DVD-R discs from camera..how to get the video off 'em.

Hi,

A friend just dropped off two small 1.4 GB DVD-R discs from a video camera.
My Mac system won't even mount them, even though DiskUtility sees them and
Toast Disc Info sees them and files on them, but it can't do anything with
them. My DVD player won't play them.

I have no way of knowing what camera they came out of.

Any suggestions on how to rip the video off them?

Thanks,

Ty Ford


--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:

 

Ty, if your DVD player won't play them, my guess is that the discs
weren't finalized.
Unfortunately the only way to do this particular operation is with the
same make/model of camcorder :-(

Mike

 

I believe there is a problem with this type of disks and the Mac system.

A PC will read them, if it is not finalized use ISObuster to read it.

Regards,

Martin

 

Plan A:

Try copying the "VIDEO_TS" files onto your hard drive

then try renaming the VTS files from .VOB to .Mpg --- then if you have
final cut pro you may be able to work with them on the timeline

Plan B: repeat above, then download the free and excellent
"Mpeg Streamclip" for mac---- and that should be able to convert to
almost any format

Plan C: borrow the camera they were shot on and dub from SVideo or
Composite outputs


--- JP

 

Martin,

Just to stop a myth. Nope A Windows machine and an Vista machine could do
nothing with them. I'll pass isobuster on to my PC friend, though. Thanks.

We went to Circuit City and put the discs in a number of DVD-r cameras. The
sony was able to access the video. We were afraid to try to finalize the
discs, fearing that slight differences might make the discs totally
unreadable. We'll try to find a sony in town to borrow to stream the clips
off.

Thanks everyone.

Ty Ford


--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:

 

Hu Ty,
I had something similar with an unfinalised DVD from a set top box, the PC
could do nothing with it but Isobuster could and extracted the VOB file no
problem.
I use Womble to work with the VOB files and make them into Mpegs.

Regards, Martin

 

That should have worked fine, had you tried it. What finalize does is to
write the (approx.) equivalent of a directory listing.

 

No Rick. we're scared s***less that some quirk will qwangst the disc and keep
us fro getting to it at all.

Ty Ford

--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:

 

Keep us posted on the progress! (What's on there anyway?!)

 

Something very important to my friend, but not much anyone else.

Ty Ford

--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:

 

Put the mini DVD in a Sony DVD player on a PC and use ISOBUSTER to read
the .VOB files right off the disk (unfinalized and all that) and they
should play!