Video to DVD transfer?

[Jonathan Dembling]

Yes, Mac the Ripper will copy any dvd - home-made or professional,  
even copy-protected - to your Mac. The video files are then in .VOB  
format, all contained in a folder called VIDEO_TS. You can view the  
video with the DVD Player software that comes with the Mac (though in  
my case it's always buggy), or with another freeware download program  
called VLC.

If you want to edit the video, in iMovie or whatever else - you'd need  
to convert the .VOB files into .MOV or whatever other format your  
editing software can read (I don't know of any program that can  
edit .VOB files directly). That's where spending more money comes into  
play, unless there's a freeware program I'm unaware of that can do  
this. I use Toast, but there is other commercial software that can  
accomplish this. This process is also useful for grabbing a short clip  
from a dvd.

But if your goal is to edit the video from the vhs tapes, by far the  
simplest method is to use a digital camcorder or other device that  
will transfer the analog signal to a digital one that can be directly  
imported into iMovie. Even the cheapest and oldest digital camcorders  
should be able to work for this purpose, and it doesn't even involve  
using a digital video tape (though another method is to copy from vhs  
to digital tape via the camcorder, then import from the digital tape  
to the Mac - this gives the advantage of a digital backup, but it's an  
extra step in the process). A used or bottom-line digital camcorder  
shouldn't cost more than a dvr.

Jonathan




On May 15, 2008, at 2:01 PM, Jim Wilce wrote:

> Hi Richard, Laura, Jonathan, Leila and all,
>
> I think programs like MacTheRipper might be able to read even the  
> odd DVD format, so that once it's transferred to your Mac you'll  
> probably be able to translate it into a format you can use for  
> viewing, and also editing.  MacTheR. is freeware.
>
> Jim
>
> Richard J Senghas wrote:
>> Yes, but these machines (especially the newer ones) usually then  
>> put the material in a DVD format that cannot be used as input for  
>> iMovie or other software (to prevent piracy).  If you are trying to  
>> produce Quicktime or other digital video files, you usually have to  
>> go through the fussy process of piping through a camera or other  
>> analog-to-digital encoding device.
>>
>> -RJS
>>
>> On 15 May 2008, , at 7:56 AM, Laura Miller wrote:
>>
>>> You can buy a VHS to DVD recorder for under $150
>