How to Convert and Edit DVDs with Avidemux
Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by Chris in Blog
Avidemux is a good free video editor. It supports most video input formats like avi, mov, wmv, asf, mkv, mp4, flv, vob, mpg and can convert to many formats like avi xvid, avi-dv, mpg, mp4 h264, flv. This is a basic guide to use Avidemux to convert the DVD format and do some basic editing like cutting and filtering.
As the preparation, you need to rip the DVD to your hard disk using a DVD ripper and download Avidemux by clicking here. Then let’s begin to use Avidemux to convert and edit the video file.
Open the Video File
Open your DVD file by clicking on the top left folder icon and load the video file from your hard drive.
select file
Select the longest VOB file which is the main video and all VOB files will be automatically imported by clicking Yes in the below pop-up window.
open DVD file in Avidemux
Auto Format
If you want to convert the video to play in iPhone, iPod, iPod 5.5G, Zune, Sony PlayStation Portable, you can click Auto on the top menu and chose the one you want. Then the application will automatically make all settings for you.
Auto format
Custom Format
If you want to convert to other formats rather than the formats in Auto, then choose the video, audio and container codec under Video, Audio and Format. If you want to save the video as AVI (for DivX DVD Players and portable devices), set Video to MPEG-4, Audio to MP3 and Format to AVI. For H264 (newer portable devices), set Video to MPEG-4 x264, Audio to AAC and Format to MP4 or MKV. For AVI huffyuv (for further editing or burning to DVD using another software), set Video to huffyuv, Audio to WAV PCM and Format to AVI. For no conversion, set Video to Copy and Audio to Copy.
custome format
Cutting
There are two options: A and B at the bottom of the window. You can cut the video by clicking on A to drag the bar to select the start point and B to drag the bar to select the end of the clip.
cutting
Extract Audio from Video
If you want to rip audio from the video, click on the Audio option and select your preferred audio format. Optionally, you can also click on the “Configure” button to change the output bit rate. Then click on the “Audio” option in the menu bar and select “Save”.
extract audio from video
save audio
Add Extra Effects
You can also add extra effects to the video by applying filters like Resize, Black borders, Color adjustments, Sharpness, Subtitles (srt,ass/ssa,sub), Deinterlacing. Just click on Filter under Video to add the filters you want to use.
choose filters
Custom Output File Size
If you want to convert to a custom file size then click on Tools in the menu bar and select Calculator, choose Custom, set the file size, set the audio bitrate (128-192kbit/s is good for most stuff) and the video bitrate will be automatically set.
custom output file size
Preview Output
You can select Output by clicking the arrow at the top middle to preview the video to check if the resolution/size and black borders look correct.
preview output
Save
Finally, save the file by clicking the second icon on the top and set a folder to save the video in. Then a window will show the encoding progress.
encoding
The above tutorial shows Avidemux to easily convert the DVD format and do some basic edition but you need to rip the DVD to your computer using another application first. Isn’t it more convenient to have a program to do all the work at once?
You may want to check TouchUp DVD Ripper which can rip DVD and at the same time save the DVD as whatever format you want, feature of editing the video and fast-working included. What’s most important, you don’t need to set the format yourself like the above custom format setting in Avidemux, since TouchUp DVD Ripper offers all possible devices you may use to play the video and you just need to choose the device and the right format is set for you automatically as the below screen shows.
choose format for ripped DVD in TouchUp DVD Ripper
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