Switched from PC to Mac, Working with DVD video is a nightmare

[adessmith]

So, I just recently started using a mac for a variety of reasons, but I thought maybe I could also streamline my workflow in editing and uploading our church service videos.... So far it has not worked out and I'm hoping I could get some suggestions on how to accomplish this on a Mac.

We record our service to DVD every week (using a standalone dvd recorder), I bring a copy home, rip it, do some basic editing, and upload it to blip.tv.

First off I would like to describe the process I used with windows:

1) Rip DVD using DVD-Shrink
I do this without using any compression and have it output to a single .VOB file. This has been the fastest way to rip the DVD I have found. Usually takes less than 5 minutes

2) Convert the .VOB file to a .mpg file using VideoReDo.
Some people say you can just rename it, but I find that it creates timecode errors that cause issues when you try to edit the mpg. I use the "quckstream fix" option and it only takes a couple of minutes.

3) I import the video into Windows Live Movie Maker, and do my editing.
I use movie maker because it is pretty simple, and I can create a 1 hour wmv file that is less than 1GB in size (necessary for blip.tv) It has a fair amount of transitions and stuff. I typically just set my start and stop points for the video, and add the title sequence video and ending credits along with crossfades. Including the "editing" process, movie maker usually takes about 15-20 minutes to create the wmv.


So this whole process (from inserting the dvd to wmv file ready to upload) takes about 30 minutes (providing there is no additional editing needed). The main issue I have is with windows movie maker. It just seems to freeze on me some times, and doesnt have any advanced audio editing tools. If I find that I need to boost the audio level in just one section then I have to export the audio from the mpg and edit it in audacity and then combine them again. It makes things much more difficult and time consuming.


So I figured I'd try it on my (new to me) macbook so I could use iMovie or Adobe Premiere for editing. So far, Im getting no where. I've tried handbrake and "mac the ripper" to rip the DVD and so far neither one works well. "Mac the ripper" keeps complaining about bad sectors and "padding" the output file. Handbrake takes about 2 hours and results in a mp4 file that seems to cause problems in later steps.
I tried importing the mp4 file into iMovie but it immediately starts "optimizing" the clip, and says it will take upwards of 8 hours! (this is just to get it into imovie... I have no idea how long it would take to save the video after making the edits) There is no option to cancel, so I just have to force quit iMovie. I also tried importing the mp4 file into adobe premiere and it crashes before it finishes importing.

I was really thinking I could cut a step out of my process when using the mac, and hoped I could use a more powerful editing program, but so far I've wasted HOURS with nothing working for me.
Anyone have any ideas?
Any suggestions for a good FAST ripping program on the mac?
Is iMove any good? (it looks much easier than Premiere) what formats can it accept without having to spend several hours "optimizing")

[katanna]

I use MPEG Streamclip to rip DVDs, it is super simple and you can rip to many formats (I use DV as a raw file type). The program is free, but to rip DVDs it requires that you have the MPEG-2 Playback Component. I know that it comes with Final Cut Pro so you may already have it with Premiere, but if you don't you can buy it from Apple for only $20. (Just download MPEG Streamclip and try to rip a DVD, it will tell you if it needs the extra component or not.) Here are the links:

http://www.squared5.com/
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D2187Z/A

Matthew

[petereit]

One thing that could GREATLY improve your workflow is if you could just capture your video straight to your Mac instead of going through the whole DVD nightmare scenario, because not only is it a severe pain, you're losing a ton of video quality in the process.

What kind of camera do you use? What kind of outputs are available on it?

[adessmith]

Unfortunately, using the mac for capture is not an option because it was bought to run loops for our worship band (with ableton live) from the stage durring the service.

At the moment we are just using an old consumer grade Panasonic camera with composite output.
Its basically a startup church opperating with donated equipment.
I do have another cannon camera (still uses tape) but it has a firewire output and I have a an older spare ibm thinkpad with firewire... But the audio might be tricky because we use a subgroup output from the board. I'd need a way to record firewire video, and analog audio.
Also, from what I remember that camera had difficulty with the horrible lighting on our stage (or lack of lighting).

[adessmith]

Any ideas on good video capture software for PC?

[petereit]

OK, then my next suggestion would be to download and install the Perian QuickTime Extensions (kind of a Mac equivalent of the popular K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows) and then use MPEG Streamclip to rip your DVDs. Use the DV file format and iMovie will pull it right in with no need for conversion.

[adessmith]

Petereit, that was exactly the sort of info I was looking for!
Thanks, I'll give that a try!

[petereit]

One caveat: depending on your version of OSX, and whatever other software you may have installed, you may or may not have the MPEG2 component available that MPEG Streamclip needs to decode the DVD. I think Perian will provide it, which is why I suggest installing it before you install MPEG Streamclip. If not, there are other free sources of the MPEG2 component (older versions of OSX, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier, old Time Capsule backups you may have access to, etc.) The last-case resort is to just buy it from Apple. It's a $19.99 instant download, which in my book is cheaper than the value of the time I would waste looking for it.

[adessmith]

I'm also going to try using my old ibm laptop to capture. I just need to find some "dead simple" windows capture software for our volunteers (I play guitar in the worship band, so I'm not in the sound booth).
I have a plextor usb capture device, so I might try that with the analog camera, or try firewire with the cannon camera (but I'm afraid there will be sync issues between the analog audio and firewire video).

[tpennington]

What version of Adobe Premiere do you have? The last several have had the "Media Browser" panel for importing footage easily from many different device types, one of which being straight off of DVD's. I use it often and have never had an issue.