Tool to edit DVD+RW from standalone?

[JGebauer]

Is there any tool or combination of tools out there which I can use to edit DVD+RW recorded on a Philips standalone recorder?

Here is what I hope to do:

1) Rip or copy the recorded content to HD
2) Edit out commercials, trim the ends,
3) Create a nicer menu (perhaps fit two or more shows on one DVD),
4) Burn to a DVD-R

The only tool I have found which can do the editing part, sort of, is MPEGStreamclip. It sort of works, but seems to crash a lot. It also is very basic, especially locating a certain point in the show is very cumbersome.

Is there anything better out there? Seems like this is badly needed...

Johannes

[canadateck]

Edit out commercials.. can this not be done on the player/Recorder?
As for the rest cant help.I'm on a pc not sure what works on a mac.

[Frobozz]

If MPEGStreamclip is in the right direction then check out Miraizon's Cinematize for exporting parts or all of a DVD.

If all you want to do is trim out sections you could export the parts you want as MPEG streams (or muxed MPEG2) and drag those pieces into Toast 6. With Auto-play items checked on in Toast the burned DVD will play continuously from one segment (or title) to the next.

That would be a big time saver compared with exporting to a .mov file, editing in iMovie and having to re-encode to MPEG as part of burning a new DVD.

The menus in Toast are very plain, though.

[chikanakan]

If the disc is recorded in VR mode, there is a product by Pixela called VRF Browser. You can edit and extract the MPEG files. The software runs in English, but you have to get it from a Japanese website.

[JGebauer]

This sounds very interesting. However, I am not sure whether it will only work with DVD-RAM video recorders (I have DVD+RW recorder)

But more importantly: Where do I get this from? What does it cost?

The only info I found was that this is bundled software with certain Hardware products, though I haven't been able to find out which.

Johannes

[JGebauer]

I have now found a place to purchase the tool, and did purchase it. To my disappointment I got version 2.5, which is somewhat limited. I know there is a version 3.0, which seems to do exactly what I want. If anyone knows how to update to this version, please let me know.
Version 2.5 has the following disadvantages:
- It doesn't access DVD+RW directly (however, it can access the VIDEO_TS folder).
- The MPEG editor can only edit individual cells separately, and also save edits only on a cell by cell basis. This makes it virtually useless to what I want to do.

Johannes

[Frobozz]

Does this tool have a name?

[JGebauer]

Pixela VRF Browser.
(I have now come to the conclusion that version 3 has been renamed to Capty DVD Browser, but I still cannot find it).

[terryj]

Just need to translate Japanese:
Click here

looks to be OEM software, sold with FW burners in Japan only. You could probably make a transatlantic call
(12 mid CST is 12 noon CST there) and if your lucky,
you could find out
if it is available for standalone purchase.

Link edited by Galactica to keep the page size down

[Frobozz]

If you're not in Japan, I again recommend Cinematize which does what you want except it saves each clipped MPEG as a separate file. As I noted earlier, assemble them in order in Toast with the auto-play option turned on and they will play as if they were joined. There may be an application that joins muxed MPEGs with AC3 audio but I don't know what it is.

[JGebauer]

I tried the trial version of Cinematize and it is not really useful for what I want to do. I don't like the idea of separate titles at all.

Far to complicated to do anyway.

I am going to write to the author of MPEG Streamclip and see if they can extend the functionality and get rid of the bugs...

Johannes

[Frobozz]

We forgot the obvious. Export the DVD to DV using Toast 6 or DVDxDV, edit in iMovie or Final Cut, burn to DVD with iDVD or DVD SP (you wanted nice menus). If your standalone recorder has FireWire input you can export directly from iMovie or Final Cut to the recorder for burning to a new DVD.

Another option, replace your standalone recorder with one that has an internal hard drive and do all the editing there.

[JGebauer]

None of these work arounds really appeal to me. Yes, I realize I could convert to DV, but not only does this loose quality, it also takes a long time for decoding and recoding.

I don't need to replace my standalone, it can already do these kinds of edits. But the computer could be so much more efficient for this kind of thing.

It seems that there are lots of tools to do this on a PC, and there should be such tools on the Mac. Well there are. One seems to crash on about every second edit (and the only way to save in between is to save a complete MPEG file of the movie which takes, yawn, a long time), and the other one is not available outside Japan.

Seems incredibly silly, actually. I thought Mac was excellent for video and DVD and all that, but this is pretty poor...