Trouble converting DVD files in VS pro x4

[JM316]

Hello,

I copied some videos to a DVD using a Panasonic DVD recorder and was trying to put them on my computer for storage and playback. It was three TV shows in VOB format with IFO files in the folder as well. Initially, the only way I could get anything to play was with the video TS file with windows media player, as my computer does not recognize VOB. This doesn't really work as they need to be stored separately given that they are different shows. Further complicating it is that instead of 3 VOB files, there are 5, so the episodes are spilt in the middle of some of them.

I came across this old thread http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... w=previous . I can't import from DVD because it reports it's not a valid format. I was able to rename them to mpg files, but have some issues. When played individually with windows media player, file 01 only plays 5 minutes of the video (About 20-25 minutes are just missing despite being over 1 gig) and the actual video is missing, just the audio plays (the video for that 5 minutes does play in vs x4, it is complete and works fine when playing from the video_ts file in windows media player). The others work fine. Each episode is about 42 minutes. Also noted that 01 is listed as being half of the resolution of the others.

When I try combining files and saving as various mpg options or flv, I either lose audio altogether at certain parts, or it is badly delayed/mismatched and the part that is not showing when I play file 01 alone is missing from the combined video as well. I also tried it in windows moviemaker, but it can't play the files at all. Any ideas here?

Thanks.

[BrianCee]

It is not at all clear to me how you are getting the files from the DVD into VideoStudio - and that may be where your problems start.

Can you first please confirm that you are putting the DVD in your drive tray and then in VideoStudio RIGHT clicking over the timeline and choosing "Insert DIGITAL media" from the pop up. - then browsing to the DVD and selecting and clicking to check ALL the boxes in the selection - then videos should then import direct to the timeline as .mpg's .


....

[Ken Berry]

And don't worry about the fact that some of the .vob files seem to be cut in the middle. They are clean breaks and when you join the captured files together on the timeline without a transition, the video/audio will play as though the break did not exist.

The breaks occur, by the way, because under the international DVD standard, no file on the disc is supposed to be over 1 GB in size (or to be precise 1,047,574 KB). So cuts are made when the video reaches that point. But as I say, the cuts are clean.

Your DVD should also normally contain .bup files which are backup files. These are in addition to the .vob files, which as you are aware, are the main video files with a few bits added to them in the burning process; and .ifo (information) files which tell the DVD player about the structure of the disc and the order in which to play the .vob files on it.

[JM316]

When I use insert digital media to import from the DVD, it says that there is no valid content. So it doesn't work. The only way I could get it to work, was to copy to my hard drive and rename as mpg using command prompt.

And just double checking, I shouldn't be trying to insert the ifo and bup files to the timeline, correct?

[JM316]

also, when I load and save them as one movie, it still skips that part. I also noted an oddity that I missed before. part 4, despite being a little over a gig, is still only about 4 min long (and displays that it is about 3 min long but keeps playing after the scroll reaches the end). No content is missing a it perfectly connects file 03 to 05. Does it somehow contain content for the other parts (i.e. file 05 is only about 260 mb and is 26 min)?

I'm going to try re saving from the DVD player to DVD and see if it was just a save issue.

[lata]

Hi

Given the problems you seem to be having with playing the files It does seem as though you have a corrupt disc.
So Re-Saving the DVD is probably the best option, make sure that the disc is "finalised" after saving.
Some discs will do this automatically when you try to eject but others need doing manually, that’s my experience.

The vob files are the video part essentially Mpeg2.
Each will be 1 Gb with the last being a little smaller to complete the disc.
If you have a menu then the first will be small containing the menu data.

Video Studio Insert Digital Media option should work, but if the video is copyright protected the program will not import the video.
Otherwise
Once you have saved the disc content to the hard drive, try Import Digital Media again, browse for the VIDEO_TS folder.
If that does not work then re-name the Vobs to Mpg

[Ken Berry]

I shouldn't be trying to insert the ifo and bup files to the timeline, correct?

You are correct -- you shouldn't copy them to the timeline. The .vob files are the only ones of interest.

But when you copy the DVD to your hard disk, copy the entire Video_TS folder, including the bup and ifo files, so that when you use Insert Digital Media, VS is seeing all the relevant information.

[JM316]

The second show got deleted, but I put the other two and a new episode on a DVD. It recognized it this time and got about 60% of the way into putting it on the timeline and then just freezes.

[canuck]

The second show got deleted, but I put the other two and a new episode on a DVD. It recognized it this time and got about 60% of the way into putting it on the timeline and then just freezes.

I don't understand what you are doing. What do you mean by "The second show got deleted"?
How did you "put the other two and a new episode on a DVD"?
Please be a bit more exact in your description of what you are doing.

Did you copy the complete Video_TS folder from the DVD to your hard drive? How long in total time are the 3 shows?

[JM316]

I attempted to reburn the DVD from the recorder's HDD. Someone deleted the second show by accident, but not the other two I was trying to use in the initial post. I added a different one to fill up the disc when I put them on DVD. Each episode is about 43 minutes, so about 129 min total. If I try to import to VSx4 from the DVD video TS folder, it recognizes it now (did not from the 1st DVD, reburned because there was some question if it finalized or copied correctly), but it does not get past 60% loading it. I then copied the folders to a hard drive and tried again. It does nothing when I tell it to copy. just sits there and freezes. I've given it a few hours just to make sure it's not busy in the background. UPDATE: just tried it from the hard drive again. this time it's loading, but appears to be stuck at 60% again.