downloading info from a disc

[tuzanne]

I have just bought a video and DVD recorder to try to put all my videos on disc as I am afraid of losing my old footage through old age. I wanted to put them on disc and then put on my MAC so that I can edit them on IMovie.

My problem is that the videos I have managed to put on disc open with DVD player but not with any other application such as quicktime or IMovies. I can watch my disc but not download it onto the Mac for editing. When I try to open the files I am informed that the file is not a movie file.

does anyone know how I can download these files and edit them?

 

[Makosuke]

Due to the movie studios' favorite copy protection schemes and related intellectual property issues, DVD video is not generally playable or copyable by straight "drag and drop" like you're trying. It's the same reason Windows XP can't even play a DVD without 3rd party software added.

Presumably your DVDs are not protected as such, so you would be able to rip a playable copy by using Disk Utility (in your Utilities folder) to "create archive" of the disc, selecting "CD/DVD master" as the format of the archive. That will result in a file that can be double clicked and treated exactly like a physical DVD would. It could also be used to burn more copies of the disc.

Alternately, just look up "DVD Rip"--most of the tutorials and software are assuming copy-protected professional DVDs, but the techniques will usually work fine for discs like yours. Handbrake is a nice piece of software that'll do most of the work for you and produce a nice, compressed, ready-for-Quicktime MP4 file for you, and should be able to rip straight from the DVD. There are many others, both free and commercial, with varying features and ease of use.

 

[Apple OC]

+1 for Handbrake

 

[tuzanne]

thanks for that I will try above