DVD -> PC -> DVD

[ratzz]

Hi Guys,

My camcorder is a DVD type one that takes the small DVDR's.

My question is, what is the best way to rip the DVD to my PC so I can edit it, and then burn back to DVD?

What is the best file format for doing this? AVI, MPEG etc., and if any of you already do this, what software do you use.

Thanks all,
Ratzz

[shmokes]

Since you're not dealing with commercial videos, i.e., copy protected ones, just about any video editing software package will do.  Nero comes with an excellent suite of tools, and Roxio's isn't bad either.  Adobe Premier is excellent, but is probably overkill for the majority of users.  Also check out Windows Movie Maker that comes with XP (and Vista, presumably), or iDVD if you're using a MAC.  They may be able to do everything you need without even tracking down new software.

[Malenko]

the "best" format is prolly whatever format/codec you have on your system with the least about of compression

[ahofle]

Check out this wealth of knowledge:
http://www.videohelp.com

[Zero_Hour]

Some of the DVD camcorders use a proprietary format, that can be a real pain in the rear when bringing it into your PC. JVC camcorders for instance save as a .MOD file. I would find out what file extention your camera is saving in, and the google "Convert X to Y" where x is MOD, and y is the format you are looking to convert to (I would stick with MPEG if you are going to burn it back to DVD. There are a number of freeware converters out there, and may even be software included with your camera that can handle the task. (Apparently the tool JVC includes is less than perfect)

[boykster]

well, if you're looking to burn a normal dvd as the final product, mpeg-2 is where you need to end up.  If you camcorder records in native mpeg2, then stay with that format and don't introduce any additional compression.  If not, then see if there is software specific to your camcorder for transcoding the native format to mpeg2.

[Level42]

Hi Guys,

My camcorder is a DVD type one that takes the small DVDR's.

My question is, what is the best way to rip the DVD to my PC so I can edit it, and then burn back to DVD?

What is the best file format for doing this? AVI, MPEG etc., and if any of you already do this, what software do you use.

Thanks all,
Ratzz

A good and honest seller would have asked if you were going to do editing and then would have suggested to take a DV-tape camcorder or a harddisk based one.

Since the camera is compressing the video, your loosing quality. Then you import it into your PC, encode it again and loose quality again. DV format saves each frame without any compression.

Anyway, AVI is preferred over MPEG for editting.

[DrumAnBass]

I would give HandBrake a try: http://handbrake.fr/

[Blanka]

Handbrake is more for ipodding DVD's.
The best format to edit is DV. Visual hub can make this from a DVD.
@level42: DV compresses too, but much less. It uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_cosine_transform compression.

[ErikRuud]

Some of the DVD camcorders use a proprietary format, that can be a real pain in the rear when bringing it into your PC. JVC camcorders for instance save as a .MOD file. I would find out what file extention your camera is saving in, and the google "Convert X to Y" where x is MOD, and y is the format you are looking to convert to (I would stick with MPEG if you are going to burn it back to DVD. There are a number of freeware converters out there, and may even be software included with your camera that can handle the task. (Apparently the tool JVC includes is less than perfect)

Those .MOD files are really just MPEG files. 

[Level42]

Handbrake is more for ipodding DVD's.
The best format to edit is DV. Visual hub can make this from a DVD.
@level42: DV compresses too, but much less. It uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_cosine_transform compression.

I stand corrected. The fact is that there is no compression BETWEEN frames. So each frame is compressed and then stored. Whereas DVD compression (MPEG) takes a "first" frame and calculates the next x (often 15) frames from that first frame. That is what makes editing this format so hard.