Editing FROM DVD

[DavidPartington]

A client has asked us to do some extra editing of footage taken by other people at their wedding and add it as a bonus feature.   The camera used records direct to 8cm DVD discs, so I am assuming it's already MPEG2 encoded etc.   Is there some easy way to take that footage in to an NLE for editing?   I seem to recall getting stuff off DVDs to edit was a nightmare.  Any done this?

[HankCastello]

I think some use mpeg2 and others do mpeg4.  Either way, the problem is the same as if you were lifting video from any other dvd - compression.

If your NLE won't accept mpeg files, try Cinematize software (inexpensive, downloadable).

You can get decent results if you avoid any type of change to the frames - no overlays, transitions, titling, etc.  Nothing but straight cuts and output to the same file type with no additional compression.

In other words, straight cuts only and absolutely no alteration of any images, in any manner.

When done in that way, I've made dvds that were as good as the original.

[DavidPartington]

Thanks Hank.  I just found out it's coming from a Sony Handicam - DCR-DVD91E, so I guess we will see what happens when it arrives. 

[zvit]

You can use TMPGEnc Authoring Works.

It loads the DVD, creates a proxy of it, you do your edits and it burns it back to DVD. No conversions, thus no loss in quality. It detects all chapters so if you add something in the middle, it will move chapters for you. Very good software. I use it often to do minor editing on a DVD that I don't have the project files for.

http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/taw4.html

[DavidPartington]

Thought I'd check back in on this one.   I found that a program I already had did what I needed ( MPEGStreamclip ) and the nice thing it is free.   It will take a VOB and turn it back in to a .mov file which is exactly what I needed.   Yes, the footage gets re-compressed - but honestly the client's footage was so horrible (noisy / shaky etc) that I got seasick watching it - and I suspect most other people will too.  The extra compression cycle didn't seem to make it any worse - so this was an easy fix in the end.

[HankCastello]

Often, you can make an mpeg2 vob usable merely by changing its extension to .m2v

Glad to hear your project turned out ok.