GNU VCDImager Tools GUI for Win32 |
last updated: 27-Sep-2004 (ver. 1.1.207) | what is it? | download | other info | license | screenshots | back to index
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GNU VCDImager 0.7.12 is of course the latest version of the excellent set of open source tools for VCD authoring and creation. However, this set of tools are console based and thus inherently foreign to many people using the Win32 (i.e., Microsoft Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP) platform. This has led to some people to balk at trying it out and I believe it to be a great shame.
Although there are many quite good front-ends out now that use GNU VCDImager as part of the authoring package (including VCDEasy, TSCV, VCD Composer, VCD Wizard, etc.) there is no Win32 GUI specifically for ALL the tools in GNU VCDImager 0.7.12. Thus, I've decided to create a GUI specifically for GNU VCDImager.
As of the 0.8.x versions, GNU VCDImager Tools GUI also includes a GUI for lkVCDxBUILD, a fork of VCDXBUILD from v0.7.10. This allows S/VCD images to be built using the ISO 9660-2 filesystem (essentially, long filename support!). Not only this, it can also build to Nero Burning Rom style disc images (in .NRG format). CUE/BIN format is still highly recommended though...
As of the (1.0.x), GNU VCDImager Tools GUI also has a tool for removing subindicies from cuesheets (i.e., the CUE file of a CUE/BIN image) and a tool for regenerating a CUE/BIN image from just a BIN file (e.g., if the CUE file is damaged or missing).
As of the latest versions (1.1.x), GNU VCDImager Tools GUI also includes a GUI for lkVCDxRIP,
which allows you to extract all the media files as well as an XML descriptor file directly
from the (S)VCD!
This is not an XML authoring aid as per VCDEasy or TSCV. This is a GUI (graphical user interface) of all the tools in the Win32 build of GNU VCDImager ( + lkVCDxBUILD and lkVCDxRIP) and a couple of other useful tools (Subindicies Remover and CUE/BIN Regenerator). It is particularly useful for those who manually edit their XML files or like to use specific tools (e.g., VCDXRIP, VCDXMINFO) as you don't need to use the command console or load up a more XML authoring oriented program like VCDEasy.
 Full
downloadVersion 1.1.207 This includes an installer, the program, all the required support files as well as GNU VCDImager 0.7.12 and lkVCDxBUILD and lkVCDxRIP 5.0.7.10. It is highly recommended that you UNINSTALL previous versions of GNU VCDImager Tools GUI before installing this version. 3.37 MB |
Executable Only (Update) Version xxxxx Not available. The latest version of GNU VCDImager Tools GUI cannot be simply installed as an update on an older one. It is highly recommended that you UNINSTALL any previous versions and then download and install the latest "Full Download". |
Download
Source to v1.1.207 (171 KB) |
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Both the full and executable only downloads are compressed in the ZIP format. You will need to use a program like WinZip to extract it.
For the full installation:
This program was written in Visual Basic 5 and as such, it requires a number of support files, notably, MSVBVM50.DLL (the Microsoft Visual Basic Virtual Machine). This may or may not already exist on your PC (it will be under the "system32" folder if it does). Furthermore, this program also uses the Microsoft Common Dialogs controls (which should already exist in your Windows installation). The full installation of this program will install (or update) all the necessary support files.
lkVCDxBUILD and lkVCDxRIP is written with Microsoft Visual C++ and requires the file MSVCP60.DLL. This support library has been included since versioin 0.8.121.
The installation / uninstallation routine for versions 0.8.121 and above was created with the freeware version of DigitalWeb InstallWizard. The installation routine of the previous versions was created with the Visual Basic 5 Application Setup Wizard.
If there are any bugs in the program, please don't hesitate to e-mail me and I will try to fix it if it is within my ability (I am a newbie programmer at best).
This program has only been extensively tested by the author on WinXP Home and somewhat tested on Win98SE. It should, however, work as expected on all versions of Windows (Win9x/ME/NT/2000/XP).
The full name of this program is: GNU VCDImager Tools GUI for Win32. This was to differentiate it from the older "VCDImagerGUI" that was written for the v0.6.x versions of VCDImager.
The current version of the program is: 1.1.207
| 1 Feb 2003 | New release: v1.1.207 released (Full
Installation) -- reorganised the layout of GNU VCDImager Tools GUI. Also, updated
lkVCDxBUILD to v5.0.7.10. In addition, the program now includes a GUI for lkVCDxRIP -- you
can rip directly from a physical (S)VCD in your CD drive! |
| 20 Dec 2002 | New release: v1.0.198 released (Full
Installation) -- improved some error handling in the program. Also, additional buttons
that link to websites and e-mail have been added to the "About" window. A public
domain DLL (browser32.dll), by Alexis Ríos Negrón is now used in GNU VCDImager Tools
GUI. |
| 25 Nov 2002 | Internal beta: v1.0.196 released (internal
beta) -- simply changed the colour of the icon for the CUE/BIN Regenerator. |
| 20 Nov 2002 | New release: v1.0.195 released (Full
Installation) -- GNU VCDImager Tools GUI finally breaks into "version 1". ;-)
The program now works quite well and there are no significant bugs that I am aware of at
this point. With this version 1 release, a NEW TOOL has been added -- the "CUE/BIN Regenerator". Basically if you have a BIN file of a (S)VCD but a missing or damaged CUE file (i.e., cuesheet), all you have to do is to use this tool and it will automagically recreate a brand new CUE/BIN image. It will autodetect whether your image is in 2352 or 2336 byte sectors (so you don't have to worry about it) and recreate the image in original sector type. The next major change for this project will be the inclusion of CDRDAO + ForceASPI / Adaptec ASPI drivers. It is planned that GNU VCDImager Tools GUI will eventually be able to extract and record (S)VCDs directly! |
| 19 Nov 2002 | New release: v0.9.188 released (Full
Installation) -- the "Subindicies Remover" function has also been added as a
checkbox option in the VCDXBUILD and lkVCDxBUILD tools. That is, you can use both these
tools to directly create CUE/BIN images without subindices in the cuesheet. The code has been optimised and "de-spaghettied" to some extent. As such, the main executable file is no SMALLER (despite having more functions!) Also some changes in how the program general looks and runs. Internal beta: v0.9.181 released (internal beta) -- new tool added! "Subindicies Remover". This tool will load up a standard "detailed" CUESheet (i.e., the CUE file in a CUE/BIN image), strip it of its subindicies and save it to a new CUE file. Why would you want to do something like this? Two reasons: (1) the bad reason is because some CUE/BIN burning programs (e.g., Fireburner) do not support subindicies and (2) the good reason is that some stand-alone players appear to have playback difficulty with multiple subindicies per track (as would occur with entrypoints). There is no need to use this tool unless you have one of these two issues. Fixed a few typographic errors. |
| 18 Nov 2002 | New release: v0.8.176 released (Full
Installation) -- improved the information reported back to the user after one of the
"tools" has finished running (e.g., reports the image size as well as suggested
media type). VCDImager Tools GUI will also analyse the "logfile" to see if the
specific process ran successfully or not and now offers the user the choice to read the
logfile. Also, a few minor aesthetic fixes. |
| 1 Nov 2002 | New release: v0.8.145 released (Full
Installation) -- the aforementioned "programming snag" has been resolved thanks
to some inspiration from Betamax. From this version onwards, VCDImager Tools GUI KNOWS
when the command console process has definitely finished and will not mistakenly say it
has finished before time. BTW, I got ReadConsoleOutputCharacter working so there's no need
to contact me about that anymore. All I can say is that VB5 is mildly retarded as a
programming language... ;-) This version also updates lkVCDxBUILD to the latest version (v4.0.7.10). Read the lkVCDxBUILD readme files to see what's new here. A few minor bug fixes and typo corrections. |
| 29 Oct 2002 | New release: v0.8.128 released (Update) --
this SHOULD fix the problem that has plagued this GUI since the original version. I've
rewritten the command console routines so that VCDImager Tools GUI shouldn't say that the
process has finished until it actually has. The process still isn't perfect, however, as
if you press "enter" while the program is still running in the command console,
you may cause a crash... I've worked out a way to solve the problem once and for all,
but I've hit some other programming snags. If someone knows how to use the
ReadConsoleOutputCharacter function with VB5 (not Visual.Net or C++), then I would be very
grateful if you could give me an e-mail. |
| 11 Oct 2002 | New release: v0.8.121 released (Full
Installation) -- this includes a number of minor cosmetic bug fixes. The altered DTD file for lkVCDxBUILD was by default turned OFF in previous versions. In this version it is turned ON by default. Also, MSVCP60.DLL is installed with this program (MS Visual C++ runtime required for lkVCDxBUILD). A new/better installation routine has been included (using DigitalWeb InstallWizard). |
| 9 Oct 2002 | New release: v0.8.119 released (Full
Installation) -- this includes bug fixes for the immediate below bugs (long filenames). With this release a new tool has been added to the program! VCDImager Tools GUI now includes a GUI for lkVCDxBUILD, a fork of VCDXBUILD from v0.7.10. This was written by Laurens H. Koehoorn, aka 'Betamax'. lkVCDxBUILD has the ability of using ISO Level 2 path and filenames for the VCD filesystem. It also comes with a slightly modified DTD file. GNU VCDImager Tools GUI turns off this modified DTD file on installation. Read the lkVCDxBUILD readme files for more details on how to activate it and use it. As of v0.8.119, the full name of this program has been changed to "GNU VCDImager Tools GUI for Win32". As of v0.8.119, the application directory structure has been changed so it will no longer be possible to simply copy the main executable into a folder containing VCDImager. It is suggested that you do a Full Installation. Future upgrading by just copying over the main executable file will still be possible. Bug found: v0.7.1xx versions of GNU VCDImager Tools GUI doesn't not always handle long filenames and directories properly. It appears to be a limitation with the "Shell" command in VB5. |
| 1 Oct 2002 | New release: Version 0.7.102 is released
(Full Installation and Executable Only). Fixes the problem with "2336 sector
size" option for the Full Installation download. Also, minor changes to the
"About" dialog box. VCDImager Tools GUI as of this version has been
released under the GNU General Public License! |
| 26 Sept 2002 | New release: Version 0.7.101 of the
executable is released. Fixes the problem with "2336 sector size" option. Bug found: VCDImager Tools GUI does not correctly turn on the 2336 sector size option under "VCDXBUILD". |
| 4 Sept 2002 | Bug found: VCDImager Tools GUI runs
VCDImager by creating and lauching a batch file on-the-fly. Normally, the program
minimises and pauses when the DOS box is running and restores when the DOS box closes.
However, for reasons unclear to me, this isn't always foolproof and VCDImager Tools
GUI will sometimes think that the process has finished when it has not. This is
relatively harmless as long as you refrain from continuing to use VCDImager Tools GUI
before the DOS box closes. |
GNU VCDImager Tools GUI for Win32 (v1.1.207)
Copyright (c) 2003 Michael Tam
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2 of the License, or any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
This program is open source. You can download the Visual Basic 5 source files here (171 KB).
You can contact the author by e-mail: Michael Tam <vitualis (at) michaeltam.com>
Note
This program (ver. 1.1.207) also includes GNU VCDImager 0.7.12 (Win32),
lkVCDxBUILD and lkVCDxRIP (v.5.0.7.10), Browser32.dll (© 1998 Alexis Ríos Negrón),
installation and support files from DigitalWeb InstallWizard, support files and libraries
from Microsoft. Each of these programs / files have their own respective licenses
separate to the main license for GNU VCDImager Tools GUI for Win32.
Main page:
GUI to VCDXGEN:
GUI to VCDXBUILD:
Michael Tam <vitualis (at) michaeltam.com>
anti-spam device - replace (at) with @ to send me e-mail
(c) 27 September, 2004
