Video editing help

[Warthog]

I have several dvds with .vob files that I would like to edit and upload. These are my son's football games from last season and I am trying to create a highlight disc. Any advice on how to go about this?

[Lord_Byron]

I run Windows 7 so I use Windows Live Movie Maker. It is really pretty simple. You just import the files and then you can trim/edit them as necessary. Once you get the scenes you want, it's a simple matter to add music and publish.

It appears that it supports .vob files:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mo ... -types-faq

Here's the general information:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mo ... r?os=other

I'm pretty technically incompetent, but it only took me a little while to get the hang of it.

[Warthog]

I run Windows 7 so I use Windows Live Movie Maker. It is really pretty simple. You just import the files and then you can trim/edit them as necessary.

We tried that, I think, and the problem was that it only imports the first 'chapter'. On most of the discs, each play is a seperate chapter. We couldn't get the entire game to load in Movie Maker. FWIW, I am not competent on this techie stuff either and my 13 year son is trying to help with it.

[NWLB]

Semi related note, does anybody know of any local places, or people, who can do a quality job splicing Super 8 films together and a proper conversion to digital? I'm looking online, but rather have local resources than somebody on the west coast.

[Lord_Byron]

Wart,
Not sure how to get rid of the chapters with a computer. I know that my DVR will do it. I can copy the disk from DVD to Hard Drive and then edit to remove chapter marks. Then I can copy back to DVD or an external drive.

Nathan,
The cost of getting the Super 8s spliced and converted is going to be huge. What I did was set up a video camera on a tripod in a very dark room and video the movies while projecting them. I then burned on to DVD. It's probably cheaper to buy a camcorder and do this if you don't have one, than it will be to pay for a service to do all the work. Plus, I've seen some pretty bad hack jobs from people who don't care about the movies they are transferring. For example, my Uncle had it done and they did extreme close ups of most scenes so all that one can see are peoples faces. Of course all this assumes you have a projector that works.

[NWLB]

I still have a pristine, early 1980s 8mm projector from Sears, works perfectly. The temptation is there to do it myself. However, in the end, even at a high cost, I'd do it. If I could get the 40 or so 3 inch reels converted to un-edited raw files, under $3,000, I'd consider it worth doing. Might split the cost with my dad, aunt, who have some interest in having them done.