DVD Ripper for Mac is an all-in-one DVD ripping software to copy DVD to hard drive and convert DVD to iTunes, MOV, MP4, FLV, AVI, MPEG, as well as other video formats playback on iPhone, iPod, iPad, PSP, mobile phone, etc. DVDxDV is the ultimate DVD copy and Video Converter software for Mac. Enjoy your video anywhere on the device of your choice. DVDxDV Regular Video DVDxDV Pro Video Veescope Live Video BlueX Video More ways to shop: visit an Apple Store, call 0800 048 0408 or find a retailer.
November 19, 2007DVDxDV Pro did it without a hitch and was easily imported back into Final Cut Pro for further editing. If you were hoping to rip store bought movies, which are copy-right protected, you will be disappointed, as DVDxDV Pro cannot do this. I know, for strict research purposes, I tried and failed with a. DVDxDV Pro is designed to restore the audio and video from DVDs to any other QuickTime supported format. If you've ever wanted to re-edit the video, send a clip of it over the internet, or play it back on your iPad, iPhone, iPod, or iPod Touch, DVDxDV makes this process easy.
DVDxDV Pro's interface consists of a basic Title Browser, Preview window and timeline. After placing your DVD in the computer you just go to DVDxDV Pro's menu and click on 'Open DVD'. A Title Browser opens up with the various items from the original disc, which you then highlight for extraction of whatever footage, you need.
DVDxDV Pro
http://www.dvdxdv.com
$80.00
Review by Steve Douglas
I really haven't had the need to rip files from DVDs in the past, yet I found the need recently and was concerned with any loss of resolution I might find when doing so. It was suggested that I take a good look at DVDxDV Pro and so I had a go with it.
To make a short story shorter, DVDxDV Pro is one of the easiest applications to use that I have come across. DVDxDV allows you to extract high quality, multi channel audio and video from DVDs and convert to a QuickTime format of your choice for re- editing in Final Cut Pro. This works for any application capable of using QT and enables a straight drop into FCP without rendering. In addition, while not tested by myself, the DVDxDV support team state that it works just fine under Leopard.
There are actually two versions of this application, DVDxDV for $25.00 and the Pro version for $80.00. While they both use the same extraction engine, the Pro version makes it all the more worth while with its many additional features which include video time code, audio level meters, batch conversion, video cropping, wide screen 16x9 resizing, 24 bit extraction and 3:2 pull down removal. They both have audio and video preview in common as well as Field order reversal and 16 bit extraction. In addition, while the base version of DVDxDV is limited to a 720x480 and 720x576 video output, the Pro version will output as small as 240x180 right up the sizes to 768x576.
The extraction is done digitally so there is no further compression or analogue degradation to the footage. This application's interface is intuitive and simple to access.
DVDxDV Pro's interface consists of a basic Title Browser, Preview window and timeline.
After placing your DVD in the computer you just go to DVDxDV Pro's menu and click on 'Open DVD'. A Title Browser opens up with the various items from the original disc, which you then highlight for extraction of whatever footage, you need. A timeline can be played for you along with a sizeable preview window enabling you to place your in and out points.
In and out points are set as you would in Final Cut Pro while using the Preview Window. Keyboard shortcuts worked as well.
I did not find this to be 100% frame accurate, but that was not an issue as the purpose of this app is to enable you to extract footage for additional postproduction work in Final Cut Studio. Any additional trimming could be accomplished there. Back to the menu and you are given two choices, either batch export multiple sets of in & out points or, if you are just trying to extract a single section, click on 'New Movie'. This will prompt a new window wherein you set your format as being either a QuickTime to Final Cut Pro or iMovie or compressed with the appropriate settings to iPod, Apple TV or a host of others in either NTSC or Pal. Should you choose 'Expert Settings' your Compression Settings window will open wherein you can set your compression codecs, quality, frame rates and the rest.
Multiple formats are yours to choose from though for better tweaking you might want to use the Expert Settings choice.
Next a 'save to' window comes up wherein you set your destination folder. A Status window shows you what percent of your clip has been extracted and the remaining time until completion.
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Like most time predictor windows, you will find the extraction goes quicker than indicated.
For an additional test I was given a DVD with 16mm footage originally shot sometime in the early sixties. There were 48 minutes of this ancient footage to be extracted in one shot. DVDxDV Pro did it without a hitch and was easily imported back into Final Cut Pro for further editing.
If you were hoping to rip store bought movies, which are copy-right protected, you will be disappointed, as DVDxDV Pro cannot do this. I know, for strict research purposes, I tried and failed with a copy of 'The Italian Job'.
Thus, my bottom line here is that, for the price, the DVDxDV Pro is the way to go. For a few extra dollars you get a significantly greater versatility than the standard version and the knowledge that there isn't much you will not be able to extract off a DVD.
Steve Douglas is a certified Apple Pro for Final Cut Pro 6 and underwater videographer. A winner of the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition, 2003 IVIE competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic competition, and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the Sea Film Competition, where he also won the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater Videography and 'Diver of the Year', Steve was a safety diver on the feature film 'The Deep Blue Sea', contributed footage to the Seaworld Park's Atlantis production, the History channel's MegaDisaster show and other networks. Steve is one of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition and leads both underwater filming expeditions and African safaris with upcoming excursions to Indonesia and the Coco Islands, Costa Rica in 2008, Kenyan safari in Africa and the Red Sea for 2009, and Truk Lagoon in Micronesia for 2010. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in joining Steve on any of these exciting trips. www.worldfilmsandtravel.com
copyright © Steve Douglas 2007
© 2000 -2007 Ken Stone. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FinalCut Pro, Macintosh and Power Macare either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Othercompany and product names may be trademarks of their respectiveowners.
All screen captures, images, and textual references are the property and trademark of their creators/owners/publishers.
March 28, 2011
Feature - Top Ten Most Misunderstood Things About the DVD Format.
(and extracting video from it.)
Dvdxdv Pro
By Brad Wright
For the last seven years, I've been writing a software program called DVDxDV that extracts video from a DVD, so it can be used in Final Cut Pro, Avid, and other editing systems. In those seven years, DVDxDV, has been adopted by every major television network in the U.S. and most of the major film studios. Over the years, my customers have asked a lot of questions about the DVD format. This article covers the top ten most misunderstood things about the DVD format and extracting video from it.
Don’t Convert Your DVDs to H.264 for Editing
Most freeware and commercial DVD converter programs only export DVDs to H.264 encoded video. H.264 is a complex video codec that makes it difficult for the computer to decode individual frames. In Final Cut Pro and other editing systems, H.264 can be painfully slow to work with.
H.264 conversion can destroy interlaced video. Even though the H.264 standard supports interlaced video encoding, most of these conversion programs just remove the interlacing from the video. This process destroys the quality of the video.
Converting your DVD to H.264, will cause the video to look worse than the original DVD and slow down your editing system. Use a high quality codec, such as ProRes or 8 Bit Uncompressed for faster editing and better video quality.
The Highest Quality Codec to Use For Extracting Video From a DVD
There is no better codec than 8 Bit Uncompressed as it contains no compression. It’s not visually lossless or mathematically lossless but completely lossless. When DVDxDV converts a DVD to this codec, every pixel is preserved. The video produced is identical to the original DVD. However, the 8 Bit Uncompressed codec can create very large video files. If hard drive space is a concern, there are several excellent alternatives to this codec, such as the Apple ProRes series, the Apple Intermediate Codec, and DVCPro.
Don’t Just Backup Your VOB Files
Many people think that video can be extracted straight from the VOB files on a DVD. When making a backup of a DVD, some people just save the VOB files instead of the entire DVD. This is a very bad idea and here is why.
Inside a folder labeled “VIDEO_TS” on a DVD, there are files that have a “.VOB” extension. These files might be named “VTS_1_1.VOB”, “VTS_1_2.VOB”, or “VTS_1_3.VOB”. Inside these files are both audio and video tracks. Each “.VOB” file is limited to a maximum of two gigabytes in size. Videos longer than 20 minutes are usually spread across multiple VOB files to form a group of VOB files. Each VOB file in the group contains just a segment of the video. For each group of VOB files that make up a video clip there is a file with a “.IFO” extension which acts as a guide to reading the group. In some cases, the video stored in a group of VOB files is out of order. The video might jump around between the VOB files in an unpredictable way. Without the navigation information contained in the IFO file, there would be no way to properly read the video. This is why all the files in the “VIDEO_TS” folder should be backed up and not just the VOB files.
There’s No Such Thing as True Widescreen Video on a DVD
DVD video cannot be any wider than 720 pixels across for both Widscreen and Fullscreen content. DVD was designed for display on Standard Definition television monitors. This limited the video to 720 pixels wide. Widescreen video is optically squeezed from 854 pixels into 720 pixels horizontally. DVD players resize the video so that it has the correct aspect ratio on playback.
Those Ugly Horizontal Lines in DVD Video
People that are new to digital video complain about seeing horizontal lines around moving objects. They often think the DVD extraction software is adding these horizontal lines. However, these horizontal lines are a normal part of interlaced video.
Interlaced video combines two different images in time to form a single frame. Standard definition interlaced video contains 60 half or 50 half images a second depending on your television standard. These two frame rates of interlaced video are called 60i and 50i respectively. The half frames are called Fields.
Two half frames or Fields are weaved together horizontally to form a single frame. The very top pixel row of the frame will display the top row from Field number one. The second row on the frame will display the top row from Field two. Frame row three will contain the second row from Field one, and frame row four will display the second row from Field two. This alternating row pattern is repeated all the way from the top to the bottom of the frame.
The horizontal lines appear around a moving object because a single frame represents two different moments in time. For example, imagine a video camera pointed at a red ball rolling across a white background. To create a single frame of video, first the camera records only one half of the frame. A fraction of a second later, the camera records the second half. In between those two separate images, the ball moved slightly. Because of the way the two half frames or Fields are weaved together, the ball will have red and white horizontal stripes. These horizontal stripes won’t show up on a television because it’s designed to display interlaced video while a computer monitor isn’t capable of displaying this type of video.
24p Film on DVD isn’t Always 24p
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Understanding how film is transferred to a DVD can be extremely confusing. As I explained earlier, DVDs were designed for Standard Definition monitors. Standard Definition video runs at 50i (25 frame per second) or 60i (30 frames per second approximately) while film runs at exactly 24 frames per second (24p). To make up for the difference between the frame rates, the DVD encoder must compensate. It splits up the individual frames of film into half frames or Fields and then repeats a few halves at a regular interval. The half frames of film are combined to create interlaced video frames. This process is called pull-down, and there are several methods of pull-down that can be used on a DVD, such as, 3:2, 2:2, and 24p Advance.
Sometimes when a film is transferred to DVD, the master video already contains a pull-down method. Frequently, this is the case when HDCAM video tape is sent to a DVD authoring company. Since the tape has an interlaced video frame rate with a particular pull-down method, the DVD encoder will attempt to look for it. During the encoding process, the encoder may switch back and forth between an interlaced frame rate and a progressive frame rate. Although the video would seem completely fine otherwise, it will randomly jump between progressive and interlaced frame rates because the encoder couldn’t decide which one to use. Therefore, even when a DVD video should have a single frame rate, it might be a mixture of frame rates.
My DVD Video Looks Horrible on my Computer
A computer’s monitor was never designed to display video. Televisions and computer monitors aren’t interchangeable devices. Computer monitors are optimized to display text, and television monitors are optimized to display video. A computer monitor makes everything look excessively sharp and crisp while a television monitor tries to smooth out hard transitions. This is why a computer monitor will create false visual defects that aren’t actually present in the video. At some distant time in the future, it may be possible to design a monitor that can do both things well. For now, the best way to preview your digital video is through a separate television monitor attached to your computer.
DVD Video Looks Darker on a Computer Monitor Than on a Television
If your computer monitor was as bright as your television, you might need sunglasses to read this. An image that is pure white at 100% luminance on your television would hurt your eyes to stare at it all day. The brightest white your computer monitor can produce is usually much dimmer than the brightest white produced by your television. If your computer monitor was as bright as your television, it would be painful to use. Therefore, when you display video on your computer, it automatically seems darker because your computer monitor isn’t as bright.
iMovie Doesn’t Support Interlaced Video
iMovie versions 1 through 6 could import and export interlaced video. After iMovie 6, Apple changed the design and the newer versions can no longer work properly with interlaced video. Any interlaced video imported into iMovie now get de-interlaced on export. De-interlacing video always reduces video quality. To avoid this problem, use Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express instead of iMovie when editing interlaced video.
How Standalone DVD Recorder Compress Two Hours of Video on to a Single DVD
Dvdxdv Pro Player
Many people who have VHS tapes or 8 mm tapes transferred to a single DVD don’t realize how the DVD recorder does this. DVD recorders squeeze the video horizontally to half it’s origninal size when recording two hours of video on a single DVD. This effect isn’t seen on the television, as the DVD player resizes the video on playback. However, half the horizontal pixels have been removed. For the best video quality, only put one hour of video on a DVD.
copyright © Brad Wright 2011
This article first appeared on lafcpug and is reprinted here with permission.© 2000 -2011 Ken Stone. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, FinalCut Pro, Macintosh and Power Mac
are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Othercompany and product names may be trademarks of their respectiveowners.
All screen captures, images, and textual references are the property and trademark of their creators/owners/publishers.