Help Copying and Trimming a Video

[mommiegeek]

I go into this saying I am a complete newbie at video editing of any sort. I am computer literate, but known nothing about video, so please talk to me as though I am a five years old. You have my permission.

Here is what I want to achieve: my daughter was in a skating competition. The video company there provides the video with no copyright restrictions. The problem is the video (on DVD) contains all of the girls competing on the same level as my daughter in that event. Her father and I ONLY want the segment that includes our daughter, and another segment that includes her best friend.

I know this will probably be a several step process, but here is what I want to know:

How do I get the video from the DVD to my computer. I used Handbrake, but Windows Media Player won't play the file with sound. I had to use high definition because otherwise the skater(s) looked pixelated and choppy. Is this file still usable or should I try something else?

Next, how do I trim the video so that it only shows my daughter, and then her friend? I tried avidemux but it was not user friendly for a newbie at all, and there was no general, first starting out tutorial. I could figure out how to trim the video but not the proper formats to save the output file in that would actually play in Windows Media Player, or Quicktime. (In Media Player, it just comes up with a black screen and doesn't play, though the file shows a length of 1:45 minutes, and in Quicktime, it said it needed a codex.) I didn't try any other media players.

Thanks in advance!

[jagabo]

Open the VOB file(s) with Mpg2Cut2. Mark the segment you want to keep. The program has an ugly user interface, "[" is marks the start point, "]" marks the end point. Use File -> Save This Clip to export it as an MPG file. Do that for both parts you want to keep. Author a new DVD form those MPG clips -- if you want a DVD.

[Baldrick]

Or buy tmpgenc smart renderer if you are going to edit several dvds.

[mommiegeek]

I was finally able to download the software and try this. Unfortunately, I get a clip that is 3 seconds long as opposed to more than 1 minute. I have it clipped at the beginning and the end, and I even watched the preview before saving it.

Advice?

If it helps, here are the files on the DVD:

VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VIDEO_TS.VOB
VTS_01_0.BUP
vTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB


I chose the VTS_01_1.VOB because it is the largest, has the longest duration, and when I opened it in Mpg2Cut2, it played video and sound of the bulk of the skaters.

[jagabo]

How big is the saved file? Similar in size to the VOB? Or is it a tiny little thing? It might be that time codes within the VOB (and propogated to the MPG) cause the player to think the video is over even though there is lots more in the file. In mpg2cut2 watch the HH:MM:SS display as you scrub through the video. Does it increment continuously or does it reset to zero several times. I think the program also dings when the time code is reset. If it resets mark-in and mark-out segments without crossing the time code discontinuity. Then save that clip. The whole clip should play.

[mommiegeek]

The clipped video is 141,435KB.

It resets to 0 many times during the playback. I stopped counting around the 20th time it went back to 0.

I'm confused by marking segments without crossing the time code discontinuity?