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Video Conversion Problem
November 12, 2006 9:53 PM   RSS feed for this thread Subscribe

How can I get mini-dvd video footage on to my Mac when I don't have a mini-dvd player & the format isn't compatable on a Mac?

Someone has offered me a project. They have shot several hours of video footage on mini-dvd and would like me to combine them on to one disc, add titles, etc, and then make multiple copies for the group. This is a problem as I don't have a mini dvd player, and the IMac doesnt have a mini-dvd driver. In addition, I have no idea what to charge. Any body have any ideas--hourly rate? $X per copy?
posted by DudeAsInCool to computers & internet (5 comments total)
AFAIK, mini-DVD is bog-standard DVD format on an 80mm disc, so it should be readable as such on anything but slot-loading drives (which, unfortunately, includes iMacs).

Assuming you don't want to go down the "play it on a DVD player & capture the analogue signal" path, your options are (This is also assuming you know how to get the video off the disc and into a container format your editor / DVD maker app understands. If not, there's several previous AskMe's on those subjects, as well as places like doom9, videohelp, etc.)

(Except for DVD-RAM which, particularly in the mini format, often comes in a caddy. They can be removed from the caddy & read in a tray-load drive. Both OS X & WinXP read the DVD-RAM filesystem (UDF) natively, but you need a DVD-RAM compatible drive.).
posted by Pinback at 10:22 PM on November 12, 2006


Tell the customer that DVD cams are a new non-standard format, so you need him to lend you the camera so you can capture the footage correctly. It's the truth, and you're only going to be using the cam in deck function right there next to your computer. I would certainly be willing to let you use my cam if you were going to do this important job for me.
posted by planetkyoto at 1:31 AM on November 13, 2006


Mini-DVD is just the DVD format on a smaller disc.

First off, you can't stick that in your iMac.
Your iMac is slot loading, and if you stick it in...you're going to have difficulty getting it out.

But if you can get to a regular DVD tray (say on a PowerMac G5 or a Mac Pro), you'll be able to access the data. Or on an External USB DVD player (that...ahem, you'll return)

Now, you'll need MPEG Streamclip (go look at versiontracker.com) or DVDxDV to convert the VOBs to a DV format that is compatible with Whatever you're using for an editing system (which I'll assume is FCP.) If you use MPEG Streamclip (open source) you'll have to get the audio setting right, so it's a format that you can edit without rendering in FCP (the default is a 44khz audio file, and you need it to be 48khz).

How much to charge?

You can quote them an hourly cost...
Or you can quote them a flat rate.

Lets call this 5 hours of footage.
It'll take you about 3-5 hours to get it in a format you can use in FCP, if you could access the disks (add whatever time to go to someone elses system for this.) Remember, if they had used a DV camera, this wouldn't be necessary - their choice of format should cost them as they've made the post production process harder.

Then, figure out how much time you will spend editing, adding titles, and doing the DVD Authoring (going to use iDVD? DVD Studio Pro?).

Plus you're still learning how to do this sort of stuff, you'll likely make some mistakes in the process, are you going to charge them for that? Are you going to make a DVD for them to "Approval copies" before you make the multiple copies?

Try to figure out how long it's going to take you to do the work. Clients like a flat rate better than an hourly number, because they're uncomfortable with a possibly spiraling cost. They're coming to you for the finished work, not to hire you to work hourly. If they want 5 dvds, it shouldn't cost them much more than one.

Charging them $X per copy is the basis of DVD distribution, but they know they're going to be selling tons of copies. If your client says they want 20, you split your costs over the 20....and then they change their mind (as clients will) to one....they just got you to do the work for 1/20th of your price. So, unless there are thousands involved, avoid this at all costs.

So, if possible, charge them a flat rate, that you feel that your hourly rate would be equivalent to.
posted by filmgeek at 3:56 AM on November 13, 2006


AFAIK, mini-DVD is bog-standard DVD format [...]

There's another format called mini-DVD (Mentioned at the bottom here), although I doubt there are camcorders that record in it, but it's something to watch out for.

[...] on an 80mm disc, so it should be readable as such on anything but slot-loading drives (which, unfortunately, includes iMacs).

Only Intel and G5 iMacs. G4 iMacs have trays, so they're OK, and the kind of slot-loading drive used in G3 iMacs also has no problem with them, provided you have a DVD-compatible model.

You might also get away with using one of these.
posted by cillit bang at 4:34 AM on November 13, 2006


Thanx, guys. All very useful!
posted by DudeAsInCool at 10:55 AM on November 13, 2006


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