Did I miss an announcement?

[bettertomorrowamy]

Yeah, I appreciate you offering us the .mp3 separate.  You don't have to do that, so it is appreciated.
While I have no alternative to preventing copyright infringement, I do think it is pretty hard to find someone who likes DRM.
Why would anyone?  It is a pain in the ass, and assumes you are guilty of infringement and makes you prove you're not.

One thing I do think is disgusting is a company getting business because of their ability to provide DRM.  That just seems like the devil's work.

Call me crazy.

I don't think you need to change anything because as has been said before:  The people who don't want to use the divx file are the people who have the ability to re-author anyway.  Everybody else will be content with what they can get.

[Conor]

For what it is worth, I actually like DIvX.   

I guess the "Powers that be" have to determine how they are better served:

1.   Use DivX, cut way down on piracy and lose some customers.
2.   Use something like EZTAKES, increase customers, but lose some sales due to increased piracy.

Just as an FYI, piracy is not why we're using DIVX.  They are a content delivery system for us, not a copy protection system.  If they would serve up videos for us without their DRM, we'd do it in a second.  If we were that concerned about piracy...well, i don't know what we'd do.  It is an inevitable thing when you're distributing digital content, and you just hope that you can make it as convenient and reasonable for people as possible to buy your work legitimately.  (if we were concerned about piracy, we wouldn't offer up an MP3 with the download.)

So yes, it's not a perfect solution.  EZTakes does not seem like a good solution, based on all the experiences I've read that you guys have had.  They don't supply Video On Demand either, but rather a burnable solution.  They are two different things.

We're constantly trying to make the experience better.  But as Erik said before, constructive opinions do help and we take them seriously.  "Divx can suck it" does not help anybody, and is not taken seriously.

[bettertomorrowamy]

For what it is worth, I actually like DIvX.   

I guess the "Powers that be" have to determine how they are better served:

1.   Use DivX, cut way down on piracy and lose some customers.
2.   Use something like EZTAKES, increase customers, but lose some sales due to increased piracy.

Just as an FYI, piracy is not why we're using DIVX.  They are a content delivery system for us, not a copy protection system.  If they would serve up videos for us without their DRM, we'd do it in a second.  If we were that concerned about piracy...well, i don't know what we'd do.  It is an inevitable thing when you're distributing digital content, and you just hope that you can make it as convenient and reasonable for people as possible to buy your work legitimately.  (if we were concerned about piracy, we wouldn't offer up an MP3 with the download.)

So yes, it's not a perfect solution.  EZTakes does not seem like a good solution, based on all the experiences I've read that you guys have had.  They don't supply Video On Demand either, but rather a burnable solution.  They are two different things.

We're constantly trying to make the experience better.  But as Erik said before, constructive opinions do help and we take them seriously.  "Divx can suck it" does not help anybody, and is not taken seriously.

Suck it Divx was a joke, and hence not to be taken seriously.  I didn't mean for the divx engineers to come and suck anything, especially not my anything, unless they are incredibly hot women.

[gammer]

My feeling is that I don't like the DRM.
However, here's my take on this whole issue:
1) As Conor stated, they are advertising it how it is: Only available to playback with the DivX player. RiffTrax ain't hiding anything.
2) If you want something to do what it isn't supposed to do, then you need to be creative and do it yourself. For example: you want to watch a VHS on a DVD, then you buy a DVD Recorder or a capture card for your computer and capture it. In our case, RiffTrax has provided us with the location of the source video and the MP3, so we can reauthor it ourselves.
3) Whatever information this Execter character poses should be in our schools and our text books.

[Pak-Man]

                                                                     How Old am I?
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o  When Someone Disagrees With Me                            |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When someone pokes fun at me                                   |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I want Attention                                                        |                          |
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   When I am Confused                                                        |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I don't get what I want                                             |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When Rifftrax releases something on VOD                  |                          |

(Seriously, this isn't a jab at anyone. I just wanted to throw the joke out there)

[Fortis]

                                                                     How Old am I?
                                                                               Today       |   Next Month   |  A Year
                                                                              -----------------------------------------------
o  When Someone Disagrees With Me               12         |                          |
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   When someone pokes fun at me                         8          |                          |
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   When I want Attention                                             3        |                          |
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   When I am Confused                                             87       |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I don't get what I want                                 5         |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When Rifftrax releases something on VOD   -1 1/2     |                          |

[Bob]

                                                                     How Old am I?
                                                                               Today       |   Next Month   |  A Year
                                                                              -----------------------------------------------
o  When Someone Disagrees With Me                            |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When someone pokes fun at me                                   |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I want Attention                                                        |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I am Confused                                                        |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When I don't get what I want                                             |                          |
                                                                                                  |                          |
   When Rifftrax releases something on VOD                  |                          |

(Seriously, this isn't a jab at anyone. I just wanted to throw the joke out there)

 

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Just as an FYI, piracy is not why we're using DIVX.  They are a content delivery system for us, not a copy protection system.  If they would serve up videos for us without their DRM, we'd do it in a second. 

That is interesting, I would think if piracy was not an issue there would be many alternatives to DIVX, but maybe not....

Would streaming video from places like RealNetworks work?  Although I'm not sure if their technology would allow for individual authorization for purchased videos, I guess that is the problem you guys have, finding a system that will send the VOD only to those that have purchased it.

Get an extra server and offer up .mp4 files just like you do the .mp3s, we're talking around 200MB each for these videos if converted to high-res mp4, I guess you also might need to buy extra bandwidth, how much would that be compared to paying DIVX to host the files?

[gammer]

Another solution would be to offer these in VCD format. You might cringe at what I just said, but hear me out...

It seems that most folks are interested in just poping it in their DVD players, kicking back on the couch and watching.

Here's how I see it...
- VCD (short for Video CD) is compatible in 90% of DVD players (actually, its probably higher, but I'm just guess-ta-mating).
- Encode the short to VCD format
- Create an ISO image or Nero Image of it
- Allow the user to download the image or the raw MPEG1 file
- If you download the image, you can then burn it to CD and watch it on your DVD or computer
- If you download the raw MPEG1 file you can watch it on your computer

Obviously you wouldn't want to watch an entire 2 hour movie like this. But I think it would work for a 15 min short.
File size would be approx the same as what the DivX file sizes are now.

[Conor]

Just as an FYI, piracy is not why we're using DIVX.  They are a content delivery system for us, not a copy protection system.  If they would serve up videos for us without their DRM, we'd do it in a second.

That is interesting, I would think if piracy was not an issue there would be many alternatives to DIVX, but maybe not....


Get an extra server and offer up .mp4 files just like you do the .mp3s, we're talking around 200MB each for these videos if converted to high-res mp4, I guess you also might need to buy extra bandwidth, how much would that be compared to paying DIVX to host the files?

Right.  These alternatives just don't spring to anyones mind.

It may come to offering up video files, that could prove to be the best choice.  Unfortunately, doing them "just like we do the MP3s" is, like many things, more complicated than it sounds.  The additional bandwidth, etc (not my dept) is something that is now covered by Divx, and is the reason we are using them.  they take care of that so we don't have to.  I have no idea about costs or anything like that, but it seems reasonable that if we were to start shouldering the burden of serving up the files ourselves, it might result in increased costs for video. 

Again, I have no idea if that's true.  But it's the kind of thing you have to weigh when you're thinking about the alternatives to Divx.  Maybe so many people hate it that they have refused to download anything until we get rid of it that it would make up for the additional cost.  Maybe a ton of people dont mind and aren't taking the time to debate the merits of it on the forum.  Who knows?  We will find out though, soon enough.

[BEERxTaco]

The EZTakes Download/Burn system seems pretty slick...

[bettertomorrowamy]

Since these shorts are public domain, why not sell us a premixed .wav file with the riff and the original audio together, then send us a link to a torrent file of just the video portion in the correct format so that the audio and video portions could be muxed together.  I'm sure a lot of the bandwidth for the video portion could be shared by us loyal supporters.  Does public domain limit this?  I'm just throwing this out there since you asked for ideas, so don't destroy me.

[Bob]

Gee, I use and like Divx....... and mine come pre-authored!   

[gammer]

Gee, I use and like Divx....... and mine come pre-authored!   

I think the point is that not everyone has a DivX dvd player hooked up to their tv's and not everyone enjoys watching them on their computer...or wants to install proprietary software to watch them on their computer.

I think that there are other options/formats available to make more of the fan base happy. I'm not saying it has to be done...but other formats could possibly equal happier fans.

[RVR II]

Gee, I use and like Divx....... and mine come pre-authored!   

I think the point is that not everyone has a DivX dvd player hooked up to their tv's and not everyone enjoys watching them on their computer...or wants to install proprietary software to watch them on their computer.

I think that there are other options/formats available to make more of the fan base happy. I'm not saying it has to be done...but other formats could possibly equal happier fans.

I Agree 100% w/ gammer! That's Exactly My Issues Right There!
GET A LIFE PSL!!