Editing a DVD

[Brian E]

A couple of years ago my Camcorder died, and a friend at work copied my Hi-8 tapes to DVD.
Now I've retired and have a little time to spare I would like to do some simple editing using the Pinacle Lite supplied with my new computer.
Question: How do I get the DVD info into the editing program?
I'm told I need to convert it to a different format, but what am I converting from and to? I've searched the web pages, and there seem to be plenty of converters, but the basic question remains, from what, to what?

Thanks for any advice

Brian E

[jlietz]

The video on your DVD is likely MPEG-2. I'm not sure if Pinnancle accepts MPEG-2 for editing. If not, then you will need to convert the MPEG-2 video to a format Pinnacle accepts, such as DV. There is really no hard answer for "convert to what" since many different file types can be edited. It's just a matter of what Pinnacle supports and what you can convert to with your available software.

Having said that, I personally would go about this another way. The simplest thing to do would be to rip the video to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter and then edit the MPEG-2 video directly with MPEG Video Wizard. This will save you the hassle of converting from MPEG-2 to another format such, as DV, then editing, then converting back to MPEG-2 for re-authoring. This will also preserve whatever quality is already present in the MPEG-2 video since you won't be converting from format to format (this inevitably leads to quality loss.) As a bonus, Video Wizard won't re-encode your MPEG-2 video when editing (it will re-enocde areas where you insert transitions and the like.) People like to say that MPEG-2 isn't meant for editing, but they aren't talking about simple cutting and joining (i.e. mixing and matching selected clips in a particular order.) I edit MPEG-2 all the time and have zero problems. MPEG Video Wizard is available with a fully functional 30 day trial, so if you can get your editing done in 30 days, it won't cost you a thing.

Hope that helps.

[guns1inger]

It depends on what sort of editing you want to do. mpeg is not designed for editing, so many edit apps, even well regarded and expensive ones, don't do it well or at all.

If your needs are modest, and consist mainly of simple cuts and joins, and not fancy transitions, then a dedicated mpeg editor such as mpeg vcr or videoredo would be your best bet. They are built from the ground up to work with mpeg video, an won't re-encode your video - something else that mpeg doesn't like. The other advantage of this approach is it take less space. You rip your DVD and demux it to mpeg at the same time, and it takes up, say, 4 gbs. You edit and output your finished piece with only half the footage and it takes up another 2 gbs. That might have a running time of 60 minutes (this is all by way of example - there are many factors that govern actual numbers). In comparison, the same footage converted to DV might require 26gb for the initial conversion, then another 13gb for the edit version + the 6 GB for the mpeg files before and after.

On the otherhand, DV is designed for editing and pinnacle will work much better with DV footage.

So - if you are wedded to pinnacle - for whatever reason - convert to DV, edit, then encode back to mpeg when you are done.

Otherwise, consider one of the alternatives.

[Brian E]

Thanks for the info, I'm a bit nearer to understanding what I need to do.
I'm not sold on the Pinacle Software, it came with the machine and takes in digital video from a camera and I thought I'd try to use what was available.
I just want to do very simple editing, just getting rid of some of the rubbish (like the picture of my feet when I left the camcorder switched on by mistake during a coach trip!). Nothing fancy, I don't have the patience.

Brian E.

[EAO]

No menu and accurate edit = Video Redo

Simple menu and simple I frame edit (DVD shrink to capture to your HD) = TMPGenc DVD Author