My producer gives me footage in DVD format.

I need to convert this to an editable video format. I was thinking of
converting to either an AVI or a very minimal compression Mpeg.

We don't want to convert to divx as this is a hard format for us to
edit.

I don't want to lose any video quality in the process.

What would be the best method to do this?  We are willing to pay for a
solid product if this will make the task easier and results high
quality.

Thanks