•Major rewrite and recompile of underlying engines.

 I’ve been spending the last few days trying to reconnect with my code, after not looking at it for a little while I started to get lost and wondered if there was a better way.  So I’ve been starting with ZippyRipp, recompiling ffmpeg and finding more effective ways to rip a DVD and how to get metadata of the film itself into the resulting file.  So, ZippyRippy 1.1 is almost done with compatability for iPod/iPhone/iPod touch/AppleTV and iPad, plus the ability to rip a raw MP4 file for use on media centers all with optional h.264 encoding, plus ZippyRippy will attempt to search IMDB and get metadata about the movie to add to the Apple compatable files or MP4 file.  It will use the title of the disc to determine the title, but often titles of DVD discs aren’t that descriptive, so you’ll have the ability to search using a custom term and choose from a list.  Also, ZippyRippy will make a disc image of a DVD for backup and archiving, and will rip the main title of a DVD to a single title DVD so when you put it in your player, it just plays, no menus to navigate. 

On the ZippyConverter front, since I’m finishing up on ZippyRippy I then intend to incorporate the new build of ffmpeg and metadata functions.

 Look for ZippyRippy soon, no firm date yet as I’m still testing.

Ben

ZippyRippy

• Fixes some issues with the hanging at 99% on some systems after imaging a disc.
• Fixes the “idleend” error
• Fixes an issue where ZippRippy would continue on to convert the file for iPod or Xbox even if the boxes weren’t checked after disc imaging.

ZippyConverter

• Fixed an issue with DVD creation where multiple copies of the same file would be burned as different titles to a disc.
• Fixed an issue where videos encoding for DVD would inadvertaintly run through the secondary engine to correct the file.
• Fixed an issue where some files wouldn’t add themselves to iTunes.
• Fixes an issue where ZippyConverter would hang when trying to get the information about a file before converting it.
• Fixes an issue with Apple Devices conversion where the proper resolution would not be imposed upon some files for sync to an iPod/iPhone or AppleTV.

ZippyRippy is $5.99 and available at http://www.mediafire.com/file/wzzayjmvqmz/zippyrippy109.dmg

ZippyConverter is $8.99 and available athttp://www.mediafire.com/file/y2nonjj2nnz/zippyconverter105.dmg 

ZippyConverter: 

• Upon first launch after you download it there is an error where it states the “date” returns stating the argument is not correct, I’ve been working on this issue for quite some time and think I’ve finally got it licked, of course if you quit ZippyConverter and relaunch it the error goes away. 
• One other issue has corpped up where I’m using some open binaries to get the info about the files which is causing stalling of the program.  To this end I’ve crafted a few way to get the info from the files.  It turns out the physical size of some files are causing ZippyConverter to stall while it’s waiting for the info to be obtained, and some FLV and MKV and AVI files with odd headers are also causing the issue.  Look for updates to come down the line in the next few days for this issue.  My goal is to make this the easiest to use, swiss army knife of video and audio conversion for the Mac.

ZippyRippy

There are also one one issue with ZippyRippy. 

• The first one is an “idleend” error that occurs when the product is unregistered, this is being worked on, there seems to be a piece of code that’s checking for information on the progress of the rip that’s firing from time to time and causing an error.  I’ve put it in a “try” block which is supposed to make it quiet when it fails, but it doesn’t always stay quiet.

I’m working again on the issue of the program stalling when it hits 99% stalling while imaging.  It turns out the end of the routine isn’t being tripped on all systems. 

So there you have it, more to come in the following days on these issues, plus I’m working on some new software which will take a little while but more on that later.

1.0.4

• Fixed an issue where when encoding a DVD without selecting “Fit to DVD” would result in an incorrect frame size.
• Removed “Add to Table” button from the browser window as it caused some issues on some systems.  Use “List Links…” to get the links of a page.
• Fixed an issue where flash files would fail while converting to DVD, they wil now run through the secondary engine prior to DVD encoding only.
• Adds 2 new export options .MOV and .WMV.  Make sure you install the Flip4Mac software to encode for WMV.
• Adds a panel to install all the optional codecs in one place.  It will appear by default when you launch 1.0.4 and has an option to make it not appear again.
• Fixes some issues with .MKV files not encoding properly.
• Fixes an issue where some large files going through the secondary engine would return no output making it look like there was a freeze.  This occurs only on large files where they have to be loaded by the secondary engine if necessary.
• Removed the links to the codecs in the Help menu and replaced it with one link to the install codecs panel.
• Added a File menu so you can have a close option from the menu.
• Fixes an issue with DVD burning.

Download today for $8.99 http://www.mediafire.com/file/qozjkwiiyiy/zippyconverter104.dmg

Here at ZippySoftare we believe in helping those less fortunate than we.  To that end I recieved this email below and a request for help with medical costs.  The family have asked me to keep their identity confidential but are asking for donations to help pay for co-pays and medicine during these tough economic times.

Here at ZippySoftware, 75% of all purchases of ZippyConverter and ZippyRippy will go to this family, 100% of donations recieved using the link above will go right to the family.  We’ve even given them a PayPal debit card so they can access the funds quickly as they are recieved.  Thank you for your help.  Below is the email I recieved.

 it’s kind of embarrassing to do this, but i’m going to anyway because nothing is more important than my kids.

will has been having some serious behavior problems, and will be going to a psychiatrist so that we can figure things out. with my families history of mental illness, i’m terrified, but it’s a step we have to take because when he’s in an episode, he threatens to harm himself and others.

he will also be going to his pediatrician today so that we can knock out some simple causes for this behavior (i.e. lead, mercury and food allergies.)

his copays are $20, he needs his asthma medication, and i only have a little bit of gas…. and no money. to get him to the doctor today i’ll be using our rent money, which means in two days (the 6th) we’ll get a pay or evict notice. i’m stuck choosing between our apartment or the health of my child, so i’m asking for help. if you could possible donate to us and help out, i’d be so appreciative. it goes to our paypal account.

here’s the link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10921504

1.0.3

• Adds a feature where you can double-click on a file in the main table list and it will open in it’s default application.
• Adds an ability to transfer the metadata from the input file to the output file.  A new check box is in the settings window to enable/disable this feature.
• Saves the state of the checkboxes in the main window.
• Fixes an issue where Flash (.flv) or (.swf) files would need to ful through the secondary engine first.  They will now be converted directly.

There are more that is being worked on as we speak, but I wanted to get this release out the door to fix these minor issues.  You can download ZippyConverter and register for $8.99 at http://zippyrippy.com/downloads/zippyconverter.dmg

ZippyRippy is still being worked on as well, there have been some minor re-writes to the program due to some things I’ve put into ZippyConverter which make sense to migrate them to ZippyRippy.  Also, for ZippyRippy it may help to have either VLC installed or install the package on the disk image to enable decoding of some protected DVD’s.