How to rip DVD clips at full quality for demo reel

[ctone]

I need to make a demo DVD of my video/audio work, which needs to be the best quality I can achieve. Much of the source material will come from commercial DVDs. These would of course be copy protected, but my purpose is to just edit together a demo reel DVD of clips, not make full copies. Some other material will come from VHS tapes, which I am planning to pass through my Sony miniDV camcorder (unless someone here tells me that the quality of the Canopus box is that much better that it is worth buying just for this purpose.)

Anyway, I need advice on how to rip clips off of commercial DVDs for this purpose at full quality (no compression). I need to keep the video and audio quality intact as much as possible. As far as I can tell, Handbrake does it only with compression. I am a music engineer and a novice in this area, so be gentle thanks

 

[pianojoe]

So you are going to use commercial video clips to promote your business, actively circumventing digital copy protection on the way.

1. You will get caught.

2. DVD video is already compressed. Unless your NLE system can handle MPEG2, you will have to convert the video if you want to do destructive editing. If it's just for using individual clips, you can always toss these into your DVD mastering app of choice. (DVDSP?) But beware: Not all DVD players/software players take lightly on changing compression rate and audio codec in the middle of a movie.

 

[bmb012]

Not trying to be too mean or anything, but using commercial DVD clips to promote a business is probably the most n00b thing a professional could possibly do.

If someone showed me a demo reel that contained DVD rips instead of client work, I'd just laugh at them.

 

[northernmunky]

Not trying to be too mean or anything, but using commercial DVD clips to promote a business is probably the most n00b thing a professional could possibly do.

I've worked on projects where clients have requested clips ripped from DVD's all the time to create features to promote business. The difference is we were making films that were blatantly satirical and done obviously on purpose as opposed to ripping the clips and trying to pass it off as our own work. Not a defence, still illegal, but sometimes a necessary part of the industry.

To answer the question Mactheripper to rip the DVD and remove the Macrovision. DVDxDV Pro to convert the clips to DV which can be imported and edited in Final Cut Pro.

 

[weldon]

Did anyone consider the possibility that he was the music engineer on these movies and wants the rips to show off his own work?

ctone, you want to look into Mac the Ripper.

The problem you will run into is that the MPEG-2 from DVD is already compressed and is not meant to be edited. Because the compression uses reference frames and incremental "change" frames to rebuild the video stream, it poses problems if you want to cut a clip at a point that doesn't start with a full reference frame. The way Apple works around this with iMovie is to import everything into the Apple Intermediate Codec before editing. This kind of transcoding can result in some quality loss. However, if your focus is to show off the film score and audio engineering, then I don't think you will care about this minor issue as long as the audio and video are in sync.

 

[dvp]

Anyway, I need advice on how to rip clips off of commercial DVDs for this purpose at full quality (no compression). I need to keep the video and audio quality intact as much as possible.

You can try Cinematize which allows you to extract a clip from a DVD (non protected, you may need to use Mac The Ripper first) There is a 15 Days fully working demo version available in the "Download" part of Miraizon's site

 

[ctone]

Did anyone consider the possibility that he was the music engineer on these movies and wants the rips to show off his own work?

Hello! At least you get it. I thought I was being clear. I am not trying to "Promote a Business". This is not advertising. I am being asked for a demo reel to show my work by a potential client/employer, and the only copies that I can get my hands on are on commercial copies. I have the audio portion in other formats (which by the way is also copyrighted), but they are asking for the video as well, which was put together after it left my hands.

This is my work. I am credited on these projects. Yes, my contribution was a "work for hire" so I don't own the copyright. You guys really need to lighten up and read more closely

Except you, of course, Weldon. You get a gold star!

 

[ctone]

I was able to use Mactheripper to rip the DVDs, but I am having trouble importing into iMovie (getting error messages). I tried ripping a few different ways. Any advice on how specifically to do this?

 

[thworple]

Once you've ripped it with Mac the Ripper, you'll need DVDxDV to extract the clips into an editable format. The non-pro edition is only $25, and its a bargain for such a good app!

 

[sandman42]

I was able to use Mactheripper to rip the DVDs, but I am having trouble importing into iMovie (getting error messages). I tried ripping a few different ways. Any advice on how specifically to do this?

iMovie will only accept DV or MP4 video, and will not work with the MPEG2 video created by MTR. You can also use MPEG Streamclip to convert MTR's product to DV.

I think you should give more respect to what others are telling you though. Without the consent of the DVDs' actual content owners, what you are doing is in fact illegal, regardless of how entitled you may feel. Not trying to police you, just trying to make sure you are making an informed choice so any consequences don't surprise you -- there are folks out there who are pretty hardcore about enforcing the DMCA. A lot of people seem to think that their own ideas about 'fair use' of DVDs -- which seem to be rooted in what they're used to with CDs -- will somehow be an effective defense if they get prosecuted in some way. Probably nothing will happen to you, just be careful.

 

[ctone]

Thanks for the extra info guys. I do understand and respect what you and others mention about the copyright issue, very well in fact from being in the music business. There is standard language in my contracts that permits me to use this material for demo purposes.

 

[dvp]

I was able to use Mactheripper to rip the DVDs, but I am having trouble importing into iMovie (getting error messages). I tried ripping a few different ways. Any advice on how specifically to do this?

Did you try Cinematize ?
Demoversion is here: http://www.miraizon.com/support/downloads.html

You rip your DVD on your hard disk with mac the ripper (this will remove protection) It will create a VIDEO_TS directory full of VOB files.

Then you open this VIDEO_TS with cinematize, then you select a in and out point you want to extract, and choose the output video format (choose DV for iMovie)