DVD to Video Conversion Query

Craig Crumpton

I have a video audition I had taped to submit for a stage show, and all I need to do is upload the thing to YouTube.

One of my inlaws taped it for me and transfered it directly from his camera onto a DVD disc. (If he'd saved the file onto his hard drive instead, there would have been no need for this post.) But at first, I could only get the disc to work on my DVD player.

So I downloaded an "Intervideo" DVD program which I foolishly assumed would allow me to save the video on the disc to my hard drive, but no such luck.

So I downloaded a trial version of Corel DVD Copy 6, and while the video will play in the preview, so far every attempt to convert it to a usable video file not only takes 2+ hours but the final video is crap. The audio is there, but the video is like watching a slideshow. It simply will not convert the DVD to a usable WMV file. The other options available are MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and H.264. I tried converting to WMV as high as 8.6mbps, but the video is still just too choppy.

Can anyone recommend DVD copying/conversion software $20 or less (free trial version is preferable) with simple controls and easy conversion that will actually work like it's supposed to?

I should also mention that none of the other programs on my PC have worked either: QuickTime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media. Not one of them will allow me to save the file to my hard drive without it already being converted to a video file.

[Edit]Correction: the video will load in Windows Media player, but there is no audio and it still won't allow me to save the file onto my hard drive.[/edit]

If I can't get this video online before the weekend's done, I may be out of luck getting this gig.

Robert Jadah · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008, 17:22 (GMT) Post subject:

I've done a fair bit of that sort of stuff, Craig, but am totally useless at the terminology.
In approximate minutes, how long a bit is it?
And I'm supposing you've tried the Video Capture function on Movie Maker (or whatever video production program you're using)?

As I'm away from my main computer right now, if you e-mail me at voiceman@robertjadah.com, I'll send along a few conversion site addresses which have never failed me.

Video On!

Craig Crumpton · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008, 21:14 (GMT) Post subject:

E-mailed! Thanks s'much, Jadah Master.

Craig Crumpton · Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008, 20:34 (GMT) Post subject:

Finally got it working! I'm posting a link to my video in "Leads & Reads".

Thanks so much to Jadah Master Bobby-Wan for his assistance, especially for the link to this media conversion site which will prove very handy for future projects: http://media-convert.com/