I've had my videotapes copied to DVD... can I edit them?

Amongst the many questions I get asked one that regularly crops up is the question of editing footage once it's been copied to DVD. The popularity and value of services such as ours, coupled with relatively low prices for computers and DVD drives mean that it's something that ocuurs to many people when they first out to copy and preserve all their family footage by transfering it to DVD.

There are a number of issues that need to be considered when contemplating such a project.

Firstly and to my mind most importantly is time. We don't offer an editing service to our customers and the main reason is due to time and cost. Lets say you have 2 hours of video that you want to edit down to just 1 hour of hi-lights. How long is that going to take you to do? 1 hr, 2 hrs ? Well in reality it will take you at least 3 hours.

So the first question to ask is do you really want to spend the time needed to complete the editing. After all who ever originally filmed your old cine films or Video tapes filmed them for a reason and once they are on DVD you can easily skip through them.

So you've made the decision and it's time to get down to some video production! Traditionally the practice of editing and copying DVDs has been associated with video pirates. Do a web search and you are likely to find a host of information aimed at defeating copy protection codes added to commercial discs. Luckily this is of no interest to you as our DVDs are neither encrypted or copy protected.

What you will find if you've done some editing in the past is that a quick look at the DVD in My Computer or file explorer won't reveal a list of movie files. This is because the DVD has been produced in a format that is meant to be played in a DVD player. The DVD player expects a certain structure of information on the DVD and that's what is there. Various video and audio streams, along with the menu structure are tucked away in what is aften called a VOB wrapper. It's also worth noting that DVDs use Mpeg compression. You may be used to AVI and WMV files. Mpeg can make hefty demands on computer power.

If you are working with a PC you now have two choices, based on the complexity of what you want to achieve. Option one, the complex approach that will give you full control and allow your creativeness to shine is to extract the Mpeg files from that DVD to your computer hard drive in their raw state. You can then use one fo the many videoediting packages on the market to do create your movie which is then burnt back on to another recordable DVD. To carry out this extraction you'll need to use one of many utilities that you will find on the web. Such as DVD decrypter, Magic DVD Ripper or Prism Video Converter. It's worth noting that these will also allow you to convert the video format during the extraction process which can be useful if your editing software works with different file types.

Another way to approach the editing is to use software designed especially to allow editing of the VOB files that make up your DVD. One such piece of software is Mpeg Video Wizard from womble Multimedia inc This allows simpel frame accurate editing of the Mpeg2 streams that are contained inside the VOB structure of the DVD.

You can find an article on the software here.

www.cine2dvdtransfers.co.uk

Thanks to the Andy at my dream designs work on the new cine transfer site is progressing well and the site will soon be up and running.

Old cine films to convert?

Just a sneaky little word to let you know that we've started work on a sister site to Video2dvdtransfers which will make our wealth of experience in cine transfers avaliable to our customers.


Keep an eye out for more details.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live

I'm pleased to announce that video2dvdtransfers has booked a stand and will be at the biggest family history event of 2010. Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE, sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk, is a live event at London Olympia. Along with the stands advising in how to research your family tree, there will be a whole area dedicated to photography and preservation of family memories.

More details of the event can be found at the official website


We look forward to meeting customers old and new and to sharing our love for preserving video footage.... creating digital memories.

Simple prices and design your own covers

Great new ordering details on the V2DT web site with per tape prices and a design your own covers option.


This has to be the simplest price structure and order form avaliable on the web....

The History of TV

Here's a great web site that I came across whilst surfing....


Run by a guy called Tom Genova it's a clean and clearly laid out web site that tells you every thing you could possible want to know about the development and history of TV. From early sets mounted in their beautiful wooden cases right through to HD. The number of photographs of sets is incredible and well worth a look purely to see the styles and changes in fashion


Finally the links to collections page is well worth checking out, there are some fantastic collections out their.

Copy Right Laws... are you breaking them?

Did you know just how awkward our copyright laws are? Ever stopped to wonder if you are breaking the law when you load your favourite Cd on to your Ipod? or when you record tonights TV soaps so you can pop down the pub?

These are all things we do daily and don't stop to think twice. Dig a little deeper and you'll be surprised.

Broadly speaking you can sum up Copyright laws in this one sentence :-
"You should only copy or use a work protected by copyright with the copyright owner's permission.You should only copy or use a work protected by copyright with the copyright owner's permission."

You'll often hear people say that you are allowed to make one copy of a CD or DVD for your own use. Well, this seems to be an accepted standing but actually is not to the letter of the law, unless of course the piece of software or DVD you bought clearly says this in writing.

Don't believe me? Well check out the FAQ at the IPO web site. That's the Intellectual Property Office!

Here's an example


Can I copy a CD that I have purchased onto my MP3 Player?
No, this is not legal under UK law. There is no exception to copyright for the purpose of private copying. Permission would be needed from the copyright owner.
There are number of legal download websites available to the public that allow you to download music onto your MP3 player.


So you'll see now why we have to be responsible when we are asked to copy peoples favourite exercise video VHS to DVD. BUT, all may not be lost as in my experience you can usually track down the publishers and ask them to send you permission in an Email...