DVD Catalyst 4 v4.1 RC3 Release Notes
DVD Catalyst 4 v4.1 should have been final a long long time ago. In development and available in public beta for over half a year ago, it already exceeded performance and stability over the “official” 4.0.x versions, however, due to the large amount of changes, I wanted to make sure that everything works as it should.
To update to DVD Catalyst 4 v4.1 RC3, enable “Power User”, then in Global Settings > Version info, click on the Beta button.
Compared with 4.1 RC2: there are not that many changes. Nothing new was added (no new devices, no new options), just a few bug-fixes. Someone reported issues with custom DVD ISO files with removed audio tracks, so that is fixed, and I added proper track selection for a bunch of Disney DVDs (Ratatouille, Tangled, Bugs Life, Shark Tale, G-Force, Finding Nemo, Wall-E).
Compared with 4.0.2.7 (Official release): a lot of changes.
DVD Catalyst 4v 4.1 RC3 is a lot better than the current official (4.0.2.7) version!
*New conversion engine, which adds better support for MKV, WMV, DVR-MS and WTV. The engine supports many newer audio and video formats.
*Better Multi-Core. While the official version can make use of multiple-cores, it only does this for the actual encoding portion of the conversion process, which means that for reading(decoding) the video and audio from your DVD or video file, only 1 core is used, forcing the encoding to have to wait. RC3 uses multi-core for reading(decoding) as well as encoding , resulting in faster conversions and better cpu-utilization. If you have a nice quad-core system, 4.0.2.7 might be a bit disappointing in terms of performance, however, 4.1 will make your conversions scream!
*AMD-fix. Last year, AMD released one particular processor-series (AMD Athlon II P 64bit) which has a bug in it that causes complications with MP4 conversions. During testing, DVD Catalyst 4, as well as quite a few other conversion tools ended up with strange conversion crashes because of this bug. The new conversion engine in DVD Catalyst 4.1 takes care of this issue.
*DVD conversions. DVD Catalyst 4.1 has received quite a few updates regarding more troublesome DVDs, so it is capable of converting more DVDs.
*Bluray. As an added bonus, DVD Catalyst 4.1 (with the help of AnyDVD HD, DVDfab Passkey BR and/or MakeMKV) is capable of converting Bluray movies and TV shows. Originally we had no intention to include Bluray support in DVD Catalyst 4, however, with the new conversion engine, it is possible to convert Bluray. Please keep in mind that we treat Bluray support in DVD Catalyst as a “free bonus” for DVD Catalyst 4 users, meaning this should not be treated as the main reason for purchasing DVD Catalyst. With companies like Sony causing continuous havoc on how they implement/change the Bluray standard (resulting in people having to replace their 1+ year old Bluray players in order to be able to watch the latest movies) we offer no guarantee on how Bluray works with DVD Catalyst.
*Device support: We added 100′s of new device profiles to DVD Catalyst 4.1, bringing the total to 1684 in this version. Of course, if your device is not listed, DVD Catalyst 4 can still convert your movies for it.
*Lots of new options. Global Settings (aka Power User) has been re-organized, and numerous additional options and features have been added to enable you to get the best out of your conversions.
DVD Catalyst 4 General Information:
DVD Catalyst 4 is the most powerful conversion tool on the market.
When compared to the likes of similar tools, the spartan look of DVD Catalyst 4 makes it appear as a simple, limited 1-click conversion tool.
Nothing is further from the truth.
DVD Catalyst 4 is designed to automate as much as possible. Where many similar tools use a multi-step approach in order to convert your movies and TV shows, we created DVD Catalyst to eliminate as many steps as possible. Computers were originally created to handle repetitive tasks, so why is it that all other conversion tools are still holding on to 5-10 clicks before you start a conversion? If you compare conversion tools from when we started back in 2004 and now, only the GUI has changed a bit (fancy, shiny look).
When you first start DVD Catalyst, all you need to do is just select the device you have, insert your DVD and click Go. Thats it. Simple, short, but it works. Under the hood, DVD Catalyst takes care of everything for you. The proper format, taking into account limitations of the device you selected, black bar removal, all completely automatic. Similar programs require you to set those options for every conversion, or, if the program remembers them, you still have to click through them. Most of these options never change, so there is no need to see them every time.
The same goes when you convert video files, or maybe even from multiple DVD drives. DVD Catalyst 4 recognizes multiple drives automatically, and again, just 1 click and it will do its thing. For video files, things get even easier. While other programs require you to add 1 file at a time, click through the program to either start a conversion or add it to a “batch” list, with DVD Catalyst 4, all you need to do is drag your files, or a folder containing your video files, onto the program, and with 1 click, you start the conversion for all of them. 1 file, 10 files, 100 files, it does not make any difference.
But if you want to make changes, or access to all the options you can think of when it comes to video, just enable the “Power User” checkmark in DVD Catalyst 4. This will open a whole can of worms, or, maybe a large bucket of them. Power User gives you access to 100′s of different options and tweaks in “Global Settings”. Organized in tabs, you can adjust the black border removal, various quality and performance options, automatic language/subtitle selection, thumbnail generation, streaming, volume and more. If you want DVD Catalyst 4 to automatically monitor a recording/download folder for new content and automatically convert it, no problem. Rotate the video, sure.
The main idea behind DVD Catalyst 4 is to have DVD Catalyst do the work for you, rather than you having to do the majority of it.
