DVD Catalyst 3

Faster, easier and more features than ever before

Watch a DVD on your iPod, iPhone, Pocket PC, Zen, Zune or any other video-capable device with one click.

DVD Catalyst 3 is the most advanced, feature-rich DVD conversion tool on the market today, and besides the standard features found in similar products, it offers numerous industry-first features to make it as easy to use as possible.

Convert DVD to your iPod, your iPhone, Pocket PC, Zen, Zune and more in a breeze. DVD Catalyst is the most advanced, feature-rich DVD conversion tool on the market today, and besides the standard features found in similar products, it offers numerous inductry-unique features to make it as easy to use as possible.

DVD Catalyst enables you to convert your own DVD collection to a format that can be played on a video-capable device that does not normally play DVDs. It creates video files from DVDs that are compatible with many different devices, including Apple’s iPod and iPhone devices, Blackberry, Pocket PC, PSP, XBOX 360, PS3, Zen and Zune.

Besides converting DVDs, it can also convert video files from and to a variety of different video formats, without the need to install codecs. No additional software is required for DVD Catalyst to do it’s thing.

DVD Catalyst 3.82, the next version of DVD Catalyst 3 is currently available in beta form.

While most things are fully functional, there might be some issues.

Whats new:

To clean things up a little, 2 new TABs have been added in Global Settings.

*Boosterpack TAB, containing the settings for turning off boosterpack, as well as room for future options.

*Advanced TAB, containing additional settings that do not really fit in the other tabs, or are for more experienced users.

The Advanced Tab includes the following:

*AVCHD framerate. Some camera files do not report the video information properly, causing severe issues with conversions.
This is used for those files.

*Run before conversion: run a program (or bat file) before the conversion starts.
*Run after conversion: run a program (or bat file) after the conversion is finished.
these are usefull to stop and restart a program that might interfere with the conversion. These options actually run anything. The Browse dialog is set to look for All Files, enabling you to pick whatever you want to run. You could pick a program, but also a wav file or an mp3 to play when conversions are complete. To test-run the file, click on the filename in DVD Catalyst after you selected a file. Note that the execution of the file is NOT monitored by DVD Catalyst. it will not wait for a script to finish.

*SRT subtitle font scale: video files with SRT subtites tend to convert subtitles really small. this fixes that.

*Ask for DVD track selection: Rather that using DVD Catalyst automatic scanning, this will enable you to manually select the tracks you need.
Handy for those DVDs with a lot of tracks, or if you had issues, and restarted DVD Catalyst and remembered which track you need.
Shows playtime of the tracks, and has a preview as well.

*Shutdown DVDCat when done. closes dvdcat when conversion are completed.
*shutdown computer when done. (has been in dvdcat since the beginning) turns off computer when conversions are done.

To play with the beta, use the “Email Us” button in DVD Catalyst 3 to contact us.

DVD Catalyst can read (convert) the following video files and formats:

DVD: Recorded as well as commercial (rental/store bought) DVDs.

DVD ISO: ISO files in a variety of different file formats. (usually backups of DVDs created using other software).

DVD FOLDER: Folders containing VOB and IFO files. (usually backups of DVDs created using other software).

SVCD/VCD: Commonly used in Asia, or backups created from DVD using other software.

MKV: Anime / BRrips etc.

DIVX/XVID/AVI: DVD rips (DVD backups), internet downloads etc.

MPEG1/M1V/MPEG2/M2V/VOB: Recordings (Camera/TV Card), DVD backups etc.

WMV / DVR-MS / VC-1: Windows Media formatted files, Media Center recordings etc.

AVCHD / MTS / M2TS / MT / TS / TP / M2T / M2P/ TRP : HD Camera recordings. Some formats work already, however, better support will be added in 3.82.

OGM : Open-source video format (Anime).

MOD : MPEG2-based video camera recordings.

FLV : Flash Video, video from websites like YouTube.

3GP / 3G2 / AMR / H263 : Cellphone camera recording format.

M4V / MP4 / MPEG4 SP : MPEG 4 Simple Profile, used for some camera recordings.

MOV / MP4 / MPEG4 AVC / H264 / x264 : MPEG4 Advanced Coding Profile, HD video format used in BluRay(rips), HD TV recordings, iPod/PSP optimized files.

And more (most of the ones listed here)

If for some reason DVD Catalyst ignores the files you add, you can use the “Add file(s)” button which lets you bypass the file-extension check. DVD Catalyst will try and access the file as a video file, and if it can do something with it, it will enable it for conversion.

DVD Catalyst can write (create) video files using the following formats:

H264 MP4 : The best-quality video format at this time. Used for all HD content, including Apple iTunes video and BluRay.

h264_ipod : DVD Catalyst h264 format, with specific settings for compatibility with Apple’s devices. It is also the most compatible H264 format, and is playable on most devices that can play H264 video.

h264_ipod_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format, settings optimized for quality, while retaining compatibility with most devices.

h264_appletv : DVD Catalyst h264 format with specific settings for AppleTV, outdated, use h264_ipod instead.

h264_appletv_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format with specific settings for AppleTV, outdated, use h264_ipod_hq instead.

h264_5.1 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mov)

h264_5.1_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mov)

h264_5.1_mp4 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mp4)

h264_5.1_hq_mp4 : DVD Catalyst h264 format with 5.1 audio. only for PC playback, not compatible with any known device. (.mp4)

h264_xbox : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for XBOX360, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_xbox_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for XBOX360, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_ps3 : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PS3, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_ps3_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PS3, not compatible with any other device. (.avi)

h264_psp : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 3.10+)

h264_psp_hq : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 3.10+)

h264_psp2 : DVD Catalyst h264 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 2.00+) This format is very picky in file naming, folder location on the PSP, and is not recommended for use at all. Upgrade your PSP, and use the other format for better quality.

MPEG4 SP : Less demanding video format (older devices)

mpeg4_ipod : Most compatible MPEG4 SP format, compatible with most devices that can handle MPEG4-SP. Used in “Fast” profiles for Apple iPod / iPhone / Apple TV due to better performance on older computers. Less quality though.

mpeg4_psp : DVD Catalyst MPEG4 format specifically for Sony PSP, not compatible with any other device. (firmware 1.00+) This format is very picky in file naming, folder location on the PSP, and is not recommended for use at all. Upgrade your PSP, and use the other format for better quality.

amv_mp2 : specific video format for cheap Asian mp4 video players. (.amv)

Audio MP3 : Converts any DVD or video file to an MP3 audio file. (.mp3)

flv_mp3 : Creates video files in Flash Video format, compatible with internet websites and flv players.

H263 / 3GP / 3GP2 : Low quality video format for processor-limited devices (cellphones)

3gp1_aac: basic 3gp video file, compatible with most cellphones such as Nokia and Motorola (.3gp)

3gp1_aac_mp4: 3gp video file with .mp4 file extension used for Sansa Connect.

3gp1_amr-nb: basic 3gp video file, most compatible with anything that can play 3gp files (.3gp)

3gp1_amr-wb: variation of the above, using slightly modified settings, not used.

3gp2_aac: 3gp2 video file format(.3g2), not used.

AVI / MPEG4 ASP

msmpeg4_mp3 : basic AVI video file, requires no codec install on computers that have Windows Media Player 7 or higher installed. Used by DVD Catalyst for inbetween file for some video formats.

divx_mp3 : divx encoded avi file, optimized for Nokia Internet Tablets

divx4_mp3 : divx4 video file format, used for some older Epson, Blackberry and Creative Zen models.

divx4_copy : divx4 video format with the original audio left untouched. Not used.

divx5_mp3 : divx5 video file format, compatible with any device capable of (Certified) DIVX playback.

divx5_copy : divx5 video format with the original audio left untouched. Used for some HQ profiles.

divx5_mp3_cam : special conversion format, recommended to be used for low quality conversions, such as cellphone recordings to another format. Using any other format with these kinds of files might fail conversions.

divx5_mp3_palm : special conversion format specifically intended for use with older PalmOS devices.

xvid_mp3 : opensource version of DIVX, compareable to divx5_mp3.

xvid_mp3_sansa : xvid format with specific settings for the Sansa Fuse.

xvid_mp2 : xvid video format with mp2 audio, usable for some older devices. Not used by DVD Catalyst at this time.

xvid_copy : xvid video format with the original audio left untouched. Used for some HQ profiles.

MPEG / MPG

mpeg2_mp2 : Standard MPEG2 video format with MP2 audio

mpeg2_mp2_hq : Standard MPEG2 video format with MP2 audio with additional quality settings enabled

mpeg2_copy : Standard MPEG2 video format with original source audio

mpeg2_mp2_hq : Standard MPEG2 video format with original source audio with additional quality settings enabled

and more

*Scan DVDs. This will have DVD Catalyst scan your DVD drives for actual DVDs. By default, DVD Catalyst does this by itself. Unless you disabled this in Global Settings, there is no need to manually do this.

*Add files. This will open a file dialog enabling you to select individual video files to add to the conversion.

*Add folders. This will open a folder dialog enabling you to select folders containing video files to add to the conversion.

DVD Catalyst 3 supports Drag & Drop to quickly and easily add files to the conversion. Just drag files and/or  folders onto the program, and DVD Catalyst will sort out what it can handle, and add it to the selection queue.

Why I bought my iPod classic, I went for the 160 GB because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of room. After all, my Creative Zen had 40 GB, and that held only a fraction of my music library and audio books. After loading up the iPod, though, I realized I had a lot of room left over. I decided to put my favorite DVDs on there so that I could watch them while on the treadmill.

After trying multiple free solutions that required long processing time that sucked all the power out of my machine, I tried out DVD Catalyst. I was hooked. It was a one-stop-shop package to rip the DVD and put it on my iPod. You start the package, put in the DVD, select your settings and press a button. That is all there is to it.

Free Full Trial

Another thing I really liked about this software is that the trial version is a full version, available for 7 days. That allowed me to try out the software without having to extrapolate functionality.

Summary

I think that DVD Catalyst is well worth the money. The free solutions are, well, free, but paying the $20 has saved me a lot of time and effort to get my DVDs onto my iPod.

original location

DVD Catalyst enables you to convert your own DVD collection to a format that can be played on a video-capable device that does not normally play DVDs. It creates video files from DVDs that are compatible with many different devices, including Apple’s iPod and iPhone, Blackberry, Pocket PC, PSP, XBOX 360, PS3, Zen and Zune.

Besides converting DVDs, it can also convert video files from and to a variety of different video formats, without the need to install codecs. No additional software is required for DVD Catalyst to do it’s thing.

Features

* Multi-Award Winning, DVD Catalyst has won major awards for every major version released.
* Works without the need to install additional software. (for some devices (PocketPC, Android) a decent (free) video player application might need to be installed.
* Converts recorded DVD, as well as commercial Movie and TV show DVDs.
* Converts DVDs using a “track” system, which displays all the video content on the DVD, including special features, trailers and easter-egg tracks.
* Supports subtitles, language selection and Closed Captions
* Converts ‘on-the-fly’, no huge storage space is needed, only the filesize estimated for the created video files.
* Supports ‘batching, multiple DVD drives, multiple video files, or a mix thereof are all converted in order. Add as many as you want, and let DVD Catalyst run overnight.
* Supports ‘profiles’, create your own custom settings, and save them as profiles for quick access.
* Supports ‘multi-device’, only DVD Catalyst enables you to queue up multiple different devices. Everything will be converted for all selected devices.
* Automatic DVD, DVD Catalyst detects new DVDs on insert, and ejects them when done.
* Folder monitor, DVD Catalyst can scan selected folders for new files, and select them for conversion.
* Automation options, most of DVD Catalyst’s options can be set to automatically perform certain tasks, such as language/subtitle selection and black bar removal.
* 0-Click. DVD Catalyst can be configured to run completely without any clicks. Insert a DVD, and it will convert it, new files found in a folder will be converted, subtitles, languages etc, all can be set automatically.
* Proven to be stable and fast and does not require additional software.
* Includes profiles for ALL the common devices (190+), and new ones are added on a regular basis.

System Requirements

* IBM-compatible PC with a minimum 500 MHz Pentium-class microprocessor and 128 MB RAM
* Windows 2000/XP/XP64/VISTA/VISTA64/7
* 40 MB hard-disk space + space for the created files