DVD back in my PC to remake new movies?

[fishtk75]

I need to know what software is there that I can take my old home movie DVD put it back in my new Vista PC and use Windows Movie Maker to pick out clips and make an new DVD? Is there a guide here you can show me how to convert it back to a PC. And will it work with vista I see alot of things now not like XP that vista will not run right.

[tinker]

To get your home DVD movie to your computer is as simple as copy.
Put your DVD in computer DVD player, do not play it. Go to My computer, click on DVD player icon and click OPEN.
Drag VIDEO_TS folder to your hard drive, that is all.
I do not use Windows maker, so I am not sure if it will recognize those files.
You can try to rename each to .mpg extension, but not sure about that.

I just tried on XP, but Window Maker does not know this file type.
There are other editors which will take .VOB file to edit.
I use Mpeg Video Wizard DVD.

[redwudz]

Windows Movie Maker in Vista will accept VOBs directly. At least the version in Vista Home Premium. For other versions you might have to add a MPEG-2 codec like Stinkys MPEG2 Codec.

Or you can use VOB2MPG and convert the DVD or VIDEO_TS folder directly to a MPEG file.

If you use WMM, it can't output a MPEG, so you can use DV-AVI output, then encode that back to MPEG-2, author it again to create a new DVD. WMV, the normal WMM output isn't a good choice for DVD conversions.

But it's better for quality not to convert it to another format. As mentioned, you can use a MPEG editor and avoid losses if you are just doing simple cuts and pastes. But you would still need to author it back to DVD format. There are a few freeware MPEG editors, like Cuttermaran or MPEG StreamClip. And you can use the freeware authoring program, GUI for dvdauthor. There are guides for most all these programs listed at the bottom of their tool pages.

And we have many guides available to the left, just start reading.

And welcome to our forums.

[tinker]

redwudz, I do not want to get off topic here, but Video Wizard DVD will do more than cut and paste, it will also author DVD without re encoding existing files.
Just to mention.

[AlanHK]

I need to know what software is there that I can take my old home movie DVD put it back in my new Vista PC and use Windows Movie Maker to pick out clips and make an new DVD?

At the risk of being repetitious, do not use Windows Movie Maker to do this. It will require at least two format conversions and degrade quality each time.

First extract the MPEGs from the VOB files (this is lossless).
Then use a decent MPEG editor that can cut and join without reencoding.

I know Womble's MPEG-VCR could do this for one.
See here for others.

Then re-author.

[redwudz]

tinker, It's not off topic, I didn't notice you posted 'Mpeg Video Wizard DVD'. I was thinking of the regular version. But still, if you do more than cut and paste, like transitions or fades, you will need to re-encode at least that section. Of course WMM is going to re-encode also in that case.

And I always like to suggest freeware solutions most times, though the commercial software is generally easier to use and may do a better job. And the OP may not want to pay the $100US for Mpeg Video Wizard DVD.

[tinker]

redwudz you are totally right about re encoding cut or changed sections, but any software will have to do that.
About $100 you are also right, it was just a suggestion.
I do appreciate and like your posts.

[fishtk75]

Thank you all for your help. I need time now to do as you all said. Now the the programs some said is free but some said nothing as are they freeware but important will they work in Vista!

[fishtk75]

As I said I have a new PC and I am a newbee to video. I was looking more at my PC and I have alot of programs I never heard of a program called NERO 8 it said it will do movies and other things as Windows Movie Maker . So what will this NERO do? And will it do some of programs as you all said in the last posts and is it hard to use this program?

Also I looking at NEW Camcorders anyone please help me what to look for that is easy to use for taking home movies. There are SD card,MiniDV,MiniDVD and Harddrive.
I need to know which are easy to put the movies on my PC also.
And so I do not have to do so many steps and if I need to buy a better one but not go over board for things I will never use.

[redwudz]

I really can't recommend Nero. It tries to do everything, but does none of it well. JMO. You would be better off to use programs for specific needs, such as video editors, encoders and authoring programs. If you want to know about programs that are considered compatible with Vista, here's one site: http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List

For camcorders, I would start another thread in our DV / HDV forum. But a mini-DV camera using DV tape is probably the most versatile and economical setup. You use that with an inexpensive FireWire card in your computer to transfer the video. You might also look around the DV/HDV forum for camera suggestions.

[fishtk75]

I really can't recommend Nero. It tries to do everything, but does none of it well. JMO. You would be better off to use programs for specific needs, such as video editors, encoders and authoring programs. If you want to know about programs that are considered compatible with Vista, here's one site: http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List

For camcorders, I would start another thread in our DV / HDV forum. But a mini-DV camera using DV tape is probably the most versatile and economical setup. You use that with an inexpensive FireWire card in your computer to transfer the video. You might also look around the DV/HDV forum for camera suggestions.

Thank you for your help redwudz. I will do as you said.