Looking for software to convert video

[henrydog]

I have a Sony mini-dvd camcorder, and I would like to convert the files that come off of it into quicktime, or something a little more common than the format they are currently recorded in. Like any other standard DVD that I rip onto my Mac, these mini dvds rip onto my desktop in a Video_TS folder (as when you would use Mac the Ripper).

Like I said, what I'd really like to do is get the video into a format that I could ultimately edit with iMovie, record onto a new, regular sized DVD with iDVD, or simply be able to email the videos out. I think what I would like is to be able to convert them to quicktime files, but I just don't know how to do it.

Any ideas?

 

[Phat_Pat]

I have a Sony mini-dvd camcorder, and I would like to convert the files that come off of it into quicktime, or something a little more common than the format they are currently recorded in. Like any other standard DVD that I rip onto my Mac, these mini dvds rip onto my desktop in a Video_TS folder (as when you would use Mac the Ripper).

Like I said, what I'd really like to do is get the video into a format that I could ultimately edit with iMovie, record onto a new, regular sized DVD with iDVD, or simply be able to email the videos out. I think what I would like is to be able to convert them to quicktime files, but I just don't know how to do it.

Any ideas?

first of all.... ouch.... sony mini dvd cameras=no good with mac


but to answer you question try handbrake

 

[fartheststar]

first of all.... ouch.... sony mini dvd cameras=no good with mac


but to answer you question try handbrake

Sales guys at future shop in Canada were hawking these and telling people that they were much better then DV format Cameras..... at least with DV you can put it on a system and edit with. I hate opinionated sales people with "commission" to make. /rant

 

[mduser63]

Sales guys at future shop in Canada were hawking these and telling people that they were much better then DV format Cameras..... at least with DV you can put it on a system and edit with. I hate opinionated sales people with "commission" to make. /rant

DVD camcorders are only really good for people who have no desire to edit the stuff they shoot, because they output to a medium that is readily playable with no intermediate transfer. If you want to do any editing at all, a DV camera is definitely the way to go.

That said, you can demux the VOB files that come off of the DVD using MacTheRipper, then you'll have to use another application (QuickTime Pro?) to convert the .m2v files to something iMovie can deal with like DV .mov files.

 

[henrydog]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, hindsight is always 20/20, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'll see what I can figure out.

 

[RatVega]

I have a Sony mini-dvd camcorder, and I would like to convert the files that come off of it into quicktime, or something a little more common than the format they are currently recorded in. Like any other standard DVD that I rip onto my Mac, these mini dvds rip onto my desktop in a Video_TS folder (as when you would use Mac the Ripper).

Like I said, what I'd really like to do is get the video into a format that I could ultimately edit with iMovie, record onto a new, regular sized DVD with iDVD, or simply be able to email the videos out. I think what I would like is to be able to convert them to quicktime files, but I just don't know how to do it.

Any ideas?

First you have to convert the MPEG-2 files back to .dv (for iMovie) or .mov (for pretty much anything else.)

The best tool I know for this is DVDxDV by Brad Wright. It's affordable and very good quality. The freebie rippers never gave me the quality I wanted.

The problem with the Sony is that it's already compressed the video as MPEG-2, meaning a lot of quality has already been lost.

I know that FCP5 will import MPEG-2 and cut it, but I have no idea what the workflow after the cutting or the results look like.

 

[20rogersc]

I've used Drop2DV before, however it turns them into massive files. It's worth a try though as it is freeware.

::20ROGERSC::