Need software suggestions

[virgomac]

I'm a returning mac user and need some application suggestions. Quite frankly I tried searching and found so many things I'm a bit overwhelmed right now.

So I'm hoping to tell you what I do, and what I use to use on the PC and you can give me software that will do the same thing.

Video Editing:

1) I need to take a DVD rip and shrink it down to fit on a normal DVD.
I need to take that rip and then put it to a DVD that I can play normally.

I do this for all my purchased DVD's so that my nieces and nephews don't trash them when they watch them.

2) I need software to take that DVD and convert it into other formats. Or take other formats and convert it to DVD plus other formats.

Will update this as I think of more software that I am missing, but this is by far the most important right off the bat since i'm trying out some others that I've found in other categories.

 

[chilipie]

Not quite sure what you mean by the first one - do you just want to copy DVDs? If so, possibly MacTheRipper and Toast? Handbrake is useful for ripping DVDs and converting the video to files that Quicktime et al will play, and MPEGStreamClip is good for converting video files between two different formats.

 

[thomahawk]

handbrake for ripping DVDs into a video file like avi's, mp4, whatever
mactheripper for ripping dvd's video and audio TS folders
visualhub(discontiuned) for converting any video file into anything

 

[Cromulent]

1) Toast.

2) Handbrake.

 

[virgomac]

Ok, I have a few more questions

I already know I'm going to have to switch over alot of software to the new OS. Problem is I can't find any demo's of some of these to make sure they have the features I need. So my option would be to temporarily use a torrent version to try them out, which doesnt bother me as I actually do use it as a demo, not just leaving it there for free.

Question I have is several of these during install have asked me for my system password. Is this normal or is this just a ploy for some malicious software snuck into the install?

For instance, Office asks me for this, as well as Quicken. Would really like to try these before i buy them, but worried about that password incident. Just a FYI i cancelled both of the installs. I also scanned it with ClamXav and it said it wasn't infected with anything. But I'm still a tad leary of installing.

What do you think?

 

[GGJstudios]

Question I have is several of these during install have asked me for my system password. Is this normal or is this just a ploy for some malicious software snuck into the install?

Mac OS X is asking for your system password so you can authorize the installation of new software. It's a security measure, designed to prevent unauthorized software from being installed without your knowledge.

 

[virgomac]

So what is the likely hood of any malicious code being snuck into the install, with it being a torrent from god knows where ?

Again, this is for trial use, not to keep on the machine.

 

[GGJstudios]

It depends.... if you're installing trial versions, it's best to get those from the developer's site, as opposed to torrents.

 

[virgomac]

That's the problem, I can't find trial versions of Office 2008 or Quicken, so I'm stuck using a torrent as my trial. Both of which ask me for my password on install.

Being that I don't have retail versions of these yet, I don't know if they "normally" ask for this information. Or if these programs, coming from a torrent are even safe to install. Especially with them asking for a password. So I'm in a bit of a quandary.