What now ?

[Dan203]

I don't think that's even possible. It still uses some licensed stuff from MainConcept and a few others that wouldn't be able to be released.

Also the code is old. This started as an MFC project in Visual C++ v6 back in 2002, so some of the code is out of date and there are a lot of things we sort of shoehorned in to avoid refactoring. Like when we added new codecs. H.264 and HEVC both are sort of crammed in to a system that was really designed for MPEG-2. This is why things like VFR and HDR were so difficult to get working.

Honestly it might almost be easier to just start over.

 

[johnww328]

Too bad. I love the simplicity of this program. It sounds hopeless. Thanks for all you've done!

 

[dlflannery]

Anyone know anything about the “ClipChimp” video editor? It’s a free cloud-based app. The enhanced version of it has recently been incorporated into the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) suite. I suspect it’s apples vs. oranges when compared to VideoReDo, but just wondering.

 

[Dan203]

Anyone know anything about the “ClipChimp” video editor? It’s a free cloud-based app. The enhanced version of it has recently been incorporated into the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) suite. I suspect it’s apples vs. oranges when compared to VideoReDo, but just wondering.

I actually applied for a job there when I first heard about Dan. However they're based in Australia and wanted people onsite, so I got rejected. They had also just recently got acquired by Microsoft so there was a weird flux where they were still an independent company but MS was the one handing the hiring process.

It's pretty interesting technology and something I had actually looked into for VideoReDo. They're basically using WebAssembly to do all the encoding in the browser on the users machine. However when I played around with it a while back there were some issues with threading that made it significantly slower than doing it in a desktop app. Although Google has been putting a lot of effort into fixing up WebASM in Chrome/Chromium so maybe they're working on performance.

I'm not sure I'd want to be that far on the cutting edge. Seems like a bit of a support nightmare.

As for their software… I played with it briefly. It's more of a track editor, like Premiere or similar, not a simple cutting tool like VideoReDo.

 

[User 6464]

I use VR to remove commercials from UK Freeview OTA recordings . VR is the only software that can do this without lots of re-encoding. Well done Dan.
My next favourite is TMPGEnc Smart Renderer but that will re-encode half the recording.
Any replacement software needs to have the magic that allowed VR to do these edits without re-encoding?

 

[WiiGame]

Though this thread has tapered off, I'm just now finding out. As someone else said, things were going smoothly for me, so I wasn't visiting. And it's still not immediately obvious if just looking up some support ... took me a while to trip over this (it was the Future of VAP thread that started to clue me in).

I am shocked, saddened, and dismayed. I feel for the family. And I hope they know we are all out here and are affected, in a significant but less personal way, by DanR's untimely passing.

(Aside: as a consumer of the Dropmix game, I'm saying "not again!" to myself about yet another product I love and intended to use "forever" now possibly expiring. I'm also having flashbacks of what happened with AnyDVD and a "dead" Quicken sidecar QIF app that I brought back to life myself.)

If no one currently owning VRD wants to try and continue it and/or profit from it, I can't Like enough @johnww328's suggestion to "just" make this public domain. But then I also understand Dan203's response to that: "can't."

But I don't want to give up. This is too much a part of my life I expect and want to be there for me. I feel like, if there's no one else out there who makes this specific kind of software (that does it in this precise way), but there's a significant base of people (like me) who want it ongoingly, there must be something we can do. I mean, I bought VRD and upgraded it exactly because it does what it does.

Personally, as an oldie with a stable job who was originally trained primarily in C, though I've never coded professionally or much beyond VB macros since, I have a coding mind/understanding, and I'd be willing to get myself trained up to participate in something open that performs this same core functionality. I just could not lead it. And I figure we'd need at least a general blueprint of whatever can be legally released about VRD. Or I could throw some money at someone who will faithfully execute this labor of love.

Just my thoughts. Maybe I'm just in the denial stage. But I would definitely rally around something viable if someone led it. I'm hoping there is someone here who does have the ability to do that, but maybe just doesn't want it to be them and/or hasn't stepped forward.

 

[mikla]

Pro is basically dead. DanR managed the keys for that manually and never showed me how it worked. From what I can tell the keys he was issuing for that were one year licenses so as soon as they expire they're done.

That is not true! I have an endless lifetime license for the Pro for the V5 and the V6 and paid all sorts for it. Nothing with annual licenses!

 

[cp2]

That is not true! I have an endless lifetime license for the Pro for the V5 and the V6 and paid all sorts for it. Nothing with annual licenses!

As I read the situation, you may have a lifetime license but there is a process in place that periodically validates the validity of any installation. Whilst this process continues to work your (our) lifetime license is good. However, should the website that manages this check go down then your installation will not obtain the validation it requires. Someone has to have rights permission to maintain this website, potentially without reward. Furthermore, as Dan203 has previously stated, the validation process was purposely made opaque and its impact is difficult to forecast.

 

[Dan203]

Yeah my understanding of the whole Pro license process is very limited. I did get access to the system, but in tests on my own personal license I could not figure out how to extend it. The system is awful. It's hard to search and UI just sucks. I've since given up on it. I'd like to help you Pro users out but I have no idea how the system works and without Dan's guidance I don't think I ever will. Also that system is quite expensive. I think the auto renew costs something like $45/mo. I'm actually surprised that his wife hasn't cut it off yet. However as soon as she does your version of Pro is a ticking time bomb. Once it tries to validate the key and cannot reach the server I believe it will deactivate and you'll be locked out.

 

[mikla]

Dan203 ... why do you always talk about shutting down the server? Did she tell you that? Don't paint the devil on the wall! The least would be a key then for the normal version.

Are you not in contact with Mrs. Rosen?

 

[Dan203]

I haven’t spoken to her in months.

As for the servers… the only reason they’re still running is because Dan had set them up to auto-pay on his credit card. If that credit card expires, or the account gets closed due to his death, then payment will fail and the server companies will shut it down.

I have no authority to reroute the domains to a different server or take over the accounts.

For all I know the credit card could keep paying the bills for years. Or the account could be closed next month. I honestly have no idea. That's why I've warned they could go away at any time. But it's inevitable that they will go away eventually.

 

[mikla]

Dan203 ... doesn't she want to talk to you? The tragic death was half a year ago ... surely you should try to talk? Unless she really doesn't want to.

You are the only one who can make a difference. Without contact on your part, of course, it will be nothing.

 

[Dan203]

Before Dan's death I had never even spoken to her. He talked about her to me, and about me to her, but we never had an occasion to meet or even speak. He lived in NJ and I live in NV. The only time I physically saw him was once a year when we'd attend a conference in Las Vegas, and the last time we even did that was 2015. We spoke on the phone regularly and chatted via IM every day, but she was never involved in the business so there was no reason for me to speak to her. It was actually kind of strange the first time we spoke after his death. I has never even heard her voice before.

When he first passed my instinct was to try and take over the company and keep it going. But once it became clear that wasn't going to happen I moved on. I have a new job now that I've settled into. Even answering the support emails and these forum posts have become less frequent, and I suspect at some point I will just stop, even if the servers continue to run.

VideoReDo is done. v6 is the last version. I will follow through with my promise and set up a activation server if these servers ever go down, but beyond that it's over. Sorry.

 

[dlflannery]

Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, guys. I purchased a ”lifetime” license to video software named PlayOn, then found out a few years later they had made major upgrades to it and were not supporting the old version anymore, which was de facto now crippled to the point of being useless. If I wanted to keep using it I had to re-purchase it. And they had no excuse like the death of the company founder. I think they simply promised something that was beyond their economic capability to deliver.

 

[mikla]

dflannery ....

what you describe simply has nothing to do with this factual situation. Here is a functional product for which you have paid permanently. It is not about upgrades or a V7.

When I take on an inheritance, I not only take on the good sides but also the duties.

 

[dlflannery]

dflannery ....

what you describe simply has nothing to do with this factual situation. Here is a functional product for which you have paid permanently. It is not about upgrades or a V7.

When I take on an inheritance, I not only take on the good sides but also the duties.

There is a similarity in that something you believe you paid for, and thus was promised to you, will not be delivered. And there is no practical recourse. Sometimes in life you just lose.

I don’t follow your “inheritance” comment. Who are you saying has to take on the duties?

 

[mikla]

Quite simple ... it simply ensures that the servers continue to run or commissions and pays a programmer to program a final version without server compulsion or it refunds the money to the paying customers at least partially.

When I accept an inheritance I also have duties. I have purchased a license until 2099 and paid for it. And I want to use it. Nobody demands updates or further developments. Only that the current product simply continues to work.

It is also very bad that none of you contact her! Why? You can ask her how she thinks it will go on.

From another country it is much more difficult, but for Americans it should be easy. Donors would also be found to help cover the cost of the server. I am sure of that. Although it would be the responsibility of the heir.

But you do nothing. I can not understand.

 

[User 6464]

The obligation will be on DRD System Inc. I wonder if the administrators of the estate know about this ongoing issue of administrating a licence server?
Probably not. Someone should tell them.

 

[mikla]

Yes. The notification could bring advantages or disadvantages. For example, you could shut it off right away, although that would be very rude and perhaps illegal.

There will probably not be a separate administrator. It will certainly be Ms. Rosen.

 

[martinu]

Dan203, are you able to clarify something: is the annual "phone-home" to renew the validity of the licence something that applies to both TVSuite and Pro, or to Pro only? Do I understand that you will try to set up a replacement (re)activation server if the current one goes down because the fees are no longer being paid?

It would have been nice if development / bug-fixing of VRD had been able to continue, to cater for any new file formats and codecs that may be developed in the future, and it's sad that the company no longer exists. But I can live with that - as long as my licensed copy of VRD continues to work. I'd much rather have a working program forever than a refund of the licence fee: what's a working program compared with the refund of a few tens of dollars?

Another thought springs to mind: what is the situation if I want to install my exisiting copy of VRD on a new computer (having deleted it from an old computer to avoid one licence being used many times)?

Finally, does the licence issue apply to all versions of the program? I have three versions (V4, 5, 6) with separate paid-for licence keys. Occasionally I have found .ts files which an older version of VRD will accept but the latest one will not, so I keep the old versions in case. An example of this is HD (H264) recordings from ITV (a UK TV channel) which have both programme sound and audio-description sound tracks. V6 only sees the AD track and not the programme sound, so I need to edit those with V5 which sees both tracks and hence preserves them both. There's obviously something in the format of ITV's programmes which VRD V6 doesn't quite like. I wish I'd checked the edited output
before I deleted the raw recording of one TV programme. Grrr.



If VRD becomes unusable because of the phone-home server problem, does anyone know of a substitute program that correctly handles the recoding of frames around each cut point so you don't get a discontinuity? Any fool can chop and join the file, but it takes a bit more skill (of the calibre of the two Dans) to recode the frames do give a clean cut.

Time-expiring programs are a confounded nuisance. I worked on a pre-sales tool where I used to work which had a drop-dead clause that gave each version about a month's validity, to force users to download and install the latest copy so as to make sure they were using the most recent version of a list of products that we sold. This was before the web became as widely-used, so everything was self-contained rather than a web-based database. Sadly I can't run the tool now unless I turn back the date on my PC to some date in 1999. When the department closed down and the need for the tool disappeared and everyone was made redundant, I had the opportunity to build a special version for myself that didn't have the drop-dead code, but like a prize idiot I never thought to do that :-( It has no commercial value but it would have been useful to look back at it and see it in action.