How to import Blu-Ray into FCP?

Mars United

Mars United

Well-known member
I need to get scenes from a series of blu-ray disks (have permission) into FCP/S for editing a promo. I'm not adept at ripping DVDs let alone Blu-Ray.

Can anyone recommend a way to do this? If worse comes to worse I will just use DVD-ripped footage, but I'd rather HD.

Even if there was a stand alone device that would allow capture through HDMI? I can't seem to find any software for Mac that deals with BDs. Thanks!
 
You can't. One of the reasons BluRay was so widely adopted was because of the encryption they employ. Hollywood CRAVES this encryption to "protect itself from piracy." BluRay had better encryption than HD DVD, so it won.

And because of that, permission or no, you cannot rip a BluRay DVD....yet.

Not sure if an HDMI capture device (AJA KONA LHi, Matrox MXO2) will work either...the encrytion might prevent that too.
 
You can also buy a small hardware device (can't remember the name off the top of my head) that sits between your HDMI source and your HDMI destination and it will strip out the HDCP encryption out of the signal. Not perfect but it works most of the time from what I remember.


-A
 
Anti piracy technology has made some big steps in the last couple years, but if the demand for something is high then there's a group of hackers somewhere who will break the code.
I think BluRay dvds fall into the high demand category.
 
If you have permission (really?) then surely you can scare up the original masters for those movies instead of ripping a Blu-ray. Better quality and easier to deal with in FCP.

And yes there exist rippers for Blu-ray discs- they've been around since day one at least for Windows. If you really want to go that route- you need to google for it.

Noah
 
Thanks. I'm trying one last thing before giving up. Everything I've tried has one bug or another. FYI, I've used handbrake to make m4v files, and I'm exporting from QT "for the web" in desktop mode because normal export isn't working. I have no idea what the quality is going to be.

No, Noah, I don't have permission. I lied. What I have is permission from the actor who is in these films to use his face for promotional purposes because he has agreed to do our film. I do not have permission to use any of this footage commercially. The piece I am trying to do is a promo that will only be shown to investors privately.

So, while I don't have permission, saying I do was a brief way of letting those who may care that I'm not pirating movies, but going about promoting an original film.

Thanks again.
 
Mars United said:
No, Noah, I don't have permission. I lied. What I have is permission from the actor who is in these films to use his face for promotional purposes because he has agreed to do our film. I do not have permission to use any of this footage commercially. The piece I am trying to do is a promo that will only be shown to investors privately.

So, while I don't have permission, saying I do was a brief way of letting those who may care that I'm not pirating movies, but going about promoting an original film.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

The issue isn't pirating, it's both copyright and DRM issues.

I'm not trying to lecture, but both are in issue here regardless of how well intentioned you are.
 
Not to drag this out, as it is probably another discussion, but do you think that trying to make a promo for investors out of the lead actor's previous footage, to be shown only to give everyone an idea of where we're going (and to excite them - he's a pretty big actor) is wrong?

I'm asking seriously, as I have been running into this issue in various forms a lot lately.

For example, if I'm making a promo that is to be sent to a TV network I would feel free to use copyrighted music, though, to think of it, I haven't done that yet ... however, if I was to make it public, for example, put it up on a web site, or if it were to be broadcast or publicly shown in any way, I would definitely have to get permission. This is my understanding based on what I've been told by a friend who used to cut promos for a living.

So, I'm applying the same principle to the visuals. If I was to put together a promo to show only to my boss, I'm not going to try to get permission, that's silly, and if I was going to show it publicly for money, of course I would need permission. This promo I'm working on is intended only for private investors who already know us and the subject matter of the film.

Are you suggesting that this is wrong? If I were to write and ask permission to a studio and ask them if I can use footage from their recent blockbuster, I'm sure they'll say NO, as it is easier than analyzing each situation, or setting a precedent that opens them up to abuse.

Or, am I completely in the wrong? Is there a standard ethical boundary that I am about to cross if I do this? I actually do care. I have to. I'm new at this stuff, and definitely don't want to get myself or the company I work with into trouble!

Thanks for your thoughts.

EDIT: also, Noah, I apologize. I was very frustrated trying to get this project underway, and not being successful, and I took your "(really?)" too personally. The tone of my response was perhaps too aggressive.
 
Last edited:
The only way you can use copyrighted material without permission is through "fair use", which only covers essentially news reports, reviews (like movie reviews or critiques), or in the classroom, and then only excerpts, not extended content.

Anything you are doing commercially doesn't qualify. So, picture this scenario; I'm a TV executive receiving your pitch, and I see you are using someone else's copyrighted material without permission, and I think "I can't trust this guy with my material." BTW, the actor probably doesn't have permission to use his own image in those movies because he doesn't own the copyright.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top