Tips bringing DVD video to Final Cut Pro X or FCP 7 timeline

April 26, 2017

How to import DVD video to Final Cut Pro for editing? This article will introduce two possible solutions for you. Find it now.

Usually ripping media off a DVD to insert in your video project like FCP is a tricky process. That’s because DVD video does not natively work within Final Cut Pro including FCP X. To import DVD to FCP, DVD video files must be ripped off the disc and then converted. Here I’ve collected two workable ways for you to bring DVD footage into Final Cut Pro (X). Learn how to.

The first solution is to convert your DVD footage with the free application, MPEG Streamclip, by transcoding it into a format that works natively within FCP.

1. Download MPEG Streamclip for Mac and install the application on your system.

2. Open MPEG Streamclip and then open your DVD in the application (from the menu bar, File > Open DVD…)

3. Select the Video_TS folder (this contains the main video). MPEG Streamclip will open up your DVD video in the application.

4. MPEG Streamclip will let you convert your DVD to a wide variety of video formats. Choose the format that best matches your project settings (ie what your timeline is set for).

5. Start the conversion and then import your clips into Final Cut Pro.

Note: If you have a DVD that is copy-protected then you need to use an application to “rip” the DVD before you can bring it into MPEG Streamclip. What’s worse, when searching online, I find many users complained that MPEG Streamclip can’t recognize the DVD file and even don’t know the real reason.

Solution 2: Since there are limits and issues when using MPEG Streamclip to convert DVDs to FCP.

Here I’d like to recommend another application Brorsoft DVD Ripper for Mac to rip copy-protected DVD and then convert the DVD movies to Final Cut Pro most compatible ProRes for editing.

Overall, it’s a professional DVD to FCP Converter. With it, you can effortlessly rip DVD to ProRes for further editing within your Final Cut Pro X or FCP 6/7 on Mac(Yosemite, Mavericks and Mountain Lion included) without quality loss. What's more, this Mac DVD ripper allows you to fast convert DVD to Apple Intermediate Codec(AIC) for iMovie, MOV for iTunes, DNxHD for Avid MC and more to satisfy your different needs. Now download this program and follow this guide below to complete your task.

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

P.S.: If you wanna to import Blu-ray movies to FCP, here Brorsoft Blu-ray Ripper (or Blu-ray Ripper for Mac ) is right for you. It is not only a Blu-ray Ripper, but also work well with DVDs, just like the Blu-ray Player can work with DVD disc well.

Besides DVD and Blu-ray , if you wanna to change some digital files such as VOB , MKV , MP4, MOV , FLV files to Final Cut Pro supported format, the all-in-one Video Converter Ultimate program will a nice choice for you. It is a yet professional all-in-one Blu-ray Ripper, DVD Ripper and HD Video Converter, which comparatively has better output quality, in particular HD videos and intuitive interface. What's more, its deinterlacing function and merging, cropping, trimming, adding subtitles ability are what its many competitive products lack of. If you are Mac users, please turn to iMedia Converter for Mac.

How to convert DVD movies for editing in Final Cut Pro

Step 1. Insert the DVD disc into your DVD drive and drag the disc icon from the desktop to the program to load the DVD files. Alternatively, you can click disc to locate and add the DVD movies you want to convert.

Step 2. Clicking "Format" bar and choose Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov) as output format from the "Final Cut Pro" category. The output videos will work with FCP flawlessly.