hi there,

I'm an editor and unfortunaltely quite low tech, so i wonder if anyone could give me some general advice here regarding how to get DVD material into my avid to edit (I work on an avid xpress HD, v5.2 on a pc ,without a mojo and have no immediate plan to upgrade to anything else, as i only use it for very low budget things and showreels). i need to edit a new showreel and all my material is on DVDs which  (I guess) I would need to rip as an AVI or QT to get into the avid as i don't have a mojo. I've used Auto GK before but found that i only seem to rip the whole of the DVD with this software which takes forever. is there any free software out there which lets me rip only part of a DVD or is there any other way of importing from DVD?

sorry for posting such a basic question. I really apreciate your help. thanks

shandy

 Try mpeg streamclip from  www.squared5.com where you can set ins and outs.

but mind the copyrights of the DVDs you need to rip.

Hi FDS

vielen dank for that. I've downloaded the software and done a few trial runs with several DVDs. It doesn't seem to work with all them (i guess it might have something to do with copy right protection, the software crashed a few times). but for those DVDs it did work: very impressive quality.

thanks again

Hi,

Cinematize is good for DVD ripping.

good luck,
Carl

 Hello, if your product does not have to be top quality, you could buy a analog to firewire (DV) converter, you can get them for approx 100 dollars, you will digitize real time, and if the box is bi-directional, you will have DV output for preview on an analog monitor. Just be aware that if you work on firewire drives you should get a 2nd firewire card for this converter box (PYRO FIREWIRE 400 PCI CARD WORK BEST)

Phil

thanks Phil, that's really helpful, I'd never heard of that converter before. i'll look into it.

Shandy

thank you very much

I have a simillar project this week.  Being sent a DVD to edit a promo from the material.  I used to just hook up my DVD player via analogue out and connect it to a DV deck and get the whole DVD on to tape and then work from that tape.  Is that still an acceptable way?

Thanks

Hi,

DKGen:

I used to just hook up my DVD player via analogue out and connect it to a DV deck and get the whole DVD on to tape and then work from that tape.  Is that still an acceptable way?

Yes, that method is fine.

good luck,
Carl

Download a program called mpeg streamclip.  It will allow you to open up the dvd TS folders and then convert it to any movie format you want.  Then you just import it into Avid.  Depending on your system, it may take a bit longer than digitizing straight of the dvd, but should you lose your media, or need to reimport it, you edits will stay intact, as opposed to didging with no TC.

Thanks...  I think I'll stick to the tried and tested straight to tape method I used to use.  I'm always a bit sceptical about recompressing compressed clips with software I'm not familiar with.

Regards