how Can I edit my homemade DVD on my iMac ?

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

Have been transferring my VHS videos over to DVD, now I need to edit them. Can I do this on my mac?

ChrisMan287 · Nov 18, 2012

Do you have iMovie?

cwa107 · Nov 18, 2012

Sure. When you transferred them from VHS, before you burnt them to disc, what did you use for the process? Do you still have the original import files?

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

how can I edit my homemade DVD on my iMac

I have copied my VHS on to a DVD. Want to or would like to put it on my iMac -save it- edit it- and burn it to another DVD to give to family.

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

how can I edit my homemade DVD on my iMac

ChrisMan287 said:
Do you have iMovie?

Yes, I do have iMovie . I'm thinking that I can somehow get this DVD to iMovie and make my new one from here?!

cwa107 · Nov 18, 2012

Eyegirl said:
I have copied my VHS on to a DVD. Want to or would like to put it on my iMac -save it- edit it- and burn it to another DVD to give to family.

I'm going to assume you used some kind of a dedicated solution for transferring VHS to DVD and that you don't have the data files that were created from the VHS transfer.

If that's true, it leaves you no other choice than to "rip" the DVD to your computer to get a video file to work with in iMovie.

DVDs consist of highly compressed data, stored in a VIDEO_TS folder and broken into one or many .VOB files. Since iMovie is designed to work with uncompressed DV files, you will need a program to take those VOB files and convert them into a usable format for iMovie to be able to work with them.

MPEG Streamclip will do this for you, and it's free. It will only work with non-copy-protected discs (which your DVDs should be, unless the VHS work was done professionally).

Using MPEG Streamclip, insert your DVD and use the File menu >> Open DVD to access the files. Once you've finished loading them, use File menu >> Export to DV. Once all the files are converted, you can open then in iMovie and make your edits.

To burn the edited projects back to DVDs, use Burn or Roxio's Toast, if you don't have iDVD (which was discontinued and is no longer bundled with newer Macs).

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

Thanx so much for your prompt reply. I am now in the process of doing what you suggested. Will let you know how everything turns out. It has been such a pain to do this whole process. I guess If I had not talked so much in the original videos there would not be the need to EDIT! Lesson learned... many years later.
Fingers crossed!

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

cwa107 said:
I'm going to assume you used some kind of a dedicated solution for transferring VHS to DVD and that you don't have the data files that were created from the VHS transfer.

If that's true, it leaves you no other choice than to "rip" the DVD to your computer to get a video file to work with in iMovie.

DVDs consist of highly compressed data, stored in a VIDEO_TS folder and broken into one or many .VOB files. Since iMovie is designed to work with uncompressed DV files, you will need a program to take those VOB files and convert them into a usable format for iMovie to be able to work with them.

MPEG Streamclip will do this for you, and it's free. It will only work with non-copy-protected discs (which your DVDs should be, unless the VHS work was done professionally).

Using MPEG Streamclip, insert your DVD and use the File menu >> Open DVD to access the files. Once you've finished loading them, use File menu >> Export to DV. Once all the files are converted, you can open then in iMovie and make your edits.

To burn the edited projects back to DVDs, use Burn or Roxio's Toast, if you don't have iDVD (which was discontinued and is no longer bundled with newer Macs).

Okay... I'm really frustrated now. I have gone thru every step, but it will not let me export to DV. I keep getting the message that I need to open QuickTImeMPEG.dmg. I tried to figure it out-very confused since I have Mountain Lion and looks like I need to download Pacifist??

cwa107 · Nov 18, 2012

I apologize, it's been a very long time since I've had to convert DVD video to DV format. It's possible that this tool is no longer up to the task.

There are quite a few converters for .VOB files - I'm having a bit of trouble finding one that converts to DV format. Hopefully someone else can chime in here.

Eyegirl · Nov 18, 2012

Seems that my issue is with Mt. Lion. Maybe if I call APPLE they will help me out with this issue. I'm beginning to think that upgrading to Mt. Lion was a bigger problem than it's worth. The only resolve that I can see at this point is to purchase QuickTime from Apple. I really hate to spend the money if I don't really need it. To tell you the truth, I can't even be positive at this point that I even downloaded my DVR to my computer. It's a mystery. I think I need to take a break for a bit. Hopefully, someone will have an answer for me

cwa107 · Nov 25, 2012

I stumbled upon this article while answering another, similar post:

From DVD to iMovie to Facebook | Macworld

Evidently, if the DVD is ripped with Handbrake, using the Apple TV 2 preset, it's already formatted such that iMovie can import it.

Have a look and let me know how you make out.