Existing users, 
 Pixe VRF Browser - 2.6.1exports DVD-RW/RAM to MPEG2 and DVD Studio Pro |
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Feedback Summary:
| This Version: | |||||
| Overall Rating: |   (4.0) |
Features: | (3.0) |
Support: | (4.0) |
| Ease of Use: | (4.0) |
Quality / Stability: | (4.0) |
Price: | (4.0) |
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Featured Reviews
Surprisingly Good for Pixela - Version: 2.6.1, 6/1/2005 02:03PM PST
(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)
TGSantee
I purchased this application so that I can extract MPEG video from the VR-mode DVD-RW discs burned with my standalone Pioneer DVD recorder. Without this I would need to record and finalize the DVDs in video mode and use either Cinematize or MPEG StreamClip to extract the video. The reason I want to extract the MPEGs is to make DVDs with attractive title and chapter menus with CaptyDVD 2.
This application reads from the VR or video-mode DVDs, has an MPEG cutter for editing out parts (such as commercials) and exports as either a muxed MPEG file or as separate .m2v and audio streams. Like all Pixela software it can be quirky, although it has a decent HTML Help.
One of the oddities is that it exports individual segments, so if you inserted any chapter markers or paused during recording it you'll need to export multiple segments rather than a single movie. I am able to join the segments with MPEG 2 Works (or probably MPEG StreamClip). But it's easier if your movie is one segment. PixeVRF also reads playlists so you can do some playlist editing on the standalone recorder and have that recognized.
The MPEG cutter is well done and I recommend it for anyone who wants to trim parts of MPEG video where the source is an authored video DVD. PixeVRF does not read MPEG files as such; only VOB or VRO files.
The exported files work fine with CaptyDVD 2, but there are some problems if you want to use them with Toast 6. When using the MPEG cutter, the end of the file has a problem with Toast so I had to use MPEG StreamClip to cut off the final second of video in order for Toast to use it. Also, if I extracted an entire segment (other than an entire movie) then Toast thought the segment (say 12 mintues) was the length of the entire movie (say 2 hours). Again, MPEG Streamclip saved the day. I selected the extracted segment in MPEG Streamclip and chose "Convert to Headed MPEG" after which the newly saved file worked fine in Toast. I did all this with muxed MPEGs and didn't experiment with the separate stream files.
When I purchased the application from pixela-1.com I received the registration number and a link for downloading. The downloaded file is version 2.5. I found a variety of problems with this version and discovered version 2.6.1 update at Pixela's Japan site. This works much better (and, yes, it is in English).
There are times when PixeVRF tells me that a VR-mode disc can't be read. Reinserting the disc sometimes fixed this. Once I had to delete the application's plist file to get it to recognize a disc. It hasn't crashed in OS 10.4.1 on a 933 mhz G4 iBook.
This application reads from the VR or video-mode DVDs, has an MPEG cutter for editing out parts (such as commercials) and exports as either a muxed MPEG file or as separate .m2v and audio streams. Like all Pixela software it can be quirky, although it has a decent HTML Help.
One of the oddities is that it exports individual segments, so if you inserted any chapter markers or paused during recording it you'll need to export multiple segments rather than a single movie. I am able to join the segments with MPEG 2 Works (or probably MPEG StreamClip). But it's easier if your movie is one segment. PixeVRF also reads playlists so you can do some playlist editing on the standalone recorder and have that recognized.
The MPEG cutter is well done and I recommend it for anyone who wants to trim parts of MPEG video where the source is an authored video DVD. PixeVRF does not read MPEG files as such; only VOB or VRO files.
The exported files work fine with CaptyDVD 2, but there are some problems if you want to use them with Toast 6. When using the MPEG cutter, the end of the file has a problem with Toast so I had to use MPEG StreamClip to cut off the final second of video in order for Toast to use it. Also, if I extracted an entire segment (other than an entire movie) then Toast thought the segment (say 12 mintues) was the length of the entire movie (say 2 hours). Again, MPEG Streamclip saved the day. I selected the extracted segment in MPEG Streamclip and chose "Convert to Headed MPEG" after which the newly saved file worked fine in Toast. I did all this with muxed MPEGs and didn't experiment with the separate stream files.
When I purchased the application from pixela-1.com I received the registration number and a link for downloading. The downloaded file is version 2.5. I found a variety of problems with this version and discovered version 2.6.1 update at Pixela's Japan site. This works much better (and, yes, it is in English).
There are times when PixeVRF tells me that a VR-mode disc can't be read. Reinserting the disc sometimes fixed this. Once I had to delete the application's plist file to get it to recognize a disc. It hasn't crashed in OS 10.4.1 on a 933 mhz G4 iBook.
Since my earlier review Roxio Toast 7 was released which also extracts VR-mode MPEGs from DVD-RW and DVD-RAM discs. I prefer using Toast for extraction. I prefer Toast to VRF Browser; therefore I only recommend VRF Browser for those whose Macs don't meet Toast 7's minimum requirements.
The pixela-1 site also is selling Capty MPEG Edit EX that is much superior to VRF Browser for MPEG editing. I use Toast 7 for extraction and Capty MPEG Edit EX for MPEG editing.