Ripping and converting VOB files - best way and format?

[Theresa]

Hi all,
Years ago you all provided great help in my efforts to capture my VHS-C tapes [home movies] and put them on DVD's. Now I need to rip them and store them on my external hard drive - 3T - so I can keep them safe and use clips of them in slideshows for graduations, weddings, etc. I've read some guides, searched, but I'm still deeply in the dark as to the best way to do this as well as what tools to use. Any help you can direct my way would be wonderful as I only have about two weeks to finish a graduation slideshow.

Thanks so much!

[johns0]

just play the dvd with mpc-hc and pause at the scene you want and save as an image file,you can also rip the dvds to your hdd with imgburn as iso and store them on your external hdd.

For a slideshow you can use dvd slideshow gui.

[Kerry56]

Since they are not commercial DVD's, you could simply copy the contents onto the hard drive, or use any ripping program designed for DVD's. Something like DVDDecrypter works just as well for non-encrypted discs as it does for those with encryption. The output would be the normal Video_TS and Audio_TS folders found in DVD-video. There would be no compression or loss of quality while doing this type of rip.

This would be one of the simplest ways of putting them on the hard drive.

If you want them in another format, that is also possible, but it might help to know what program you are going to use to make your slideshows and videos containing clips from the DVD's.

[Djard]

Freeware XMedia Recode will let you convert VOB files to AVI and just about any other format. To create clips from the AVI files, you can use another nice freeware called VirtualDub, which also lets you concatenate (join) your clips without loss of quality. You would just need to make sure "Direct Stream Copy" is selected for both video and audio. Should you wish to make a slideshow of images captured with Media Player Classic, as Johns0 recommended, Microsoft's free PhotoStory does a nice job, letting you add motion and transition effects to the presentation.

VideoReDo is a feature-rich but easy-to-use video and audio editor that simplifies the procedure of extracting clips from movies as well as a myriad of other neat things, but the program is not freeware. It even has an "Ad-detective" to let you automatically remove TV commercials in shows you might have recorded.

If you need help with using VirtualDub, I'll be happy to share my step guide with you. Just holler.

Cheers!

[Theresa]

Thank you, both. I should have mentioned that I have a Mac - which I realize means I don't have access to most tools. I already have Handbrake, iSkysoft Video Converter, and Free-Video-Converter. I usually throw my slideshows together in iMovie but I know there are other programs out there that can do this. I would like to save all my DVD's to the hard drive - having the VOB's but also a having them in a as lossless format as I can achieve. So, Kerry56, the format I should save them in is Video_TS and Audio_TS? I tried MPEG4 and it looks very lossy. johns0, I should have explained that I want these saved as video files - I'm combining still pictures as well as video clips in this slideshow.

Thanks again!

[Theresa]

Djard - sorry, I replied before I saw your reply. In my original post, I should have mentioned I have a Mac. A critical thing to leave out, I realize. So I'm confined to the tools I can use with it. I'm really hoping to find out what the best format I should convert to - once I find the right tool, I"ll know where to go after that.

Thank you!

[manono]

I would like to save all my DVD's to the hard drive - having the VOB's but also a having them in a as lossless format as I can achieve.

Unless you consciously reencode them, putting them on the hard drive leaves them untouched. By putting those IFOs, BUPs, and VOBs onto the hard drive (by just dragging and dropping) in a VIDEO_TS file will allow them to be played as a DVD using whatever DVD players are available for Mac users.

I should have mentioned that I have a Mac

Yes, you should have.

[Theresa]

Thank you, manono. I very much appreciate your help.

Theresa

[Theresa]

If I did convert the VOB's into another format, which would be the most lossless?

[Kerry56]

Vobs are basically a specialized type of file for DVD-video. The actual video codec used in this format is mpeg2. So the least lossy conversion is to shift the video to an mpeg2 file. This is very easy in Windows, using something like Vob2Mpg, but I don't know of a similar program for Macs.

Edit: Doing a bit of hunting on Google leads me to Mpeg Streamclip. But I've never used it.

[Theresa]

Thanks SO much, Kerry56!

[Djard]

I think you are asking two questions: what is the best encoder, and what is the best container you could use to store your video files, which requires conversion. A VOB file is a container. When you convert a video file you must also select an encoder, and compression is involved. The more you compress a video file, the more it suffers picture quality loss. Moreover, the greater the resolution (frame size), the greater the loss of quality; so keep the original resolution. Here's my 'pinion:

If Mac supports the matroska format (.MKV file extension) or .MP4, use one of those containers. And if Mac supports the H.264 codec, use it. You may need to download and install H.264. It's free. Then you will be able to store your video files in smaller containers (MKV or MP4) and keep the original picture size with no discernible loss of quality. Finally, if QuickTime player does not support the H.264 codec or MKV format, install a better media player. I'm sure there is plenty of freeware of this type for Mac.

[Theresa]

Djard - thank you VERY much! I've been struggling with this most of the day and about ready to pull my hair out. I'm still new at most of this - just know enough to get myself in trouble. I'll post back with results tomorrow when I can get to it again.

Theresa