Import issues - not for the weak of heart

Cheepnis wrote on 2/3/2005, 8:36 PM
Hi everybody - after a bloody war with Pinnacle, I'm glad I finally found relative paradise in this product!
I have been searching the forum and have had no luck working out a couple knots:

I have some other home-made DVDs that I need to rework for new menus, edits, mixes, etc... onto new DVDs (yes, I know that bringing in MPEGs from already-burnt DVDs is not recommended - in this case, however, it's unavoidable).

I have been using the fine freeware "DVD Decrypter" to rip the DVD in IFO mode, enabling the stream processing to successfully demux the video into M2V files and the audio into MP2 or AC3 (depending on how they were originally encoded - If the original disc was encoded as MP2, of course, all I would need to do is rename the VOB extension to MPG and I'm on my merry way - it imports fine.)

I have already jumped the AC3 --> MP2 hurdle by using a fine freeware utility called "HeadAC3he" and the resultant audio file, whether it's a WAV, MP2, MP3, etc... imports into MS without a problem.

The problem I have is with the M2V files that are generated. In most cases, a full disc will have 4 files, 3 at 1Gb, 1 at less than a Gb. I seem to have no problem with files 2 through 4 (so it's not a size issue), but the FIRST file in the sequence will not ever load! My gut response is that some kind of header was originally encoded at the beginning and it causes MS to fail the import. If this is the case, I'm clueless about what to do next. If there is some obscure setting that I could toggle in DVD Decrypter that would fix it, I would love to know, but the fine folks in that forum don't seem to know why the file plays OK with a RealOne Player - if MS doesn't load it, then it's a problem with MS.

Unfortunately, I'm inclined to agree.

Anybody know how I can edit previously-made DVDs if the method above is futile (or downright deadly and foolhardy in every respect)?

On my knees,
Cheepnis

Comments

IanG wrote on 2/4/2005, 12:59 AM
Have a look at Virtualdub-MPEG2. I've had mixed results with it, but the good ones were very good and it's still being developed.

Ian G.
ScottW wrote on 2/4/2005, 5:31 AM
If all else fails, slap the DVD in a DVD Player and hook the player up to a capture card (such as an ADVC 100) and capture the thing as DV.
Cheepnis wrote on 2/6/2005, 7:54 AM
Thanks, I may give Vdub-mod a try next time I have time to tackle it. Perhaps it will even directly control my Dazzle DVC-150 so I can throw away ALL of the Pinnacle software? The Pinnacle capture software ONLY captures to MPEG-2, not supporting any uncompressed formats, so I'm desperate to find a new utility to use with this otherwise perfect piece of hardware. D@mn Pinnacle for buying Dazzle Inc and killing all of Dazzle's software development and software product line!

As for popping the disc into a player and capturing it again - ugh! That's the last thing I want to do (for the MPEG-only reason above - but is always a viable final solution). One of the main frustrations is that the bulk of the M2V files play fine - it's just that first one. I suppose I could capture the first third of the movie only and patch it in, but I hate to consider the quality loss in that reprocessing step. I'll keep it in my back pocket, though. Thanks!
Cheepnis
Chienworks wrote on 2/6/2005, 1:01 PM
Most of the quality loss already occured when the M2V file was generated. Recapturing it as DV from a DVD player will add very little more loss compared to what's already been lost.
Cheepnis wrote on 2/9/2005, 8:05 AM
True, but I would have to buy a DV Camera ;-)