Digitizing Videos

One of the things that we have discussed regarding classroom workflow, is the amount of time spent preparing a video for class especially, if only showing clips and not full titles. Something that we recommended to a few faculty and which has worked well in these instances is digitizing the necessary video clips so they are ready to go for class. This saves having to queue up the DVD before class or spending time looking for it. This would also work with those youtube video clips that you saved after reading Zlatko's post on keepvid. A great tool for this is HandBrake.

With HandBrake you can digitize clips from dvd's and blu-ray disks into modern video formats. Handbrake is not limited to digitizing physical media such as DVD's and blu-rays, it can also convert existing files from older formats to newer formats that are compatible across more devices. With HandBrake you have a couple of options for selecting clips. The two easier ones are chapters and seconds. You can specify which chapters you want to digitize or a time range of the desired segment. HandBrake can also bring over subtitles if those are needed. If you would like to try it you can download a copy from handbrake.fr. If you would like additonal information and help using please contact itshelp@colgate.edu.