Nifty DVD compression tool
A group of anonymous programmers has released a new software tool christened as “RatDVD”, which will crunch video from movies into small packages, while creating a single file that keeps intact DVD “extras”– alternate endings, outtakes, director’s commentary and the like.
This is what the developers claim about the nifty proggy on their web site:
ratDVD takes a full featured DVD movie and puts it into a highly compressed .ratDVD container format file – while preserving all the features of the original DVD such as:
- Full anamorphic picture, seamless branching, multiple video angles, multiple audio channels, subpictures, etc.
- Keep movie versions (Directors Cut, Theatrical version, etc.), Alternate story endings, making of, video commentary , cut scenes, etc..
- Keep complete menus, navigation and features
- Reliable high quality, valid check-summed container
You can also convert a .ratDVD file back to DVD format, burn it to a DVD-R and watch the movie using a regular DVD player.
But it will not support encrypted DVDs. They need to be decrypted before they can be used with ratDVD. For decrypting the regular DVD movies and for more detailed instructions, there is a guide on that web site.
Because it retains all these extra features, allowing them to be burned back onto a DVD or browsed on a computer, the software is already being discussed in video-focused Net circles as a potential successor to the most popular formats used for trading movies online today.
This is going to usher in another P2P video downloading riot, for sure!