Can't Get Started with Streamclip

[cindyjk]

Newbie here. Can't even get started with Streamclip. On a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard, I'm trying to rip a commercial DVD, and then edit it in iMovie. I've been using Handbrake as my ripper, but I can't edit the result in iMovie. They suggested Streamclip.

I select "File", then "Open DVD". In the "Devices" area, I select the DVD. Streamclip asks "Please choose which DVD movie you want to open" and gives a drop down list - I choose number one. Each and every time, no matter which number I select, Streamclip replies with "File open error: the file is too short".

Obviously I'm an idiot and I don't know what I'm doing. Can anybody please help me get past step 1? Thanks!

[Baldrick]

Maybe because handbrake is no ripper. You need to use mactheripper or ripit to rip/decrypt the commercial dvd.


And I'm moving you to our mac section.

[cindyjk]

I was asking about Streamclip. In Streamclip, I select "File", then "Open DVD". In the "Devices" area, I select the DVD. Streamclip asks "Please choose which DVD movie you want to open" and gives a drop down list - I choose number one. Each and every time, no matter which number I select, Streamclip replies with "File open error: the file is too short". This is a STREAMCLIP error message (e.g., not Handbrake or the Mac OS).

[Herve]

(just an idea)
you try to open a commercial DVD (=with DRM)
remove any protections first (with MacTheRipper for example) and give the resulting files to MPegStreamClip

PS: removing DRM is forbidden in some countries (for example in mine). So, the author of MPSC does not handle DRMed DVD

[Baldrick]

You should choose the VIDEO_TS folder you have ripped to your hdd.

[cindyjk]

So, if I understand correctly, when the Streamclip menu says to "Open DVD", it doesn't mean to actually access the DVD disc directly. It means to access a ripped file from a DVD (created by MacTheRipper)?

[lawnman]

Correct!

[cindyjk]

I MUST be doing something wrong. I ripped a title (not the whole dvd; I'm trying this on a shorter segment, rather than trying to work with the entire movie). Opened the VIDEO-TS file. Streamclip says I need to buy from Apple an MPEG2 add-in, so I did that; without it, Streamclip wouldn't show me anything. Saved my filed as an mpeg file; iMovie still won't open it. So I tried again, this time telling Streamclip to create a DV file (which I know iMovie will open). But holy cow: at 27-minute piece of B&W video is ending up being over 5 GIG in size. That CAN'T possibly be right - at that rate, my computer will fill up with only a handful of movies! What am I doing wrong???

[rumplestiltskin]

MPEG Streamclip doesn't rip commercial DVDs. Handbrake will do so as long as VLC has been installed in the same (Applications) folder as Handbrake uses VLC's decoding abilities. Save the main movie title (I assume that's what you want) and use a reasonable bitrate (3000kbps should be plenty for what you want to then do in iMovie). iMovie 7 or newer will take the H264 file you created and will permit you to edit it.

You did not need the MPEG2 codec from Apple but it's nice to have it anyway for other things.

[cindyjk]

That has not been my experience. I've been using Handbrake (although somebody else in this thread told me that HB is NOT a ripper, and that I had to use MacTheRipper); VLC IS installed in the same Applications folder as is Handbrake. The resulting file that HB creates from the ripped DVD has a m4v file extension. iMovie will NOT open it. I have also tried opening the Handbrake result into QuickTime Pro, and then saving it with a .mov extension. iMovie will not open that file either.

And Streamclip didn't show me ANY video of any type, at all, without having the MPEG2 software I bought from Apple.

The ONLY type of file that iMovie seems to let me edit has a .dv extension - but, as I said, a 27-minute B&W video ended up being almost 6 GIGABYTES in size. Something is very wrong here.

[Case]

a 27-minute B&W video ended up being almost 6 GIGABYTES in size. Something is very wrong here.

The DV data rate is 25 Mbits/sec, that is a little over 5 GB in 27 minutes. This is normal. If you work with DV, you will need loads of (temporary) disk space. As a plus, iMovie and other NLEs will find it easy to work with (no temporal frame compression, only I-frames, unlike delivery formats).

[cindyjk]

One: is there any way to compress the DV file once I finish my edits in iMovie? When I 'publish' the finished iMovie project to iTunes, it retains its huge size.
Two: what other format, other than DV, will iMovie allow me to edit? If it's coming from a commericial DVD, iMovie will NOT open .m4v (which I get from Handbrake) or .mov (which I get from Quicktime).

[Herve]

If it's coming from a commericial DVD, iMovie will NOT open .m4v

To use in iMovie you need an editing format: DV or AppleIntermediateCodec. Both produce huge files. But you don't mind, this is only intermediate files
if you use iMovie'08 or '09, convert to AIC
if you use iMovieHD, convert to DV

About the final size, play with settings, there is no absolute rules to produce your definitive video file (aka in a broadcasting format like h264 or mpeg2)

bye

[llee782]

Results vary, but if you want to try something different, you might be able to mount your DVD with Fairmount, then drag vobs into MPEG Streamclip's window.

[rumplestiltskin]

Results vary, but if you want to try something different, you might be able to mount your DVD with Fairmount, then drag vobs into MPEG Streamclip's window.

You'll need Apple MPEG2 codec to make this work. MPEG Streamclip has no built-in MPEG2 decoding.

[llee782]

You'll need Apple MPEG2 codec to make this work. MPEG Streamclip has no built-in MPEG2 decoding.

Yes, you can't see it in MPEG Streamclip without the MPEG-2 Playback component, but you can still open it and convert it.

[cindyjk]

After editing my video segment, what do I do with it to reduce it's file size and play it on Apple TV?? I've tried exporting (or publishing) it to both iTunes & Quicktime - either way, I end up with a HUGE file, 12 times larger than the original. And I'm not doing ANYTHING fancy to the video, other than trimming a few seconds off the front or back, and maybe adding a 'fade-to-black' here and there. These huge-sized final files CAN'T be right - people would be screaming about this all over the net if it were the norm!

[llee782]

Not sure exactly where you are in the process, but if you're in iMovie, you might want to look at the options you have when you choose iTunes from the Share menu. It sounds to me as though you may have converted to Apple Intermediate Codec and now you just need to export to a final output format.

[cindyjk]

As I said in my post, I have 'exported' and/or 'published' to both itunes and Quicktime, and BOTH gave me a huge file. Aren't these 'final' output formats? If not, what are?

[llee782]

Yes, they are final output formats. Which preset did you select when you exported to iTunes using the iTunes choice under Share.? Tiny, Mobile, Medium, or Large?

[cindyjk]

Any other format other than "large" give REALLY PO-O-O-OR video quality when I watch it on the Apple TV. What troubles me is this: I rip a half hour of video, it's about 300 megabytes, and looks just fine on the ATV. If I edit it, suddenly the file size balloons six times. Why can't I get back to approximately the same file size I started with?