Transfer video onto Macbook Pro?

[MatthewWaters]

I've had my Macbook Pro for a few years, and I am starting to get into editing. I have a machine that converts my old VHS tapes to DVDs, but I was wondering if there is a cable I can buy that will run the video directly into my computer?

The machine is a Panasonic DMR-EZ27, and it has an output to the TV when it records onto a DVD, so I was thinking about maybe buying a cable that will run the composite cable into the USB. I have FInal Cut Express HD, so would I be able to capture the video in there? Any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mainmenu/products/Video-Capture/product1.en.html

Similar threads: "capture vhs"

 

[MatthewWaters]

Thanks for your response. I have looked at Video Capture, and it looks solid. I was trying to save on money, though, and I'm just wondering if I can just find cords that run into the computer since I already have a converter? Or do I need something like Video Capture? Thanks again.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I don't know about a simple cable, that would work connected from your VHS>DVD converter to a Mac, but if you already have created the DVDs, maybe the following can help.
You may be able to skip directly to STEP 2, as it is unlikely, that your self recorded DVDs have some kind of protection scheme, but I included step 1 just in case.


Getting footage from a video DVD into an editing application

1. Get the footage from DVD
2. Transcode the footage to an editing friendly format​

1. Get the footage from DVD - copied and pasted from How to backup/copy/rip video DVDs to your HDD and transcode them to another format.​

As commercial video DVDs use a copy protection scheme called CSS (Content Scramble System), additional software is needed to copy the content of a video DVD to your HDD, which is called "ripping". There are several applications to accomplish this.​

1.1. MacTheRipper 2.6.6 (free)

Insert the video DVD into your DVD drive and open MacTheRipper and click the GO button, after which you can select the place you want the video DVD's content saved to.
As this version of MTR is quite old, it will not read many modern DVDs.​

1.2. RipIt (19.95 USD, trial with 10 rips free)

Insert the video DVD and press the RIP button.​

1.3. Fairmount (free) - needs VLC 32-bit to decrypt the CSS (thanks to Satori for that information)​

1.4. Mac DVDRipper Pro (9.95 USD)

Insert the video DVD and select a destination folder, then press the RIP button.​

2. Transcode the footage to an editing friendly format​

As Handbrake does not offer any options to transcode into an editing friendly format (see here for details), one needs to use MPEG Streamclip to have more transcoding options like the .mov container format and a variety of codecs (DV, Apple Intermediate Codec, ProRes, ...), which makes buying (19.99 USD) and installing the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component a necessity, in order to open ripped video DVDs in MPEG Streamclip.
​

2.0 Opening a ripped video DVD in MPEG Streamclip​

2.0.1 MPEG Streamclip > File > Open DVD (SHIFT+CMD+O)

2.0.2 Browse to the VIDEO_TS folder of your choice and click Select

2.0.3 Many video DVDs come with several titles (menu, trailers, extras, film, ...), thus make sure you select the correct title, which might involve some trial and error though.

2.0.4 A successful opened video DVD looks like this:

2.1 Transcode the MPEG-2 encoded video for iMovie, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro - Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC)​

2.1.1 MPEG Streamclip > File > Export to QuickTime ... (CMD+E)

2.1.2 Export Settings for the Apple Intermediate Codec for PAL DVDs

Choose the AIC for Compression (video) and Uncompressed for Sound.
If you have an NTSC DVD, select DV-NTSC or Unscaled.​

2.2 Transcode the MPEG-2 encoded video for Avid Media Composer​

2.2.1 MPEG Streamclip > File > Export to QuickTime ... (CMD+E) - like 2.1.1​

2.2.2 Either choose Apple DV PAL/NTSC or Avid DV PAL/NTS as video compression. The sound stays uncompressed.​

2.3 Transcode the MPEG-2 encoded video for Adobe Premiere Pro​

 

[MatthewWaters]

Wow thanks for the info. The screenshots should help too. I'll let you know if it works!