Technical Tools Question for Vidders

[dkwilliams.livejournal.com]

I am going to be advising someone on getting started in vidding, and I realized that the tools I use are no longer available. I am comfortable using them, but I need to recommend software that can be purchased/downloaded now, and I wanted to see what others were using.

In particular -

1) ripping raw content: what do you use, and what media is it applicable for? (i.e., DVDs, CDs, Blue-ray, etc.)

2) converting raw vob files to usable clips: what software do you use, and what format do you output it in? Dos the software handle aspect ratio or do you have to adjust in the vidding software?

3) what software do you use to create vids? How easy is it for a beginner? How does it handle correcting aspect ratio on the output? What types of source formats does it allow? (i.e., wav or mp3 or something else for audio, and what kind of video files?)

4) compressing the output file - do you generate big for a master file and then compress into smaller format (i.e. divx) for uploading? Do you generate a small file from within your vidding program? And again, how does it handle that pesky aspect ratio issue?

5) separating audio and visual for conventions/dvds - do you use the Llamaenc or something else?

Thanks for the input! Let me know if there is anything else you think a newbie might need to get started.

Diana W.

Comments

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I'm very new at vidding, so I'm not sure my comments will be of use, but I use Handbrake for ripping DVDs and for changing wav files to mp3.

I create vids on iMovie on my Macs. I'm self-taught, so I do think it's quite easy to use. It allows mp3, and if I recall correctly, I had to use Handbrake to change wav files to mp3 before they would work in iMovie.

As for aspect ratio, I just use the default 4:3 on iMovie. My other options are widescreen 16:9 at and iPhone at 3:2. I don't have the latest iMovie software, so there might be more options now.

I'm probably not using the lingo correctly, but hopefully you'll know what I mean.

[mranderson71.livejournal.com]

You can actually just rename the .VOB extension to .MPEG (or .MPG). .VOB is just a different container, its the same data. MPEG 2 is very editable by most NLE's these days.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

On a PC, I use a combo of SmartRipper and AnyDVD for ripping content. AnyDVD removes the copy protection and region coding. In the past this has always worked for me well, although lately I've noticed a few instances where the copy protection wouldn't come off and I couldn't do the rip. On Mac I use MacTheRipper. It's quite hard to get a hold of the latest version, but it is out there, and it's excellent. I use that when SmartRipper and AnyDVD fail to work (I vid on a PC but my main computer is a Mac, so I get to use both, luckily).

I don't convert the vob files because I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio to edit, and that takes them unconverted. Saves so much time! It also has an awesome feature in the project settings where you can click on a clip and tell Vegas to set your video settings to match it, so everything comes out the right aspect ratio and frame rate (well, 95% of the time, and it's easy enough to tweak if it doesn't). I've been using Vegas for about 12 years now, through many different versions, and I love it so much that I bought a PC just to be able to use it, even though my main computer is a Mac. It takes just about every file format - I recently made a vid with a mixture of formats and it coped admirably. It prefers wav for audio but takes mp3 and other audio formats too.

In the event I have to convert something into a more usable format, I use MPEG Streamclip, which is free. I'm not very good using it, because I don't often have to do it, but that takes a multitude of formats and can convert to all sorts. I just used it last night to create a mov file from an mpeg 2 avi. You do need to obtain some of the codecs, like DivX, Huffy, Lagarith and Quicktime separately.

For compressing the final vid, I make a master file first, which I output at the same setting as the source (usually ending up with an 800-ish MB avi file) and then I run that through Handbrake to compress to a nice quality mp4. I've also used MPEG Streamclip to create DivX files, and Windows Movie Maker does a really nice job of creating a good quality wmv. You can also open your master vid file in Vegas and render to many compressed formats. I prefer to compress after I've rendered the master vid, because it's quicker, and if you have effects and transitions in the vid, they tend to look weird if you try to compress and render the video all at once. I also like having one great big really nice quality master to watch.

For cons I use Llamaenc. Failing that, I seem to recall outputting separate files from Vegas or MPEG Streamclip - just choosing to render the video only and selecting m2v, then re-outputting audio only as wav. It's been a while since I did that, so specifics are hazy :o)