[Macworld.com]

Need to pull together video that you’ve burned to DVD? Here are two suggestions. [more]

[michaelrmills]

Does Handbrake work too? I haven't used it, only read about it. What are the pros and cons to Handbrake verses your suggestion?
Mike

[DahlBryn]

Does this mean we can finally use Sony's DVD or HD recorders with our Macs and iMovie ?

[Chris Breen]

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Does Handbrake work too?

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HandBrake will work with the QuickTime MPEG-2 component installed but it insists on saving as MPEG-4 or H.264 files. These can look great, but native DV looks better.

[Chris Breen]

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Does this mean we can finally use Sony's DVD or HD recorders with our Macs and iMovie ?

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If they burn their files in the typical Video_TS scheme, then yes. I haven't used one of these things so don't know if they do or if they add some particular bit of Sony magic to make it happen, which could make the files unusable. Anyone out there with one of these camcorders who can give it a try?

[Kuffara]

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Does Handbrake work too? I haven't used it, only read about it. What are the pros and cons to Handbrake verses your suggestion?
Mike

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Personally, I like Handbrake, its very easy to use and works almost every time. Plus it's freeware, so theres no harm in giving it a try.

[michaelrmills]

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These can look great, but native DV looks better.

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Agreed! Thanks.

[scottmacworld]

Saving the original DV files (or iMovie project) as data on a DVD is another, cleaner option to saving disk space if you plan to re-edit. This avoids quality loss and extra time of converting back and forth between formats.

[stephenrea]

There's also DVDxDV, that converts a DVD back into DV that iMovie can re-edit.

[d9c9]

"There's also DVDxDV, that converts a DVD back into DV that iMovie can re-edit."
I second that it's a great program. You can actually set in and out points in clips within the program saving time when you get to iMovie or Final Cut. The non pro version is $25.00 The only problem is that the non pro version clips don't have time code and is a little more limited but should be fine for a home user.
http://www.dvdxdv.co...DV.overview.htm

[elroth]

The best thing about Cinematize is that you can easily pick your start and stop points, and import only exactly what you want. If you just want a particular 10 minutes (or just a few frames), you don't have to wait for the whole 2-hour DVD to import, and use up all that hard drive space. It also can convert the DVD to DV (or any other QuickTime format) for use in iMovie, etc.

[EDronkert]

Re. Sony equipment: no. My HDD camera saves as MPEG2 video with Dolby AC3 audio. That's a no-go combo. No sound in any Quicktime application, including iMovie. I use ffmpegx to convert to H.264.

[mobiustrip]

As a previous poster suggested, you should always save copies of the original DV files as they are much higher quality than the Mpeg2 files on a DVD.
- you can copy the Quicktime DV files you shot to a DVD data disk
- you can save the original camera tapes
- you can cut out the crap from the original camera tapes, and then export just the good stuff back to tape
- you can save an edited DV master back to tape via your camcorder
DV files are very high quality and very easy for any old computer to edit and view as they are compressed at 5:1, ie. hardly compressed at all. Mpeg2 is probably more like 50:1, and was never designed for editing, so it's difficult. H.264 is often something like 300:1! All these Mpeg formats are designed for viewing copies.
Mpeg Streamclip will allow you to open the VOB files on the DVD disc, mark IN and OUT points and export to DV for editing.
All of this also explains why one might want to be wary of buying a camcorder that records Mpeg, ie. cameras that record to DVD. Manufacturers probably introduced the format after doing research that showed most people don't edit their videos.

[A_User]

The article says the "$20 QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component" is required. Is the $29.99 upgrade to QuickTime Pro also required?