Help with burning and editing DVD's with ibook G4

[housewife101]

I have never posted a vanity thread before or something so "off topic." But I am desperate and need help. My husband is going crazy trying to figure this out, and I am following him! :-)

My husband has a 45 minute video that he made. He wants to put this DVD on his computer(an ibook G4),edit it, and then put it into mpeg4 to upload on our churches website. The only editing he wants to do is put an intro and an exit. It is a church service video.

I don't know anything about this sort of thing, but any answers I will print for my hubby. Some questions.

**Does he need another program besides what came with the computer (imovie,iDVD,Quicktime)?

**Is there something he can download to make it easier?

**How much time should he expect it to take?

If you can PLEASE help us, we would GREATLy appreciate any advice.

[housewife101]

Ok...I have another question from my husband. Can he use a video capture device( 3 rca to USB) to put the DVD from a DVD player on the computer into iMovie? If this will work, it appears this is going to be the fastest and easiest way. Please let me know your thoughts.

[Senator Bedfellow]

Quick question - is this DVD one that your husband made himself, or that someone made for him? That is, is it a homemade DVD, not a commercially produced one? Because if it is, you should be able to skip the whole ripping step and just copy the files on the DVD straight to the computer, then use Handbrake to mux the files together into a format that iMovie can use.

To answer your question, sure, you can do that - the only thing is, you'll lose some quality in the process, because the capture unit will be compressing the video all over again. Basically, the DVD is MPEG-2 compressed video, which goes out to the analog outputs of your DVD player, and into the capture device, which compresses that video, usually back to MPEG-2, although some capture devices can output DiVX or MPEG-4.

MPEG formats are not the best editing formats due to the compression, but at this point, if that's the easiest way to do it, then I'd say go for it - we're not making Hollywood movies, and the results should at least be acceptable. Anyway, if you decide to go that route, set your capture card to save the files with as high of a btirate as you can, to minimize the generational loss. Even if it comes out too big to fit back on the DVD, you're going to recompress anyway after you add the titles and what-have-you, in order to make the new DVD.

[Senator Bedfellow]

On a side note, I'm really, really surprised that iMovie won't simply let you import non-copy-protected DVDs directly. Like I said before, MPEG files are not the best choice for editing because of the compression issues, but sometimes that's all you have to work with. Even low end apps on the Windows side, like Ulead Videostudio and Pinnacle's Studio Plus, will let you do that, sad to say, not to mention higher-end apps like Premiere and Vegas Video.

[housewife101]

This is a DVD burned at our church so it is a "homemade" movie. We have been unable to put the files directly onto the computer. We did rip the files with Mac the Ripper, as someone suggested, but they weren't compatible with iMovie. My husband downloaded Handbrake, but it was going to take over two hours and he didn't want to do it that way.( Time is money for him! :-) And he isn't exactly the most patient person!)

If we wanted to copy the files straight to the computer from the DVD-how do we go about doing that? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but my husband isn't home right now so I am trying to get as much info as I can for him while he is working. He would know if it is a stupid question or not! :-) I use a PC, have always used a PC, and I am hoping he lets me keep my PC! :-)

He figures any way he does it-since he wants it for the web-he will lose some quality. Do you know if video capture devices made for PC's work with Mac's. I know the software won't be compatible, but we are wondering if the Hardware will be. I guess the only video capture device available for Mac is XLR8 Interview 3.0, and I noticed it is on backorder.

Thanks for your reply

Sincerely, MAC Ignorant :-)

[housewife101]

Yep, we have decided we HAVE to run a camera directly into the computer next time. However, these are of a missionary to Nicaragua, and he won't be back for a while! :-)

[Prince Charles]

Can he use a video capture device( 3 rca to USB) to put the DVD from a DVD player on the computer into iMovie?

Yes, that will be just like capturing a video into iMovie. If you have a DV camcorder that allows "Line In" recording, you can also just patch the camcorder in between the DVD player and the computer. That will convert the signal to digital; you can then connect the camcorder to the Mac and use iMovie to record the signal. Otherwise several kinds of devices such as a DV Bridge will do the analog to digital conversion for you.

[Prince Charles]

Are those free applications on the Windows side? If we're talking about shareware or commercial solutions, then there are indeed similar products on the Mac side, i.e. DVDxDV, XRay Video, XTractor, Cinematize, etc.

[Senator Bedfellow]

iMovie is free, if you ignore the Mac you have to pay for to get it "free". Windows Movie Maker can't directly import DVDs either, but I would hope iMovie is a bit better than that ;)

[Prince Charles]

The PC isn't free either; so then, don't compare apples to oranges. ;-)

[Senator Bedfellow]

My point exactly - I'd hope that the one "free" solution is better than the other "free" solution :)

[Sunnyflorida]

Go to versiontracker.com. Get a copy of Handbrake. It converts DVD format into a format that iMovie can use. It is very simple and very reliable.

Then open iMovie and import the file created by hand break. There is your movie. Edit, add or delete scenes, titles music what ever. Save, close, then open iDVD and import the iMovie you made. You can also "share" the movie to Quicktime.

This is all very easy.

There is the really interesting movie called Momento. It was shot the way a movie would normally be done in chronological order with a flash back or two. But because the central character had a head injury which messed up his short term memory, the direct recut it to put you into the character's frame of mind. It is a very interesting movie. Slate.com has a story on the how to actually put the movie back in chronological sequence. I used Handbrake, iMovie, and iDVD to re-edit. These tools are great.

[housewife101]

Yeah, my husband started this process, but as I said. It said it was going to take about two hours, and he didn't want to take that long ( we have several of these DVD's). He isn't a patient man! :-)

So I think he has decided to use a video capture device which will be faster.

Thanks for the post.

[Sunnyflorida]

Just curious. I thought you said the DVD movie was one hour long. How is two hours for a highend convertion THAT slow. Handbrake tends to over estimate the time on my G4 iBook. What is he using for "video capture"?