I am a faneditor myself so I can help a little.
QuoteYou'd need a DVD ripper that can get around the copy protection, then convert it to a format you can edit in (MOV or AVI or something).
Keep the original format. Mpeg-2 is easy for editing and Womble Mpeg Editor handles it well. It may create MPEG file or DVD folder fast and without any quality loss. It's more complicated however if you want to edit HD blu-ray sourced material. I've done some fanedits and I intend to do Prometheus extended cut with all of released deleted scenes (but only if they're completed and there is no CGI missing or other problems like that), maybe some rearranging of scenes to reduce plot problems if possible.
Audio editing, especially adding new music and keeping SFX and dialogue at the same time is almost always difficult, sometimes even impossible. It depends how sounds are separated among all channels of 5.1 track. You need to demux this track to 6 mono Wavs, and edit all of them separately, then, after deleting all unwanted sounds, you may add what you want to selected channels, then remux it back to 5.1. You may also add sounds straight to 5.1 track, but results may not be as satisfying. I'd recommend creating separate MPEG file for scene which is to be edited, then demux audio from it and working on just this piece, not the whole movie audio track.
Programs like BeLight, Audacity or GoldWave may be helpful.
Good luck
QuoteSo my real question is, how long would the pre production (so to speak) take before I could actually get down to work on the edit?
Under one hour I suppose.
