dv-avi from windows to mac IDVD? Confused...

[aejr]

Okay so I had some tapes of short movies my friends and I made. I burned them to DVD then used DVD decrypter to turn them into VOB files. I took out the sound because I want to add music to them. I'm just taking short clips out of them using MPEG flask. Everything is working great, now I'm at a fork in the road. (I did these initial steps on my pc because I don't want to clutter my MacBookPro with the large files. I would like to take these avi's and edit them in Imovie then create the whole thing in idvd, BUT it won't read my avi's HOWEVER widows will and in Windows Movie Maker I was messing around and was able to very quickly make a music video. I DO NOT have MYDVD so I'd like to use the mac.

This is confusing, but what would you do? I've considered just doing the Music Video part in Windows movie maker then opening up the dv-avi in IDVD, (will this work?)

Or i need to find a way to convert the avi files to a mac compatible format that will play in Imovie so I can do the clips and music addition from there. (how would I do this)

GRRRRRR!

[Michael33]

"GRRRRR!" I can imagine so. Simplify your workflow. First, don't convert the VOBs to AVI files. There is no need to. Why degrade your footage putting it through another mpeg encode. There are several free mpeg editors available (e.g. Cuttermaran, look under "Tools" to your left) that can cut your VOBs without quality loss. Demux your VOBs first (separate the audio and video) and replace the original audio with your new soundtrack. I'd keep it simple and remux your original (edited) video and new soundtrack with Muxman (again, see "Tools"). Muxman will give you nice neat folders ready to burn to DVD. Simple, project done. Or did I miss something?
Mike

P.S. with a home-made DVD there is no need to use DVD Decrypter or other ripping tool to extract VOBs. The DVD isn't copy protected. Just open the files in Windows Explorer.

[aejr]

Wow, thanks I didn't realize I was doing so much wrong. Hopefully Cutterman will allow me to take out small clips as easily as I have done before. I didn manage to make a really cool video using windows movie maker, but you're right it did lose some quality. I will try your way and write back.

Thanks!