How to Capture Video of "Unknown" Format from a DVD

[Hombre7]

I have a DVD-R that will play on a basic Panasonic DVD player, but nowhere else - not on a PC, not on a Mac, not on a PS3. I am VERY interested in capturing the DVD's contents in a manner that would allow me to edit it.

The strange thing is, I was the one that created the "mystery" DVD in the first place. The video it contains was originally shot in VR format on a mini-DVD by an early generation Canon camcorder. Unfortunately, I was never able to successfully download the video to my PC - it kept hanging up, crashing, etc., something I think was associated with the fact that the mini-DVD was filled to absolute capacity (and/or the crappy Roxio software that came with the camcorder). After a couple dozen attempts to download the video data I was finally able to do a DVD copy from the camcorder to the subject DVD-R, so I guess it's comprised of some kind of VR data.

Although this DVD plays in my Panasonic DVD player (initial access is slow, but once it gets going things are ok), it won't work anywhere else that I've tried. Neither a PC nor a Mac can see any kind of recognizable file structure, which prevents me from using utilities such as JFileRecovery, etc. to download the data.

As far as the original mini-DVD is concerned, it became hopelessly corrupted when I eventually tried to finalize it in the camera. I've tried accessing it in a variety of ways, but even the camcorder on which is was recorded gives me nothing but "Disc Error".

I would very much like to be able to capture this video in some type of editable format. Any suggestions how to achieve this? Many thanks, and apologies in advance if I've inadvertently posted this in the wrong forum!

[redwudz]

You might drop a VOB from the original file into Gspot and post a screenshot of that here. That may tell us what the format is or what the problem is.

And welcome to our forums.

[Hombre7]

Thanks for the feedback. I downloaded Gspot, and it looks like a great utility. Unfortunately, when I attempt to examine the DVD I get the following message: "Windows cannot read from this disk. The disk might be corrupted, or it could be using a format that is not compatible with Windows."

Essentially, there doesn't seem to be any recognizable file structure on the DVD, which makes me wonder how the Panasonic can play it. Is there some other type of drive / operating system (besides XP and OSX) that might be able to access the DVD? Failing that, is there some way to tap into (and capture) the component-out signal from the Panasonic?

[guns1inger]

It sounds to me like the disc was not finalised correctly or at all, hence your problems reading it.

[minidv2dvd]

isobuster or cdroller might be able to read the data.

[classfour]

DVD-R not finalized, or it's actually on DVD-RAM media and your computer drive does not recognize -RAM.

[SmokieStover]

Play it from the Panasonic and record with a DVD recorder. S-Video will be the best output that is recordable. Use a recording quality which best duplicates the original disk. Use DVD video mode.

The new disk can be imported, cut-edited, and a new DVD authored with many menu choices(and also burned to DVD) with one tool: Tmpg DVD Author. There are other choices, including free ones.

If by editing, you mean adding transitions, scrolling titles and text, etc, use an external device which converts analog to DV Avi and capture via firewire to PC.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I can't remember the specifics off-hand but my Sony DVD recorder can record in a format unrecognizable by just about everything other than itself - VR seems to ring a bell. It's a shame because it supports features not available otherwise.