Editing from a APE4 Produced DVD

[westport1992]

Hi Everyone: Just me again ... and so glad you are all there to assist !!

Here's my question: I produced a DVD a year and a half ago called "Sacrificies for Freedom-Our Canadian Heroes" (between you and me my proudest piece of work).
I have been asked to present this to our local Legion tomorrow night and I need to EDIT IT down (reduce the time-now 27 minutes ... down to 20 minutes).

Is it POSSIBLE to edit this from the DVD. Ex: Need to pull out some sections, take out a picture, add a different ending etc.

Has anyone ever done this OR is there anyone who can provide some guidance as to how to EDIT from an existing APE4 DVD.

Thank you so much .. Debi Koebel, Hanover Ontario CANADA

P.S. CONGRATULATIONS on your recent election and BARACK OBAMA ... we sure were excitied for you up here in Canada ... my Mom, sister and I even had a
OBAMA PJ PARTY on Tuesday night ... between you and me even though we aren't a part of it ... your Election is so much more EXCITING than ours !!

[Steve Grisetti]

Hi, West.

It may be possible to edit directly from DVD files, but generally you're better off converting those files to DV-AVIs before you edit them in Premiere Elements.

MPEG Streamclip is the best free program for doing this, although it may require some additional software. Other programs, like VirtualDubMOD and VirtualDubMPEG2 are also capable, free file converters. Here's more info:
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc4800e

Meantime, it's very nice that you're encouraged by America's direction. As a rule, though, we generally avoid political discussions on this forum so as to not ignite any bitter arguments. Muvipix is the gathering point for a wide variety of people, so we discourage topics that could offend anyone.

Anyway, hope that helps!

[Bob]

Do you by any chance have Roxio MyDVD or Creator? If you do, you may have another way to proceed.

DVDs created by Premiere Elements are OpenDVD compliant. That is, they contain a folder called OpenDVD that contains project and source information that would allow an OpenDVD compliant editor to open the DVD, make changes and create a new DVD without having access to the original project files or source material. Premiere Elements can't open OpenDVDs. But, MyDVD can. And, I think MyDVD is included in Creator. Wouldn't hurt to check.

The problem with taking the VOBs from your DVD and editing them in Premiere Elements, is that you have lost your DVD structure and you will need to recreate the menus and such again. I always archive the Premiere Elements project file and source files so I can go back later for revisions if necessary. But, if you no longer have these, the OpenDVD approach does preserve the DVD structure including the menus, chapters, etc.

[momoffduty]

Good Luck Debi on your presentation!

[RJ Johnston]

I found a product that will allow you to cut out parts of scenes and maintain the DVD menus, but you can't add anything new or replace a picture, with the exception that you can merge two DVD's. It's $25.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DvdReMake


I tried the OpenDVD route once with Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 and 9, but the OpenDVD files that Premiere Elements uses are old versions and not supported. Don't know if this is stll true with later versions.

[Bob]

I tried the OpenDVD route once with Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 and 9, but the OpenDVD files that Premiere Elements uses are old versions and not supported. Don't know if this is stll true with later versions.

Leave it to Sonic/Roxio

If ever there was a need to maintain support for older versions, this is it. What do they expect, that we will rewrite all our dvds everytime they upgrade the specification? Doesn't make sense. The version info is in the files, they could have easily handled the previous version if they wanted to do so.

I was able to open the OpenDVD in MyDVD when I had it. Don't remember the version, it's been too long. I haven't had MyDVD or Creator on my system in years. It would be interesting to see if Premiere Elements 7 is still writing OpenDVD files to the DVD and whether they are the same version.

[RJ Johnston]

I was just taking a look at the Pro version of DVDRemake and with that you can replace one picture or video section with a still image. The still image you pick from another VOB file. The Pro version is kind of expensive at $50 US. The Pro version is like PGCEdit made easy.

[Bobby]

...I always archive the Premiere Elements project file and source files so I can go back later for revisions if necessary...

I just wanted to echo Bob's comments on this. We all have to develop our "workflow" to suit our requirements, but I always archive my input AVI files and .prel files. I don't keep anything else - it can all be re-created.

PC Storage these days is relatively cheap. If a project takes up 15-20GB for an hour's worth of video, then you can put 50 projects or more on a 1TB external hard drive. At a cost of about $170 these days, that is only a little more than $3 per project for long term storage. Surely a bargain!

I find that I do go back into the "archives" for two reasons. The first is that sometimes I may mix-and-match clips differently for a different project. For example, I might have a DVD that is chronological - i.e. "Fall and Christmas 1991" but may want to later take some of the content from that project and put it in a different project - perhaps "Thanksgiving Through The Years". I would hate to have to back and re-capture it from tape.

The second is that I am actually thinking of re-doing some of my older work. I have learned a lot here and my "chops" are much better now. Looking at some of my old stuff, it actually looks fairly primitive. Good projects for a wintery day (that means <50 here at the beach!).

So, the advice from me is: keep those project files!

[IRISH4U]

Hi Guys
I have all my music and all my photographs on one of my external drives, with everyting backed up to another external that stays disconnected (unless a backup to it is being performed). Here's my question, if all my "source material" stays in one place, I would only have to save the .prel file to "archive" my projects, is that correct? It seems to me that that would be a tremendous space savings, or am I missing something here?

Dennis

[Bobby]

Dennis, you mentioned music and photos, but not movie clips - is all you are doing slideshows?

Yes, if so, you only need to keep the .prel file.

If, when you decide to resurrect a project, the files are in a different place (i.e. folder) PE will prompt you to identify where they are now. Or, just put everything back in a folder name the same as the original.

[IRISH4U]

Hi Bob
Thankyou Bob. Yeah, mainly I do slideshows, with an occasional video clip, but I have everything organized in folders. two of my four external drives are for PE work only, one is for current projects, the other is a combo of backup for my pics and music, and for any ancillary material i may have gathered for a project (downloaded pictures, video, etc.). I don't discard anything, you never know when you might use it again. Thanks again for answering my question.
Dennis