Hey, I have a question. It's as much theoretical as practical, since it's not totally vital, but I still would like to know if anyone has any knowledge of the subject.
My wife has a speech to give in school, and there's a clip from a show that we own on DVD that would work perfectly as a visual aide. The only problem is that it's filled with streams of vulgarity. Now we have a DVD burner, and I'm able to copy the DVD onto my hard drive in its component IFO and BUP files (whatever those are). Is there any software (free would be best) that would allow us to either beep out or edit around the swearing and burn off a "clean" version of the disc, appropriate for school? I'm really comfortable doing this with audio files, but I'm completely out of my element when it comes to DVD files.
A second question, if it wouldn't be too much. Again, mainly theoretical and out of curiosity. My mother-in-law is living in America for now and she doesn't speak any English. We always thought it would be cool to copy a DVD and program in some Albanian subtitles, then burn it back off and show it to her. Is that even possible with freeware and without an enormous temporal investment?
Thanks for the help.
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
Most all of the DVD editing software titles will let you modify the soundtrack (knock the volume to zero for the cuss words).
Adobe Premier Elements costs about $60 on its own, and about $80 with Adobe Photoshop Elements (that's typically "on sale," and including some rebates.
But--most won't let you strip from a protected DVD. I can't say anything about the "Ripper" softwares, since I've never used them (never, really! Not MagicDVDRipper or anything like that. Really!).
But Premier will let you add subtitles. Including, I guess, Albanian.
It will take you some time, however. But isn't your mother-in-law worth it?
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Cool! Thanks. Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
I've always thought that getting the video off the DVD and into the video editing software was too much of a headache to make it worthwhile... but maybe ripping programs have improved in the last few years. Once you get the video into Premiere or even Windows Movie Maker, if it can import different kinds of video, it's pretty easy to blank out cuss words and add subtitles. It's the getting the video off the disc and in a manageable format that's the tricky part.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Yeah, like I said I can put it on my hard drive, then I have a massive list of IFO, BUP and VOB files. Now I'm just trying to figure out what those are, what they do, how my DVD player reads them, why they're in little groups, which ones I'd edit, how I'd edit them, which ones I could delete without making the disc totally unplayable or having to write new menus, and how to put them back together. I found this, but it's pretty dense. I miss mp3 and wav files. Life was so much simpler before some sadist invented video. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You cannot do anything with those files without DVD ripper software.
Which is illegal. Thank Congress.
Note: in the old days, you could play the video from a DVD player or other source and capture it to your hard drive, but various organizations have built limitations into Windows PCs nowadays to prevent this behavior in most cases, too.
[ March 02, 2005, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
DVD ripping software isn't illegal, its distributing DVD ripping software (well, with DeCSS capabilities) that's illegal.
Now I'm confused. Is DVD Shrink considered ripping software? Because I've used that to compress and transfer these files (of movies that I own) onto my hard drive, and they seem to play just fine. I even tried re-burning them, and the copies work fine. Was it illegal for them to let me download that program? Or is "ripping software" the stuff that lets me edit the files that end up on my hard drive? Would Adobe Premier Elements let me edit commercial DVDs, or is that just for home movies?
By the way, those gifs are pretty cool. I have no idea how I'd ever use them, but I'm going to bookmark them anyway, just to be subversive.
[ March 02, 2005, 02:05 PM: Message edited by: Speed ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Downloading or uploading DVD Shrink would be illegal in America, yes. And if DVD Shrink produces MPEG files -- which is most likely -- then you can use Adobe Premiere or a similar product to edit the film.
[ March 02, 2005, 02:10 PM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Hmm... that's interesting. Thanks for the info.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
So how could you transfer VHS onto DVD? Is it possible with a VHS tape that you own or not?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It's possible. And might be legal. The older the VHS player, the more likely this would be trivially easy; newer players are built to prevent this sort of thing.
Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
VHS onto DVD is a relatively straightforward process, though it does involve some computer equipment that not everyone has.
Basically, the easiest way to do it is to take a VCR, hook it up to a "bridge" box that takes an RCA signal in (the red, white, and yellow cords on the back of the VCR) and puts a digital signal out through Firewire or USB 2.0. Then you hook the Firewire or USB 2.0 up to your computer (assuming your computer has one of these connections) and use either iMovie on the Mac or Windows Movie Maker on Windows XP to import the video into your computer.
There are some other complications that can arise, but nothing too irritating. The little boxes that bridge the connection used to be around $300, but I bet you can find one for less now... I think lots of places sell that kind of thing, I just haven't shopped for one in a long time.
Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
They also sell DVD recorder set-top boxes that do it all without a computer now, don't they?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I say this because I have two movies on VHS that I LOVE but aren't out on DVD and it doesn't look they will ever be. Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
If you just want to be able to throw out your VCR, then sure, you can get them onto DVD. The picture quality will still be really crummy, though.
Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
You're in school again, right? I've never had any trouble finding the necessary equipment for VHS-to-DVD conversion here on campus, it seems like it's everywhere. Even our libraries had video stations for a while that could do it, and most of my student jobs over the years involved video transferring in one way or another. And now, for my full-time job, it's practically all I do!
Where's that gagging smiley, again?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
My major complaint is having Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet on VHS. It's two tapes and around four hours long. If I want to see a certain scene (like the chase scene) I have to...fast forward...check...fast forward...check...everything that's become outdated with the advent of DVDs with menus. So I guess there wouldn't be a point in converting anyway, and instead just hope the studio will freaking put it on DVD. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
When you make a DVD, you can create scenes at the time. So you could break it up in a given order.
Note, however, that two VHS tapes will not fit on a single-layer DVD-R unless you REALLY shrink 'em down.
[ March 02, 2005, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Yeah. The point is more ease of navigation than anything else. That, and I hate the VCR. We had to borrow one from my dad to play a borrowed VHS tape (By the Sword, which'll NEVER be out on DVD). At first, the sound was all horribly muffled and barely audible even on maxed sound. Had to open up the VCR and clean off the heads. Then we had sound! I'd never really taken noticed of picture quality between VHS and DVD till that night. Very, very different.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
It is always legal to make limited backup copies for personal use of media you own. However, many of the tools for making backup copies of DVDs are illegal to sell/distribute in the US.
It is completely legal to make a backup copy of a tape you own to a DVD, and there are many relatively easy ways to do it.
Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
That was an awesome version of Hamlet. Posted by Zeugma (Member # 6636) on :
*cough* you may want to search on ebay, mack... *cough*
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
quote: VHS onto DVD is a relatively straightforward process, though it does involve some computer equipment that not everyone has.
I just bought a ConvertX PX-AV100U , and I am Very Happy with it. After my mail in rebate, it will come to a total of $46. I got it on sale at BestBuy. I have VHS tapes and a camcorder without a dv port, and this works GREAT. Here is a review I agree with. Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
Ok, here's different type of video editing question. I just bought a miniDV camcorder. I have a firewire card on the way to capture the footage to my Hard Drive, but what is the best and most reasonably priced software for editing the video and creating DVD? I want to be able to play them back on my DVD player and not the computer. I've played around with Microsoft's movie maker (which was part of my computer software when purchased) and I know that is not the best out there and I'm not sure if it will even create dvd's. So any idea?
edit: the bad spelling started bothering me.
[ March 02, 2005, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: beatnix19 ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
While some people swear by Adobe Premiere for home use, I find that its interface is unintuitive. For smaller projects, then, I prefer Pinnacle Studio 9. Larger amateur projects on the PC pretty much demand Premiere, though.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I've used Adobe Premiere Elements and it took me an entire day to really start to get the feel of how the program worked. What it turns out is good stuff, but it takes some effort to learn.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
Thanks Tom. I haven't ever really looked around for anything like this. When researching my Camcorder I realized there were a few other things I would need to get full use out of it all. Now I just need to find a way to pay for a decent program.
My Firewire card has a copy of Ulead Video Studio V5.0. I know that is in version 8 right now so I'll be getting very dated software. It'll be a place to start but I doubt it will be worth a crap.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
HOLLY CRAP! Adobe Premiere Pro is $699.99. The elements is $99.00, which is way more my style. Which one are you talking about Tom?
If you are talking about Pro then you definately roll a lot deeper than I do. (Did you like my awesome use of urban terminology? My students are teaching me!)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'm staff at an arts college. We get rather substantial discounts on Adobe products. Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
Hmm... I have a copy of Photoshop 7.0 that was aquired through the media department at my school for a "discounted" rate. maybe I should check with them about Premiere...
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
I've worked with just about every video editing software there is and have found only a few worth putting quality work through. Final Cut (Pro or Express) is easily my first choice but, it's only on Mac. If I could offer one point of advice for those thinking about Premiere, buy the most recent version! Every version up to this most recent one has been plagued with audio problems and time-code error producing glitches that render some video useless. I've never recommended Premiere to anyone until I saw this version of it. But, if you have a Mac, I would highly recommend Final Cut Express.
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