From DVD to Final Cut

[Alonzo1]

So I'm trying to make a video using scenes from movies I have on DVDs. I ripped some footage using software called Handbrake.

The problem is that I can't rip the DVDs into a format that is compatible with Final Cut. Can anyone help? Is there a better software or a better idea?

 

[Heb1228]

Try MactheRipper to rip the files and MPEGStreamclip to convert them.

 

[Alonzo1]

so what would be the optimum file type for Final Cut?

 

[Erendiox]

Final cut will take a whole bunch of different video files, but the best bet for you is to convert to either Quicktime (H.264 or Sorenson) or convert to raw DV. Final Cut Pro will interact well with these formats. Just keep in mind that raw DV gets to be huge in file size (about 12GB per hour of footage), H.264 can run slowly if you have a slow system since it is heavy to decode it, and Sorenson may kill quality if you're not careful about it. Just some ups and downs for you to work with.

If I were you and I had the space, i'd go for DV since it is very simple. There really aren't too many incarnations of DV format, and the differences between them are negligable. Quicktime however has a huge number of child formats, and it can be easy for a beginner to get lost in them.

good luck!

 

[Heb1228]

Final cut will take a whole bunch of different video files, but the best bet for you is to convert to either Quicktime (H.264 or Sorenson) or convert to raw DV.

Do NOT convert to any compressed format. H.264 and Sorensen are both compressed codecs which means you'll be wasting time both encoding and decoding the file to use in Final Cut. Use DV, or, if you need highest quality, convert to Motion JPEG and jack the encoding quality up to 80 or 90%.

 

[manglerbmx]

from time to time i have to do things like this for film fests and for random clients and pretty much the quickest way i've found is to just straight capture the video from a dvd player through a converter. some mini dv cameras will convert pass through but a lot of cheaper ones wont. but you can get one of those dazzle things or whatever. but then again, handbrake, mactheripper and mpegstreamclip are free....