I was wondering what is the best way to get video out of a dvd, for editing reasons. I've used a couple small programs, but there must be better ways, because the loss of quality is too high.
Cheers.

If its a non copyrighted file then simple take the .vob file from the dvd and put it on your computer. You then can use just about any NLE or even VirtualDub Mpeg-2 to convert the file to avi or another format.

If its a non copyrighted file then simple take the .vob file from the dvd and put it on your computer. You then can use just about any NLE or even VirtualDub Mpeg-2 to convert the file to avi or another format.


Often the audio is interlaced in a weird way that you wont get any audio.

And it doesnt matter if its copyrighted, I know i've read that all DVDs and Intelligent properties are allowed one backup.

So, as long as you're not distributing it, I will tell you to get "dvd shrink"

its free and it works great. It will even take a 8gig file and reduce it to half with almost no quality lost that can fit on a 4.7 disc.

http://www.downloadfreesoft.com/dvdshrink/ <---- source!

Cheers, and to just let you know, its an old short of ours, not any commercial dvd or anything like that :)

I opened the dvd up, and all i can get is still vob files from dvd shrink? What am i doing wrong here?

I opened the dvd up, and all i can get is still vob files from dvd shrink? What am i doing wrong here?


I dont know. How are you doing this? I may have an older DVD Shrink that works differently then yours.

All I do is this...


Click "Open Disc" and it will have a popup that asks for which disc/drive. Chose that drive.It will begin the Analizing of your home movie on your disc. once it analizes it, You then click "Backup". it has options to adjust the percentage size of DATA. you can go all the way up to 100% if you have a double layer burning. It also has a "Pass" option. If you only do a single pass, it wont be very good quality. So even though I shrink some of my home movies, I have the option to do a full burn.

If your DVD movie is high definition or you want to backup 1 disc of your purchased video, you should invest in a double layer DVD. I have 3 DVD for my new double layer burner but I havnt used them yet. I need to make this HD video first. it takes forever to render HD :(

PS, You dont have to save your videos to a disc. You can store them on your Hard Drive.

i open the disk, select the drive, analize, then back it up on the hard drive. The result is the video/audio files with the vob, etc files?

i open the disk, select the drive, analize, then back it up on the hard drive. The result is the video/audio files with the vob, etc files?


Im not really following what problem you're having. Maybe the disc is messed up. You should have exactly the same directories as is on the DVD

The main directory with the name of the disc and a VIDEO and AUDIO directory. Notice there is nothing in the AUDIO folder. I guess they're hidden or the audio is somehow placed on the vob files.

Now, if you mean you want to edit a vob file, You have to use another software. One that is called "Imtoo DVD ripper" or "Smart Ripper". I think the Smart Ripper is free. Im pretty sure the older version was. Imtoo isnt. It cost money.

But ImToo is a piece of crud. The Smart Ripper is pretty good. It will take the Vob file and make it into an mpeg or avi. You can adjust the resolution size and output and codecs. I'de stick with that.

Now, before you go download smart ripper, go check out the Video folder. Change the name of the vob format to "mpg". I have done that before and sometimes the audio loads up in vegas and sometimes it doesnt. It just depends on how the audio is layered.

oh, yeah i see where the problem is. i should of made it more clear, i was/am getting the vob files out with the audio/video files, but need them in mpeg/avi form to edit, so ill try changing the name. So smart ripper is the best if the name change doesnt work? I really dont want to lose quality here, so if theres a program that is better than the ones you have mentioned but costs money, can ya please let me know :) Cheers.

I had it reverse. and both work good but do different things. the Smart Ripper is like Shrink DVD only it takes longer.

I have to explain how these two softwares work for me. The Smart Ripper just does what Shrink DVD does only Shrink DVD does a better job of it. So just forget getting smart ripper.

then if you have a friend who owns ImToo, have him import the VOB file and it will then render it into an Mpeg or AVI file. you have lots of settings you can play with. but Im pretty sure it will lose small amounts of quality. Im not sure if it will be noticable by the average person but you know how sensitive you become after editing movies over time. You can pick out all kinds of stuff.

Hey King, i changed the file to a mpg and it works. No need for any rendering :) Cheers a whole lot!

Hey King, i changed the file to a mpg and it works. No need for any rendering :) Cheers a whole lot!


you're lucky then. Sometimes the audio portion doesnt work. Good luck with your project. at least you know you wont lose any quality.

Yea, dont have to render it, thats great! Cheers again!

One of the best tools I've found.. buggy though it is, is FlaskMPEG (which can be easily found over at videohelp.com (http://www.videohelp.com)) If you use it, and have the drive space, I reccommend saving as uncompressed AVI.. I was helping a buddy with a doc project a while back and we ripped some Public Domain footage of WWII .. the uncompressed footage FLask spat out ended up looking better than the dvd origination footage.. if that's possible, or easy to comprehend. It was slow, but good. (note, the program does like to crash though.. it's .. finicky)

...I think I may attempt to do this with one of my doc shorts, I'm glad I found this thread.

However my question is: What exactly is an AVI file?

-- spinner :cool:

Cheers Will, ill check it out too!

avi is just a "video clip". Higher quality. Well i hope so, it takes up more space than the others :)

AVI is a 'container' just like MOV on the mac... which means, that various codecs can be applied to the video within it, so.. just because it's an AVI doesn't mean it's BIGGER...

You could do an Xvid, or Divx encode and save as an avi.. and it would be smaller.. ;)

AVI stands for 'Audio Video Interleave' .. it is the standard format for a PC.

By the way, This (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=FlaskMPEG) is the direct link for FlaskMPEG.. and I believe it is only available for the PC.. but there may well be a similar Mac program..

Mac users rejoice.. here's YOUR tool:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVDxDV

(or click here (http://www.dvdxdv.com/DVDxDV.overview.htm) for the tool's main site..)

ohhh, now i feel dumb :(

Cheers oh wise one Will :)

;) no worries.. it's not the kind of thing most people TOTALLY have their head around.. in essence, you are right. it is a video clip. ;)

Cheers for that, now i feel less dumb ;)

less dumb is good. :)

:lol:

AVI is a 'container' just like MOV on the mac... which means, that various codecs can be applied to the video within it, so.. just because it's an AVI doesn't mean it's BIGGER...

You could do an Xvid, or Divx encode and save as an avi.. and it would be smaller.. ;)

AVI stands for 'Audio Video Interleave' .. it is the standard format for a PC.

By the way, This (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=FlaskMPEG) is the direct link for FlaskMPEG.. and I believe it is only available for the PC.. but there may well be a similar Mac program..

Thanks, Will. Problem is I don't have enough time in the day. Hopefully this weekend I can actually sit down and figure out how to get my stuff online....

-- spinner :cool: