video software suggestions?

Hi all,

I've been thinking about updating some of the video clips
to higher quality on my UFO website, and also adding some
new ones. As I've just been experimenting here, I'm
reminded that one of the biggest and most frustrating
obstacles about this is finding decent software to
use. I generally find some sort of solution
that requires 6 different programs, and I end up using
each program for basically one step of the process.
I've tried more general programs, but they usually
crash or cannot do what I want.

So, I'll put a question out there for the group -- does
anyone have any programs that they can honestly recommend
as good programs and will do several of the following steps?

-- extract video clips from a DVD
-- trim/edit clip
-- adjust the audio track via limiting/compression/
volume/equalization
-- crop unwanted edges from the picture
-- resize the video
-- adjust the picture (brightness/contrast/gamma/
hue/color saturation/sharpness)
-- save to an MPEG-4 file, with adjustments
allowed for video/audio bitrate/quality, frame rate,
audio channels (mono/stereo)
-- runs on Windows XP

Oh, and it also shouldn't cost too much money, should not
require too much memory, not be bloated with all sorts of
additional features that I have no use for, not crash
all the time, and not have a difficult to use interface.

Like I said, I do have a way to do all of the above, but
it's a rather cumbersome process requiring a variety of
freeware/shareware programs.

Thanks!

Marc

I use Ulead Video Studio 10. I believe they just released version 11. I can extract video directly from non copy protected DVD's.

Ulead software can be downloaded on a trial basis from their website www.ulead.com for a free 30 day trial.

I also do lots of video editing, and I know what you mean by using different software for different aspects. But you sound like you do short video clips, while I tend to do longer programs. I have a video website of Disneyworld attractions I post for people to view. I have several different versions, from lower quality wmv to high quality mp4's.

hope this helps.

Bruce
----- Original Message -----
From: Marc Martin
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 4:07 PM
Subject: [SHADO] video software suggestions?


Hi all,

I've been thinking about updating some of the video clips
to higher quality on my UFO website, and also adding some
new ones. As I've just been experimenting here, I'm
reminded that one of the biggest and most frustrating
obstacles about this is finding decent software to
use. I generally find some sort of solution
that requires 6 different programs, and I end up using
each program for basically one step of the process.
I've tried more general programs, but they usually
crash or cannot do what I want.

So, I'll put a question out there for the group -- does
anyone have any programs that they can honestly recommend
as good programs and will do several of the following steps?

-- extract video clips from a DVD
-- trim/edit clip
-- adjust the audio track via limiting/compression/
volume/equalization
-- crop unwanted edges from the picture
-- resize the video
-- adjust the picture (brightness/contrast/gamma/
hue/color saturation/sharpness)
-- save to an MPEG-4 file, with adjustments
allowed for video/audio bitrate/quality, frame rate,
audio channels (mono/stereo)
-- runs on Windows XP

Oh, and it also shouldn't cost too much money, should not
require too much memory, not be bloated with all sorts of
additional features that I have no use for, not crash
all the time, and not have a difficult to use interface.

Like I said, I do have a way to do all of the above, but
it's a rather cumbersome process requiring a variety of
freeware/shareware programs.

Thanks!

Marc




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Marc;

Pocket DVD Wizard.

http://www.pocket-dvd-wizard.com/download.html?platform=Windows


Try it.

Steve Christensen


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc Martin" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 2:07 PM
Subject: [SHADO] video software suggestions?

> I also do lots of video editing, and I know what you mean by
> using different software for different aspects. But you sound
> like you do short video clips

Yes, I'm not trying to edit anything -- just take existing
footage on DVD (or was converted from VHS tape to DVD)
and turn them into .mp4 files for the web. So the only
editing I'm doing is cutting out little snippets from
a longer program. But it would be nice to do some
image/audio enhancement as well, since some of this
material isn't in the best shape to start with!

Thanks for the suggestions... over the years it seems
like I've downloaded dozens of programs to try out,
but so far there has been nothing that's been that
impressive to me (other than Quicktime, which seems
like it's been bypassed by other programs these days)

Marc

Hi Marc,
As a pro video author, I can tell you now there is nothing that does
everything, as video covers such a wide range of formats. Also, it's
also a matter of "You get what you pay for". I personally use Adobe
Premiere Pro, which is by no means cheap, but will handle all your
editing, resizing, cropping, audio, basic effects, titling etc.
For conversion to and from different formats, I totally recommend AVS
video tools, which is a cheap but powerful set of applications, and
will convert from virtually anything to anything, and it does other
stuff too. I spent a lot of time going through a lot of free,
shareware and commercial software to find something that could do
this, and very few hit the mark, and many were total rubbish.

As for ripping protected DVD from disc, use DVD-Shrink. (freeware)You
wont find any commercial application that effectively condones video
piracy.

I'm afraid there is no all round tool for everything, as one can't be
all things to all men. Amateur's don't need the sophistication, and
professionals don't faff about with DIVX and ripping DVDs.

Incidentally, if you want the UFO title animation as an overlay, I
have recreated it as hi resolution DVD quality, just let me know.

regards,
Rob Neal

--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@...> wrote:

I have some old VHS tapes that I would like to backup to DVD to minimise wear and tear, but they have the Macrovision anti-pirate code on them. Is there any way to circumvent that either by downloading new firmware for my DVD recorder, or some other techno device?

Also, I have some old NTSC VHS tapes from the USA which are on there last legs and are of old B-films from the 1940s1950s (no DVD release in sight); how can I convert them to PAL so my DVD recorder can record them?

Rick

Rob Neal <[hidden email]> wrote:
Hi Marc,
As a pro video author, I can tell you now there is nothing that does
everything, as video covers such a wide range of formats. Also, it's
also a matter of "You get what you pay for". I personally use Adobe
Premiere Pro, which is by no means cheap, but will handle all your
editing, resizing, cropping, audio, basic effects, titling etc.
For conversion to and from different formats, I totally recommend AVS
video tools, which is a cheap but powerful set of applications, and
will convert from virtually anything to anything, and it does other
stuff too. I spent a lot of time going through a lot of free,
shareware and commercial software to find something that could do
this, and very few hit the mark, and many were total rubbish.

As for ripping protected DVD from disc, use DVD-Shrink. (freeware)You
wont find any commercial application that effectively condones video
piracy.

I'm afraid there is no all round tool for everything, as one can't be
all things to all men. Amateur's don't need the sophistication, and
professionals don't faff about with DIVX and ripping DVDs.

Incidentally, if you want the UFO title animation as an overlay, I
have recreated it as hi resolution DVD quality, just let me know.

regards,
Rob Neal

--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@...> wrote:





---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

richard curzon wrote:
> I have some old VHS tapes that I would like to backup to DVD to
> minimise wear and tear, but they have the Macrovision anti-pirate code on them.
> Is there any way to circumvent that either by downloading new firmware for
> my DVD recorder, or some other techno device?
>
> Also, I have some old NTSC VHS tapes from the USA which are on there
> last legs and are of old B-films from the 1940s1950s (no DVD release in
> sight); how can I convert them to PAL so my DVD recorder can record them?

It sounds like you need a PAL/NTSC converter box, which will convert
one signal to another, and also has the side effect of stripping
away any Macrovision encoding:

http://www.220-electronics.com/comworld.htm

Marc