How to : DVD & Video to Xoom with DVD Catalyst 4

[Debian Dog]

Currently using handbreak to rip all my DVD's, it is a very lengthy process, but so far all the videos have come out in pretty good quality.

What do you mean "lengthy"? I mean DVD cat has a nicer interface but the process is exactly the same.

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[dvdcatalyst]

Thanks for the quick reply. I think I may just stick with the blurays that came with dvd versions with them from the sounds of your post. Haha! I appreciate the in-depth post and can respect the work you go through with your program. I'm know I'll be using this to add some of my dvds though. Give me something to watch since I travel 5 hours to see family a few times a year.

You are welcome.

While I like the quality of Bluray, everything else about the format is something that doesn't sit right with me. Having customers go through all that crap just doesn't seem right.

[Newton1221]

Literally the best $10 I have ever spent

EVERYTHING I tried before this was terrible

30 minutes into Fight Club and its like I'm in heaven

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHHH

[hastekilled]

Just converted my first movie! I now have Scott Pilgrim Vs the World on my Xoom and it's awesome! Thank you for this!

[dvdcatalyst]

Literally the best $10 I have ever spent

EVERYTHING I tried before this was terrible

30 minutes into Fight Club and its like I'm in heaven

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHHH

Comments like yours always put a big smile on my face

Just converted my first movie! I now have Scott Pilgrim Vs the World on my Xoom and it's awesome! Thank you for this!

Thank you for using DVDcat, I'm glad you enjoy it.

I still havent gotten to watch Scott Pilgrim myself, I might just have to make some time for it this weekend.

[WTXDroid]

Let me also add my praise for Catalyst4! I have used handbrake before through work and started to try to use it to convert some DVDs for my Xoom and quickly got frustrated. When I read about Catalyst4 and saw how cheap it was I figured it was worth a shot. I was able to copy several DVDs over with minimal effort, and the results were great even though I was using the Xoom (fast) profile. I was able to convert most 90 minute movies in a little more than a half hour, and the file sizes are perfect.

I noticed that there are additional profiles available for several devices. Any plans to add additional profiles for the Xoom?

[dvdcatalyst]

Let me also add my praise for Catalyst4! I have used handbrake before through work and started to try to use it to convert some DVDs for my Xoom and quickly got frustrated. When I read about Catalyst4 and saw how cheap it was I figured it was worth a shot. I was able to copy several DVDs over with minimal effort, and the results were great even though I was using the Xoom (fast) profile. I was able to convert most 90 minute movies in a little more than a half hour, and the file sizes are perfect.

Thanks

I appreciate the compliment.

I noticed that there are additional profiles available for several devices. Any plans to add additional profiles for the Xoom?

Absolutely. I picked up a Xoom myself on monday (I tend to do that in order to be able to help people better with questions) and am working my way through it regarding video.

On monday I already posted up my findings regarding 1080 video playback on it (havent tried HDMI yet though), and also put up a Xoom step-by-step guide on my website (pretty much the same as the one I posted here)
Right now I am fiddling with the resolution. The profile in DVD Catalyst for the Xoom doesn't have the resolution set properly, but for DVDs, this doesn't make a difference (for quality reasons, the resolution in dvdcat is used as a maximum size, so only when your videos have a larger resolution it will be used to downsize).

Converting videos at the precise 1280x800 resolution results in black borders on the sides. The menu bar at the bottom seems to stay active permanently, which takes away from the resolution left for the video. I haven't figured out the exact hight of this bar yet, but my goal is to create a profile for the exact remaining resolution, and of course a few HQ and HDMI profiles to complete the set.

[dvdcatalyst]

xoom_full_screen_video.jpg
It looks like its 1280x754.

I added a post on my website (latest news section) which includes 3 sample files using different resolutions. I used a short Cars2 trailer (1080 version) and encoded it at 2000Kbps/160Kbps using 1280x800, 1280x720 and 1280x754 sizes. In DVD Catalyst's settings (power user > global settings > borders) I had it set to remove black bars from device. The 3 mp4 links in the article will stream if you visit them on your Xoom, but I also added a zip with all 3 files in it.

[Debian Dog]

Keep HDMI in mind too:

HDMI Mirror mode
When using HDMI, the bottom 80 pixels of the display where the navigation keys and notification menu are displayed is not projected on the external display. This is done by design and is not a defect with either the device or the external display.

[dvdcatalyst]

Keep HDMI in mind too:

Thanks, I didn't know that one Dog

My findings above are actually on the Xoom screen itself. The menu bar at the top is disabled during video playback, but the one at the bottom stays active.