Working with converted VOB files

CliveM · Post by **CliveM** » Wed May 06, 2009 5:31 pm

Following the recent help I received from the forum on burn speeds and rendering, afraid I¡¦ve hit another problem!
A few years ago we purchased a Sony RDR-VX410 Video/DVD recorder/player for the purpose of copying old analogue video onto DVD. It copied okay, but with two problems: 1) the menu structure is poor, as is the ability to create chapters at appropriate points and 2) the resulting DVD discs jumped and froze when played back, which is probably the same problem I encountered when first using Video Studio and requires a slower burn speed to correct.
So I thought that with my new-found editing and disc burning skills, I¡¦d have another go at transcribing some video ¡K
The Sony machine creates a series of files as .IFO, .BUP and .VOB. The business end containing the data is the .VOB file, which as I understand it is an MPG file by another name. Certainly, simply renaming the file with a .MPG extension seems to do the trick and allows such files to be played in Windows Media Player and imported into Video Studio, so that I can use the product to set chapter points where I want, create a menu structure etc. So far so good. However, when I play the DVD disc created from VS, the picture on the TV is narrow. The picture is full-width from the original analogue video and also from the DVD created from the Sony machine. There¡¦s also a full-width picture when one of the MPG re-named VOB files is viewed in Media Player - it¡¦s only after these files are imported into Video Studio that the problems arise.
The preview picture in VS is also narrow and ¡§Properties¡¨ show the file to be 352x576 with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and I suspect this is the problem - so even when I tell VS to use 720x576 and 16:9, it¡¦s not correcting the problem.
So at the moment my options seem to be either use the disc straight out of the Sony machine and accept a poor menu structure and that the disc may freeze and jump when played, or else run the project through VS and accept a narrow playback picture.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can import these files into VS so that the resulting DVD disc plays with full screen width on the TV?

Regards,

Clive

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed May 06, 2009 6:12 pm

Just curious as to what happens when you try this: With your clip on the timeline selected, click on the Attribute tab. Put a check in the Distort box and in the Preview Window yellow handles will be placed around the image. Right click on the image and choose one of the options. I would think Fit to Screen would work, but you may have to try Original Size or Default Size.

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Wed May 06, 2009 6:37 pm

The standard procedure is to go to Capture, and Import the DVD. That will join the VOB files into a single MPG file. You can also try copying the VIDEO_TS & AUDIO_TS folder to your hard drive and use DVD Import from there. If that fails, renaming the files is one alternative.

I don't know what's going on with the aspect ratio... Is the 1st VOB OK? I'm wondering if the only the 1st VOB file header has the correct aspect ratio information. (The aspect ratio and pixel-resolution information should be contained in the file header, and read by the application.)

If the 1st VOB is OK, but the "normal" import DVD feature doesn't work, you can try manually joining & renaming the files with the DOS/Windows copy command. There are instructions on the VideoReDo website.

I was looking for an "MPEG Header Editor", and I found Restream (FREE!!!), which might be worth trying. (I found something called MPEG Header Corrector, but it's for MPEG-1/VCD files, and I don't know what it would do with an MPEG-2 file.)

And, you might simply try copying the disc. There may be a few "hard to read" spots on the disc, and a new copy might fix the freezing.

P.S.
I just remembered another FREE tool called VOB 2 MPG. I've used it a few times and I've had mixed results. When it works, it works great and it's fast.

CliveM · Post by **CliveM** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:29 pm

Many thanks to BlackLab and DVDDoug for their prompt replies to my post of 7th May and my apologies for this delayed response - been busy and only just had a chance to try out suggestions.
BlackLab suggested distorting each clip and then right-click and "fit to screen" - which works a treat, thank-you! At the moment, I'm having to select and amend each clip individually - is it possible to select all clips on the timeline and change attributes for all in one go, rather than individually?
Doug's suggestion was to import directly from the DVD, which didn't help to correct the problem I posted on 7th May, but is I think a much better way of importing the VOB files, rather than manually changing the extension to .mpg, then importing. So thank-you.
Regards,
Clive

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:49 pm

Hi Clive

Without actually seeing the video files and being able to have a play it is difficult to realise what is going on here.

Your video frame size is not dvd standard, you do say say if they are distorted or just viewing small sized?
You could try un-checking Non-square Pixel rendering in the project properties, if the frame is distorted.
How do they view now?

Distorting / resizing the clips.
If you use the overlay track you can resize the first clip, then copy the attributes and paste to the remaining clips.
Right click the first clip, copy, then select all clips and paste.

should save a lot of time.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:48 pm

Actually, in Preferences you can set the default as Fit to Screen for the Overlay tracks.