What I wanted to do was to put existing video files .VOB, VTS etc on to one DVD.
A friend suggested DVD MOVIE FACTORY 4.
I downloaded the trial version of above. All it said about limitations were that there were limits on file sizes. However when you go to through the navigation to the point where you should be able to select a directory - the option/directories are greyed out.
Can someone tell me if the above product will do what I want. Also at nearly $80 dollars it is a bit pricy. Is there a cheaper product to enable me to do the above.
DVD MOVIE FACTORY 4
I would NEVER recommend buying any software if the trial version doesn't work for you! (Unless, you are sure of the trial-version limitations.)
The VOB and VTS files are part of a DVD structure in the VIDEO_TS filder. If you are trying to copy an existing DVD, or if you have the full DVD structure with the AUDIO_TS folders and the VIDEO_TS folders on your hard drive, you can use any burning software to make a DVD. Your DVD burner probably came with burning software.
Let's back-up a bit. Where did these VOB and VTS files come from? They are not normal video files. They should only exist on a DVD, or on a hard drive as kind of "DVD Image'.
Movie Factory is normally used to make a DVD from your existing video files. These are usually AVI or MPG files. It creates VOB and VTS files as part of the process.
If you want to edit a VOB file and make an edited DVD, you can do that with Movie Factory.... maybe...
If you have the full DVD structure, you can "Import" the DVD as an MPEG file. You can import selected chapters if you wish. If you import the whole DVD, you will get the whole program/movie in one big MPG file (not broken-up like the VOB files). Or, you may be able to import an individual VOB. A VOB is a special type of MPEG file, so sometimes it works better if you rename filename.VOB to filename.MPG.
WARNINGS:
Neither of these techniques will work on a commercial copy-protected DVD.
The import function does not work with some (unprotected home-made) DVDs. It's becoming one of the most common problems reported here.
Directly importing or renaming a VOB to MPG is very un-reliable.
MPEGs (including VOBs) are not meant to be edited. Sometimes you can get away with it, but I've had enough problems that I bought a special-purpose MPEG editor.
The VOB and VTS files are part of a DVD structure in the VIDEO_TS filder. If you are trying to copy an existing DVD, or if you have the full DVD structure with the AUDIO_TS folders and the VIDEO_TS folders on your hard drive, you can use any burning software to make a DVD. Your DVD burner probably came with burning software.
Let's back-up a bit. Where did these VOB and VTS files come from? They are not normal video files. They should only exist on a DVD, or on a hard drive as kind of "DVD Image'.
Movie Factory is normally used to make a DVD from your existing video files. These are usually AVI or MPG files. It creates VOB and VTS files as part of the process.
If you want to edit a VOB file and make an edited DVD, you can do that with Movie Factory.... maybe...
If you have the full DVD structure, you can "Import" the DVD as an MPEG file. You can import selected chapters if you wish. If you import the whole DVD, you will get the whole program/movie in one big MPG file (not broken-up like the VOB files). Or, you may be able to import an individual VOB. A VOB is a special type of MPEG file, so sometimes it works better if you rename filename.VOB to filename.MPG.
WARNINGS:
Neither of these techniques will work on a commercial copy-protected DVD.
The import function does not work with some (unprotected home-made) DVDs. It's becoming one of the most common problems reported here.
Directly importing or renaming a VOB to MPG is very un-reliable.
MPEGs (including VOBs) are not meant to be edited. Sometimes you can get away with it, but I've had enough problems that I bought a special-purpose MPEG editor.
When it comes to DVD authoring software, Movie Factory is a bargain! ...I'm just not sure that DVD authoring is what you want to do. There are some open source programs and freeware. There is a very popular open source video editor called VirtualDub. If you search the Net, you can find freeware DVD authoring tools. I don't know of any free burning software (but you probably already have that). You also won't find any (legitimate) free MPEG-2 encoders, or Dolby encoders, because these require licensing.Also at nearly $80 dollars it is a bit pricy. Is there a cheaper product to enable me to do the above.
Last edited by DVDDoug on Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
[size=92][i]Head over heels,
No time to think.
It's like the whole world's
Out of... sync.[/i]
- Head Over Heels, The Go-Gos.[/size]
No time to think.
It's like the whole world's
Out of... sync.[/i]
- Head Over Heels, The Go-Gos.[/size]
-
adamszcz10
The files came via the following process
1. Recorded individual episodes of a program on a HUMAX PVR9200T.
2. Downloaded to a PC - they are are stream VIDEO and AUDIO file.
3. Used PROJECT X to split to M2V video and MP2 Audio.
4. Used german SMIT2Y to edit - output M2V and MP2
5. Used IFOEDIT which creates the VOB and VTS files.
I.e. I have both the (VOB and VTS) files and the (M2V and MP2) files. What I want to do is put multiple episodes on one DVD preferably with menu and titles.
1. Recorded individual episodes of a program on a HUMAX PVR9200T.
2. Downloaded to a PC - they are are stream VIDEO and AUDIO file.
3. Used PROJECT X to split to M2V video and MP2 Audio.
4. Used german SMIT2Y to edit - output M2V and MP2
5. Used IFOEDIT which creates the VOB and VTS files.
I.e. I have both the (VOB and VTS) files and the (M2V and MP2) files. What I want to do is put multiple episodes on one DVD preferably with menu and titles.
WOW ! If you have made the "right" VOB and VTS files, all you have to do is put them into a VIDEO_TS folder, make and empty AUDIO_TS folder, and copy those folders to a DVD.
I suspect the missing link is how to make VOB and VTS files that include the menus. I have no clue how to do this without using Movie Factory or DVD workshop. It may be possible with IFOEDIT, your video editor, and your image/photo editing software... I don't know.
You would have to be a DVD expert to author a DVD manually.Movie Factory should be able to do everything except steps 1 and 2.
Normally, you would feed Movie Factory a single file with audio and video multiplexed together. (I should say, one file per episode/program.) It could an MPG (MPEG-2) file or an AVI/DV file.
You should be able to skip the de-multiplexing and re-multiplexing, unless you have another reason for doing that. I don't think you can feed Movie Factory M2V and MP2 files, but you can try.
If step 2 ( Downloaded to a PC ) did not give you an MPG file, ProjectX may be needed to convert the transport stream to a program stream.
Most likely, your captured broadcast MPEG will not be DVD compliant. The bitrate and resolution will be wrong. No problem - Movie Factory will automatically re-code it. In case you are interested, DigitalFAQ.com has a chart of valid bitrates & resolutions.
Movie Factory can do some editing but it's given me trouble with MPEGs, so stick with SMIT2Y for editing if you are happy with it. (Edit your file before you bring it into Movie Factory, of course.)
Movie Factory is "picky" about MPEGs. Slight MPEG corruption can cause Move Factory to crash, or can result in "lip sync" problems. If you have any "strange" problems, you can try using ProjectX to "repair" the MPEG,* Or, use a conversion program such as SUPER (FREE!!!) to convert the file to AVI/DV. Feed the AVI/DV file to Movie Factory, and it will automatically re-encode it to DVD compliant MPEG-2 before burning. You will loose some quality with the extra MPEG decode/re-code, but if you have to change the bitrate and resolution, you can't avoid it. Don't worry if you have to include an extra AVI/DV encoding step, because DV is much less lossy than MPEG.
* I've never personally had any luck "repairing" MPEGs with ProjectX or any other of the "MPEG repair" programs that I've tried. I have had some luck re-coding with SUPER. Once in a while I get a bad MPEG. I have no idea what's wrong with them... They always play-back OK, but sometimes cause trouble when I try to make a DVD.
[size=92][i]Head over heels,
No time to think.
It's like the whole world's
Out of... sync.[/i]
- Head Over Heels, The Go-Gos.[/size]
No time to think.
It's like the whole world's
Out of... sync.[/i]
- Head Over Heels, The Go-Gos.[/size]