4 Nostalgia Reason - How do I "create" authentic videos like it's 2001?

[Seth]

Hello,

I hope this is the right sub-forum for my questions/request. If not, feel free to move it to "General Discussion" or wherever it fits best. I have read the rules, so I hope I won't break any rules with my request and questions.

Like the topic of the thread says, I want to "create" authentic videos as people did in 2001 (90s and early 00s). I was searching on the internet for programs and tools what people might have used and also came across some. That's also how I discovered this forum. I also checked out some of the programs on here (however some are not available anymore if I recall correct). I also saw the guides on this page. However checking their update date says 2005. And I want to use authentic programs and the authentic versions of these programs those that have been used at my mentioned timespan. The problem I have is that 2005 seems to be too late. I want the authentic version of the software and not just the right software but the latest version of it.

So what have been the most common tools and programs that have been used back then in around 2001?
I do not asked for on how everything need to be done and/or how things work. I more like want to know what tools, programs, codecs and software is needed. I know that you have needed more than only 1 program/tool back in the days. Like I said, I read the rules, I read the guides, I saw the links to all kind of software. But which of them exactly were used and more importantly in which combination? I mean there is sometimes more than 1 tool for the same purpose.

If someone that have been around during that time, or anyone else with knowledge might make a list like:

The easy way was done with:

• Program1
• Tool2
• Codec3
• Tool4

While the hard way was done with:

• Program2
• Tool1
• Codec3
• Program3

Or something like that. I hope you got my point. (Also, not only the program but also what version of it.)

That said, by "creating" I mostly refers to "Avi" and "MPEG", while the guides seem to only cover "Avi" (DivX). I'm not just referring to "Avi" and "MPEG", but it's mostly them. Others would be ".asf" and ".rm" but like I said for now it's mostly "Avi" and "MPEG".

Someone else in the past who did something for me, used these. But I don't know how he did it.

• MS MPEG-4 Video v3 (MP43)
• MS MPEG-4 Video v3 (DIV3)
• MPEG-4 Video (DX50)
• MPEG-1/2 video (MPGV)

I would be okay with that to create videos using these codecs or similar to them that have been around during the mentioned timespan. Or just "MPEG", that's totally fine.
My comman sense told me that "DIV3" might be "DivX3", "DX50" = "DivX5" and "MP43" = "MPEG4 v3" (similar to "DivX3"). While a research confirmed this to me and also told me that "DX50"/"DivX5" was from 2005, which wouldn't fit in my requested timeline somehow.
Also an might important information. As source for this operation I'll use my DVDs.

I hope you get my point for asking. Thanks.

[GeoffreyA]

If 2001 is the period, I would say that the tools were Alberto Vigata's FlasKMPEG and Avery Lee's VirtualDub. Also, TMPGEnc. The codecs were DivX 3.11 Alpha, which was a hack of Microsoft MPEG-4 ASP v3, and LAME for MP3. For decrypting the DVDs, there was a command-line tool, I think decss.

If I remember correctly, DivX 4 started development in 2001. It began with the "Project Mayo" codebase, but there was some dispute, and DivX became the proprietary descendant, whereas Xvid the open-source one.

For my part, when I started encoding in 2004–5 as a teenager, inspired to encode The Lord of the Rings, I used DVD Decrypter, FlasKMPEG and later XMPEG, Azid, VirtualDub, DivX 5.21, and LAME ACM. I remember what a breakthrough it was, with The Two Towers, discovering the secret of two-pass encoding; and over the course of 2004, my last year of school, getting better and better tools; for example, Azid and LAME. Those were exciting times!

[Emulgator]

You may choose your reference videos and throw them on mediainfo.
This will tell you about container, codec, resolution, bitrate, anything.
Then you would start searching for the necessary software and apply the settings you just found.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_coding_format
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_codecs
https://api.video/blog/video-trends/...tarts-in-1929/

[Seth]

@Emulgator, I appreciate your help. The history of video compression is nice.

Originally Posted by GeoffreyA

If 2001 is the period, I would say that the tools were Alberto Vigata's FlasKMPEG and Avery Lee's VirtualDub. Also, TMPGEnc. The codecs were DivX 3.11 Alpha, which was a hack of Microsoft MPEG-4 ASP v3, and LAME for MP3. For decrypting the DVDs, there was a command-line tool, I think decss.

Thanks for your answer and your list(s).
I already came across the combination of FlasKMPEG and VirtualDub. But this was dated 2004 and I wasn't sure if there was maybe something else before them. But it seems that I was already on the right way. I also took a peek at FlasKMPEG. But it seems that out of the box and without additional software and codecs it's not the best choice.
I also heard of TMPGEnc, however the download link on this site was down and I forgot what problem I had with this one. Either it was because I couldn't find an old version of my said timespan (from a legit source) or maybe because the up-to-date version mentions "30 days limit".
As for DivX codec, 3.11 Alpha would also been my choice. I know that it was a Microsoft MPEG-4 hack, but I didn't know it was ASP v3.

Something I just wonder and forgot in my first post. But maybe this doesn't even make a difference in the result of the videos.
What was the most common OS that people used? Windows 9x because of its widespread, and best support? Or maybe Windows 2000 because it could natively handle large files? Or maybe even something else?
Also, I still have an old machine, would it make a difference in the result of the videos to use it, or is there no difference aside from the speed?

Does anyone else have something to contribute or are the things GeoffreyA listed

FlasKMPEG, VirtualDub, TMPGEnc, DivX 3.11 Alpha, LAME. For decrypting DVDs a command-line tool named decss.

are the authentic way to go?

[GeoffreyA]

You're welcome. Of course, I'm speaking from memory, and only started around 2004, so my dates might be off. I had an idea that FlasKMPEG was before 2004, but perhaps that's wrong. I remember in the DivX 3.11 readme that they were recommending FlasKMPEG at the time. It's not the best tool, but did work. The later XMPEG fork by a French student, whose name I forget, improved it but was buggy.

There was also DVD2AVI, a popular tool that I didn't use; and one can't omit the "harder" route of frame-serving, AviSynth, but again, I can't speak about dates or anything there. Other tools that now come to mind are GordianKnot, Avidemux, as well as BeSweet, Headac3he, and ac3dec on the audio side of things. I don't know if they were around in 2001.

Regarding the OS, I would imagine that 9x was popularly used. Windows 2000 was common on business computers; the disastrous Me was gaining a small bit of consumer share that year; and XP was coming out. If you've got an old machine, the difference will be speed.

[kempodragon]

I started encoding my ty captures right around that time. VirtualDub and Xvid were my goto tools. Avisynth was also part of my toolkit. I didn't start decrypting until much later, so I'm not really familiar with FlaskMpeg or Azid, though I do remember them being discussed here. My OS was Win 98, updating to 2K not long after.

[Thundik81]

http://www.doom9.org/Old_news/old_news.htm
> [and navigate through the months]
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/march.html
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/jan01.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/jan02.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/jan03.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january04.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january05.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january06.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january07.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january08.htm
https://www.doom9.org/Old_news/january09.htm

[Seth]

Originally Posted by GeoffreyA

...

Originally Posted by kempodragon

...

Thanks you two, I'll take your additional informations in consideration.

Originally Posted by Thundik81

...

I don't know and I don't remember if I saw them the first time when I was browsing the website. I probably did for sure. But since there were, for the same tasks, more than one program/tool I decided to asked. But I'll also take these in consideration. Thanks to you too.

[Selur]

FlasKMPEG was before 2004,

It definitely was.

[Katie Boundary]

Does it absolutely, positively need to be 2001 or earlier? Because you have access to a LOT more good stuff, including possibly the first stable release (?) of AVIsynth, if you go up to 2002. Anyway...

Windows XP
Smartripper 2.41
DVD2AVI 1.77.3
Adobe Premiere 6.0
Maybe AVIsynth 1.0 beta 7d or some fucking bullshit, I don't know, I can't find reliable release dates for any version prior to 2.0 (released 2002-07-03 according to Sourceforge)

For making AVI files -> Virtualdub 1.4.8 or earlier (version 1.4.9 was released in 2002), DivX 4.12 or earlier (5.0 was released in 2002), and LAME mp3
For making MPG files -> Tsunami MPEG Encoder, also known as TMPEGEnc
For making WMV files -> Windows Media Encoder 8 (WME 9 was released in 2002)
For making RM files -> RealProducer 8.5 (RealProducer 9.0 came out in, you guessed it, 2002)
For making ASF files -> I honestly have no idea where the fuck these came from
For making Quicktime files -> LOL get a Mac

Alternatively, if you hate yourself and your computer, and you want other people to hate themselves and their computers too, use Angelpotion instead of DivX.


(note: that was a joke. Do NOT use Angelpotion)

[GeoffreyA]

Originally Posted by Katie Boundary

For making ASF files -> I honestly have no idea where the fuck these came from
For making Quicktime files -> LOL get a Mac

Alternatively, if you hate yourself and your computer, and you want other people to hate themselves and their computers too, use Angelpotion instead of DivX.


(note: that was a joke. Do NOT use Angelpotion)

ASFs were likely produced in Microsoft software. Interestingly, VirtualDub had support for reading ASFs but Avery Lee was forced to disable it when Microsoft told him to desist. Nice, friendly corporation.

As for Angelpotion, I remember it.

Regarding LAME, luckily, 2001 was the year it hit critical mass of quality with 3.8x.

[Z2697]

ASF is the format of WMV/WMA

[GeoffreyA]

Originally Posted by Z2697

ASF is the format of WMV/WMA

I always thought of ASF as a terrible container, worse than AVI.

[Jamaika]

Originally Posted by Seth

That said, by "creating" I mostly refers to "Avi" and "MPEG", while the guides seem to only cover "Avi" (DivX). I'm not just referring to "Avi" and "MPEG", but it's mostly them. Others would be ".asf" and ".rm" but like I said for now it's mostly "Avi" and "MPEG".

AVI or MPEG? For me, this is a basic question. What does it remind me of, not historical facts?

AVI is one of the first video containers added to amateur cameras from the early 90s (size 320x240). In an era without the Internet and access to cameras, at least in Poland.

MPEG is associated with DVD movies. Today, it is very poor quality, sometimes interlaced, lacks detail and colors. Associated with the h263 codec. Its equivalent was the pirated Xvid, which was much better than DVD. Then x264 appeared and there was an interesting piracy conspiracy. Although it was a better codec, everyone still copied or stole video to xvid. What about divx? First a pirate, then a paid codec. Not very popular, even a troublesome codec.

Which website enjoyed great popularity over the years? https://codec.kyiv.ua/ I don't have to explain why, and programs like virtualdub and screen capture.

I'll just add that today, TV documentaries from the 90s are unwatchable. I call it ORWO quality, i.e. orange colors.

What more can be said. Fierce fight of editors with pirated avi audio ac3 codecs. Today there are no ac4 codecs available. Nobody uses avi x265. The cfhd codec has also become technologically backward. New codecs with better compression such as htjpeg2000, jpegxs and others have entered.

[Emulgator]

Here is an ubiquitous one: VP6 + MP3 in Flash

General
Complete name                            : R:\Dok_u_Set_Usuario\Configurações locais\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\0DYJ8XEF\174115[1].flv
Format                                   : Flash Video
File size                                : 11.8 MiB
Duration                                 : 3 min 25 s
Overall bit rate                         : 484 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 20.000 FPS
Tagging application                      : FlixEngineWindows_8.0.12.0 (www.on2.com)

Video
Format                                   : VP6
Codec ID                                 : 4
Duration                                 : 3 min 24 s
Bit rate                                 : 404 kb/s
Width                                    : 208 pixels
Height                                   : 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 20.000 FPS
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.607
Stream size                              : 10.1 MiB (85%)

Audio
Format                                   : MPEG Audio
Format version                           : Version 2
Format profile                           : Layer 3
Format settings                          : Joint stereo / MS Stereo
Codec ID                                 : 2
Codec ID/Hint                            : MP3
Duration                                 : 3 min 25 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 64.0 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 22.05 kHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.57 MiB (13%)
Writing library                          : LAME3.96.1

ReportBy                                 : MediaInfoLib - v24.11.1
CreatedOn                                : UTC 2025-04-18 10:24:40

That was encoded on Flix Engine 8.0.12.0 (Windows)
http://www.on2.com/

Google
On2 Technologies
Google acquired On2 Technologies and its video products and technology in February 2010.
The On2 products Flix Pro, Flix Standard, Flix Exporter, Flix PowerPlayers, Flix Live, Flix DirectShow SDK, Flix Publisher and Flix Engine are no longer for sale.

Or Sorenson + Shockwave in Flash

General
Complete name                            : R:\_Testfiles\antialiasingtest.flv
Format                                   : Flash Video
File size                                : 25.6 MiB
Duration                                 : 5 min 8 s
Overall bit rate                         : 696 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 30.000 FPS
Tagged date                              : 2010-09-08 17:33:30 UTC
Tagging application                      : inlet media FLVTool2 v1.0.6 - http://www.inlet-media.de/flvtool2

Video
Format                                   : Sorenson Spark
Codec ID                                 : 2
Duration                                 : 5 min 8 s
Bit rate                                 : 512 kb/s
Width                                    : 448 pixels
Height                                   : 336 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 30.000 FPS
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.113
Stream size                              : 18.9 MiB (74%)

Audio
Format                                   : ADPCM
Format settings                          : ShockWave
Codec ID                                 : 1
Duration                                 : 5 min 8 s
Bit rate                                 : 177 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 22.05 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 6.59 MiB (26%)

ReportBy                                 : MediaInfoLib - v24.11.1
CreatedOn                                : UTC 2025-04-18 10:35:40

More like 2000:

General
Complete name                            : R:\_Testfiles\sbs2000.RM
Format                                   : RealMedia
File size                                : 1.93 MiB
Duration                                 : 35 s 665 ms
Overall bit rate                         : 150 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 15.000 FPS
Movie name                               : "Side-by-side 2000"
Performer                                : Various
Copyright                                : ©2000 Conversion Only: www.nosferatu.com

Video
ID                                       : 8
Format                                   : RealVideo 2
Codec ID                                 : RV20
Codec ID/Info                            : Based on H.263, Real Player 6
Duration                                 : 34 s 266 ms
Bit rate                                 : 118 kb/s
Width                                    : 320 pixels
Height                                   : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate                               : 15.000 FPS
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.102
Stream size                              : 493 KiB (25%)

Audio
ID                                       : 6
Format                                   : Cooker
Codec ID                                 : cook
Codec ID/Info                            : Based on G.722.1, Real Player 6
Duration                                 : 35 s 665 ms
Bit rate                                 : 32.1 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 22.05 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 140 KiB (7%)

ReportBy                                 : MediaInfoLib - v24.11.1
CreatedOn                                : UTC 2025-04-18 10:41:04

[Katie Boundary]

Originally Posted by Z2697

ASF is the format of WMV/WMA

No, .wmv and .wma are the container formats of WMV/WMA

Originally Posted by Jamaika

MPEG is associated with DVD movies. Today, it is very poor quality, sometimes interlaced, lacks detail and colors

(1) Any codec can be interlaced

(2) Mpeg-1 and Mpeg-2 do NOT lack detail or color. They can lose detail if you set the bitrate too low, but that is true of any codec. There are no codecs that lose color as the bitrate decreases.

Originally Posted by Jamaika

What about divx? First a pirate, then a paid codec. Not very popular,

LOLWUT? DivX was EXTREMELY popular until XviD appeared.

Originally Posted by Jamaika

Which website enjoyed great popularity over the years? https://codec.kyiv.ua/ I don't have to explain why, and programs like virtualdub and screen capture.

That website may have been popular in Poland, but I guarantee that nobody who was born on the west side of the Iron Curtain has heard of it.

Originally Posted by Emulgator

Here is an ubiquitous one: VP6 + MP3 in Flash

Flash was always niche, used by extremely few people and websites. Youtube used it in their very early days back when they compressed everything to 240p, and there was Newgrounds, and stickdeath.com, and that one website that was the source of the "I'M CHARGIN MUH LASER" meme, but it wasn't like anyone was distributing pirated movies as .flv or .swf files.