Need to record short vid clips from DVD's...Best method?

[BlueProteus]

I need to do some special effects video captures for reference (I do FX work for video games) and am trying to figure out the easiest way to grab footage from a live video stream coming from a DVD player. This is something I did a number of years back, and I wanted to see if there's an easier way to do it than I did back then.

If I recall, I used a Canopus card of some kind, and a cheapo DVD player that somehow bypassed macrovision/protection. I would playback the DVD and press the record button in Premiere, and then after capture could set my in and out points and save a clip. I used the Divx codec, as it gave me the highest quality, with small files. Note that I am NOT trying to dupe DVD's...I just want to grab short segments of effects clips, so I'm not looking for software that rips DVD's.

I don't need HDMI quality, component is good enough. Are there any better methods for doing this?
Are there any codecs that are better than Divx for quality and size of file?

Thanks

[hech54]

I don't need HDMI quality, component is good enough. Are there any better methods for doing this? Are there any codecs that are better than Divx for quality and size of file?

Rip the DVD to your HDD with something like DVDFabDecrypter......edit that footage(MPEG2).

[BlueProteus]

I don't need HDMI quality, component is good enough. Are there any better methods for doing this? Are there any codecs that are better than Divx for quality and size of file?

Rip the DVD to your HDD with something like DVDFabDecrypter......edit that footage(MPEG2).

Thanks, will check it out. Was hoping to be able to do it live though, without having to rip the entire DVD.

[hech54]

Thanks, will check it out. Was hoping to be able to do it live though, without having to rip the entire DVD.

Sorry but that is a very unrealistic hope.

[BlueProteus]

Thanks, will check it out. Was hoping to be able to do it live though, without having to rip the entire DVD.

Sorry but that is a very unrealistic hope.

LOL...seriously? An "unrealistic hope?"
If you read the original post, you'd see this is something I've ALLREADY done...I'm just seeing if there are any better alternatives than the methods I've used previously.

[BlueProteus]

If you are kind, please answer a question : the protection in my country allows you to ommit protection for a period of less 3minutes. Are you not able to bypass Macrovision content on DVD for 3minutes and get smaller clips ?

Hi ledishis, as far as I know, the protection used is an "always on" kind of thing when you're recording. I don't know of any way to bypass it for a specific amount of time as you've mentioned. Unless you mean "legal use" of a clip that's less than 3 minutes in length. Not sure about that.

I'm less concerned with the legalities (since most of these clips are 30 seconds or less) and instead am just looking for the best way to capture. Am currently considering the Dimax Grex.

[Brad]

Don't know what your computer specs are but for about the same price as that Macrovision remover you could buy an AVerTV HD DVR PCIe card and use the old drivers to bypass either Macrovision or HDCP depending on how you decide to hook up the player.

Don't know if it will work in Premiere but it works in DirectShow apps.

[BlueProteus]

Don't know what your computer specs are but for about the same price as that Macrovision remover you could buy an AVerTV HD DVR PCIe card and use the old drivers to bypass either Macrovision or HDCP depending on how you decide to hook up the player.

Don't know if it will work in Premiere but it works in DirectShow apps.

Thanks vaporeon800, will check out that card.

In my looking around for stuff, I discovered the latest version of the VLC Media Player (open-source) allows you to record segments of a DVD while it's playing in your PC's DVD player.
I'll need to do some testing to see how the quality is (so far doesn't look bad for my needs.)
That would mean I wouldn't need any additional hardware.

[hech54]

Thanks, will check it out. Was hoping to be able to do it live though, without having to rip the entire DVD.

Sorry but that is a very unrealistic hope.

LOL...seriously? An "unrealistic hope?"
If you read the original post, you'd see this is something I've ALLREADY done...I'm just seeing if there are any better alternatives than the methods I've used previously.

OK. I was being nice when I said unrealistic hope.
Your idea/method is stupid.
Happy?

[BlueProteus]

Thanks, will check it out. Was hoping to be able to do it live though, without having to rip the entire DVD.

Sorry but that is a very unrealistic hope.

LOL...seriously? An "unrealistic hope?"
If you read the original post, you'd see this is something I've ALLREADY done...I'm just seeing if there are any better alternatives than the methods I've used previously.

OK. I was being nice when I said unrealistic hope.
Your idea/method is stupid.
Happy?

Why would that make me happy?

Also, why is it stupid if it gets the clips I need at a decent enough quality for art reference?

[hech54]

Why would that make me happy?

Also, why is it stupid if it gets the clips I need at a decent enough quality for art reference?

Because you'd be done by now had you just ripped the disc to your HDD and edited out the clips you needed?

[BlueProteus]

Why would that make me happy?

Also, why is it stupid if it gets the clips I need at a decent enough quality for art reference?

Because you'd be done by now had you just ripped the disc to your HDD and edited out the clips you needed?

Really? The dozens of DVD's I'll be getting clips from over the next several months would all be done by now?
It's just like magic!

[hech54]

I'm not sure what your hang-up is....or why you are so hell-bent on doing this the old fashioned way.....but programs that have been around for almost a decade now(like DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink) were designed and made to eliminate the ridiculous hurdles we had to face doing it the way you insist on doing it. DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink have been around for so long that they are now pretty much obsolete with newer DVD encryption methods and have been replaced with programs like DVDFab, DVDFabDecrypter(same company, stripped down version) and AnyDVD.
So if you wanna keep banging your head against the wall sticking analog devices(boxes) in-line via an analog RCA line/connection or searching for an antique DVD player that disables Macrovision....knock yourself out(so to speak).
Goodbye

[BlueProteus]

I'm not sure what your hang-up is....or why you are so hell-bent on doing this the old fashioned way.....but programs that have been around for almost a decade now(like DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink) were designed and made to eliminate the ridiculous hurdles we had to face doing it the way you insist on doing it. DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink have been around for so long that they are now pretty much obsolete with newer DVD encryption methods and have been replaced with programs like DVDFab, DVDFabDecrypter(same company, stripped down version) and AnyDVD.
So if you wanna keep banging your head against the wall sticking analog devices(boxes) in-line via an analog RCA line/connection or searching for an antique DVD player that disables Macrovision....knock yourself out(so to speak).
Goodbye

Who said I was hell-bent on anything? I may indeed end up using something to just rip the whole thing, who knows? Or I may just use VLC and record what I want as it plays. But thanks for all your help and your cheerful disposition, it's been awesome, and I'll miss you.

[Gavino]

hech54 can be blunt at times, but he's usually right, and this time is no exception.
Listen to what he's saying, even if you don't like the way he says it.

[usually_quiet]

Why would that make me happy?

Also, why is it stupid if it gets the clips I need at a decent enough quality for art reference?

Because you'd be done by now had you just ripped the disc to your HDD and edited out the clips you needed?

Really? The dozens of DVD's I'll be getting clips from over the next several months would all be done by now?
It's just like magic!

Re-recording from DVD probably won't be faster than ripping and editing, plus the end product will be of lesser quality than you would have if you ripped the DVD and edited it to extract the clips you need.

I suppose you could use the AVerMedia HD DVR and the old driver trick, but you will probably want to convert the clips from the format it captures in, and you will still loose some of the original quality.

VLC uses screen capture to record. There are also other screen capture programs available. However, you will still likely want to convert the capture format to something else, and will still loose a bit of the original quality.