DVD rip, edit, write questions

[DigitalMP]

DVD on media > hard drive > editor > back to media

Okay, I've never really done anything as far as editing video, but my buddy is a high school coach, and one of the locals records his games for him on DVD - I'm not sure of the media...I assume R+, but I could be wrong.

He would like to extract it to his PC in a format that would allow him to open it in a to-be-determined editing application, cut out some clips for review, add text bubbles/arrows, then write it to DVD media once again to take into the film room.

Last winter we tried this, but the app we used to rip the video to his hard drive wasn't editable but the editing app, which I think was SOny Vegas.

Which format do I want to rip to my hard drive?

Which editing app(s) might any of you recommend?

Should I use Nero to burn, or is DVD Shrink better?


Thanks!

 

[Creamy Goodness]

not sure how to rip the video, but adobe premiere is a good tool to edit the video. it is supposed to be able to import a DVD. you can use nero to burn edited mpegs back to the dvd, losing any menus in the process... premiere can also export to a dvd - not sure if that means it creates an image or it burns it directly. also dont know if it will mess up any menus in the process.
dvd shrink doesn't actually burn dvds, it uses nero or another tool to do it anyways. not sure if it can help with the menus.

vegas does the same stuff as premiere, but you need the 'DVD Architect' component to export to import or export or burn a DVD. you can still use it but you need another tool to rip the mpegs and nero to burn them.

if you're thinking of purchasing this software, adobe premiere elements is only 99$, Vegas and Premiere pro are more like $700. elements is probably good enough for what you are doing - it still supports import and export from DVDs.

 

[DigitalMP]

Okay, here's what I found based on some clickwork:

1. "Rip" the DVD video from the disc to your computer's hard drive.
Recommended program: DVD-Decrypter.

2. Convert the native DVD "VOB" format video files into an editable format, such as MPG or AVI. There are some programs that will rip the DVD and encode right to an AVI file format, which you can then edit in Vegas.
Recommended program: Clone DVD.
Question: I know AVI compresses more, but is there any editing advantage to work with MPG over AVI?

3. Edit and save your video.
Recommended program: Vegas Video (easy to use and powerful)
Question: Has anyone liked editing with something other than Vegas? Would any other apps give me more options or flexibility? Is there anything cheaper that works ok?

4. Write your video back to a CD in DVD-format
Recommended program: Nero; DVD Shrink if it's too big (this app doesn't write, does it?)
Question: Does Nero limit me in any aspect? Why might I write with another app?


Regarding menus:

• The menu and the video are totally different parts of a DVD - all stored in the VOB file. If you can extract all the menus separately, you could possibly put the video back in with a DVD-authoring program.
• With DVD, you don't actually add the menus to the video. You can make menus and link the buttons on them to parts of the video (for navigation), then compile all of it into a DVD, again, with a DVD-authoring program.
• When you convert the files to MPG or AVI, the video stream and audio stream are combined into a single editable video file.

Comments are encouraged, very welcome, and greatly appreciated!