[BTP]

First I am not asking for help for pirating a video. This is a private medical DVD produced by a doctor who gave me permission to copy it, "if you can".

I need to get about 20-30 minutes of footage from the DVD, but have no idea how to do it. I have searched the forums, but I don't have a clear idea of what to do and what software I need/where to get it.

I know there are VOB that need to be copied and seperated into audio and video. Things get fuzzy after that. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. I have to give the DVD back tomorrow, as he needs to lend it to other patients.

[climber]

Go over to www.arstechnia.com and search for DVDBackup.

[fulmer]

yeah, DVDBackup is a good one.

[tr]

Originally posted by climber:
Go over to www.arstechnia.com and search for DVDBackup.

that site seems to be down, and unfortunately, so is the OPUS downloads site. but you can find it here:

http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/download.html



tr

[BTP]

Thanks everyone. I tried it and it seems to lock up the computer, a first for me. I'll read the documentation and go from there.

Once I get the VOB file, what do I do to make it something editable? I don't want the whole thing, I just want an instructional part. What do I do and what tools are available in X?

[tr]

okay, i'm a bit rusty with this stuff, so bear with me


after you get a vob using DVDBackup, you'll have to extract the video and audio tracks from the vob. in 9, i used dvdextractor; i found a similar app in X:

http://denisx.dyndns.org/extractor/


run extractor on that vob, and then you'll get an .m2v and an .ac3


now you need more apps!


to process the .m2v, use MacMpeg2Decoder:

http://mm2d.sourceforge.net/

this will convert your .m2v into .mov

to process the .ac3, use mAC3dec 1.5.1 (Carbon):

http://www.geocities.com/hwit72/
(about 1/2 way down the page)

this will convert your .ac3 into .aif


now you have editable audio and video files. i usually drop both into FCP, sync them up, and export to QT. i think you can put them together in QT pro; open up the aif, and open video and then edit-->add scaled or something like that. i'm not really sure, never did it...maybe someone who uses this method can chime in with the proper procedure...?

like i said, i'm a bit rusty at this, and i'm trying to remember how to do this myself (have some dvd video to extract for work too), using OS X apps only.

so, everyone, feel free to correct me if i've said anything that's wrong!


tr

[MountainMac]

Go to www.vcdhelp.com for lots of information about ripping DVDs.

I think tr has the procedure right, but what I found when I tried to do it, it just took an unwieldy amount of time, technical expertise, and hard drive space for what I wanted. I'm sure it gets easier the more times you do it, but the first time it's a b*tch.

My recommended solution would be to get the video and audio into FCP or iMovie using a media converter (like a Sony Media Converter or a Dazzle Bridge--basically a piece of hardware that takes an analog input and outputs via FireWire), then edit and export like any other media in FCP (or iMovie). You can also use a DV camera or deck as a pass-through if you don't have access to a media converter.

Drawbacks: you are introducing one more generation of loss via an analog output, but, unless you have an HDTV, you are outputting from the DVD player to the monitor/projector/TV via an analog signal anyway. My opinion is that, if you use a good S-video cable and gold audio cables, the average person won't be able to tell the difference.

Advantages: It's done in real-time--it'll take 20 minutes to transfer 20 minutes of footage to your hard drive. It'll take up 1x as much space as the video clip (~4GB for 20 min; digitally takes at least 2x as much space, b/c you have to have the .m2v file on your hard drive and then convert it to a .mov file of approximately equal size). And I assume, though I could be wrong, that even when you rip from DVD and keep the source footage entirely digital, you're still losing quality and/or information through compressing and decompressing from .m2v to .mov.

I guess it all depends on what video hardware you have. If you don't have access to a media converter or a DV camera, that kind of takes this solution out of your hands.

If anyone else has strong disagreements with what I've said, I'm interested to hear other opinions. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get footage from DVD myself.

MM

[tr]

for the stuff that BTP is doing, i think going the ripping route is your best bet. you don't have to rip the whole DVD (which could take hours, depending on computer/DVD size). if you know the chapters or parts of the DVD that you specifically want, then you should just rip those segments. of course, if you're not familiar with the DVD, and don't know what parts of the video are in what chapters, then initially, it may take some time. it'll be a hit or miss situation, where you rip one chapter, convert it to QT, then view it to see if you got what you were looking for. but it shouldn't take you too long to figure out what you have to extract.

and you're right in using an A/D converter, that'll work, assuming you have a component DVD player. i don't have one, or a A/D converter for that matter, so the only way to get DVD content into my computer for editing is ripping. plus, when you have a DVD that you want to rip, it's kinda disconcerting to think that you have to hook up all this external equipment just to get footage that already exists in digital format right in front of you! i mean, all the data is right there, and we should be able to just copy it over...but unfortunately, you just can't do that, and it ends up being a tedious process.


tr