Importing from DVD - VOB to MPEG

Ringbolt · Post by **Ringbolt** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:29 pm

When I import from a DVD its a .VOB file and it creates a .mpeg file on the hard drive.

My question is - Is the mpeg file the same high DVD quality as the .VOB one?

TubaDad · Post by **TubaDad** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:36 pm

The VOB file is just the MPEG2 file with a different name. You can actually just change the extension and work directly with the files.

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:57 pm

I believe it is. Is your MPEG approximately the same size as the VOB files? A VOB uses MPEG-2 encoding, so I assume that Video Studio changes the file header and maybe file structure a bit, but there is no good reason to mess with the MPEG data.

However, I've downloaded several trial "VOB to MPEG" programs because I had a DVD that Ulead couldn't import. Most of them do re-code to a lower-quality smaller file.... I don't know why. Even the one that worked best for this problem DVD re-coded the MPEG.

If you do any fancy editing (other than cutting and splicing) the MPEG will have to be decoded & re-coded. This will degrade the video to some extent. For example, when I made a crossfade transition between two MPEGs, the video was very blocky during the transition.

The VOB file is just the MPEG2 file with a different name. You can actually just change the extension and work directly with the files.

Sometimes that works... Sometimes it doesn't... Even when it works, when I've tried to re-join the VOBs into one continuous movie, there was a "glitch" at the splice-points. (This would not be a issue if you want to extract part of a single VOB file.)

Ringbolt · Post by **Ringbolt** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:09 pm

thanks for the fast replies - yes the VOB and MPEG are the same size. I just didnt realise they were the same quality.

thanks

Ilene · Post by **Ilene** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:56 am

i am having a similar problem importing vob from sony mini dvd camcorder. i changed the file extention from vob to mpeg, and imported into ulead vs9. the file is behaving very strangely though. When I put it on the timeline, it doesn't show me the actual length of the clip. In fact it shows it as being shorter in time than it actually is. This wouldn't be a problem except that I want to edit it. If I play it straight through it plays for 15 minutes, but it only shows me 5 minutes of the clip on the time line. If I drag the cursor through it, you can see everything I need to see in the five minutes, but it won't let me "multi-trim" the video...

has anyone seen anything like this before.

i may just need to "capture" rather than "copy" the vob from the disk to solve the issue.

thanks, Ilene

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:55 am

Ilene wrote:the file is behaving very strangely though. When I put it on the timeline, it doesn't show me the actual length of the clip. In fact it shows it as being shorter in time than it actually is. This wouldn't be a problem except that I want to edit it. If I play it straight through it plays for 15 minutes, but it only shows me 5 minutes of the clip on the time line.
thanks, Ilene

Hi Ilene

This may be a navigation problem rather than a file/clip problem.

The timeline can be expanded and contracted to view more or less frames.
To the left of the white timeline rule is a slider with a + and – sign. The square icon is ‘Fit to’ . This alters the rule and amount of time in view.(vs 9)

If you click the word ’Project’ next to the start button, then click the third navigation button from the right, the curser will jump to the end of the project. The length of the project/clip can be viewed in the digital clock, to the right.

What version of Video Studio are you using???????

Trevor

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:04 pm

Ilene wrote:i may just need to "capture" rather than "copy" the vob from the disk to solve the issue.

Yes, I believe using the "Import from DVD" function will fix this issue...

As mentioned in many posts, wen you do the "rename extension" thing, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. When it does not work, what you are describing is one of the issues people see...

Regards,
George

Ilene · Post by **Ilene** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:30 pm

Hi Trevor...it doesn't appear to be that simple of a problem The clip was fit to the timeline and it only comes up as being 2min 52 secs long...but if you play it, the file continues to play well past this point and plays for another 15 minutes or so. YOu can see it playing in the preview window, but it doesn't play along the timeline. It's quite odd. I looked at the file properties and it is 1,048,544kb in size and only 172 seconds long. I played the file in Windows Media player and and the timeline there also shows just 2:52, yet the file keeps on playing for another 15 min or so too. It's crazy.
I've never dealt with a dvd that was created directly from the camcorder. I'm wondering if it's just totally compressed in some way and that is why the whole file isn't visible. In Windows media player, if I take the mouse and click along the "play line" it will show me all parts of the video that was recorded.

I'm thinking I will need to play these files back in a regular dvd player and capture the parts I need directly to my computer as avi or mpg, hopefully this will work so that I can edit the files. Maybe they were recorder incorrectly. It's not my camera...we were on vacation and our friends were using it to try and capture some ski video.

thanks. Ilene

by the way I'm using VS9

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:40 pm

Ilene wrote:I looked at the file properties and it is 1,048,544kb in size and only 172 seconds long. I played the file in Windows Media player and and the timeline there also shows just 2:52, yet the file keeps on playing for another 15 min or so too. It's crazy.

That's because within the original DVD Structure, VOB files are broken into 1gb chunks. Because you just renamed one, it is not a "complete" file because the video actually runs into the next 1gb chunk. This is one of the reasons the "rename" thing can cause problems -- because the files span across multiple .vob's

Regards,
George

Ilene · Post by **Ilene** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:57 pm

oh...that make some sense. I was thinking there was something wrong with the file. Is there a way around this, or do I just have to "capture" using my dvd player and capture device? I guess I was just hoping for a short cut!

Ilene

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:16 pm

Ues the "Import from DVD" function of VideoStudio 9. It will import the entire video as one long mpg file.

The Trial might have limitations in terms of Dolby Digital audio (no support), and you might need to Finalize the disc in your camcorder before the computer will allow the import to work.

Regards,
George

Ilene · Post by **Ilene** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:00 pm

thats a great tip. I've never used the import from dvd function. For this disk however, I think I will need to go back to the camera to finalize it as my stand alone dvd recorder will not allow me to do so. Must be a sony proprietary format of something.

If I don't finalize it and I can get it to play straight through in a standalone player...do you think I will be successful just capturing it to my computer using a capture device?

Ilene

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:45 pm

Ilene wrote:thats a great tip. I've never used the import from dvd function. For this disk however, I think I will need to go back to the camera to finalize it as my stand alone dvd recorder will not allow me to do so. Must be a sony proprietary format of something.

If I don't finalize it and I can get it to play straight through in a standalone player...do you think I will be successful just capturing it to my computer using a capture device?

Ilene

Try it first -- maybe you won't have to finalize it...

If you have a capture device, then that will work; however, you will run the risk of video degradation because you are capturing an already compressed video (to whatever format your capture device uses). The Import from DVD extracts the video as it was recorded (i.e. no re-compression involved). Not that mpeg editing is advised, but it's what you have as a starting point in this situation...

Regards,
George

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:19 pm

What I have done in the past to skirt the issue is to plug my dv camera into my dvd player and record the dvd to tape, then transfer it to my pc as an avi file. There may be degradation by doing it this way, but I can't see it.

Ilene · Post by **Ilene** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:27 pm

I know I can always go from the camera via firewire to my computer or to dvd recorder/vhs. I was just trying to use the disc that was made by the camera and bypass that step.

Either way, I'm happy to have the tip about using the command "import from dvd" as I never used it before and I do believe that I get some degradation going from DVD to Mpeg/avi through the computer and then back out to DVd after the editing process. I will try this from now on regardless of whether it works after finalzing the disk from the camera.

I appreciate everyones good advice. This forum has been so interesting to follow and overall so helpful Thank you everyone for your attentiveness and help...the response time has been very impressive!

Ilene

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