I am a major NOOB, need help creating "Perfect Compilat

[ShivaChrist]

Ok... this is going to be long and I *hope* some people can sit through it and understand what I want to do and how to go about doing it. I am going to use Star Trek: Voyager as my example, but this idea is something I have for a few shows including Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, etc. Now, right off the bat I want to mention I own all these shows on DVD. I'm a DVD-whore, and I love TV show collections. I just want to create what I consider "the Perfect Collections." So without further adeu:

The idea behind Star Trek: Voyager - The Perfect Collection"

To take all video that has to do with the ongoing "main storyarc" and compile it into a multi-DVD collection, that will remove all episodes that have nothing to do with the main story (or are "weak episodes" as decided by me toward the overall plot) or that will take out bits from episodes that deal with the main storyline (such as a love interest developing, etc.) and getting rid of what has nothing to do with that "main storyarc."

So what the ultimate goal of Star Trek: Voyager - The Perfect Collection" is to put the 7 year arc together in one ongoing story that brings the whole journey together, takes out useless episodes and focus' on the crew's trip home.

This example would follow through toward other Perfect Collections, such as Buffy. The first season was great, but 1/2 of the whole season were stand alone episodes that had nothing to do with Buffy vs. the Vampire Master.

So, I need the tools and I need the help - detailed if possible. How can I go about this, successfully? I have to also compress 8 gig shows into a 4 gig DVD and hope I don't lose too much quality. I also have a 100 gig D drive I can use to transfer video and do what I need to.

If you need to ask me anything else, please do - and if you can, I hope you guys can help me out! I've been wanting to do this for over 2 years but haven't had the opportunity to sit down and try to figure it out. Now I do, and I also found this great forum.

Thanks in advance!

[sacajaweeda]