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ripping PART of a DVD to my hard drive

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PebbleBeachProd

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2009
9
0
west coast, Canada
Hi everybody,

I am producing a video for someone who has provided footage that I need to include. The footage is on a long DVD but I only need a few minutes of it downloaded to my hard drive.

Is it possible to only rip the desired part of a video? Or do you have to rip the whole thing and then discard the parts you don't need?

I've looked through the posts talking about the various virtues of handbrake and MacTheRipper - would you suggest one or the other of them for these kinds of jobs? I'll probably never copy DVDs to watch them on my TV or any other device; what I mostly need is to be able to access outside footage (shot on a camera other than my own) to include in my edited pieces.

Thanks!

Joanne
 
DVDxDV Clip a DVD for a clip http://www.dvdxdv.com/

Here's a great program. There's two versions. Read through to make sure you select the correct version for yourself. I bought the pro and glad I did. It has come in handy many times....


http://www.dvdxdv.com/
 
Thanks for the replies! I downloaded MPEG Streamclip but as far as I can tell, it doesn't actually rip the DVD. Am I right?

I haven't ripped DVDs before so I could be missing a vital step....

One of the DVDs I have has three short chapters in it. The middle chapter (about 2 minutes long) has the footage I need to include. Will MPEG Streamclip - or some other (preferably free) program - allow me to isolate and download only that section, or do I have to download the entire DVD to my computer and then delete the bits that I don't want?

And is the deleting of bits I don't want once it's already on my computer the job of MPEG Streamclip?

Ah, so many questions, such tight deadlines!

Thanks!
 
PebbleBeachProd said:
Thanks for the replies! I downloaded MPEG Streamclip but as far as I can tell, it doesn't actually rip the DVD. Am I right?

I haven't ripped DVDs before so I could be missing a vital step....

One of the DVDs I have has three short chapters in it. The middle chapter (about 2 minutes long) has the footage I need to include. Will MPEG Streamclip - or some other (preferably free) program - allow me to isolate and download only that section, or do I have to download the entire DVD to my computer and then delete the bits that I don't want?

And is the deleting of bits I don't want once it's already on my computer the job of MPEG Streamclip?

Ah, so many questions, such tight deadlines!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm sure there is software that can do exactly what you want, but an easy and free way - although slightly more time consuming - is to rip the DVD and then select the vobs that contain the clip(s) you want to use and use MPEG Streamclip to convert just those vobs to DV for editing.
 
Handbrake can rip various parts of the DVD. I don't know if it matches up exactly to the chapters or if there is some other breakdown. For example I've been able to rip just a special feature section without having to rip the whole thing. You should be able to just rip that two minute section and then use another editing program to isolate from there. Handbrake is free so it won't cost you anything to install and try this before buying something else.
 
mscriv said:
Handbrake can rip various parts of the DVD. I don't know if it matches up exactly to the chapters or if there is some other breakdown. For example I've been able to rip just a special feature section without having to rip the whole thing. You should be able to just rip that two minute section and then use another editing program to isolate from there. Handbrake is free so it won't cost you anything to install and try this before buying something else.
Click to expand...

But then you are transcoding from mpeg-2 to mpeg-4, and then you need to transcode that again to put it in an editable format to work it in to your footage. You want to limit the number of times you transcode.
 
If you have the MPEG-2 component for Quicktime, you can do as follows:

  • Insert DVD
  • Open MPEG Streamclip. File, 'Open DVD', select 'Video_TS' folder and click 'Select'
  • Find the point your desired section starts at and hit 'i' on the keyboard, then find the desired end point and hit 'o'. Edit, 'Trim'.

What you do next depends on what you want to do with the clip. If you want to edit it further: File, 'Export to DV'. If you just want to save it on your hard drive: File, 'Convert to MPEG' (and view in VLC) or 'Export to MPEG-4'.
 
Keith, it says it is an "unsupported file type" and that the "Apple QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component is not installed."

Do I really need the MPEG-2 Playback Component to make this happen?

Thanks again for all your help! Much appreciated. My deadline is but two hours away... I thought this was going to be more straightforward than it is :eek:

Joanne
 
What do you want to do with the clip? Are you editing it into a video with some other stuff and then outputting to DVD, for instance?

With the time you have left Handbrake looks like the dirty but necessary route.
 
Yup, it was Handbrake. Grateful for it but I had to download almost an entire hour of footage for the mere 4 seconds I'm authorized to use. Oh well!

I'll be upgrading to Final Cut Pro in the new year - just out of curiosity, do you know whether it makes grabbing video from DVDs any easier?

And yes, I'm using two short clips of video along with several still photos and an animated logo to build a 30-second ad that will air on a jumbotron. Big.

Thanks again for your help!
 
Are you using Snow Leopard? and the new QT? If so, the Mpeg2 component was left out. If you upgraded from Leopard....and had Time Machine hooked up before the install, you can go to the QT Library files (back in time to when you had the previous version of QT installed) and restore the component from there.

Or, you can re-install the old QT itself from your Leopard install disc. This is all assuming, of course, you originally had the QT pro version installed.

If not, you can purchase it from Apple...here http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/

What are you using for editing? Are you able to just rip the DVD in StreamClip and isolate in your editor?

J
 
I'm on an iMac that I bought a year ago so it doesn't have Snow Leopard. And I'm editing on iMovies (for the last time, I might add...). I plan to have FCP in place by the new year.
 
KeithPratt said:
The MPEG-2 component comes with that. You'll have a lot more control over DVD rips when you have it.
Click to expand...

I've appreciated the way iMovies has helped me get my feet wet in the world of editing but I've directed editors in Avid and FCP suites for years (I'm currently moving from the world o' TV to the world o' corporates) so I know what I want my editing program to do, but iMovies just isn't geared towards my needs, even on what I consider to be a pretty basic level. I'm going out on my own with corporates so will start out doing pretty much everything myself until business builds enough that I can start hiring people.

An editor is at the top of my wanna-hire list.

Until then, though, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions! Thanks, everyone, for your input. Much appreciated!

Joanne
 
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