Using my laptop to capture DVD segments in WMV format

[kreskin]

I would like to capture videos on my laptop. I used to do this on my PC, using ATI. My PC is painfully slow now and causes me more grief than good. I would like to start using my laptop to capture short one minute WMV files. Do I need any special cables to run it from the DVD player? Is there a free program that can do the capturing? Alternativally I have a DVD player on my laptop, which I probably could use. Ideally, I'd like some free-type of program to be able to do this.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[Baldrick]

I guess you have missed the dvd backup/rip sections and tools on our site.

Copy/rip the dvd with dvdfab decrypter, see http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/225/59/

Use freemake video converter to cut and convert to wmv. Choose open dvd and click on the scissor to cut. Click to WMV. Convert.

All free tools.

[kreskin]

This was helpful, I appreciate your prompt response. Is there any other way to do it though? I have my son's baseball game recorded onto a DVD which the team provided. I just want to get his at-bats into WMV format. I was able to do it using the software in the thread- but it seemed to take much longer than being able to capture what I want straight from the original source. Is there any other method you would recommend?

[Baldrick]

You need a capture device and most laptops does not have that.

If your dvd isn't commercial/copy protected you can try use freemake video converter direct and see if it can cut without copying the entire dvd.

[kreskin]

Thank you again for the rapid response. I will try that. Thank you again!

[jman98]

Why are you married to WMV? It's not the easiest format to work with so I don't understand why you are insisting on painting yourself into a corner here. Editing the clips and keeping them in their native MPEG-2 format is far preferable should you want to create a special DVD in the future from them.

[kreskin]

I am not married to WMV, but it's the only format (along with AVI) that I know I can email someone and they will easily be able to view it on their PC with whatever software they have. If you could recommend another format, where I could easily get the segment I want from the master video, without having to do all the items below and still be able to email it in an easily playable format, I would be very delighted.

[yoda313]

Or you could upload it to youtube and just email them the link and they can play it from their own computer that way.

THough only if you have permission from everyone on the video I guess. Unless you set it to private that is. If you set it to private on youtube does that keep it from being searchable from everyone else?

Edit - that is assuming they have internet access but than again if you are emailing them the video then that would be a yes.

[usually_quiet]

It isn't hard to go from DVD to a .mpg file, and unlike .wmv no re-encoding is required. A .wmv file might be smaller, but the format is not more universal than .mpg. A .mpg file can be played using Windows Media Player, so if everyone on your list has a computer running Windows, they can play SD .mpg files as easily as SD .wmv files.

However, emailing either .wmv or .mpg files could be a problem if the email provider on either end severely limits the size of attachments it allows. Using yoda313's idea would avoid running into that problem

[p_l]

If emailing the clips is really what you want to do, then yes, I've sent 1 to 4-minute recital clips via email after converting to .wmv and the quality is *kinda* acceptable at about 10 MB, whereas the equivalent clip in MPEG 2 format directly extracted from the DVD was a couple hundred MB - way too big for email.

To convert, there are there are several workflows possible. One quick and dirty way is to load the source clip in Windows Movie Maker, cut the part you want, and save. This method has the advantage of letting you choose the target size of your .wmv file.

YouTube has three privacy settings: public, share with only those who have the link, or share only with people you choose. I haven't tried the last option, only the first two, but if you have some important privacy concerns, I guess it comes down to how much trust you have in the good folks at YouTube.

[yoda313]

@usuallyquiet and p_l - I think another alternative is one of those file hosting websites. Just upload the file in whatever format you want and email that link. THen the user can download from there without any restrictions - as long as the uploaded link isn't protected or whatever.

But again its that "trust" factor you mentioned. But I guess its no different from worrying about your email being hacked into. THeres a certain amount of risk you take in the digital world unless you are totally landlocked without any external access.

You could just mail out the clips on a memory card. THat would probably be better than mailing a cd as I would imagine a flash memory card would be more durable in the mail. That is assuming these aren't need right away. Waiting a few days for the mail would probably the best option if security and peace of mind is of utmost concern.

Unless these are overseas? But probably not.... Don't remember the opening post and didn't read that closely. Just offering alternatives.