I'm putting together a sports recruiting video, and was given game tapes on DVD. I'm still pretty new to the Mac - what programs should I use to convert .vob files to something I can edit (.avi, .mov, DV, etc.)?

Also, is there any way I can pick out 3-5 seconds of video at a time and JUST convert that? There are only about three or four plays total I need per hour of game film, so decoding and converting the entire game film would seem to be time consuming and unnecessary, unless that's the only way to do it.

Thanks in advance!

You might be happy to find MPEG StreamClip...

http://www.squared5.com/

It does exactly what you're asking and more... plus its free! I use it all the time with FCP.

Thanks for the response.

I downloaded Streamclip, however:

1) Streamclip is free, but before I can convert it I have to purchase a $20 mpeg2 add-on from Apple? I already paid for QuickTime Pro twice for my Mac and my PC. Seems like this should come standard with either QuickTime, QuickTime Pro, or my Mac.

2) Is there an option to trim the clip beforehand? I don't want to convert the whole hour long video, just a few seconds of clips here or there. It seems to be all or nothing, at least on the DVD I'm working with.

Thanks for the response.

I downloaded Streamclip, however:

1) Streamclip is free, but before I can convert it I have to purchase a $20 mpeg2 add-on from Apple? I already paid for QuickTime Pro twice for my Mac and my PC. Seems like this should come standard with either QuickTime, QuickTime Pro, or my Mac.

2) Is there an option to trim the clip beforehand? I don't want to convert the whole hour long video, just a few seconds of clips here or there. It seems to be all or nothing, at least on the DVD I'm working with.

If you have Final Cut Studio, the mpeg2 plug-in is installed in your system. other than that you have to pay the $20.

Use the "i" and "o" keys to indicate in and outs. MPEG Streamclip has a batch function so you can choose a number of clips and then render.

If you have Final Cut Studio, the mpeg2 plug-in is installed in your system. other than that you have to pay the $20.

Use the "i" and "o" keys to indicate in and outs. MPEG Streamclip has a batch function so you can choose a number of clips and then render.

Yeah, no FCP yet.

:(

Guess I'll fork over the $20 - seems like this is the best one out there, so might as well pay it.

Thanks for in/out info as well!

Well, I ordered it from Apple and it works perfectly.

Thanks Nick and William for the help!

DOH! Looks like I got here just too late!

you needed Perian (perian.org). it works with MPEG Streamclip for opening DVD files and is free!

The MPEG component of Quicktime cost money as there are extra license payments (not to apple) that you have to pay for. If it were included in Quicktime as standard it would push up the cost of Mac OSX and/or Quicktime Pro.

DOH! Looks like I got here just too late!

you needed Perian (perian.org). it works with MPEG Streamclip for opening DVD files and is free!

The MPEG component of Quicktime cost money as there are extra license payments (not to apple) that you have to pay for. If it were included in Quicktime as standard it would push up the cost of Mac OSX and/or Quicktime Pro.

I have the mpeg2 thing and final cut, but when I import it into the timeline there is no audio. Does perian fix this, or do I need something else?

Aric, what do you mean by "it"? what is the "it" you are trying to import into the timeline?

If "it" has compressed audio (eg an MPEG2 file with MP2 audio) then you need to convert it. Perian will not fix this issue; FCP just does not handle compressed audio.