Just trying to get started...please HELP

[heraldtalia]

Hi. I'm just trying to get started with making AMVs from DVD and don't know where to even begin. I know we need to get a DVD-Rom drive, but when I pulled up Best Buy and Circuit City online, all the specifications were way too technical for me. (I'm ashamed to admit that I know next to nothing about technical computer terms, hardware and software.)

Can anyone please tell me what kind of DVD-Rom drive I should get to capture video for use in AMVs? I'm totally new to this and completely lost (in case you can't tell), so if you would please "dumb down" your answer for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[D.Co]

WEll most any dvd rom drive will be able to rip a dvd onto your hard drive given the proper ripping software. There are some dvd drives that are better than others but barring you buying a broken drive most any you buy will work to rip DVDs.

You don't really capture the video in the traditional sense of taking video off a analogue stream of some sort. What you really do when you rip a dvd is copy (after decrypting) the movie files off the DVD disk onto your hard drive.

Anyhow don't worry about being new or not understanding anything technical about digital shit. You'll learn that in time. May I reccomend reading the guides (espcially Ermacs and absoluteDestinies guide ato all things audio and video) that are on this site as well as dicking around www.Doom9.org. You'll learn all that you need to know and then some there.[/img]

[sopranosomega]

I would stick with that for now heraldtalia.
A copy of power dvd(software for playing dvds) is not too exspensive either. However if u bought a dvd drive for your computer usualy it comes with it for free (£10 from a computer shop if not).

I have used Smart ripper to decrypt DVD's and i found it's very good (IMHO ). As for compressing them...well thats a headache of it's own right lol
if you have a healthy sized harddrive and a DVD ROM your 50% there

[klinky]

Look on the box it should say IDE or ATA(possibly followed by some numbers). If it does, then you should be good to go.

As for installing it, I'd suggest you checkout here:

http://service.gateway.com/gateway/seri ... 22,00.html


It may even come with instructions... Installing a new drive is pretty much the least dangerous upgrade you could perform. There really isn't anything you could destroy while doing so. :\


~klinky

[SS5_Majin_Bebi]

unless you break a connector pin, or static-zap a component. Then you're absolutely screwed. Make sure you disconnect your PC from the wall socket when u go pokin around the guts of it. I didnt the other day, and i had to remove my capture card and reinstall it - the PC strted turning on all by itself!!

[hackerzc]

Hi. I'm just trying to get started with making AMVs from DVD and don't know where to even begin. I know we need to get a DVD-Rom drive, but when I pulled up Best Buy and Circuit City online, all the specifications were way too technical for me. (I'm ashamed to admit that I know next to nothing about technical computer terms, hardware and software.)

Can anyone please tell me what kind of DVD-Rom drive I should get to capture video for use in AMVs? I'm totally new to this and completely lost (in case you can't tell), so if you would please "dumb down" your answer for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for the help.

The Quick eazy answer:

This is already assuming you have a big hard drive, lots of ram, and a deciend speed processor.

Get the fastest Brand name DVD-ROM you can afford. Speed is good.
Next look for SmartRipper, or Clad DVD XP (tose are two really nice ripping softwarez)download a codec called "huffyuv", and get another program called DVD2AVI.

With that stuff you can rip DVD's, convert everything to a good format to edit with (AVI) and even cut clips and do some minor things.

To do more you will need a lot of different saftware, and read a bunch of guides and basicly take the time to learn to use everything. Heck, after first playing around with editing and making my first vids, I took 8 months or so just to read guides and play with different software to find what works best for me.

The thing to remember is that a lot of people will tell you to use this or use that, but what it comes down to is that YOU need to find a system that works for you. Just try different stuff and see what you like and what you don't. The other people on this forum can probibly help you a lot more then I can, but the list above is a good start. Learn how to rip things and change it to a format you can work with first, then go from there.

[hackerzc]

I pulled up Best Buy and Circuit City online, all the specifications were way too technical for me.

This should help:

>Interface or Port Connection

This tells you how the drive interfaces with your system
Here is a link that explains it further: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/index.htm

>Average Access Time

DVD access time is the speed in which data is made available to your computer for processing from the DVD. Manufacturers, however, do use different criteria in calculating their access times and since the speeds are recorded in milliseconds, access time should not be of major concern when comparing different products. The access time also includes the time it actually takes for the read/write head to locate a sector on the disk (called the seek time). This is an average time since it depends on how far away the head is from the desired data.

>Buffer Size

A buffer is a temporary storage area, usually in RAM (Random Access Memory). The function of most buffers is to act as a holding area for data so that the processor is free to perform other functions. For example when printing data, the data is stored in a buffer for the printer to access at its own speed, but freeing up the processor to perform other tasks. The larger the buffer size, the more information can be temporarily stored and the quicker it can be accessed. A larger buffer will be very beneficial if you are using the device for multimedia or other applications that stream data.

>Maximum Speed of DVD-ROM

This is the maximum speed at which the drive reads data from a DVD disc. The read speed determines the data transfer rate. For example a 16X drive provides a 2.4MB/sec maximum transfer rate, a 24X drive provides a 3.6MB/sec rate, and a 32X drive provides a 4.8MB/sec rate.

>Maximum Speed of CD-ROM

This is the maximum speed at which the drive reads data from a CD disc. The read speed determines the data transfer rate. For example a 16X drive provides a 2.4MB/sec maximum transfer rate, a 24X drive provides a 3.6MB/sec rate, and a 32X drive provides a 4.8MB/sec rate.

>Internal or External

This is a description of weather the device is ment to be placed within the computers case, or out side of the case

>System Requirements

This tells you what operation system you must have (Windoes 95, 98, 200, Me, XP, Mac OS, Linux, etc) and also aditional hardware like processor speed (ie: pentium III 1.8Ghz, athlon 1.6Ghz, Mac G4, etc.)

The rest like height and weight I think you can figure out.