CAN YOU RIP FROM DVD DISC and then edit footage ?

kathmandu · #1 (**permalink**) 12-06-2004, 11:14 AM

Might be a dumb question, in which case I apologize in advance...
Need to transfer some of my Hi 8 home movies into computer for editing. I had been intending to transfer whole lock stock onto DVD discs through Jessops or similar anyway for archiving. So is it technically possible to then 'rip' certain bits from these said DVD disc onto the computer HD and then do my edits ? Or is this a silly completely ridiculous idea ?

Or should I purchase a PCD video capture card and do it that way ? If so, any advice on a good make for less than £50.

My computer spec as follows :-

Athlon xp2800
1 gig ram
120gig hard drive
Pinnacle Studio 9plus (no it didn't come with a card, a gift)

Hope you can help.
Thanks

kathmandu · #2 (**permalink**) 12-06-2004, 11:15 AM

above typo error ....shld have read - PCI card....

Marc Peters · #3 (**permalink**) 12-06-2004, 12:36 PM

You can tranfer from DVD to computer, but its a fairly long process which will involve conversion. How many hours of video are we talking about? I can transfer and edit for a reasonable price...

kathmandu · #4 (**permalink**) 12-06-2004, 02:03 PM

Hello
Analysed what I need to do, and I think having an unedited version on DVD is too complicated, I need only little snippets here and there to go onto the computer. Is it possible to play the DVD and record onto HD only the bits I need, or do you have to convert whole DVD ?

THanks

Marc Peters · #5 (**permalink**) 12-06-2004, 02:29 PM

You can convert those bits you need only.

kathmandu · #6 (**permalink**) 12-07-2004, 11:29 PM

Hi
THanks again for reply, so to summarize (!)

So just to summarize that means that I can play the dvd's on my computer and pick and choose which bits I want to actually save onto the hard drive for eventual editing in Pinnacle Version 9. Am I right ?

Software to convert the DVD format into editable format on computer - is that expensive ? or is that a freebie ?

Using either of the following methods - which would produce the best results.

Alternate 1.
hi 8 - TV PVR PCI card (£40) - computer - pinnacle studio plus vers9 - dvd
Alternat 2.
hi 8 - DVD (by standalone DVD recorder) - computer - pinnacle studio plus ver9 - dvd

We are only talking 30 sec - 2 min snippets of video at a time.

Sorry for all questions, whenever I do a search, I seem to come up against conflicting evidence.
THanks for your time !

Marc Peters · #7 (**permalink**) 12-08-2004, 06:13 AM

The two methods above will both achieve adequate results; both are less desirable than a dedicated analogue to digital convertor.

Method 1: success depends on the overall specs of your PC. Has the advantage of transferring direct to an editable format, but the disadvantage of the likelyhood of dropped frames and poor to medium quality capture at a low resolution depening on the specs of your PC; may be complicated to set up for someone not computer literate.

Medthod 2: Involves converting to a lossy format first, then converting to a less. For best results, it would be best to RIP the whole DVD to your harddrive. You will end up with a series of VOB files. These will need to be converted to a less lossy format for easy editing. You can use a programme like FlaskMPEG to scroll through the video and mark an "in" and "out" point. You can then convert the video between these points to say DV AVI. You can repeat this process to build up a series of short clips for editing. Alternatively you could buy a native MPEG editor such as http://www.womble.com/download.htm

I would not recommend either method above a dedicate analigue to digital convertor at around the £200 mark. As I say, it would be more cost effective to get the editing and transfer done professionally. You can provide the original tape and specify the parts (via the times) of the bits you want converted and then have this professionally edited. It is likely this will cost less than the cost of the new parts and software for your PC.

kathmandu · #8 (**permalink**) 12-08-2004, 09:07 AM

Hi
I appreciate your time in answering my questions ! I understand and agree totally with what you say. I may have to re-think the whole budget.

I know my questions regarding video etc. that I know nothing about probably make me look computer illiterate, but actually I am not ! Have fitted loads of PCI cards / hard drives / cd-roms etc. etc., on my and friends / work computers over the years, so know all the ins and outs involved etc.

The whole video thing for me is an extension of my favourite pastime when the children are in bed which is fiddling around with my digital photos, now I have a digital camera which has good res. video on it so am starting to make DVD presentations using Pinnacle Studio 9, and this ineveitably led me to wanting to transfer my old Hi 8 footage. The fun for me is finding the snippets I want and transferring them etc., there are literally 100's ! So is not something that I would send out to do, the fun is for me doing it.

I suppose it doesn't have to be top quality, because these are only fun presentations interspersed with photos and titles etc., the original footage will remain on Hi8 and on DVD for direct viewing.

Bearing that in mind, one last question just to completely clarify all. Forget any editing etc., if I just want to transfer the whole lot to DVD, am I right in sayting that doing it via a standalone DV recorder (ie. playing it on the VHS machine and recording direct to the DV recorder) would be same quality as if it was sent away to be done, or if done via AV/DV convertor then firewire into computer then burnt to DVD.

Thanks.

Marc Peters · #9 (**permalink**) 12-08-2004, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Bearing that in mind, one last question just to completely clarify all. Forget any editing etc., if I just want to transfer the whole lot to DVD, am I right in sayting that doing it via a standalone DV recorder (ie. playing it on the VHS machine and recording direct to the DV recorder) would be same quality as if it was sent away to be done, or if done via AV/DV convertor then firewire into computer then burnt to DVD

The quality of the DVD from a DVD recorder will be reliant on the quality of the encoding process used. I have never seen a disc created in this way and due to the very nature of DVD creation, not all recorders will be created equally. The same goes for sending it away to be done or even converting it yourself.

I wouldn't like to say what gives the best quality. What are the specs of your machine and how much can you spend on encoding software?

kathmandu · #10 (**permalink**) 12-08-2004, 06:20 PM

Hi

computer specs:-

athlon xp 2800
120gig hd
1gig ram

No budget !!

Don't want to spend more than £50-£60 on a card.

I have Pinnacle studio 9plus already - so don't need anymore software, am happy with results from that.

All this just started on a whim. All I was ever going to do, was eventually buy a DVD recorder and transfer all my Hi 8 onto DVDs for archiving. Never thought of doing it via computer until I started making these photo/video presentations recently from my Dig camera using Studio 9.

So is there a semi decent video capture card for this money, without going the expensive av/dv firewire route.

I find loads of TV PVR cards up to £50 - £80 but don't know if that extra money is all the gadgets for Tv viewing such as tltxt time shift etc. that make the price higher or if it is the quality of the actual chip on the board that records the video.

I see Pinnacle do a AV/DB V9 PCI FIREWIRE AND ANALOGUE CAPTURE CARD - for £88 - but presume that half of this price is the software (my gifted Pinn Vers 9 software was £42) and the other half just a cheap TV card. Am I right or is this card more superior to the run of the mill TV cards? If it is better then what is the equivalent without the software that bumps up the price.

Gosh, all these questions, wish I hadnt gone down this route now !

Thanks fo ryour help.