Tagging and RatDVD naming scheme

DVD is a wonderful format but when I look at my (rather large) collection of (rat)DVDs, I was seriously missing a meaningful, standardized meta data system like ID3 for MP3s.

Tagging

I implemented a simple way of tagging directly through imdb.com. Just enter the name of the movie and the tagging information is automatically retrieved. Of course you can change it if you want.

All data about actors, directors, plot and even the cover is automatically retrieved and stored inside the RatDVD container as an easily accessible XML file.

When you look at a tagged RatDVD file in the Windows explorer it displays the cover of the selected RatDVD in the taskpane on the left and once you switch to thumbnail mode, every RatDVD comes up with the associated DVD cover.

Note: Currently you can only add/edit tagging for RatDVDs that are not already tagged.

RatDVD naming scheme

RatDVDs are able to hold complete DVD movies with multiple audio tracks as well as various subtitles in just one file. The RatDVD naming scheme includes information about the content of a .RatDVD file in its name and allows you this way to know the contents of a RatDVD before you download it. The rat DVD naming scheme can be set in the options dialog:

The RatDVD naming scheme is appended in brackets ("[ ]") at the end of your specified file name:

Identifier: C - Specifies the video codec and encoding mode used

XC - XEB constant quality

Identifier: O/M - Specifies whether or not the DVD content has been modified (e.g. titles, subpicture, audio, etc.) has been removed

O - Original

M - Modified

Identifier: T - Specifies the total playback time off all included titles in minutes

n - minute

Identifier: S - Specifies the total number of included subpicture/subtitle streams

n - number of streams

Identifier: A - Lists the included audio streams by their language code (lc). Multiple language codes are sperated by underscores ("_").

n times lc - List of language codes

Identifier: Q

n - Quality value (main title)

Identifier: B - only used for constant average bitrate encodes (Identifier C-XA)

n - Video bitrate in KBit/s (average over titles)

All identifiers are seperated by spaces (" "). So, for examle the file name "A great movie by www.greatmovies.dk [C-XC O T-210 S-12 A-DK_EN_IT_FR_ES_NA Q-105].RatDVD " would mean the following:

  • Encoded with XEB codec, constant quality
  • Original movie without modifications (all titles, audio tracks, subtitles included)
  • Total playback time of 210 minutes (3 hours 30 minutes)
  • Includes 12 different subtitles (very likely 12 different languages)
  • Includes audio for danish, english, italian, french and spanish as well as at least one unknown audio language (probably commentary)
  • The encoding was done with 105 for the main title quality

I strongly suggest to keep the RatDVD naming scheme always enabled.