Over the years, I have received quite a few questions in regards of using DVD Catalyst to rip a DVD to a certain video format that works with some video editing application, and then make it into a DVD again.

While certainly possible, there are quite a few caveats that need to be kept in mind when doing this.

The main thing to keep in mind is that with conversion, there will ALWAYS be quality loss. Regardless of what settings you use in DVD Catalyst (or any other application for that matter) with converting video from one format to another format, you will lose quality. The settings and the format used for the conversion will determine the amount of quality loss.

A DVD already contains video in compressed form. Normal video, at its highest quality, is known as RAW video, or UNCOMPRESSED video. For video of DVD resolution, raw / uncompressed video requires a lot of space, about 2-3GB per minute or so, making it 240GB for a DVD movie. Of course a DVD can not contain all this data, so it is compressed with a video codec (MPEG2) which makes it into 4 or 8GB in size.

To edit a DVD, it needs to be stored onto your computer, and this is where DVD Catalyst would come in. It rips the video content from the DVD into a certain file format, and stores this onto your computer. Because of the numerous output formats DVD Catalyst has, it can convert DVDs into any video file type that is supported by video editing applications, however, this is where the quality comes in.

Many people have requested advice on settings for files compatible with Windows Movie Maker. While included free with your Windows XP/Vista/7 version, Movie Maker is quite limited in what it can do, and it is certainly not designed to produce the best possible quality for DVD or HD content. It offers basic options to edit, but seriously, I personally would not use it for anything other than sharing a clip by email or on the internet (youtube) It only supports a few different video formats as input, and is even more limited in output, because it only supports WMV as the file format for its created video files.

So,  to edit DVDs, and burn them to a DVD again, what would I do?

1. Rip the DVD using high quality settings for a good video format. WMV modifies too much of the actual format to be usable for editing, so I would pick TiVo > “TiVo to MPEG” or “TiVo to MPEG Copy” The “COPY” part means that it will leave the audio unmodified, which basically retains the Surround Sound from a movie. The TiVo to MPEG format itself creates MPEG2 files from whatever kind of video files, and this would make it easier to burn to a DVD later on.  If your video editing application does not support MPEG2 video, either check on the product website of the program to see if they offer an MPEG2 plugin, or change the format in “Modify” from MPEG2 to DIVX5 or XVID (both have MP3 as well as COPY formats for the audio stream.
2. Edit the video using a proper video editing application. I personally recommend using Adobe Premiere Elements or Premiere Pro, but Nero, Pinacle, Cyberlink or Ulead offer video eddting software as well. Some camera’s come with one of these applications, so you might already have it. These programs are normally not available for free, but trial versions are available.
3. Once you have your edited video, these programs are usually capable burning them directly to DVD, which ensures the best quality.

If you would do the above with Windows Movie Maker, it will work like this:

1. Rip DVD to WMV format with DVD Catalyst. Due to the differences in video format, there will be quite a bit of quality loss.
2. Edit WMV with Movie Maker, then export to WMV again, more quality loss.
3. Use DVD burner application to make the WMV file into a DVD. First it will convert the WMV file to MPEG2 format (quality loss again) and then it will be burned onto the DVD.

If you just want to cut sections from the video, you can use VirtualDub (free) for editing. There are quite a few guides on how to use VirtualDub, but in short, it works like this.

1. Rip DVD to AVI (DIVX, XVID) format with DVD Catalyst. Use either the default MP3 audio, or use COPY for audio, depending on your needs.
2. Open the file in VirtualDub, change the audio and video settings to streamcopy, and edit the file to your needs.
3. Export the edited file into a new video file
4. Use a DVD burning tool (DVDFlick would work, and is free) to make the DVD.

Links:

Free software:

DVDFlick : http://www.dvdflick.net/ Free DVD maker application. It can make DVDs from numerous different kinds of video files.

VirtualDub : http://www.virtualdub.org/ Free video editor

Commercial Software:

Adobe Premiere Elements : http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/ ($99) Professional video editting application for home users.

Adobe Premiere Pro : http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/ ($799) Professional video editting application for Pro users

Nero 9 : http://www.nero.com/enu/create-and-edit.html ($69) Multimedia editing suite for home use

Pinnacle Studio 12 : http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Studio.htm ($49) Video editing suite for home use.

Cyberlink Power Director 7 : http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html ($42) Video editing suite for home use

Ulead DVD Movie Factory : http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html ($49) Video editing suite for home use

Note: Some of these applications are available in a few different versions. Please review their product descriptions to see if it will fit your needs.

Additional Software:

DIVX codec : http://www.divx.com/en/downloads/postdownload/divx/win If you want to convert AVI files on your computer, it is recommended to install the DIVX codec on your computer. This will enable programs such as VirtualDub to be able to edit DIVX video files. After install, look for the DIVX decoder configuration utility in your start menu, and disbale the logo display, and disable the “de-interlace” option as well.

XVID codec : http://www.koepi.info/xvid.html If you want to work with XVID-encoded video files on your computer, you will most likely need to install this. During install, make sure that the checkmark “use for all supported formats) is not checked to ensure compatibility with DVD Catalyst.

AC3 codec : http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter If you use one of the “COPY” formats in DVD Catalyst to rip your movies, you will need to install AC3 filter to be able to hear the sound.

VirtualDub guide on how to edit video files:

http://www.weethet.nl/english/video_cutavis.php

Important:

The information in this article is for indication purposes. We do not provide specific support on how to use any of the applications mentioned (except for DVD Catalyst). It should serve as information on what is needed to perform the task of editing a DVD.