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X264 Project Announces Blu-ray Encoding Support

Posted by timothy on from the news-from-mid-spectrum dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The x264 project has announced the first free software encoder to be able to generate Blu-ray compliant video. In addition, the announcement comes with a torrent of an x264-encoded Blu-ray disc containing entirely free content, such as the Open Movie Project videos. While there are still no free software Blu-ray authoring tools, hopefully this will change now that video and audio are taken care of so that everyone will be able to make their own Blu-rays without expensive proprietary software. Additionally, it seems the Criterion Collection is a friend of free software, having sponsored the effort to confirm x264's compliance with the Blu-ray spec."

8 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. The first question that popped into my head by Daimanta · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isn't x264 (heavily) patent encumbered? And does that mean that the makers(or distributers?) have to pay a licensing fee? I know that it makes me weary to roll this out in a setting other than my home computing enviroment.

    Anyone to easy my mind/confirm my suspicions?

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    1. Re:The first question that popped into my head by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The patent licensing fees for H.264 (20 cents per encoder) are the least of your problems if you're commercially publishing a Blu-ray disc. The license fees for *everything else*, up to and including the Blu-ray name itself, are much more onerous. But anyone making Blu-rays for commercial purposes already deals with this.

    2. Re:The first question that popped into my head by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      But what if I'm an independent filmmaker and want to make my high-def movies available in Blu-ray and let people download them online? I've already done this with standard hi-def, making a DVD image available via bittorrent.

      I wonder if I'd need to pay any patent holders the vig? Because if I do, fuck it, I'm OK with my current formats.

      Anybody got any idea?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:The first question that popped into my head by Malc · · Score: 5, Informative

      You do not need to encrypt content on a BDROM - go and read the AACS spec, which is publicly available on the AACS LA's website. CPS Units on a BD Prercorded can be either encrypted on unencrypted for Basic Titles, per the CCI.

      You are correct though that to replicate a BD that you need to pay an AACS fee, but that's now down to $500, IIRC.

      I haven't see any issues with players playing back Type A CMF burnt to BDRE (i.e. partial AACS, as sent to replicators before AACS processing). This is how most authoring houses test their content. In fact, I don't even remember having to specify unencrypted + no disable Copy Permission Indicator when testing on the PS3 recently - at one time we had to burn to BD-REv3 format (which is annoying because that format doesn't support everything in BDROM).

  2. Free BD Authoring Tool: Multiavchd by spblat · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is in fact a free software Blu-ray authoring tool. And it is rather nice.

    http://multiavchd.deanbg.com/

    1. Re:Free BD Authoring Tool: Multiavchd by maxume · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you at least capitalize it (like "Free Software"), you give your readers a hint that you are talking about something specific, rather than 'free' in general.

      It is still ambiguous, but it is better.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Free BD Authoring Tool: Multiavchd by maelstrom · · Score: 5, Funny

      Get off my lawn.

      --
      The more you know, the less you understand.
    3. Re:Free BD Authoring Tool: Multiavchd by alexandre · · Score: 5, Funny

      I hadn't seen a UID war in such a long time that I almost forgot about them...
      Those youngsters with their retro trends :P