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 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

DVD video has a fixed resolution.  To ensure DVDs play on even the first generation of DVD players, a DVD movie has to be created using the official standard. If it is not created in such a way that it is compliant with the standard, not all DVD players can play the DVD.

Because the DVD standard was initially created when wide-screen at home was still in its early stage, the DVD standard was based on 4:3 video content. An original movie or TV show would fill the screen completely on a classic, standard-definition TV. However, wide-screen became more mainstream, and to stay compliant with the DVD standard, wide-screen movies received black padding to fit within the DVD specifications.

Unlike most conversion utilities, DVD Catalyst automatically removes the embedded borders from the video, which improves the video quality. The black borders are actually part of the video, and when these are not removed, they will take up valuable space.

With the black bars removed, the video portion that is left does not have a common screen resolution anymore, and the actual size depends on the actual movie as well. There are a few different aspect ratios (the width of the actual widescreen movie) which greatly affect this. In addition. the video player screen also affect the amount of video that fills the screen.

This all sounds complicated, but lets use some pictures to see what this looks like.

This shows an example of Apple’s iPod Video (5G) with a widescreen video. The iPod uses a 4:3 screen aspect ratio, which is the same for many other devices, such as the most Zen and Zune devices. The black borders of the actual video have been removed, but when you play the video on your device, it will stillshow black borders.

The reason for this is that the video is scaled to fit within the device screen size, without changing the look of the video.

The next example shows a Sony PSP with a widscreen video. The PSP has an actual widescreen screen, which is similar to Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the newer Blackberry models and many more devices. The video fills the screen a lot more, but it still shows a bit of borders on top and bottom.

OK, so how do we make movies full-screen?

There are a few ways of doing this. The thing to keep in mind is that there will be a loss of something, either quality or part of the video itself.

1. Both video player devices in the screen shots have a “zoom” function (many other players have this as well). This will remove the black borders, by zooming in, and hiding the sides.

This is the recommended option, because you can decide if you want to watch the movie in it’s full glory (and accept the black borders) or watch the movie full screen. You can even switch back and forth.

2. DVD Catalyst 3 has a “remove black bars from device” option in Global Settings. This will remove black bars from the video, and if needed cut off parts of the sides of the video to make it full screen. Using this will make any movie or show full screen on any device, regardless the screen size or the video size. If you convert a widescreen movie for a non-widescreen device, it will cut off the sides, and if you convert a non-wide screen video for a wide-screen device, it will cut off the top and bottom a bit. Depending on the movie you can loose quite a bit of the video. For example using this option with a very wide Star Wars movie on a 4:3 device, you can loose more than half of the actual video. While movies and TV shows almost always keep the main plot in the center of the video, you will loose things that happen on the sides. If you convert for a Square-screen device, you will loose even more video.

3. DVD Catalyst 3 has a”Full screen stretch” option in Global Settings, which will remove the black bars, and stretch the video to make it full screen. The problem with this is that depending on the video size, people might appear to be taller and skinnier than usual.

So, if you are wondering why DVD Catalyst 3 shows it’s converting at a different screensize than the one you selected, the above should give you some insight on this.