VOB to AVI or MPEG 2?

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:13 am

I have some VOB files that I am editing for a project and while I usually convert everything to MPEG 2 for editing, I was wondering if it would better quality wise to convert them to AVI. Which is best for keeping the quality of the original files intact?

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:06 am

You don't say what kind of AVI... But whatever the case, I really don't see any point in such a conversion if your intention is to produce another DVD. The conversion VOB (which is just mpeg-2 with another extension) to AVI already entails one generation of loss of quality. Then if you are producing a new DVD with that video, converting it back to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 would entail another generation of quality loss.

Overall, I would simply recommend that you do the conversion from VOB to straight mpeg-2 using the same properties as the original, and then reocde it using the same properties once you have done your editing. That will still entail some loss of quality, but probably not enough that you would ever notice.

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 6:34 am

Is that conversion possible in Ulead? Because the conversion program I have (Any Video Converter) doesn't give me as many options as Ulead does. Thank you for your reply.

mitchell65 · Post by **mitchell65** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:07 am

I may have the wrong end of the stick here but why convert the VOB files at all. I import the VOB files straight into VS x2 Pro, do all my editing then produce DVD folders ready to burn!

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:56 pm

I've been searching through the forums and would it be easier for me to rename the .vob files with an .mpg extension? And from there take them into VS 10 for editing or is that going to be very slow going or perhaps impossible?

Once again, thanks for all your help.

mitchell65 · Post by **mitchell65** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:19 pm

Cablehogue wrote: would it be easier for me to rename the .vob files with an .mpg extension? And from there take them into VS 10 for editing or is that going to be very slow going or perhaps impossible?

Try it and see how it goes! I would take a copy of one file and try it. You will then still have the original if it goes wrong.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:36 pm

Normally you can simply change the extension from vob to mpg -- but it depends on the source of the .vob. VOBs are not *exactly* the same as a mpeg-2. They have other DVD-specific information included during the burning process. One of the things might be multiple audio tracks, and if you just change the extension, you might, for instance, end up with Russian instead of English. However, if you know that there are only English voice tracks, you would be OK.

I am also interested in Mitchell's statement that he simply imports .vob files as is. That was possible with VS10, but as far as I am aware, that was the only version that would recognise something with a .vob extension.

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:24 am

Okay, I tried both of the recent ideas...

1. I changed the .vob extension to the .mpg extension. I was able to get it into the timeline but found it extremely hard to edit. There was lots of video stuttering, sometimes there would be no video when I would try to play it, and sometimes no sound.

2. I tried just simply the .vob file into the timeline with no changes whatsoever and the program froze as it tried to do a "pre-editing" process.

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong here because at least according to other topics I have read here on the forum, one of these two options have worked for others.

Again, thanks for the help.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:46 am

If the .vob files are still in an original Video_TS folder, then have you tried Import from Folder in VS? That should bring up a tree structure, and you choose which ones you want to import, tick the little box, and they should import.

If they are 'loose' vobs, however, you will probably need to use a program like SUPER (freeware)...

mitchell65 · Post by **mitchell65** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:50 am

Ken Berry wrote:
I am also interested in Mitchell's statement that he simply imports .vob files as is.

What I mean is that I import so that the actual VOB file gets imported into the timeline as a VOB file without any converting. I do this via the method as outlined in this thread: http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?p=184937#184937

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:44 am

I have never had the chance to use SUPER before so this might seem like an extremely stupid question but what do I do with files once in SUPER to get them where they can be edited in VS 10?

I can't say thank you enough, this forum is the most helpful out there.

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:43 am

I have downloaded SUPER.

I'm assuming I encode to MPG 2, right?

But what settings?

Or is MPG 2 not best for VOB?

EDIT: Also, SUPER will only let me encode MAX 9600 kbps while the original file is MAX 9800 kbps.

Is that going to make a noticeable difference or cause me any problems? Should I make it lower because will that cause the video to run slow in VS 10?

Post by **Ron P.** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:15 am

Contained in the VOB file are MPEG-2 video files. When you import video from a video DVD, VS parses the MPEG-2 from the VOB files and inserts them.

That reduction in bit rate is so minimal that you would not be able to tell with your naked eye. Also reducing the bit rate will not cause your video to run slower. The data rate is what affects the speed, ie; Frames per second.

Cablehogue · Post by **Cablehogue** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:39 am

I encoded one of my "loose" VOB files in SUPER as a test (the kbps being different as mentioned before) but when I put the new file into VS 10, I could edit it in multi-trim but it would not play well (video stuttering, black outs, etc.) in the main view.

Based on what you're saying above, should I change the frame rate when I encode? Could that be giving VS this trouble? Basically, what am I doing wrong?

Post by **Ron P.** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:00 am

Do not judge the video file by how it plays in Project Mode of VS. This just provides a rough idea of how your project will be rendered. VS must throw all edits together on-the-fly. This will not be smooth.

Try this:

Open the Preferences dialog by pressing F6 on your keyboard.
Change your Preview playback from Instant to High Quality then close the Preferences dialog.
Now you will need to change your Project Properties, so open this by pressing [ALT] + [ENTER] or going to File menu > Project Properties. In the first dialog window press the Edit button, Then go to the Compression tab and in the Media type drop-down menu change it from NTSC (or PAL) DVD to MPEG-2. Click OK to close. You'll get a prompt about changing the properties, just press OK.
In Project Mode slide the Trim handles inward to select a short 1 or 2 minute segment of your video clip(s).
Now go to the Share Step, and select Project Playback. In the dialog that opens, at the top you should see the options of Entire Project and Preview Range. Select the latter by clicking the radial button next to it.
Press Finish, and VS should render a temp file of the selected "Preview Range" of your project.

This should playback smoothly. If it fails to render, or does not playback, this would indicate possible corruption in the video file.