Quote:
Originally Posted by dinkleberg
This is the special interest group!
There are a few more resources:
doom9 is more centered on encoding
videohelp is kind of in-between both
and for when you want to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, there's avsforum!
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Yep, indeed, that is true. This is the special interest group.
If you want to talk about archiving video, restoring video ... you're at the right place already.
If you want some more in-depth on other forums...
Doom9 was centered on the codec/encoder/software developers. Eons ago, it was about decompling and copying DVDs. Years dragged on, and it was more about ffmpeg, VLC, Avisynth filters, etc. It's where guys like Donald Graft, videofred, and trevlac hung their hats. But the site has somewhat imploded over time, due to weird public member meltdowns (neuron2, doom10, etc). Still a great resource, but mostly for posts/threads of the past. Several members left for VH in the 2010s, which is why you see more Avisynth talk there now.
VideoHelp was VCDHelp/DVDrHelp, and mostly about copying DVDs to VCDs, then DVDs to DVDs. It was mostly my presence there (I was a mod for a few years), and other professionals of varying career age, that took it into capturing/restoration topics. BJ_M, gshelley, edDV, etc. But after the era of DVD recorders and capture cards (2000s), the site became mostly about downloading video (
Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, Youtube, whathaveyou), and many left the site due to lack of interest. 10+ years ago, I was there a daily; now it's monthly. For a while there, the site was full of really lazy bastards that wanted software with an "easy button" -- wanting help using the cheap all-in-one software that sucked at everything. I remember the days where 1 page of threads was 1-2 days worth; now it's almost a month's worth.
Doom10 disappeared. It was mostly about ffmpeg, VLC and Avisynth, like Doom9. The name was always stupid. That place imploded due to weird wacky drama by the admin. We offered to archive the site, but never got a response.
KVCD was archived by us. Kwag (Karl Wagner) had left, and the new admin didn't want to pay for it anymore. KVCD was always a dumb "format" (not a format), aimed at ultra-compressing MPEG for non-complaint VCDs (therefore xVCDs), but the site had a lot of Avisynth and encoding discussion. Some of it is quaint now, but traffic logs show it still has value.
Afterdawn was always about copying DVDs, and never really strayed into other video topics. It's pretty dead these days, for the DVD/video topics.
CDfreaks was about optical media, then became MyCE where CD/DVD/BD wasn't the focus of the site anymore. In past years, the conversations tended to be dominated by trolls that had some wonky ideas about the value of scanning media. The CDfreaks>MyCE change pissed off members at the time, and oddly that's when the trolls seem to have left. These days, it's pretty friendly, if you're into advanced optical disc topics. Since this is honestly a post-disc era, it's really niche now, and even I don't visit there often.
WrigleyVideo disappeared. We tried contacting the owner for years, wanting to archive the site here. It had lots of good info on NLEs, capturing, etc,
CreativeCow was a great resource for NLEs, though too cluttered with obnoxious ads. Most NLE software now has their own forums, like the Adobe Forums, so CC is pretty sparse now.
AVSForum has always been great for DVD recorders, as well as TVs and DVD/BD/media players. Occasionally VCRs. Just note that the place had 1-2 trollish members in the 2000s, on recorder/VCR topics. Their posts are rife with incorrect information. I think almost all of the VCR topics are 10+ years sold now, and most DVD recorder topics are now about repair (with the owner usually being told he/she's SOL) or magically adding HD-era features.
Then you have some hardware/software-specific sites, like the Corel forums. Forums like that have a short lifespan, lasting only as long as they hardware or software does. Some are still around a ghost towns, many are gone. Few new ones pop up in the era of Facebook.
Remember, I've been around for a few years.