Converting DVD Footage for Editing

It is always best to start the editing process with the highest quality, least compressed video format you can obtain. However, sometimes the only source you have for footage is from a DVD*. But since DVD footage is highly compressed and specially formatted as VOB files in order to meet the DVD-Video specification, the files on the DVD must be converted if you plan to edit them in Final Cut.
There are many apps available for converting DVD footage, but it is extremely important that you use the right tool for doing this if you plan to edit the footage. Beware that some apps, like Handbrake, are not designed to convert to an editing format. Using the wrong app can mean wasted time, unneeded quality loss due to multiple conversions, needless rendering in FCP and just plain frustrating.
The two recommended apps for conversion to an editing format are DVDxDV and MPEG Streamclip.
DVDxDV – http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm
MPEG Streamclip – http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
Nick Holmes has prepared an excellent, step-by-step tutorial on how to do this using the freeware application MPEG Streamclip which can be found here: http://www.secondchairvideo.com/?p=739 (thanks, Nick!). Be sure to read both parts.
-DH
* always make sure you have proper rights and licensing from the copyright owner when using any footage other than your own. DVDxDV and MPEG Streamclip should not be used to convert footage from commercially released DVDs.

Welcome to the Forum.
Search is your friend. Surely you jest about "can't find it anywhere". Just scan the posts for the last week or so. Also, read the FCP manual about what format can be edited within FCP.

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Converting DVD footage for use in FCP

I'm sure that this has been asked before, but I can't find it anywhere. Is it possible to take footage from a dvd and edit it in final cut? I have several old projects from my days in television on DVD that I need to use. How is this possible. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the Forum.
Search is your friend. Surely you jest about "can't find it anywhere". Just scan the posts for the last week or so. Also, read the FCP manual about what format can be edited within FCP.

How to scan a hard copy to pdf that I can convert to word for editing?

I've got a HP deskjet 3050A and my operating system is Windows 7, how to scan a hard copy to pdf that I can convert to word for editing?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
The software provided for your device does not include OCR functionality
You may use any 3rd part OCR solution to scan as editable text.
If you have Microsoft Office suite there is a good chance the office suite provide this kind of capabilities:
Office 2007 or 2010:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14595/ocr-anything-with-onenote-2007-and-2010/
Office 2003:
http://agsci.psu.edu/it/how-to/perform-ocr-with-microsoft-office-2003-document-imaging
Regards,
Shlomi
Say thanks by clicking the Kudos thumb up in the post.
If my post resolve your problem please mark it as an Accepted Solution

Convert mts files for editing in Final Cut?

Is there a way to convert mts files for editing in Final Cut Express or Pro?

Well, first, if you are talking about AVCHD video, FCE & FCP can directly import it from your camcorder. They will also import AVCHD from an SD card or even your hard drive provided you have saved the entire AVCHD folder structure, not just the .mts files by themselves.
If you only have the .mts files (without the surrounding AVCHD folder strucutre) then you should be able to use MPEG Streamclip to convert them to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec for editiing in FCE. MPEG Streamclip is free and works great.
If that doesn't work, then look into ClipWrap, which has a $49.99 price tag.
This will work the same for converting .mts files to ProRes assuming you already have FCP installed, which gives you the ProRes codec.
FCE & FCP do not, however, directly import video from DSLRs because the camera manufacturers have each done some proprietary stuff in their implementation of video in their DSLRs. However, if you have a Canon DSLR & FCP (that is, FCP 7) there is a Canon EOS video plugin that will enable you import the video directly from the DSLR into FCP7. Not sure it's supported on Lion (10.7.x) just yet, but if you have a Canon DSLR it's worth a look.

I am using 4K Footages for editing in Premiere pro CC 2014, but its getting crash in between at every 15 to 20 mins. Kindly suggest how can it be solved, does any plugins or settings needed to edit 4K footages? Also would like to mention that footages fra

I am using 4K Footages for editing in Premiere pro CC 2014, but its getting crash in between at every 15 to 20 mins. Kindly suggest how can it be solved, does any plugins or settings needed to edit 4K footages? Also would like to mention that footages frame rates are 29.97 and i have set timeline to 25 FPS is requirement by client. kindly revert. Thanks

Thanks Richarad ..It has solved the problem but still crashes some times .As the programme has the break (bumper)after every five minutes ,i hope it will not compress bumper time too after export.

Converting dvd footage into Premiere

Hi everyone, I have a question and I really need helpp with this. I have the CS6 Mater Suite and I want to use dvd footage from films for use in doing film reviews. I know the tools are here somewhere, but I need help with ow to transfer the dvd to be able to edit it into clips for my reviews. Please, please help me with this. Thanks.
John

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1407938?tstart=0 may help
I do NOT know if that discussion will help with copy protected commercial discs

Options for converting '.vob' files for editing in PP Pro CS3...

Hi,
I'm using PP Pro CS3 (Windows) and I have a few projects here where the source material are '.vob' files only.
Now because PP Pro doesn't support that file format, I'm looking for options to convert this footage to a format - suitable for editing in PP Pro CS3 - that does NOT explode in file size.
Converting to uncompressed .avi is up 20 times the file size, DV .avi is about 5-10 times the file size.
Here are the options I've tried so far:
1. importing '.vob' files straight into PP via the Avisynth method
--> works, but PP crashes randomly and it always crashes when rendering more than 2-3 min
--> all my system drivers are up to date
2. renaming to .mpg or .avi
--> works for some files (only) but you get random red frames in your footage
3. converting to mpeg-2 via...
a. Carbon Coder - best quality so far - looks like original
b. Premiere Elements 4 - no de-interlacing option, takes way too long, quality worse than original
c. MPEGStreamclip - no options selectable, quality is worse than original
4. converting to 'DV avi' via...
Carbon Coder - PE 4 - MPEGStreamclip - VirtualDubMod
--> file size explodes (5-10 times of the original .vob file), quality looks on all kinda the same and NOT better than the mpeg-2 output from Carbon Coder - that's why I don't wanna take the storage hit...
Are there any other methods or ways to convert '.vob' files to a suitable editing format (with a reasonable file size) ?
Thanx for your help !
Mike

Take the storage hit and be done with it. Hard drives are cheap these days. Editing takes lots of space. Might as well get used to it.

Converting H.264 for Editing in Premiere Elements 9

Hi!
What is the best way to convert my MOV H.264 files off my Canon T2i for editing in premiere. I've heard several people say that H.264 is NOT an editing codec, and it seems to be true. I am editing a shoot with the files directly off the camera and IT IS SLOW! When you go to export in Premiere it says that AVI files are what you should use for editing in Premiere, but my problem is that I don't know which is the best codec and quality to use. I want Full HD but I'm not sure how to transcode without losing quality. Any suggestions? Please help! Thanks.

Unfortunately, video from the Rebel series isn't supported natively in Premiere Elements 9. (Though it's worth a try. Have you tried one of the DSLR presets that matches your video's resolution?)
The BEST solution is to convert the video to a 1440x1080 MPEG/M2T using Quicktime Pro ($29 from Apple). 1440x1080, as you probably know, is the anamorphic version of 1920x1080, so it is the same resolution.
A 1440x1080 MPEG/M2T video should work perfectly with Premiere Elements' HDV project preset.
Remember: The test to see if you're using the ideal preset is that, when you add the video to your timeline, it will appear without a red line above it.
If you are seeing no red lines above your video but your video editing is still slow, it is most likely an indicator that your computer is not powerful enough to edit hi-def video or that it is not properly tuned.
If you're interested, there are much more detailed explanations for all of this in my books, available on Amazon and at Muvipix.com.

Whats the best/fastest format to convert avchd to, for edit purposes?

Whats best format to convert 1920/1080 avchd to, for editing purposes?
I tryed converting to HDV but didnt like the quality. I then tryed to convert the raw avchd files to mpeg2 @ 35 mbps. That is much cleaner but renders slow...about 1-1 ratio.
Looking for a codec that is fast to convert to & clean.
I have aPC, Win 7, 6 core, 32 gig ram,Raid 0, fast cuda card ect...

AVCHD has the same data rate as DV, so shuttling that fast will not be a disk problem, even from a single drive, let alone a RAID 0. If it stutters, it's a CPU thing.
Conversion to any other format is going to expand the data rate significantly, requiring your RAID to work harder. Though the CPU will likely work less, so that could fix the stuttering.
You can always add all the clips to a sequence, and then add that sequence to the Source Monitor for editing as if it were one long clip.
Having said all that, if you still feel the need to convert then I recommend the free and lossless UT codec. You can export out the combined clips right from PP, and the new media will not suffer any quality loss due to conversion.

DVD Footage for FCP Edit - how to tell if NTSC or PAL?!

Hi all, apologies if this seems like a stupid request but I have a job at the moment calling for me to extract footage from a DVD, edit in FCP, add a few bits from Motion etc., but I can't work out if the DVD is NTSC or PAL!
I intend to extract the video (no issues with copyright) via DVDxDVPro but am unsure if the DVD has been encoded in NTSC or PAL. The footage it contains is from both the States (NTSC) and South Africa (PAL) so how do I tell? I don't want to go through a standards conversion if I can help it.
I am keen to try to retain as much quality as possible (client can't provide tape) so also any thougts on the best output from DVDxDVPRo for FCP editing?
Thanks all,
Best wishes
Michael

Hi Thomas, that's it!
Thanks for this - it clearly shows the TV standard and the resolution plus 4:3 etc., so everything I needed for confirmation.
Glad I cheked because it was in Pal - thought the conversion in DVDxDVPro looked a bit ropey.
This realy baffled me - seemed so simple but couldn't find a way to tell the standard. Learn something everyday...
I am using DVCPro for export from DVDxDVPro - anyone thoughts on a better option?
Thanks again for the answer - and so quick on a Sunday too!
Kind regards
Michael

Best workflow for converting HD footage for broadcast?

I've been banging around the forums for a while tonight looking for someone who's been down this road before, but to no avail. Here goes...
We shoot a weekly "Top 20" show using a Sony XDCAM EX-1 @ 1080p. It's a Top 20 video countdown show, which means that along with my footage (a DJ in a studio as your Top 20 host), I incorporate graphics and music videos ripped from DVD's. The final product from all of this winds up on a local cable channel, which broadcasts SD.
I use the Sony XDCAM Xfer software to convert the data from the SxS card to QT files. (So far, so good.) I open up FCP and place these files into my project. Once I drag one of these clips into my timeline, I'm asked by FCP if I want to change the sequence settings to match the clip I'm putting onto the timeline. I answer "No" (because I've preset the FCP sequence settings to 720x480, since the cable channel broadcasts in SD. Could this be where I'm screwing up?) I bring everything into the timeline (including the ripped videos) and get everything edited nice and tight. But wait...
I've been staring at my Mac monitor this whole time. When I play the project back and look at it using the broadcast monitor, well...it looks sorta sick. Certainly not what I would expect from HD-to-SD footage. Everything looks pixelated and sorta blurry. If it looks this way in the studio, you can imagine what it looks like when it airs on TV. It's not pleasing to the eye.
I would ask about what the best way is to deliver a show like this to a cable channel, but since the stuff on my broadcast monitor looks so crappy, the problem's gotta be home-grown. What am I leaving out?

If you know you are going SD why film in HD at all?
Its not like you are going to be re-airing your shows down the road in HD,
Most likely, the video's you are ripping from DVD are not HD either...
Depending on the deck you are exporting your show to, some of them have a down convert feature, mine does Sony HVR-M25U.
I have a weekly show I do, but I do it all in SD until the channels it broadcasts on will take HD footage.
Though if I am doing a commercial, I usually shoot it HD and leave it HD

Best codec for DVD export for editing

If I want to burn DVDs for a client who will want to edit the footage later, what's the best codec for that?

What editing application will they be editing with?
DVD's aren't the best archival solution. They hold 4.7GB of info, and that is like 20 min of DV quality footage. Forget about HD quality...Oh, unless you use HDV. That's the same data rate
Shane

Converting DVD-r for use in FCE

I have video on DVCPro, which I plan to burn to DVD-r, so that I can edit it in Final Cut Express. Will this work? If so, how?
P.S. I've already downloaded MPEG Streamclip 1.8 (as suggested on another post discussion), but I'm not sure it will do the trick since it didn't say the person started the process with DVD-r.
Help please...deadline looming!!

Yeah, you are right, but the camera and FCE aren't in the same place, and can't be. UGH!
I think my answer lies within your initial question ("Are you burning the raw DVCPRO file to a DVD-r or are you converting your video and burning it as a playable DVD?") Problem is, I have no idea how to anwer this! Sorry I'm so clueless. I think I may have to go back into work, so that I can properly explain the setup to you...but being ever optimistic, I will rudimentarily explain it now, and maybe maybe you'll know what the heck I'm talking about. Ok...I was told all I have to do is pop the DVC Pro tape into the deck, make sure the 'DVD' button is pressed on this thin, silver, shiny machine to the right of it, press play on the deck, press record on the shiny machine. Pathetic, I know...
Thanks for your patience.

Convert 1080/60p for edit and playback

hello guyz im kinda stuck i did footage in 1080/60p on a Panasonic TM700 i didnt research to see if there were any prob i have a imac i3 4GB 1TB and FCP7 so i made a custom setting i imported the footage with clikwrap with no alteration but when i try to edit it keep telling me frames were dropped over and over and its annoying so ive been reading ill have to converted to 60i anyway for playback on blu ray, can any one tell me how i convert all the footage i have (i dont have the mts folder anymore) so i can easily edit and can be playback on blu ray? its kinda urgent, thanks !

Yes, that's the correct setting for "normal" high definition video shot at 30fps though I think we may all be getting a bit confused.
If you want to see what FCP X can do, download the 30 DAY FREE TRIAL from here:-
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/trial/
Then to learn how to use it in the shortest possible time download these 2 hours of FREE VIDEO TUTORIALS:-
http://www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro-x-tutorial/
So within 30 minutes of reading this post you could have FCP X sitting on your desktop and be starting to edit with it . . . and all without spending a penny!
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

Why doesn't my Macbook OS X 10.6.8 support quicktime? Or convert these videos for editing on my iMovie application?

So, once again, my mac has got me frustrated. Why can my mother edit quicktime videos on her PC? I can't do that with my Mac! I took a video with my camera and it opens with quicktime, but I can't do anything after that, I heard I need some type of converter, is this true? That's annoying to me because that's thirty dollars that shouldn't have to be spent for this type of thing. There should be another way of handling this. It's quite frustrating, and if someone could help me understand this, then awesome. Thank you.
I would also like to encourage nice commentary please if you choose to answer, thank you!
-Alicia

If you don't get an answer here, you may want to post your question in the iMovie discussion here.

Converting DVD Footage for Editing

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