VOB to AVI to import into Premiere CS3

[newcomer1]

I'm a newcomer to all this and my head is spinning in researching the site for my answer, apologies if you've seen this question before:

I have transferred 48 hours worth of DV minicam tapes (all own footage) to a domestic DVD HD Recorder, which can only export to DVD. I've then copied this footage onto DVDR discs, all up to an hour long. I want to import these DVDs into Premiere CS3 so I can edit.

I have used DVD Shrink to convert to VOB files;(I can't open this with DVD Shrink, due to 'error', get audio only with Media Player but plays fine with GOM Player).

I then converted VOB files to AVI files using WinFF, (when opened with Media player I get audio only and when opened with Gom Player get audio but picture is digitally pixilated). When I've imported the AVI into Premiere CS3 I get audio only.

I used DVD Shrink & WinFF following advice from a Forum; I guess I made 'mistakes' whilst going through this process.

Q. Is this the best way to transfer DVD footage into Premiere CS3 for editing?

Q. Will this or other suggestions in how to import DVD into Premiere CS3 cause loss of quality?
(I don't fancy spending all this time again directly Capturing DV into Premiere CS3; but will do if there is a significant loss of quality. However, I still would like to know how best to import DVD to Premiere CS3 as I have a few DVD's with no available backup tapes).

Any help with be appreciated. Thanks.

[minidv2dvd]

the proper way to transfer minidv to your computer is with a firewire cable directly from the cam. nothing else captures the file from the cam without loss of quality. then the DVavi files can be imported directly into ppcs3.

if you don't have a firewire/ieee1394 port on your computer, add in cards start at about $10.

[newcomer1]

Thanks I understand that's the best way, but transferred 48 hours worth of footage before getting CS3 programme. Is the quality loss significant? If so, I will capture that way, (already have firewire & card facilities).

I would still like to know how to transfer DVD to CS3 keeping the best quality possible and preferably with free programmes that I can download.

Thanks

[devlynh]

The best method I have found is the following;
Rip the DVD to a single file VOB using DVD Decryptor
Change the extension from VOB to MPG
Import into Premiere

The only gotcha is if the audio on the DVD's is AC3. Then you need to copy the AC3 codec from the Encore directory to the Premiere directory. Then Premiere will be able to read the AC3 audio.

This works well and I have used it many times to get DVD video into my editing system.

[filmboss80]

The advice minidv2dvd is the best and will give you the fewest headaches. Consider the 48 hours transferring tapes to disc a good back-up/archiving procedure, but do not consider it a very good means to edit your footage. Firstly, you already compressed the video when you transferred to DVD. In order for Premiere to do frame-accurate edits of mpeg2 files (from the vob stream), more encoding will be done, and then when you output the final project, even more encoding will be done.

On the other hand, the transfer of minidv tape to DV-AVI through firewire leaves the video in its unadulterated digital form -- no compression, no changes, no re-encodes. You can edit native in Premiere, making frame-accurate cuts without any re-encoding. (Transitions and filtering are the only times re-encoding takes place.) That is the way to maintain the best quality possible. Anything else is going to produce crap.

If your computer does not have a firewire (IEEE 1394) port, you can install a PCI firewire card for less than $25. There is no better way to handle minidv footage.

[newcomer1]

Thanks for the advice, I will go back to drawing board & Capture DV direct into CS3 via firewire; don't want to compromise quality.

Will try suggestion below re converting DVD into CS3:

"

Rip the DVD to a single file VOB using DVD Decryptor
Change the extension from VOB to MPG
Import into Premiere

The only gotcha is if the audio on the DVD's is AC3. Then you need to copy the AC3 codec from the Encore directory to the Premiere directory. Then Premiere will be able to read the AC3 audio."

I had avoided the idea of converting into MPG, as the little I've read suggest audio problems for Premiere CS3 & converting into AVI seemed favourable. Unless there are alternative suggestions that maybe ‘better’ I shall try this.

Thanks again to all, I’m getting there….

[filmboss80]

Some additional info for you:

If you must deal with mpg video, do not simply rename the extension from .vob to mpg. The vob file contains much more information that just video and audio streams. It can contain multiple audio tracks, multiple subtitles, and chapter entry points. It would be better to extract the mpg from the vob using a freeware tool like VOB2MPG.

With that said, it is still better to import the footage through the firewire port as DV-AVI.

You seem to think AVI is all the same. It is not. The .avi extension is just a container for a vast variety of possible video codecs, and only a few are compatible with Premiere. WinFF, as far as I know, only makes Xvid AVI files -- NOT editable in Premiere. Your .avi files should be DV Type 2. Premiere will import your minidv footage (through firewire port) and save it as the appropriate DV-AVI for editing.