Re: Can beginners use this site?

I'm a complete newbie getting ready to use iDVD. I want to copy just a portion (not the entire thing) from a "home DVD" to a new disc. After browsing this sight and reading Ken Stone's article "How To Make Copies of DVDs" it sounds like I should download my entire disc to my Mac and then use iDVD to select the portion that I want to copy. Is this a simple solution? I'm a bit intimidated to even get started and just wanted to float this idea by you experts before I get bogged down and find out it can't be done or that there is a better way. In case it matters, this DVD was made by a Pro from old (VHS). I hope it is OK for me to be here with such a basic question. Thanks to anyone willing to help.

My opinion is to download a free program call MPEG Streamclip (http://www.squared5.com/). That program will let you select a portion of your dvd to rip.

For $80 and in my humble opinion a better program, you can use DVDxDVPro (http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm?gclid=CIWGyb7xzJQCFQfNIgod9UialQ). It does basically the same thing.

Just so I understand, MPEG Streamclip would allow me to get this job down without downloading the entire disc? Please define "rip". I just want to get familiar with this site. Thanks a lot for your quick reply.

Gretchen,

Rip (ing) refers to extracting video (originally used for audio) from an original recording. As johnmcd suggested, MPEG Streamclip is an excellent freeware for ripping video from non-copyrighted DVDs. It's very intuitive; you select the portion that you want, the destination (hard drive) and the format for the video. If it is for making another DVD, select QuickTime Mov.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Here's where I am now, my free Streamclip wont work unless I add MPEG-2 Playback Component to my Mac for $20. Is this a necessity to complete this task in all shapes/fashions? Would Handbrake require it too? Once I have Playback Component will my world of simple DVD options open up or will I have to keep buying more software? Perhaps MPEG-2 Playback Component is a basic block to get from my point A to point B? Will having this component make iDVD obsolete or easier?

Gretchen,

To confirm that Perian has installed properly, open the System Preferences panel; its icon should show there, somewhere in the lower portion of "Other."
I wonder if they made any changes to Streamclip, I've never had any problems. Of course, most of us here have QuickTime Pro ($20), which may have the component that MPEG Streamclip is asking for.
Good Luck.

Alberto

Thanks Alberto. Yes Perian is in my System Pref. and was simple to install. So simple, in fact that I got the impression "downloading" and "installing" happened automatically. Is this (auto feature) what makes it a "plugin"? Anyway, regardless of how easy it was to get on my HD, it didn't make any apparent difference to what I want to do with Streamclip, so I bought the Apple Playback Component for Quicktime and made some progress going from MPEG to DV right away. Unfortunately, even though I saw the section (Footage) I'm interested in while it was importing(?) once I went to see about editing (or the next step), I couldn't find it. I'm glad for this learning experience though. I got a bit stumped when I went to iMovie to import the Streamclip file that I'd named, because I could only find the name of the original disc. Any idea why this happened or where I need to look for the converted Streamclip file? My plan was to go from MPEG to DV(NTSC) then to FCP and then to iDVD. Streamclip gets me to DV, then iMove to FCP and then iDVD, right???

OK Thx. I added perian to my system, but am still getting the message from Streamclip that it can't take MPEG to DV without Apple Playback Component, so i suppose that I'll fork over the $20 to get this done. Please, don't laugh, but as a computer Bozo, I'm assuming that once I see the Perian (Swiss Army Knife picture) icon on my screen and then dropped it in my Applications "folder", I figured it is THERE to do it's thing and that is all I did before retrying Streamclip. I say this just in case there is some other trick to actually using the new plugin. In my limited computer experience, when something is THERE it kicks in automatically when activated by the main program I'm using. In other words, wouldn't Perian automatically enhance the Quicktime that I already have or do I have to DO something else to tell Quicktime that it is there? ~G

Gretchin, What's just as important is that this site is here for everyone from the absolute beginner to the 'expert', so welcome to the site.
Steve

Thanks everyone. It is nice to be welcomed here. Now, please tell me what the red flag means on the message board versus the blue cloud that appears to the left of the topics.

Red flag means 'unread'.

--ken