I have some mpeg4 (quicktime) video that I would like to convert to mpeg2 so I can watch it on my el cheapo Apex player. I am using OS X (Panther). Are there any free or cheap tools that will do this that won't make my head explode? I supplicated the Google gods and came up empty.
posted by mecran01
on Jul 9, 2004 -
5 answers
Does anyone have the DVD for
High Plains Drifter?
I desperately need screenshots of it's opening scene where the stranger rides into town with the shimmering setting sun at his back. I've searched
Google Images for quite some time and I come up grasping at straws every time. All I can seem to find is various movie posters and a few head shots of Clint Eastwood.
Can anyone help me?
posted by blasdelf
on Jul 6, 2004 -
10 answers
The new DVD burner (an NEC ND-2510A), didn't come with any burning software. I know I can get the express version of Nero 6 for a couple bucks, but does anybody know of a good small DVD burning program (preferably freeware) for Windows XP that would be downloadable on dialup? Sourceforge and Tucows, my usual trusted sites, are turning up bupkiss.
posted by PinkStainlessTail
on Jul 5, 2004 -
5 answers
Let's presume you just
had to acquire the third season of, oh, Six Feet Under, as quickly as possible. How would you do it?
posted by blueshammer
on Jun 27, 2004 -
9 answers
What windows app will allow me to take an AVI or MOV file and .SUB or .SSA or other subtitle file and burn it onto a DVD+R or -R with the subtitles either burnt-in or generated by the dvd player?
posted by signal
on Jun 26, 2004 -
3 answers
DVD Rewinder Is this a satricial website, a joke product, or are gullible people being duped somewhere along the line? I'm guessing it's the first, but I'd like to know your thoughts... [seen at
Gizmodo]
[more inside]
posted by feelinglistless
on Jun 25, 2004 -
9 answers
I would like to totally rid myself of VHS tapes. But I have about 40 of them that I'd like to transfer onto DVDs before I trash them. After that, I will never use a VHS tape again. What's the best route to go in my situation? Buy a VHS-to-DVD converter? Pay to have this done?
Most of it is stuff I taped off of TV years ago. Episodes of TV shows that have never come out on DVD, etc. Is it legal for me to do the transfer? It's not stuff that's for sale. I assume that it was legal (or in some legal gray area) for me to tape the stuff in the first place, so is it legal for me to make backups? I have no plan to sell them to anyone else. The quality is horrible, anyway. But I want to save them before they totally disintegrate.
posted by grumblebee
on Jun 20, 2004 -
18 answers
I recently signed up for
Peerflix, a DVD tradeing service. So far my confidence level is low, seems like a lot of DVDs are listed but not available. Some DVDs (the better ones) require huge amounts of peerbuxs making them dogs for tradeing and difficult to earn enough peerbuxs. Activity level seems low and theres no one home at support and no community support group. Anyone have any experience with it?
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 17, 2004 -
9 answers
I have a Hollywood Plus DVD-player card, PCI. It uses the EM8300 Mpeg 2 decoder. Are there any hacks or mods for this card to do cool things, or should I throw it away?
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posted by Keyser Soze
on Jun 4, 2004 -
3 answers
I am looking for a way, on Mac OS X, to create libraries of digital video clips, and arrange them in various ways into movies which can be burned to DVD. I'm thinking iMovie+iDVD does everything I want, but I'm looking for something that can handle many (hundreds?) large, full resolution files. Anyone have experience with this kind of video cataloging and editing? Is iMovie enough, or do I need a high-end product? It will be used by a relative non-techie (not me).
posted by icetaco
on Jun 2, 2004 -
6 answers
I find myself in possession of a Sony Mini Digital Video Cassette tape that was taken while I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago. I need to get it converted over to NTSC, PAL, and DVD, but am having trouble.... (I know you didn't see it coming, but there's more inside!)
[more inside]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow
on May 27, 2004 -
8 answers
I have both a DVD-ROM drive and a DVD-R drive in my Wintel computer. I am interested in making backup copies of some of the (copy-protected) DVDs I own. Up to now I have been tusing DVDShrink to trim down disks where necessary, and then using the IMGTool/DVD Decryptor combo to make the ISO/burn it. So in all that's a 2-step process, each step of which takes upwards of an hour. Is there a (hopefully free) software solution out there that I can set up, go to bed, and when I come down for breakfast, the disk in the top drawer is a copy of the one in the bottom drawer?
posted by luser
on May 25, 2004 -
4 answers
What's good (free) software to rip my DVDs to a compressed format: Avi/DivX etc, for back-up/usability purposes? Ideally something that allows me to preserve widescreen and is 'user-friendly'.
posted by Blue Stone
on May 24, 2004 -
9 answers
DVD reading problem. One of my backup DVD-Rs refuses to read - Nero disc info says it has 1 session and 1 track at 4.6Gb UDF (mode 1). My DVD-ROM is an Lite-On 411s, but I think it was burnt on an LG 4040b. Any tips on getting the movies off the disc?
posted by Mossy
on May 19, 2004 -
1 answer
How to find a DVD that will be playable on a region-free player if it's only been released in Russia? [This is the root menu; there is more inside]
[more inside]
posted by amandaudoff
on May 12, 2004 -
7 answers
I need suggestions on a good hardware/software combo that will allow me to transfer some stuff from VHS to DVD (along with any other advice).
[more inside]
posted by RavinDave
on Apr 28, 2004 -
6 answers
Best way to rip video from a DVD into MPEG or AVI? I need to grab scenes from a movie and monkey with them in Premiere (Windows).
posted by vraxoin
on Apr 24, 2004 -
5 answers
DVD question: I bought a European release of Frasier, season 1 - complete with subtitles etc. - but it seems like I'll have to buy seasons 2 -10 in the region 1 version.
Region compatibility is not an issue, but I wonder if "closed captioned" means that a DVD is subtitled, meaning: will I be able to get to those subtitles here in Europe, or do I need one of those hearing impaired set top boxes I've heard about (they seem to exist in UK and USA, maybe Canada as well)?
posted by NekulturnY
on Apr 16, 2004 -
5 answers
I am thinking of buying an internal DVD burner for my PC. A DVD-RW unit costs about 70% of what a DVD+RW one does. I understand that the +R format is supposed to be "better", but less compatible than the -R one. Which should I get?
[more inside]
posted by signal
on Apr 12, 2004 -
14 answers
Ack! I'm in bed with the flu and I want to watch my Office Space DVD, which I just unwrapped, but when I put it into my OSX iBook and try to play it, I get a weird window that looks sorta OS9-ey with the message: "System Check: press enter to scan for dvd virus." It's really creeping me out. As I'm sapped of all strength, I really don't want to go into the other room and try it on the console. Anyone have any idea wtf this is? The "enter" button it gives me is PINK fer gad's sake.
[more inside]
posted by scarabic
on Apr 12, 2004 -
6 answers
Is there away around using an A/B switch for my digital cable? Here's the deal, the Cable In on my television is malfunctioning. I get intermittent reception, almost as if the cable is not making full contact. I have a VCR, DVR and DVD player. The television only has one set of A/V inputs, which are currently being used by the DVD player. The DVR is not compatible with the DVD player, so I can't run them through the same A/V lines. I went to Radio Shack and the only solution they could come up with was using an A/B switch, which requires me to physically switch between the DVR and DVD player. Isn't there any other technology that would not require me to get off my lazy butt and walk across the living room when I want to switch between television and a DVD? I've been unemployed for four months, so buying a new t.v. is out of the question.
posted by Juicylicious
on Apr 2, 2004 -
8 answers
I just got a DVD burner and have been trolling through the amazing
Prelinger archives, picking out interesting titles to burn to disk for living room viewing. Anybody want to recommend anything they've stumbled on here?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders
on Mar 20, 2004 -
6 answers
We've got quite a large DVD collection, but they naturally tend towards newer releases. This weekend I want to bolster the "classic" movie section. (more inside)
[more inside]
posted by mr_crash_davis
on Mar 18, 2004 -
62 answers
Advice sought for (completely legal) region-free DVD players. [Explanation inside...]
[more inside]
posted by arco
on Mar 1, 2004 -
12 answers
I have some old video tapes that I'd love to convert to digital video, storing the data on DVDs and/or my g5. Is there a good way to do this? Is it possible to transfer commercial video tapes in addition to personal tapes? I'm a video novice, but catch on quickly.
posted by jdroth
on Feb 6, 2004 -
4 answers
DVD+R? -R? *R? /R? I'm confused on what type of burner to pick up. [more inside]
[more inside]
posted by DaShiv
on Feb 4, 2004 -
10 answers
I'm considering opening a DVD store. I'd like your opinions on what you love/hate about movie rental shops/web sites. [more inside]
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posted by dobbs
on Jan 28, 2004 -
51 answers
Why did my DVD player on my IBM ThinkPad laptop stop being able to read Audio CDs? It still plays DVDs fine, but when I insert an audio CD I get "Windows cannot read from this disk. The disk might be corrupted..." I've searched all over for a solution to this problem and have found people with similar problems, but haven't been able to find a solution. [more inside]
[more inside]
posted by fletchmuy
on Jan 16, 2004 -
9 answers
Last year Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" was republished on DVD. The original film was released in 1925. Then Chaplin made a new version in 1942, in which he added a sound track with narration. I HATE the sound version. The only thing I like about it is Chaplin's music. When you see the 1925 version (on VHS), you lose the narration (yay) but also the music. The new DVD comes with both versions. Before I buy it, I'd like to know if the 1925 version contains Chaplin's music. Does anyone here own the new DVD?
posted by grumblebee
on Jan 15, 2004 -
5 answers
Software Question - I am trying to find a freeware or shareware program that can rip from a DVD. Not necessarily an entire DVD, small 2-3 minutes clips from particular chapters. Preferably a program that can convert to .mpg or quicktime clip. Clips will be available for download for reference purposes for a limited time. So I guess this program would should also be able to compress converted files to smaller sizes. Any clue?
posted by turbanhead
on Jan 14, 2004 -
6 answers
It's happened again tonight. We rent a DVD from National Chain Video, and right in the middle of the movie we get a 10 minute period of jittery video, and then a bit later the picture inexplicably jumps ahead in the story. We're left wondering what we missed.
Are we the only ones wondering secretly if this whole DVD thing is ready for prime time? DVDs I've bought new, no problem. But can a rental DVD hold up to the casual abuse of multiple rentals, and still play? I don't think it's the DVD player, we're on our third, and the problem has been consistent. Our current player is a Toshiba combination VCR/DVD player, about 2.5 years old. Should we upgrade? Or is this always going to be a problem with rental DVDs? And how does Vanilla Sky end, anyway? We never found out. Grrrr.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders
on Jan 9, 2004 -
19 answers
One of my nephews (the lucky one everyone in our family loves, featured in
this thread) presents us every week with a faultless DVD of a just-released-in-the-U.S. movie. How does he do it? [
More inside.]
[more inside]
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Jan 4, 2004 -
14 answers
How can I repair a DVD with a couple of relatively deep scratches? (more inside)
[more inside]
posted by duckstab
on Jan 3, 2004 -
5 answers
Some of my XVid movies shake when I play them, regardless of the player used. This does not happen with all XVid movies, and GSpot says they have no errors.
Also, they do not shake when I play them in my DVD player, so it's something software-related. Other than uninstalling my codecs and re-installing them, have you got any suggestions? Thanks!
posted by Masi
on Jan 3, 2004 -
7 answers
My mother is in her late sixties, and her kids just bought her a DVD player for her most recent birthday. Now she wants to know what movies we'd recommend she'd buy or rent. [More inside.]
[more inside]
posted by *burp*
on Jan 2, 2004 -
23 answers
Where should I put all my DVDs? I'm trying to come up with a solution for storing my DVDs. I've used a couple of differant racks, but many of my DVDs have odd-shaped cases (think Star Trek TNG DVDs) and some are the cheap cardboard casing and some are black keep casing. I would like a consistant look, and was curious what other MeFiers do with their collections.
CD storage books? Shelving?
New Cases?
[more inside]
posted by benjh
on Dec 28, 2003 -
17 answers
I'm a film junkie and am running out of things to watch. What's an obscure feature-length movie that's available on dvd or video that you can recommend to someone who's seen more movies than had warm meals?
posted by dobbs
on Dec 17, 2003 -
91 answers
I need to find a DVD with Korean subtitles. Is there any way to search for DVDs based on which subtitles are available? As a second option, can anyone recommend any good Korean-language films?
[more inside]
posted by nprigoda
on Dec 13, 2003 -
7 answers
I've got a lot of old Hi-8 analog tapes (about 40 hours worth) that I would like to get onto DVD before they deteriorate too much. Has anybody heard of a "all-in-one" product that makes this easy? Has anybody done this successfully? I'm on a PC running XP. I have no capture card, no DVD burner, and no firewire port (I do have usb 2.0). I'm not so much interested in editing them (for now, anyway) as I am in just getting them on a DVD. Suggestions/experiences appreciated.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders
on Dec 12, 2003 -
10 answers
What are your favorite DVD commentary tracks?
posted by Prospero
on Dec 8, 2003 -
51 answers
