VIDEO EDITOR NEEDED

[Tom AZ]

I'm not much of a video guy -- in fact, I know very little about it. However, I'm looking for a real simple video editor (preferably free) just to do some real easy movie editing (like cut out a couple very short sections and do a little cleanup at the very beginning of a movie). Any recommendations or suggestions?

[TeeJay3800]

I've had good luck with Avidemux.

[Augeas]

If it's a one-off piece of video editing then Video ReDo plus, or TV Suite, is perfect. You get a free key for 15 day's full function trial. The downside is that it seeds the registry so you can't apply the same key again afterwards. It is reasonably priced anyway.

[redhawk]

VirtualDub is quite good although a real PITB for editing mov h.264 content. :\

I use it to re-process mpeg/mp4/avi files and for video capture via my TV card.

 

Richard S.

[Tom AZ]

Thanks for the help so far. Very honestly, I don't even know where to start. I have a DVD with a movie on it (DVD+R) that just needs a very little cleanup.

 

How do I get it onto my computer? (I'm sure you can't just copy it like a data disk). Once it's there, then what? I don't know one video format from another.

 

I just want to get it onto my computer, do a little cleanup work, then burn a new DVD. Sounds like it should be fairly simple, but I suppose it's not.

[ishan_rulz]

For editing your video, check out: Lightworks

 

And here is a guide of how to import the DVD VOB files to Lightworks: Link

[Andavari]

Edit: Should've read the whole topic first.

 

You can use DVD Shrink (Last Version) to copy the DVD to your hard disk, or even DVDFab. In DVD Shrink you can edit out what you don't want really easily, but you'll have to piece together the video with something like AVI-Mux GUI or VirtualDub/VirtualDub Portable after it's encoded.

 

Welcome to the confusing world of video editing, it's a real b* when first starting out. You may want to bookmark this site, it has tons of software and help docs http://www.videohelp.com/

[rridgely]

If you are on vista or windows 7, I think windows live movie maker is the way to go.

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker?os=other

 

I use it all the time to edit the movies I make with my Kodak ZI8 HD camera.

It edits the HD(1080 and 720) videos awesomely.

[DennisD]

You could do it all with DVD Shrink by using it's "ISO" (image file) save and join capability, without having to use any other software, although it will take a little time and effort.

 

If you're DVD is playable on your standalone home DVD player it's probably in DVD Compliant format, vob ifo and bup files, which aren't easy to mess around with.

 

Select "Open Disc" and load your DVD into DVD Shrink, select "Re-author" and then drag Title 1 from the right pane across to the left one.

 

 

 

Then select "set start\end frames", and you'll have this window.

 

 

 

This is where you will do all the editing. To get rid of the section you need to cut out, leave the "Start Frame" on 0, and slide the "End Frame" to the beginning of the section you want to remove, and you can do this with spot on accuracy by using the slider and the left and right arrow keys.

 

Once done, select OK, and then "Backup". In the next window, from the drop down menus select "ISO Image file", select where you want to save it, and then OK to save that Image.

 

 

 

The next step is very similar. Go to the file menu and clear Shrink by using "Close All Open DVD's" and load your original DVD again, do all of the above until you get to the "set start\end frames" window again.

 

This time leave the "End Frame" slider alone and slide the "Start Frame" slider to the end of the section you need to cut out, and then save that second Image.

 

The next step is to join the two newly created ISO Images together, and Shrink will do this with no noticeable join. It leaves a very smooth transition.

 

Now go to the File menu and select "Close All Open DVDs" again to start afresh.

 

 

 

Go the the File menu again and select "Open Disk Image", and choose the first edited Image you made. Once loaded select "Re-author" and drag "Title 1" across to the left.

 

Back to the File menu and select "Open Disk Image" again and load the second edited Image you made. Once loaded select "Re-author" again and drag that second Image across to the left. Shrink will rename the second one to "Title 1(2)".

 

You can now shift select both files in the left pane and preview the result of the join in the small video window. (Or full screen by right clicking in the video window).

 

 

 

If you're happy, then choose "Backup", and save using "ISO Image file" again.

 

You'll now have a single ISO Image which is your original DVD minus the section you wanted to remove.

 

Using that new Image, you could then go through the same process to accurately remove another section, or trim the start or end.

 

Once completed, you can burn the final Image (as an Image) to DVD using for example, DVD DEcrypter or ImgBurn.

 

http://filehippo.com/download_dvdshrink/

 

http://www.filehippo.com/download_dvd_decrypter/

 

Both of the above programs are old but very versatile, and very small.

 

Or ...

 

http://filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

 

This method may seem quite complicated, but it's really very straightforward.

 

Once you get the hang of making two new Images to remove a section of video, it's very easy, and I don't know of an easier way to edit a DVD using only one freeware application, and without first converting the DVD to another format such as avi.

 

If there is an easier, more straightforward way to edit a DVD with "uncomplicated" freeware, then by all means go for it.

[redhawk]

What do you mean by "do a little cleanup", colour balancing or noise reduction??

 

Richard S.

[Tom AZ]

WOW, Dennis, I never dreamed it would be so complicated, but thanks for all the detailed info. Actually, I do have DVD Shrink, but as you can probably tell, I've never used it

 

You were correct, the DVD I have is DVD compliant with vob, ifo and bup files. And you were also correct that the "cleanup" needed is the removal of a few frames.

 

Well, guess I've got my work cut out for me trying to figure this one out! Sure wish it were a little easier.

 

Thanks again to all.

 

Edit: Dennis, you mentioned avi. I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but would ripping/converting the DVD to another format such as this make things any easier -- and what about the quality? If that's easier, maybe I could then use a little editor to remove the unwanted frames and ultimately get it back to a DVD compliant format that would play on a standard stand-alone DVD player.

[DennisD]

It really isn't complicated Tom, it just looks that way because you haven't done it before.

 

Once you grasp the simplicity of the process it's a piece of cake.

 

 

 

In the diagram ...

 

"A" is your original video.

 

"B" is the first edit from the start of the video to the point where you want to remove a section.

 

"C" is the second edit from the end of the section you want to remove to the end of the video.

 

"D" is the section to be discarded.

 

The final edit is joining "B" and "C" together to make a new complete video.

 

It really is as simple as moving one slider to make "A", saving that section, reloading the original, moving one slider to make "B" and then saving that section.

 

I wouldn't personally attempt to convert it to another format (which I think you would have to do as editing the contents of a "Video_TS" folder isn't easy), as you would still have to carry out some sort of editing process, and I haven't found anything in my own experience with editing DVD Compliant videos as simple as this.

 

Just follow the steps I've outlined, and you can do whatever you want to do without going through an unnecessary video format conversion.

 

It's up to you of course Tom, and if you want to pass on this suggestion and try another way, no worries at all.

[Tom AZ]

Dennis, with the method you've outlined using DVD Shrink, do you first need to rip the DVD to an ISO file, or do you just work directly from the DVD?

[Andavari]

Dennis, with the method you've outlined using DVD Shrink, do you first need to rip the DVD to an ISO file, or do you just work directly from the DVD?

I'll answer this since I also use DVD Shrink. You can edit it directly from the disc, however if you first copy the whole DVD to your hard disk the editing is "smoother/faster" but not necessary. Note that if you copy the whole thing to your hard disk first you'll need to have enough free space available for all the other editing and outputting to Image (ISO).

[Tom AZ]

Thanks, Andavari.

 

One other thing... once you've written the ISO file(s), do they end up in an archive folder (such as zip, winrar, etc.) or is it/are they just stand-alone file(s)?

[Andavari]

One other thing... once you've written the ISO file(s), do they end up in an archive folder (such as zip, winrar, etc.) or is it/are they just stand-alone file(s)?

 

They end up as a single file ("archive"), which is also immediately burnable to a DVD disc with any burning software such as ImgBurn, InfraRecorder, Nero, etc.

[Tom AZ]

Well, I did it! Thanks Dennis ? and Andavari, your instructions were great and it worked perfectly. And I see what you meant, Dennis. Actually, I went through the process a few times and each time became increasingly easier. I guess it's just that first time reading the directions and trying to figure out exactly what you're supposed to do.

 

Even though everything worked and I've already burned a new DVD (which actually plays in a stand-alone DVD player), the "ISO" file that was supposedly created was not an archive file (as I had expected it to be and as Andavari confirmed). Instead, I ended up with four stand-alone individual files (DVD_VR.100, DVD_VR.101, DVD_VR.102, DVD_VR.MDS). However, when I went to the folder that had these files, I guess ImgBurn found what it needed and burned and verified everything perfectly.

 

Now, I'm just wondering if you have any ideas as to why I didn't get a typical "archive" file?

[DennisD]

I could be wrong Tom, but I think it's probably just terminology used by different people. Andavari may refer to an ISO Image as an archive file, where I only ever refer to them as ISO's.

 

He'll probably confirm that. Or not.

 

So did you not do the whole thing with ISO files ... "DVD_02_1.ISO" etc.? I see an MDS file extension there. Where did that come from?

 

The important thing is you cracked it and got to where you wanted to be. You'll be showing other folk how to do it now.

 

Well done Tom.

[Tom AZ]

Actually, Dennis, I have no idea where the MDS file came from, or anything else for that matter. When it came to the Backup step, I did select ISO - that's all I know.

 

The DVD I started with was a DVD+R, which was made from a VHS tape. Don't know if that had anything to do with it or not, but at least I got what I needed. Thanks again.

[Andavari]

I could be wrong Tom, but I think it's probably just terminology used by different people. Andavari may refer to an ISO Image as an archive file, where I only ever refer to them as ISO's.

 

He'll probably confirm that. Or not.

I call them ISO Image File myself, however when Tom mentioned "archive" I thought I'd leave things simple and refer to it as the same. It's sort of an archive though if you think about it - all the files neatly packed into a burnable package and even 7-Zip can open and extract them as if they were a "normal" archive.

 

I have no idea where the MDS file came from, or anything else for that matter.

ImgBurn creates those .MDS files when you make an ISO with it you can either click the .ISO file or the .MDS file and ImgBurn will know from using either what to burn. I've been using ImgBurn for years and never really knew what .MDS files where, there's a good description here a few posts down the page: http://forum.slysoft...ad.php?p=123017

[DennisD]

I've been using Imgburn for a long time also, and didn't know that.

 

Probably because I use it most of the time for burning Video_TS folders and never take that much notice except for what's showing in the GUI.

[cc1]

You could do it all with DVD Shrink by using it's "ISO" (image file) save and join capability, without having to use any other software, although it will take a little time and effort.

 

Hi folks.

 

One of our kids has been sorely wanting to see a video we have on dvd, but there are a few scenes that we thought best to delete first. So I followed the instructions in post #9 (partially copied above, since it's a long one...but super-helpful).

 

I burned the resulting .iso to a new dvd with imgburn. Everything worked as expected , except when I playback the dvd, there's a noticeable 1-2 second pause that occurs exactly at each of the joined parts.

 

I even tried a second time, burning the dvd with DVDDecrpter, but the pauses still occur in the same spots.

 

It's not that big of a deal. But I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this.

 

PS - I should add I've been using DVDShrink, DVDDecrypter, and imgburn for a while now (thanks to Dennis ) without any problems. So, this "pause" thing is the only issue I've had.

[redhawk]

Does the same problem happen when you play DVDs on the PC??

 

Are your clips broken up into multiple chapters or multiple titles??

 

Richard S.

[Andavari]

I burned the resulting .iso to a new dvd with imgburn. Everything worked as expected , except when I playback the dvd, there's a noticeable 1-2 second pause that occurs exactly at each of the joined parts.

That's because the editing breaks gapless playback. It matters how far you want to take the editing part though, for instance the tool listed in this post by ishan_rulz called Lightworks seems very interesting from just reading the website, I've never used it myself however from reading the features it seems like it could make a transition or something to smooth over the non-gapless issue.

[cc1]

Does the same problem happen when you play DVDs on the PC?? Are your clips broken up into multiple chapters or multiple titles?? Richard S.

Playing the dvd back via WMP 11 shows no pauses at the joined segments; the playback is smooth. Playing it back via VLC shows a slight pause at those spots. We have two dvd players (one older and one newer) and playing the dvd back on both of them shows about a 2 second pause at each joined segment. There are no chapters, but I recall that when I was doing the editing, DVDShrink assigned different titles to each segment.

 

 

That's because the editing breaks gapless playback. It matters how far you want to take the editing part though, for instance the tool listed in this post by ishan_rulz called Lightworks seems very interesting from just reading the website, I've never used it myself however from reading the features it seems like it could make a transition or something to smooth over the non-gapless issue.

I'll take a look at Lightworks.