Dvd -> vcd

Firstly, this is not an April Fool’s joke :slight_smile:

I have a DVD with some clips on it that I would like to import into my computer so I can experiment with primitive digital editing (Windows Movie Maker) and see whether I like it before splashing out on all the expensive bits and pieces. My computer does NOT have a DVD drive, firewire or USB 2.0 ports and I do NOT want to open it up and try and insert a PCI capture card, at least, not yet. I’m just not a hardware person. It does have a CD-RW drive. So what I want is to find a place to convert my DVD (DVD+RW, not Macrovision protected) to VCD so I can import the clips.

Does anyone know if there are shops that will do this, and how much it might cost? I was thinking of going to Guanghua market on the weekend and looking around, but it’d be nice to know in advance. Is the conversion I want .vob to .mpg? I’ve tried to do some research into file formats, but it’s left me more confused than ever. Thanks. :s

Uh. How about just adding a DVD drive to your desktop (I think I’m reading between the lines correctly). That’s assuming you have a slot free for your CD-RW. There are external versions but those cost more.

Or simply upgrade your CD-RW to a DVD-ROM+CD-RW combo if you don’t have a CDROM slot open.

Any of your tech savvy buddies can do it. Cheaper and move convenient later. By the time you pay for transferring the DVD over, you might as well have invested in a DVD ROM.

Thanks grayson, I considered that but wouldn’t that involve opening my computer up? I’d really rather not do that at all if possible. All the external versions I’ve seen only work through USB 2.0 and firewire - and I don’t know if USB 1.1 is even fast enough for video. I’d be happy to be wrong! The cost point is a good one, which is why I’m trying to get an idea…

I’ve used my external DVD Combo drive to connect to my notebook (USB2.0) and a PC (USB 1.1) with no problems. Under 1.1 it’s fast enough to play discs. It will also record, though at a slow speed.

I think that you can play a .vob file with windows media player. I got some from the internet just by clicking the save target file command. When it downloaded, windows had added a .mpeg at the end. So the file was name.vob.mpeg.
Just get someone to copy the file for you.

Hmmm - interesting, although I assume it remains a vob file, which isn’t handled by Windows Movie Maker - good to know though, thanks.

Thanks for the info re the 1.1 video, CQ - I’ll definitely have a look and see how much they cost in that case as I would much rather DIY.

There is a shop at the Shida night market that does transfers from tape to disc. Perhaps they can also do a DVD to VCD conversion.
Let me know if you need directions.

PS: An internal DVD/CD combo writer for all formats costs around NT$5000.

[quote=“daasgrrl”]So what I want is to find a place to convert my DVD (DVD+RW, not Macrovision protected) to VCD so I can import the clips.
[/quote]
I don’t think you want to do any conversion - all you want to do is transfer your file from DVD onto CD:
VCDs are encoded in MPEG1 - which is an old, and no longer particularly good format.
DVDs are encoded in MPEG2 - which is a newer format (although is starting to get a bit dated now)

Converting from MPEG2 to MPEG1 will result in a noticeable drop in video quality (and will also take some time to do). A decent media player will be able to handle both MPEG1 & MPEG2, so there is no reason to do the conversion. All you need to do is find someone with a DVD reader and CD burner to copy the file.

It’s conceivable that your local internet cafe will have a computer that allows this; if so you could DIY (if you’ve got some blank CDs). However, this assumes the video clip is not too long (DVDs hold more data than CDs, so if the clip is longer than ~20(?) mins you’ll probably not be able to save it on 1 CD)

While technically correct you need to consider that the MPEG2 files are bigger than MPEG1, so they may not fit on one VCD.
If they are short clips and thus small in file size you can perhaps split them to several VCDs without any conversion.
As well I assume you need to rip the DVD files, say if it’s a commercial DVD and hence copy protected *), you can’t just copy them. If it’s just a DVD with data files stored on it this might not apply, in fact than copying to VCD should be fairly easy.

*) MV is an analog format only but DVDs are also protected by CSS

I rip DVDs to the DivX format (MPEG4). It has great quality and small file size. The downside is they won’t play on today’s DVD players. It’s not difficult to rip DVDs for free, even copy-protected ones, if you spend a little time and effort learning. The Gordian Knot suite of free utilities is a good start.

While technically correct you need to consider that the MPEG2 files are bigger than MPEG1, so they may not fit on one VCD.
If they are short clips and thus small in file size you can perhaps split them to several VCDs without any conversion.
As well I assume you need to rip the DVD files, say if it’s a commercial DVD and hence copy protected *), you can’t just copy them.[/quote]
True, but the original question said there was no copy protection (so you should be able to just copy it), and if you are going to convert it, you don’t want to convert it to MPEG1 (DivX is a better bet as Closet Queen said)

Armed with the USB 1.1 information from CQ, in the end I took the low-tech way out and found an external video capture box from 3C, which I hadn’t seen before because it had been disguising itself as a ‘watch TV on your PC box’ but I noticed it had AV inputs as well and allowed burning in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 format in real time. Probably a touch more expensive than a single disc conversion at NT$1700 but well worth it for me. Ah, plug-and-play… :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone for all the very useful information and suggestions.

hmmm, well i’m surprised nobody mentioned VCDcutter.
I use it to copy *.dat files to *.mpg files. It can also be used to convert vob files to mpg. which makes it ready for you to burn it into VCD format.
You can also use VCD cutter to rip of the video without the
audio and vice versa.
here’s their website
seller-club.com/~vcdcut/
Now i think their new version is for sale, but the old version works just fine. Try looking for the older version and not the current release. The old one is free. If you can’t find the old version, just drop me a line on the PM and i’ll try to patch you up with someone who has it :wink:

[quote=“Nescafreak”]hmmm, well I’m surprised nobody mentioned VCDcutter.
I use it to copy *.dat files to *.mpg files. It can also be used to convert vob files to mpg. which makes it ready for you to burn it into VCD format.
[/quote]

I’ve seen a few programs like that - I suspect no-one mentioned it because in my first post I mention that I have no DVD-ROM drive, and hence had no way of importing the files onto my computer to start with (although now I know I could probably get someone to copy them for me or try an internet cafe for that bit). Might be helpful for those with more advanced computers :slight_smile:

Daasgrrl, if it’s only one DVD, why don’t you just find someone near you with all the hardware and software needed to make a conversion? Buy two milkteas (or whatever that person likes) and bring some time for a chat and the problem is solved within an afternoon…

Because if I already knew someone like that I could impose on, I wouldn’t have asked the question to begin with, don’t you think? :unamused: :laughing: It’s not like a lot of people are ‘into’ digital conversion as a hobby, at least in my experience. But I was quite happy with the low-tech method I used in the end.

I guess you could find such person if you ask here… :unamused:
(I’m in Chiayi, bit way off, but it seems there are a few Forumosans in Taibei doing such conversions…)