Basement Level: General Info

[permetaform]

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SmartRipper, DVD2AVI, Premiere and/or Windows Media Maker (plus the proper codecs for compression) is *all* you need to make a vid from a DVD. That, and a song, an idea, and a bit of bloody mindedness.

[General Technical Info, from Getting Started all the way to End Product]
This set of guides are really long and comprehensive. BUT DON'T PANIC! Read them slowly, take breaks to practice, and refer back repeatedly when you get in a rut.
- Vidding 101
- Guide to Easy Songvidding
- Vidding on a computer and Vidding on analog, the technical stuff is rather scary but DON'T PANIC. It's managable.
- A&E's Technical Guides to All Things Audio and Video, has been renewed and revised and it's very long and very very comprehensive.


[DVD RIPPING issues]
- Vidding from a DVD and advises one avoids Pinnacle if you're looking for a capture card.
- This site gives a step-by-step to DVD ripping with links to the appropriate programs. I found the last four progams to be unnecessary, all I used is DVD2AVI (which takes up very little space and is fairly low tech). However, you won't get sound without major fiddling that I didn't bother to figure out and the bigger files may be a bit annoying with DVD2AVI.
- ripping on a Mac, various answers in the comments
- a GOOD, EASY guide to using GordianKnot for ripping to DivX
- useful vidding/ripping information.
- Virtual Dub and encoding
- that Multipass 1stPass/NthPass thing for Divx explained.
- astolat's lists her hardware setup
- Splitting source using Virtual Dub
- DVD ripping/conversion question (answers in the comments)


[CROSS-PLATFORM/CONVERSION issues]
- Viewing wmv files on Mac's
- Converting .wmv to .rm.
- Converting a bunch of realplayer files to either avi, wmv, or mpeg
- What are your reccomendations for programs to convert avi to mpeg? (answers in comments)
- Converting .ogg to .avi


[SOUND issues]
- resolving sound issues in WMM
- Not that it's one hundred percent necessary in vidding, but if you're going to be mixing/altering songs, you'd probably would want what rahalia_cat explains as Exact Audio Copy, which removes all the random clicks and buzzes.


[EXPORTING issues]
- How to compress vids on WMM
- working through Premiere's encoding issues (the original problem can be found here)
- getting past exporting problems in Premiere
- Virtual Dub and encoding
- authoring DVDs
- putting vids into MPEG-2 format
- Virtual Dub encoding, aspect ratio problems
- Adobe Premiere "encounters a problem" on rendering a vid


[Miscellanious issues]
- how to Create a Watermark
- how to remove the DivX watermark
- how to get rid of video hitches when you flip horitzontally in iMovie on OS9
- the project trimmer in Premiere...
- Info on MPEG-4
Quickie explaination of avisynth and it's implications


[Before you start vidding...]
- What is Clip Theft and why you just shouldn't do it
- further post on clip theft
- Random things learned from vidding that's good to know before one dives in.
- some common misconceptions about vidding 'rules'.
- with newbie advice from the school of tough love, or as I like to call it 'Ya Need to Develop your Inner Snape'


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Comments

Re: Too complicated or is it just me?

[permetaform]

All the details of codec and etc...well, that you're going to run into any where. You are *going* to run into those types of problems, it's not a matter of "if" but "when".

As for dvd2avi. Use the trial version, but make "clips" of your main source file, like only a scene or two and that's it. The source is easier to handle this way and you never run into the problem of only being able to convert 1/3rd of the source. Most people don't work with the source file in it's entirety anyways, they "clip" their source. It's a tedious process and that's why you'll hear alot of complaints about clipping, but ::shrugs:: I made The Fragile out of clips made from dvd2avi.

Virtualdub is also an option. It's more complicated than dvd2avi, but it does it consistently. (and it's free) I'm not sure as to the exact and precise steps to go from .vob to .avi in Virtualdub, I haven't used it in awhile without avi-synth.

Btw, to convert a whole movie from .vob to .avi? Takes me maybe 12 hours, on 512 mb of RAM. It's not worth it if you can make clips instead or go about it a different way (like via avi-synth).

Re: Too complicated or is it just me?

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the response permetaform.

About dvd2avi – so let me get this straight. If I use the trial version that can only convert a 1/3 of the entire vob file, it will let me make as many clips as I want as long as I don’t try to make one clip that exceeds 1/3 of the original file?

I downloaded just about everything that everyone suggested including Virtualdub and avi-synth, but instead of installing and trying them all, I was just hoping someone could tell which is best. I will definitely clip the source – no point in having the entire file as an avi – Premiers works faster with smaller source clips anyway.

Also, I read somewhere that most avi converters need processed vob files and not raw vob files in order to convert them? Hu? I’m starting to feel really stupid now – what’s the difference?

Last question (for now). Is the reason I never see any vids with a piece of dialogue in it because it is impossible to get an avi with audio from the vob file, or is it just a case of it being too much trouble?

Slayage2002

Re: Too complicated or is it just me?

[permetaform]

About dvd2avi – so let me get this straight. If I use the trial version that can only convert a 1/3 of the entire vob file, it will let me make as many clips as I want as long as I don’t try to make one clip that exceeds 1/3 of the original file?

I don't remember paying for the program and I made The Fragile out of clips from it, I think I used over 40 clips or something and had no problems with it at all.


I was just hoping someone could tell which is best.

The problem with asking that is that they're all the "best" in different ways.

Virtualdub is very flexible, but it's filters are so-so and it's options a little boggling at times.

Avi-synth has the best filters but no user-interface to speak of (it's done entirely by code on text file).

dvd2avi is not very flexible at all, but it's really really hard to fuck it up if you're just making clips.


Also, I read somewhere that most avi converters need processed vob files and not raw vob files in order to convert them? Hu? I’m starting to feel really stupid now – what’s the difference?

I haven't heard ot it spoken much. I know that there's the .vob on the dvd, that you can't vid from because it's on the dvd. Then there's the .vob that you rip from the dvd with a program like SmartRipper. Depending on the settings you have on SmartRipper, it can be more or less easy to create .avi's from because there's extra layers attached like multiple languages and subtitles and most converters don't know how to handle these extra information streams.


Last question (for now). Is the reason I never see any vids with a piece of dialogue in it because it is impossible to get an avi with audio from the vob file, or is it just a case of it being too much trouble?

More for the latter reason than the former. I know several vids that make use of dialogue, in different ways, and have made one myself. One of the more famous ones is Closer by sisabet that's Angel/Spike. Another one is Ecstatic Drum Trip by sockkpuppett that's a Farscape vid. I can rec you some more if you want?

The reason why it's not used more I think is because it's hard to integrate the dialogue into the song without sounding crappy. This has to do with the rhythms of the dialogue against the music and with the problem of background music in the dialogue and with the fact that if you aren't careful, dialogue in the vid will throw off your vid's pacing or make it dull because it slows down the pace of your entire vid.