Editing your first video with iMovie (also preparing footage for Final Cut)
Do yourself a favor: With this first project in iMovie, start small. Making videos is a trial-and-error process, and if your Mac isn't the fastest out there (I've used my fair share of those) you don't want to waste a whole lot of time preparing a full-length fan video, only to discover that you messed up somewhere and the whole thing looks terrible. Every step of vidding takes time: Ripping the DVD takes time. Converting the DVD files over to a format that iMovie can read takes time—as does editing in iMovie, exporting from iMovie, and then converting the video for the web. Whew! Let's start small, with a short, itty-bitty little video, so that all the trial-and-error that is part of the learning process won't take forever, shall we?
Extracting video from your DVD with Mac the Ripper:
As mentioned on the main page, Mac the Ripper is an excellent choice for extracting VOB (digital video files) from a DVD. (If that download link does not work, do a search on Google for an alternate download.)
Here's a screenshot of Mac the Ripper in action:
It's easiest to just let Mac the Ripper go with the defaults: Keep the "De-Macrovision" box checked. You can extract the whole disk and then select just the scenes you want to use for your video and prepare clips of them later. Or, you can pick and choose which sections of the DVD you want and only rip those parts. But, I've found that some VOB "converters" (which convert VOB files to a format that iMovie can edit) get confused when only portion of the DVD is ripped. So, unless you are woefully low on disk space (in which case, you really need to free up some more room anyway), stick with Full Disk Extraction. Ripping an entire disk should not take very long—perhaps 15-30 minutes. Often much less.
The other DVD-ripping alternative is Handbrake. With Handbrake, you'll be able to convert your DVD straight to an MP4 file (H.264 encoding) which can be opened and edited in iMovie. Fellow Mac vidder penelope (from the C19 message board) uses this technique, and this is how she describes it:
"I ripped the DVD directly from VOB to mpeg-4 (H.264/AVC) using Handbrake. I set my settings in Handbrake to 3000 bitrate (higher than the recommended 1000), de-interlaced, [in Picture Settings window] two-pass encoding, X264 Main Profile. [See Handbrake screenshot with important areas circled.] You might not need to deinterlace. The resulting mp4 file for just a 14 minute chapter [from the DVD] was between 360-380 MB. If I do not use 2-pass encoding, the file size is about 70 MB. However, I've discovered that there was no difference to the size of the iMovie project whether the mp4 size file is 360 MB or 70 MB, so I'm sticking to the 2-pass encoding when I initially rip the VOB files even though it takes so much longer to render because the result is so much better." |
Penelope's videos are stunning, with an extremely sharp picture, so her methods are definitely worth considering. (Plus, Handbrake is free!) However, encoding with Handbrake is s-l-o-w. It took quite a bit of time when I used it with my G4 Mac Mini, but that's to be expected—it's not only ripping the DVD, but it's also encoding it to the H.264 setting (which is a notoriously slow process anyway). If you have an older Mac and want to use Handbrake, use patience, or set Handbrake on the task of ripping your DVD overnight. Penelope has a Intel-based Mac, so using Handbrake goes a lot faster for her. [Update: It wouldn't hurt to set the data rate—aka bitrate—to 4000 or higher.]
If your Mac is slow (pre-Intel) it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you invest in the $20 USD MPEG-2 Playback component and convert your clips for iMovie using a different process (which I will discuss later). Really, trust me on this. You will save so much time and your vidding experience will be far more pleasant if you spring for the 20 bucks.
This entry from my Vidding Blog has more detailed information about ripping and preparing clips by using Handbrake. (Link opens to new window.) [Update: This entry is now made friends-only. Friend me and if I see you're a fellow vidder, I'll friend you back!]
On to the next step—making your ripped files ready to be edited in iMovie (or Final Cut) >>