Import DVD format to iMovie format

[teewil]

Hi,

I'm VERY new to this movie stuff, and I have a question about how to bring in a DVD format ( into iMovie '08 to do some editing.

I have some old 8mm reels that I had converted onto a DVD (by a local company). It plays fine in our DVD player, but I would like to be able to edit and play around with the video in iMovie. I know that there are different programs out there to convert, but I'm not sure which one is the best or what the best format to convert to would be.

Right now I have a DVD with a Video_TS folder (which I'm assuming is a standard dvd format). I can't seem to bring it into iMovie '08, and when I used MPEG StreamClip to convert about 14 min. of video, it took almost 5 hours, and then distorted the image!! Is that normal? Is there a better way? I don't think I really know what I'm doing. I just want to be able to edit these old home movies that my Grandmother made. Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks!

I just want to say that these are all OLD HOME MOVIES, and not anything that has a copywright

[Toyman321]

I've done exactly what you are looking at doing. I used handbrake (free) to rip the DVD's onto the computer. From there you can import the video files into imovie.

When you rip the DVD in handbrake before you rip go into the picture setting and tweak around with the interlacing and cropping until the preview image looks good, depending on what process they used to encode your DVD's you'll want to tweak your interlace/de-interlace to avoid getting weird artifacts in your video.

Good luck!

[teewil]

Thanks so much. I downloaded Handbrake and ripped the dvd to my computer, but I must have not had the settings correct. I choose MP4 file for the ouput settings, but for some reason it won't import (or open) in iMovie. The file extension is .m4v

It does open in iTunes, but that's not what I want. What settings do I need to choose for the highest quality to view on a tv?