Another happy report of a PMUG member helping solve somebody's problem. This time it's John Carter to the rescue. He details the success, "I met with (prospective new member) this morning and we determined what all she needed to do to be able to edit the videos that she took with the Sony camcorder which records movies to a 3"(?) mini-disk.
Simple.
1. Use a PC to copy the VOB files (.vob) from the mini-disks to an external hard drive (or connect an external DVD player directly to the Mac - the player will play the mini-disks and the Mac can see the content like any external drive).
2. Connect the external hard drive to the Mac (if an external DVD player wasn't used).
3. Download and install the mpeg-2 codec ($19.99 + tax) from Apple Store to be able to view the VOB files using MPEG Streamclip.
4. MPEG Streamclip can then export the VOB files to a .dv format (or other appropriate format).
5. Import the converted files into iMovie and edit.
"I tried to use Quicktime Player 7 to view the VOBs, but it stop reading the files when it encountered the first time gap. MPEG Streamclip recognizes the time gaps and allows you to fix them, thereafter playing the entire set of VOBs.
"Quicktime Player 10 (for Snow Leopard only) will not recognize the VOBs even with the mpeg-2 codec installed, so for those Snow Leopard users, keep your Quicktime Player 7 installed."