Trouble editing DVDs

[t_burrito]

This is going to be long - sorry - just wanted to provide as much info as possible...

So I wanted to take the some DVDs I have (which are from old VCR tapes converted to DVDs) and do the following:
1)edit out some scenes
2)merge the multiple DVDs together (making one DL DVD out of 2 to 3 current)
3)if possible take out the chapter points and make my own

I don't need to do anything fancy

I started with just trying to just take out some scenes - I copied the files to my hard drive and I tried a TON of programs - videoredo/videoredoplus, arcsoft showbizdvd, ulead videostudio, womble mpegvideowizard and mpeg-vcr, and probably one or two others. ALL of these programs had trouble handling the mpeg2 files from the DVD (even though they are supposed to be able to do it) - basically if a file had 12ish minutes of video, it would only recognize about the first 3-4 minutes of video, and act like the rest didn't exist... Also it would skip around almost randomly when you tried to use the slider. If after I started it, I immediately paused and moved the slider toward the end, I could see the end, but then it acted as if the beginning wasn't there...

Only ONE program didn't have this problem - VirtualDub (the version with the mpeg codec in it) - I was able to see the whole video for each mpeg and edit out what I needed frame frame for frame - it worked great...

One problem with VirtualDub - I tried to save (not realizing it would save as a uncompressed AVI) - when I saw how big the file was getting, I aborted - and since then I can't get VirtualDub to open the file correctly at all (all I get is a flat grey screen on the interface and it says it has a "dub in progress". I even tried deleting off the VirtualDub files and re-downloading, but I still can't get it to work any more. By the way the audio of the edited part it did make was TERRIBLE - so I imagine that is another problem waiting... Also, I realize if I did want to use VirtualDub - I would have to save as a compressed AVI/divx temporarily - then convert back to DVD files - which I would rather not do, but I guess if I could not lose quality I would be okay with it...

Anyway - I hope someone who has some more experience in editing DVDs can give me some help in this matter. Now that the VirtualDub isn't working, I don't really have any options without some help...

[yoda313]

You can frameserve to an mpeg encoder with virtualdub. I really can't detail the steps as I don't do that. Basically it takes your file and then encode it to mpeg with an mpeg encoder of your choice - tmpgenc for example.

If you want to stick with virtualdub that is the best way to avoid the conversion to divx and then back to dvd.

Do a forum search for frameserve and virtualdub and you'll find what you need. Be sure to note if you are using virtualdubmod or virtualdubmpeg2 both work with mpeg so they might be slightly different for frameserving.

[t_burrito]

Thanks for the reply Yoda313 - I did read the frameserving guide for VirtualDub - I was hoping someone might have another idea or another program that could do it all in one step... I am not that experienced in all of this and it looks kind of complicated to me... (so holding that out for the last option)

But I think I have come close to trying them all... If no one else comes up with anything, then I guess I will give this a try in a few days... I will probably also need the AC3codec, and that is IF I can figure out how to get VirtualDub up and running again in the first place... Unless anyone here has any ideas, I guess those will be questions for the virtualdub forums...

Thanks again for your reply. I guess if I would have done it the frameserving (harder but reliable) way I probably would already have had it up and running considering all the programs I have tried...

If the frameserving doesn't work I guess I will be left to hooking up a DVD player to a DVD recorder and doing it by hand! (If that even works)

[t_burrito]

I think I found a solution - in a last ditch effort, I just tried a program called MPEG Streamclip using quicktime replacement and it works great for editing the MPEG2s...

The program noticed something called "timecode breaks" in the files - maybe this is what was messing up the other programs? (there were a lot)

Is there anyway to fix these timecode breaks with another program?

If I just go ahead and use the Streamclip program it outputs individual MPEGs not MPEG2s - how can I go about converting several of these back into a DVD?

[jman98]

t_burrito - Exactly HOW did you "copy" files from the DVD to your hard drive? Did you just do a copy under Windows? Bad idea. You must RIP them to your hard drive.

I have used MPEGVCR for years and it can do what you want. The fact that you are having this problem suggests to me that your "copy" process is flawed. You need to get a ripper of some kind and rip these files to your hard drive. The ancient and now hard to find DVDDecrypter is excellent for this. A smart person who wants to use it might go to
http://www.doom9.net
and go to the Downloads section and then select Full Downloads Page and then look for Ripping tools. After installation do NOT select the option that lets it check for updates. It's a long story, but you do NOT want to do that.

I suspect if you properly rip the files that your problems will all go away.

By the way, Virtual Dub is very complicated. It's a terrible tool for newbies, but it can do great things for very experienced users.

[t_burrito]

jman98 -

Sorry, I used an incorrect term.

I ripped them to my harddrive using Intervideo DVD copy5... I did not just copy them over from the disc. I have used DVD Decrypter in the past, although not for some time. The reason I used the Intervideo program to rip them was because the videos were put on the DVDs using something called StorageLabs TinyUDF - which took me forever to find a way to get ripped to my hard drive - no program worked except the Intervideo program (the storagelabs tinyudf site actually reccomends the program due to people commmonly having this difficulty)...

in retrospect, I might not have tried DVD Decrypter so thanks for suggesting it...

I suppose I could check the DVD Decrypter program and try to re-rip the files to my HD again. Maybe the timecode breaks are due to the Intervideo program as I think you are suggesting...

I will give this a try and post up what happens

Any other suggestions are welcome just in case DVD decrypter doesn't work (especially re fixing timecode breaks and combining the mpeg output of the streamclip program back into a DVD - and also - will the process of taking mpeg2 files running through streamclip to mpeg and then converting back into DVD lose any quality?)

[t_burrito]

jman98 -
re-ripped with DVDDecrypter - it also actually was able to rip the files successfully....

Unfortunately the ripped files still don't work in either videoredo or mpegvideo wizard (same issue-no difference)...

I guess I am left to just process each file into mpegs and then recombine into a DVD format (or do the frameserving with virtualdub)