DVD codec for importing into FCP or Premiere

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

DVD codec for importing into FCP or Premiere

Posted by Chad Calverley on January 28, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Hi, to any and all who might have a quick word of advice for me…..

I have been asked by my wife to edit a few dvds from a 3 hour workshop. I am to split up the 3 hours based on the themes/topics which were covered and then export the clips individually so they can be compiled onto a DVD where customers can click on the individual topics.

How does one go about converting the DVDs into a format for FCP 7 or Premiere CS5? I did a test and used Toast to convert the first DVD into an Apple Pro Res and it went from a 3.8 GB DVD to a 22 GB Pro Res file…..Absolutely ridiculous file size.

Is there a better way to convert the DVDs? What codec should one use to import the DVDs? And what codec should I use to export….I don’t want to compress and convert the files too much.

Any advice or help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks…..

Jeff Greenberg replied 15 years, 7 months ago 5 Members · 6 Replies
6 Replies

Chris Tompkins
January 28, 2011 at 9:10 pm

Use Mpeg Stream clip to rip dvd’s to DV50 files.

Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta LLC
Chad Calverley
January 29, 2011 at 7:07 am

Thanks Chris,

When I choose to export to DV I can only choose DV 25 or DVCPRO 50. Is DV50 the same as DVCPRO???

After I edit these files do I also export as a DVCPRO50 file?

Thanks
Chad
Dennis Radeke
January 29, 2011 at 12:07 pm

[Chad Calverley] “How does one go about converting the DVDs into a format for FCP 7 or Premiere CS5?”

For FCP, I think that converting to DV or DV50 would be the best choice. You might also explore to see if ProResLT would meet your quality requirements.

With Premiere Pro CS5, you can actually import the original .VOB files into the application and edit them. Further, you can actually do an edit with a single DVD in the drive and not even copy the media over. Not what I would recommend but it is fun to actually play with.
Chris Tompkins
January 29, 2011 at 3:40 pm

DV50 has more color information than DVCPRO.
This is really the best you can get pulling off a SD DVD.

Here are your settings:

Click “Options” up at the top and choose 4X3 or 16X9.

Edit in DV50 sequence.
Export “Current Settings” making a ref file.

Bring that into compressor and create your mpeg for dvd files.

Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta LLC
Eric Pautsch
January 29, 2011 at 6:22 pm

Well your dealing with a highly compressed codec to begin with on the DVD (MPEG 2). Taking that and making it DV is another level of compression since DV is a highly compressed codec. Remember you’re going to have to compress again to go back to DVD. 28G is not that large when working with Video. Transcode to a lossless or uncompressed codec is definitely best practices here. Stick with your original workflow, I say.
Jeff Greenberg
January 29, 2011 at 7:40 pm

I actually might suggest Premiere Pro CS5 instead.

You can copy the Video_TS folders (with the VOBS inside of it) and Premiere Pro can let you edit these clips directly. For just a couple of cleanup edits? Yeah, it’s a very easy workflow. Just copy the Video_TS folders to a media HD (rather than directly from disk) for better performance.

Best,

Jeff G

Apple Master Trainer
Avid Cert. Instructor DS/MC
Avid & Color Videos Vasst.com
Compressor Essentials Lynda.com

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