

You can truncate a large file at a given size so it fits on a storage medium.

You can clone any part of a file (e.g. 10 MB of a 100 MB file starting at offset 50 MB) to another file

You can split a large file into many small ones of a size that you select. So you can fit a large file on multiple storage media.

You can merge any files together into one file. These files can be ones you previously split or you could for instance concatenate hundreds of .html files to print them out as one document.

You can merge and split files in one go, e.g. if you have 5 files you could split them into 3 files of a different size, without the temporary storage you would need if you first merged and then splitted them

All functions are aware of video files so you can split DVD VOB/MPEG1/MPEG2/VCD/SVCD/XVCD/XSVCD files at legal place so they are still playable

All functions use a ring buffer and should thus be very fast.

During copying there is a benchmark telling you the throughput speed and the time remaining.

All functions now support CRC32 calculation.

automatic shutdown

Your CPU type and frequency are detected.

The CPU usage is computed and displayed with graphics.

If the CPU usage is below a certain percentage for a given time you can trigger actions.

I often use a computer to do tasks that take a very long time, sometimes days. DVtool can switch the computer off after the task is finished.

« Version history

What is to come ?

new module: Movie splitter will feature these exciting functions:
- split AVI / DIVX / MPEG / VOB / IFO based chapter splitting
- audio track remapping!
more modules might be included
DVD authentication
setup will connect file types with DVtool

Version 0.61 (VIP release: soon)

general changes:
- when switching between modules using special interlinked functions the icon bar and online help are now correctly displayed
- several small internal changes and bug fixes
multi-language:
- currently supported languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, ITALIAN (2x), DUTCH, FRENCH, TAIWANESE, SPANISH, CATALAN, SWEDISH;
  Your help is needed! Please contact me if you want to add support for your language!
File Processor:
- bug in truncate function fixed
- now there are two methods for the offset selection: new slider selection or legacy button selection; select your preferred methods using the options menu; this selection is also remembered by the program
IFO Editor:
- new feature toggles aspect ratio also for IFO files

Version 0.60 (VIP release: 2003/02/23)

general changes:
- many small internal changes over the last months
- fixed some weird compatibility problems causing start-up problems on a few systems
multi-language:
- currently supported languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, ITALIAN (2x), DUTCH, FRENCH, TAIWANESE;
  Your help is needed! Please contact me if you want to add support for your language!
- extended German language ressources and added more strings
CPU monitor:
- added forced shutdown
- fixed some administrator rights issues with NT
- added timed shutdown; now you can shutdown after a given number of minutes
Datarate Calculator:
- added some audio and storage profiles for PocketPC and DVD-R
- slightly changed bitrate display behaviour
File Processor:
- progress drawing works again (you can activate this by right-clicking on the progress bar)
- vastly revised the threading code, now much more stable but it might need some more fine-tuning
- parallel processing is now handled differently internally for much fewer overhead
- revised and much more stable advanced splitting, no more freezes
- automatic memory usage depending on system for better performance
- your are warned if you try to create files >4GB on non-NTFS drives (as this is not possible with FAT32)
- fixed some compatibility issues
- some interface changes for better usability
- better video file detection
- you can now select length and offsets using a slider instead of those silly buttons
IFO Editor:
- a first version is finally available with these exiting functions:
  - fixes files from digital TV (DVB) for usage with DVD authoring software
  - toggles DVD aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9)
- changes can immediately be verified in the DVD Info/Backup module with a single mouse click
- internally this module uses a scripting language which will make extensions very easy in the future
- fixed first action selection bug from beta version
- interlinked with the other modules

Version 0.51 (VIP release: 2002/10/25)

general changes:
- all the file controls have hand cursors now
- fixed some non-standard font sizes and colors throughout the program
- nice icons for the tool buttons
- DVtool changes into its home directory upon start-up
- DVDBackup: more media size profiles
multi-language:
- currently supported languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, ITALIAN, DUTCH, FRENCH;
  Your help is needed! Please contact me if you want to add support for your language!
- extended German language ressources and added more strings
File Processor:
- extensively revised this module for much higher stability
  - no more crashes or freezes anywhere in the file processor
  - no problems with incorrect file names or missing dummy characters in splitting mode
  - no problems with the ? dummy character when using the save dialog for the output file(s)
  - CRC32 computation works correctly under any circumstances (crashed the program in 0.48)
  - thoroughly checked advanced splitting behaviour and it works just fine!
- if input file is on a CD-ROM or DVD then output file name defaults to you "My videos" or documents folder
- output filename is always adjusted when changing input file(s) but destination path is kept
- output files created will now start with index 1 instead of 0
- display of number of files written is now correct
MovieSplitter:
- lots of non-public changes
- time-based splitting now available (constant data rate files only)
- sorry, still no official release
setup dialog:
- fixed desktop icon creation

Version 0.50a (VIP release: 2002/10/13)

known issues:
- desktop icon is not created (instead a link in the start menu is created)
general changes:
- designed new logos for all modules (at last)
- adjusted control sizes throughout the program
- fixed transparency issues with some images
- extensive fixes to allow huge files (>2 GB) everywhere and avoid errors
- restructured menus and buttons
brand-new setup dialog
- allows you to select program language
- optionally creates a program group for all DVtool files
- optionally creates icons on your desktop, startmenu and quick launch bar
multi-language:
- currently supported languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, ITALIAN, DUTCH;
  Your help is needed! Please contact me if you want to add support for your language!
- DVtool now defaults to your system language if the appropriate translation data are available!
- finally fixed bug where some menu strings would not be translated: translation API now completely ignores ampersands (use && instead of & to allow ampersands)
- German translation data extended
- DVtool will now default to the English online help file if no help file can be found for a translation
- the program automatically restarts when necessary after a change of the interface language
DVD backup:
- more reliable region code detection (2 different methods implemented)
File Processor:
- file processing mode now defaults to split instead of truncate
- fixed a silly bug causing an out of range exception
- fixed a silly stupid bug that sometimes froze the program when merging files
- output files created will now start with index 1 instead of 0
- thoroughly checked advanced splitting behaviour and it works just fine!
IFO Editor:
- it's working; the concept is flexible; all it needs is a few more macros (at the moment it can only remove region code and macrovision) and help files
MovieSplitter: (deactivated)
- it is likely to be delayed; however, due to function sharing with the FileProcessor you will profit from the MovieSplitter development there

Version 0.49 (VIP release: 8th August 2002)

general changes:
- access to read-only files now possible with the new 64 bit file routines; you can now access data files directly from DVD again (didn't work in v0.40)
- windows settings are remembered
- window closing animation is now a little different (and I have fixed a small bug that occurred with maximized windows before)
- Movie Splitter and IFOeditor still under heavy development
multi-language:
- translation library now completed
- currently supported languages: ENGLISH, GERMAN;
  Your help is needed! Please contact me if you want to add support for your language!
- fixed bug: online help file wasn't found
- fixed bug: open dialogs contained some German strings
- fixed bug: long translation strings are no longer truncated except where there's no space
File Processor:
- major update! advanced splitting mode taken from the beta code of MovieSplitter offers much better compatibility
- when using split or split&merge you can right-click the length field to open a popup menu that allows you to select the number of parts required
- redesigned options
- fixed out of range bug when using output files without a path name
MovieSplitter: (deactivated)
- is still beta but basic functionality is implemented for general file splitting and all kinds of MPEG files; have to complete online help and beta testing first

Version 0.48 (release: special beta edition)

multi-language:
- translation library almost completed
- translated versions of online help now supported
- German help and translation files are under development
- known bug: some long translation strings are truncated; still looking for a way to automatically adjust control width
MovieSplitter: (deactivated)
- research has shown a much better way of video processing; compatibility tests show excellent results but needs some additional testing
- no help files available
IFO editor: (deactivated)
- still highly experimental; will take some time to fix this

Version 0.41 (release: internal alpha only)

general changes:
- slightly changed buttons
- improved file edit component (grayed out on disabled, other glyphs, much more internal functionality...)
DVD backup:
- improved hard disk DVD backup detection
CPU monitor:
- another alarm action: beep
- maximum CPU load line now lies "behind" curve and is highlighted
File Processor:
- fixed out of range error caused by huge file support
- fixed another bug that caused wrong file size reporting on switching between merge and split

Version 0.40 (VIP release: 7th March 2002)

Special release notes:
Sorry, some planned features did not make it into the new version because I haven't found the time yet. However, this is really a major update.
Since so many thing were changed in this version there might be bugs. For instance the large file support required massive changes to all file processing functions and the new file edit component might not yet work perfectly. I need your feedback!
large file support (up to 4 GB on Win9x/ME, unlimited in WinNT/2K/XP)
overall user interface redesigned:
- main window layout completely redesigned (mainly because of a silly bug in the Windows page control)
- online help is now an external window
- window is now resizable and can be maximized
- changed overall page control design using nice large icons and flat buttons
- new button images
- updated about box, is now transparent in XP
- parallel processing slider hint was incorrect
- changed our group name into "Musclesoft Crew" for settings storage (internal group regulation)
- one audio format entry was too large
- hints for controls are shown longer
- added some hints
- changed many control alignments
- replaced third-party FileEdit component with self-written component
extended support for Windows XP and Windows 2000:
- support for unlimited file sizes in File Processor
- colors and overall design has been tested and fixed where needed
- several minor compatibilty issues have been fixed
some changes in the data rate calculator
- important information in calculator output is now color highlighted
- does not show seconds input in simple mode
CPU monitor has been extended:
- graphical display is now fully rewritten, was scalable, now is drawn to acomodate window size
- graphical display is not drawn when another module is active
- works perfectly under Win2k and XP
- normalize option flattens awkward values for better idle detection
- graphical CPU display off on close
- check interval input resized and changed
- maximum CPU load is drawn as dotted line, can be reset with Doubleclick
- fixed silly bug where idle timer was not reset upon startup
- action "run program" now fully functional
several improvements in DVD backup module:
- title backup display is now a table and no longer a memo, therefore it can be read much easier
- resized some controls
- displays icons for DVD type
- automatic selection of main movie
- merge to HDD works and does no longer include menu files
- better copy protection and MPEG file detection
- error fixed when single files were opened

Version 0.31 (public release: 11th March 2002)

Special release notes:
Because unfortunately there won't be a public release of 0.30 I have will publicly release this intermediate version.
no official change log; includes some bits and pieces from v0.40, contains known bugs due to this

Version 0.30 (VIP release: 11th Nov 2001)

optimized and ported to new compiler version
fixed a silly bug in file processor (thread error 87)
fixed silly bug that enabled DVD alignment for any file after processing
extended online help with frequently asked questions, your help is needed!
DVtool can now handle missing online help file
Shutdown module now has graphical CPU usage display
no longer custom colors in DVtool controls, select them yourself using Windows display properties
fixed a bug with output file name creation in file processor
some small bugfixes

Version 0.26 (VIP release: 14th Sep 2001, public release: 7th March 2002)

restrictions of 0.23 and 0.24 no longer apply
Shutdown module has undergone another major rewrite. It is now available again and has the following features:
- powerful CPU usage monitoring
- extremely easy to use
- more reliable
- lower CPU usage
- more actions which can be performed on alarm
no longer custom colors in DVtool controls, select them yourself using Windows display properties
fixed some minor bugs
extended online help, your help is needed!
.DVT is no longer used since it caused too much confusion. Now original extension is kept and prefix 'DVT_' is used to differentiate output file.
a warning is displayed if you try to process AVI files (not yet supported!)
processing is paused when you click abort button (resumed after cancel abort). You can use this for instance if you don't have enough disc space to process all in one go.

Version 0.24� (public release, 25th Jan 2001)

This is still a beta version so the same restrictions as in v0.23� apply until further notice
DVtool now remembers all import settings and inputs you made (defaults: as in v0.23)
DVtool starts up with the module you last used (default: Datarate Calculator)
online help status is remembered (default: visible)
On some systems DVtool looked all messed up. Thanks to Diamond Dave I could track down the problem and fix it:
- background colors should now be correct
- fixed the problem with the "large fonts" setting, all controls and fonts are now scaled accordingly
fixed some minor bugs
multiple video/disc buttons are disabled when they are not needed
extended online help, your help is needed!
changed some graphics
shutdown function almost complete again but is still disabled

Version 0.23� (public release, 23rd Jan 2001)

This is a beta version so pay attention to these things:
- disabled automatic shutdown since it's still under development
- online help is shown on startup so people get used to it
- the window size doesn't fit since shutdown was disabled
option to disable visualising input files
several smaller bugfixes
new profiles for audio formats
in the online help questions are now highlighted with a different color.

Version 0.22 (internal alpha for private use, 09/2000)

file processor is now aware of DVD/MPEG1/MPEG2/VCD/SVCD files which can be split. This function is experimental, try it out!
- You can select between serial and parallel processing I/O functions using a slider
- You can add the system header of an MPEG video to every file when splitting
- You can duplicate the last 128k of a file at the beginning of the next when splitting
- autodetect for other sector sizes in VideoCD and SVCD videos when splitting
DVD analyser can now detect SVCD sector sizes but the displayed information is still correct only on VOB files
corrected VCD/SVCD CD-R sizes in datarate calculator profiles

Version 0.21 (public release, 30th May 2000)

I fixed some bugs all over the proggy and tried to unify colors, font faces and sizes. Thanks for pointing some nasty stuff out, Diamond!
Data rate calculator
- some new graphics and rearranged some panels
- fixed silly exceptions in advanced mode (e.g. when clicking MP3/WAV radio buttons)
- added support for multilanguage AVIs (multiple audio tracks)
- added cool PAL/NTSC/Cinema film length computation!
- added compression ratio display
File Processor
- CRC32 computation is finally implemented, there is a new radio button for just calculating this checksum and it is available as an option for every processing function
- file processing display in status line is now kept after processing is finished, CRC32 is also displayed there
- fixed and improved some other issues here and there...
DVD backup
- replaced the old cheesy DVDinfo module by a new powerful DVD analyser and backup module
- provides all functions the old DVDinfo did and more
- support for single files from anywhere or DVD discs either in your drive or copied to a harddisc
- analyses VOB files for
  - audio and video streams
  - video dimensions, aspect ratio, frame rate, CSS & Macrovision protection and region codes
- nice graphics illustrate the number of discs required to backup a title
online help is now implemented but it still lacks the texts. Would you like to help me?

Version 0.19b2 (public alpha version, 02nd May 2000)

I cleaned several things up but this is still an alpha version since many features I have planned are still not implemented. I decided to release it since the last release was almost 4 months ago and there are so many users who ask me about a new release. Please comment on this release!!!
User tools module has been disabled due to its pre-alpha status
CRC calculation has been disabled since it's awfully buggy
WWW links have been updated to my new homepage and mail address (old ones are still valid, though)

Version 0.19bx (internal development version, 03rd Apr 2000)

data rate calculator has again been redesigned from scratch but 0.18 version is still available as additional information text for experienced users
the new data rate calculator introduces the following:
- as few input fields as possible in order to be easy to use
- powerful features can be accessed by clicking the advanced sliderbar
- movie length hours input has gone, use minutes instead
- more destination media defaults such as VideoCDs, different CD-Rs, ...
- huge output of computer bitrate, color coded (red = too low .. green = good)
- graphical display of video and audio stream and how they each contribute to the file size
- more audio encoding formats, seperated by compressed / uncompressed in advanced mode
- PAL and NTSC framerate mode (advanced settings)
- AVI / MPEG mode (advanced settings)
the file processor has been tuned
- performance has again been increased
- number of buffers and buffer sizes have been further optimized
- reduced HDD head movement in non-parallel mode increases throughput on some systems
- there are still improvements to be made
shutdown module fully working
- There was a silly bug in the shutdown module where DVtool wouldn't shut the PC down but only log off. This has been fixed. Thanks to all of you who wrote me emails about the bug.
- On shutdown exit animation and testing thread are switched off as they could cause strange behaviour if testing interval is very small.

Version 0.18bx (internal development version, 23rd Jan 2000)

output of data rate calculator has been fully redesigned
- no misleading seperation between AVI and MPEG output anymore
- should be much easier to understand now
- total sizes of video, audio and system stream are computed
the file processor has been improved
- CRC32 computation added (see features section for an explanation)
- LEDs for read/write have been redesigned and a CRC computation dot has been added
- you can now also enter values in KB, MB or GB (enter number and press multiply button)
- remaining time estimation has finally been fixed and should now work correctly
- you can disable parallel I/O, i.e. reading and writing at the same time, which might be faster if you have only one harddisk
- starting offsets >2GB now work for cloning (seek function doesn't support it, so I have to read ahead when above 2GB)
- DVD splitting function has been verified to work so warning message could be removed, when you have problems you should increase/decrease the starting offset a little bit
reviewed and fixed tools tips and tabulator behaviour all over the program

Version 0.17b3 (public alpha and bugfix release, 12th Jan 2000)

This version is alpha and contains much new and unfinished stuff. I released it only for two reasons:
- Version 0.11 had a small bug: It sometimes doesn't automatically insert "?" wildcards in the output filename for splitting which are needed as placeholders for the files being created.
- I have to stop development of DVtool in favour of other projects for about 6 weeks and I don't want to leave you alone with the bug above. Thanks to all users who sent me mail pointing the issue out!
The textline with the weblinks has been replaced by some nifty buttons.
You can display online help, but there is no content, yet. This function is implemented by now.
try the context menu (right mouse click) which is also alternatively accessible via the "other tools" button
A new module "USER TOOLS" was introduced which allows to execute custom commandline tools. You can set parameters, give them names, descriptions, default values,... When you have pre-configured a tools you can re-use the profile over and over again and change dynamic settings with a few mouse clicks. Wonder where it is? It's pre-alpha quality so I haven't included it.
some bug fixes and improvements have been made in the file processor
- There are several ways to display progress now (2 different graphical displays, 1 text-only)
- Status line now displays required parameters if they are not sufficient.
- The correct number of wildcards ("?") is automatically inserted into the output filemask if there is more than 1 output file (splitting mode)
- Speed was increased dramatically by optimizations, extensive tests and a smart load ballancing algorithm. As a side effect you can no longer configure process priority yourself.
- There is now a stop button which allows you to cancel file processing.
- You can now exit the program during file processing. You will be asked if you want to proceed and then the processes will be terminated.
- There are now some small LEDs shining through the start/stop button. The green one is on during reading, the red one signals writing.
- There is a known bug: there might be a floatingpoint error in the status function. I will fix this in the next version.
There is a lame fade out effect on program exit.
the shutdown module has been improved here and there

Version 0.11 (public release)

I finally redesigned the file processing GUI from scratch, it should be much easier to use now
some minor design improvements and bug fixes in all modules
you can now split & merge DVD files (.vob) at legal place
you can now split & merge files in one go, e.g. if you have 8 files of 1 GB each and you want 13 files of 700 MB each in the end
great effort has been undertaken to make sure DVtool can deal with files >2GB
Known bug: graphical progress bar flickers badly. Contact me if you know how to fix this.

Version 0.10ßx (several internal alpha releases)

silly NT "ignore" issue still exists but doesn't happen at program start
files >2 GB are now properly handled (some controls couldn't handle 64bit numbers)
you can now process files directly from DVD or other write protected drives
you can set the process priority for all actions
remaining time is now calculated more accurately
there are some nifty new graphics

Version 0.09ß (public beta release)

all modules were revised and extended, everything should be much easier to use now
fixed issue that made you click "Ignore" upon program startup for every empty drive on Windows NT
DVD-info has been redesigned
- destination media size can be chosen
- you can now browse for video files
- hard disks can be excluded from search
- several other improvements
data rate calculator has been fully redesigned
- input controls have been grouped to make their function more evident
- you can change fps
- now takes into account that video data rate has to be slightly below (system - audio) for MPEG
benchmarking and other improvements for truncate, clone, join and split functions
shutdown function fully implemented
executable size was reduced

Version 0.05 (internal beta)

extended data rate calculator
fixed a serious bug in splitting function
truncate, clone, join and split functions fully working
video player made invisible because of its early status
about-Panel removed
this html help file was introduced
web links available for easy access to local help and my homepage

Version 0.04 (public alpha release)

data rate calculator was extended
you can use truncate and clone functions
split function is made available but has bugs
join function not available
video player visible but not usable

Version 0.02 (internal alpha)

first version of the data rate calculator is working
rudimentary DVD info is available

« Legal stuff and how to contact the author

My homepage
The official DVtool homepage can be found at http://www.musclesoft.de/combatman/sindex.html. You will now find updates of DVtool, information and many other software downloads there.
You can still visit my old pages at http://privat.schlund.de/m/muscle. They haven't been updated for some time but you might find interesting source code, some software, a nice Java Tutorial and other stuff there. Check it out!

How to contact me
If you want to report bugs, contribute anything to the DVtool project or have something else interesting to say feel free to send me an e-mail to cm@musclesoft.de. Please don't care about style, I am a very easy-going person. You can (of course) write in German or English. You can also use the contact form on my website (preferred).

Legal Disclaimer
You may use this program as written in the license provided below, if you accept the following legal statement.
I will not be liable for any damage caused by this program. As it deals also with file processing, data loss is theoretically possible, although not intended by me.
You may not use this program for illegal stuff. This program can, as a side effect, be very useful e.g. for processing files from a DVD, which is illegal if you don't have the permission to process these files. If you do something illegal, that's not my fault.
The program itself does nothing illegal, nor does it decode CSS decryption or other such stuff.

License and registration
This program is donationware, i.e. it is uncrippled and free as long as you don't use it in a commercial way. There is now a VIP program where you can support the project with a small donation and in return get access to the latest versions and support services.
If you like the program, use it often, want it to be developed and extended further please read all about registering on my website at http://www.musclesoft.de/combatman/sindex.html (DVtool -> Registration).