How to author & burn a DVD from VOB trailers/files

lonelon2000 · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2003

I originally had a problem with joining clips together using the guide for a number of reasons, but first, let me emphasize that some or all of the following programs used are not freeware.

1. VOBs would not play in the order that they were joined.
2. During playback, audio for some of the clips would not play because the joined VOB segments had different audio encodings.

So I ventured off and attempted to find a solution to this using TMPGEnc DVD Author, and ran into a few problems.

1. Audio from VOB segments* would not load in TMPGEnc DVD Author.
*a segment is a portion of a complete VOB, either ripped from a chapter or part of a chapter(s) using your favorite ripping software. I use DVD Shrink 3.1.4 - It allows you to create segments of any length independent of chapters, and it creates IFOs for the VOBs that you CAN FF or Rew using the DVD player software on your PC. I prefer WinDVD myself.

I found that FF or Rewinding using VOBs that had IFOs created with IFOEdit is not possible - please correct me if I am wrong....
2. VOBs had different Audio compression.

To alleviate this, I used the following programs:

1. Goldwave - To decode Audio streams to WAV files
2. TMPGEnc Plus - To demux the VOB if necessary
3. TMPGEnc DVD Author - To put the clips all together with a simple menu (you can do simple motion menus as well), create chapters, and author your customized DVD.

There are 2 scenarios that you will run into when loading VOB segments into TMPGEnc DVD Author:

1. Audio from the VOB using TMPGEnc DVD Author will not load.

Load the VOB directly into Goldwave 5.06. It will automatically load the audio from the VOB. Save the audio as a WAV file in the VIDEO_TS directory. When you load the VOB again, TMPGEnc DVD Author should pick up the wav file in the directory. If not, you can select it manually. When you go to edit the clip, the audio will be in sync with the video.

I tested this with VOBs of various lengths. From there, you can create chapter points, etc.

In TMPGEnc DVD Author, you also have the option of authoring the DVD with different tracks. That is yet another workaround.

2. TMPGEnc DVD Author won't load the AC-3 encoded Audio.
You can purchase the AC-3 plugin for TMPGEnc DVD Author, or you can simply decode the Audio stream to a WAV file using Goldwave. In addition, since the AC-3 encoded stream is muxed together with the Video stream (the VOB still won't load), you'll need to demux the Video stream to M2V using TMPGEnc Plus's MPEG Tools. This will retain the quality of the VOB, making re-encoding unnecessary. Then, load the M2V file first in TMPGEnc DVD Author and then the corresponding WAV file and PRESTO! You can now edit and set chapter points in the clip! I have tested this with different clips and all loaded successfully.

Although demuxing takes up a lot of space, it does save time.

I have not tested this using a combination of Widescreen and Fullscreen clips, but Authoring your DVD using different tracks for the clips in TMPGEnc Plus should allow you to do so, in whatever order you choose.

Thanks for reading! I hope this helps.

lonelon2000 · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2003

-- removed by lonelon2000 ---

lonelon2000 · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2003

Well - looks like I ran into another issue importing some VOBs or demuxed M2Vs using TMPGEnc DVD Author:

*The video GOP is too long.

For a standard DVD it is necessary that the GOP fulfill the following condition:
Max 36 fields (18 frames) (NTSC format only)
Max 30 fields (15 frames) (PAL format only)

I was able to re-encode the file with TMPGEnc Plus, but during scenes where there is a lot of movement, it is "echoed", although the quality is great. I was able to use the resulting M2V with the demuxed WAV file as usual, but the "echoing" gives me motion sickness...

So now, I'm trying to re-encode with TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator - to see how that turns out. I've also heard that using Womble MPEG2VCR should also correct the problem, so I'm going to give that a try as well.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to post here .. and Thanks for reading

lonelon2000 · Member Joined: 30 Nov 2003

Well, I think I found a solution to the GOP length problem when importing into TMPGEnc DVD Author.

I used Womble MPEG-VCR to re-encode the VOB clip into an MPG. Here are the steps I took:

1. Load the VOB into Womble MPEG-VCR.

2. After the VOB loads, it will appear in a window inside Womble. Click the Save icon (second row, ninth from the left). A window titled "MPEG-VCR: Save" will appear.

3. Click the Browse button to find a path and create a filename for the newly encoded MPEG you are about to save.

4. Click the Video button at the bottom of the "MPEG-VCR: Save" window.
A window titled "MPEG Video Encoder Setup" will appear.

5. In the GOP section of the window, change the value of M from 15 to 12. This will re-encode the new mpg with a shorter GOP length.

If this is not changed to a multiple of N, it may not work. Leaving it to the default value of 15 will only COPY the video stream to the new MPG.

6. Change the Motion Estimation Search to "Maximum Quality".

7. Click OK.

8. Click Save.

Unfortunately this will be almost be DOUBLE the size of the original VOB, AND on a P4 HT 2.8GHz machine with 1GB PC3200 RAM, it took 6 HOURS to re-encode an 11 minute VOB at the same bit rate as the original clip (well I think it's the same), which was 9800k, the maximum bit rate allowed by DVD specs. But the end result is well worth it. There wasn't any noticable difference between the original VOB and the re-encoded MPG, even with scenes that had excessive motion. When I loaded the MPG into TMPGEnc DVD Author, there were no errors!!

However the audio seemed to disappear toward the end of the clip, which is ok,

I just loaded the extracted WAV file from the VOB, which had been done in Goldwave, which corrected the problem!!

Now, if anyone has any other suggestions for me to make this less time consuming, I'm all ears. I'm not sure what effect reducing the bitrate will do to the quality of the re-encoded MPEG, bit it should reduce the amount of time it takes to re-encode the VOB clip.

Thanks for reading!!

JR714 · Member Joined: 11 Apr 2004

Baldrick
As a beginner in the whole DVD Burner world these tips helped me and worked the first time and still are working So I appreciate the help!
Jeff Rosenthal

jimA · Member Joined: 23 Sep 2001 Location: Denmark

I've tried this guide (twice) and it doesn't work for me.

It creates 4 vob-files. I thought it would make 1 big vob-file untill it reached the 1GB limit, and then make the second ? All 4 vob-files together don't make 1GB.

The chapter-selection is messed up. The first 5-6 chapters are ok, I can jump from one chapter to the next. Or I can punch 3 on the remote and it plays #3 trailer. But I can't punch in 7, 8 or 9, but I can play from the beginning, press the next-chapter button 8 times in a row pretty fast, while it counts on the screen, and when I release it, it starts playing chapter 8.

The trailers are cut in pieces. One trailer, #13 plays, almost to the end, and then stops. I can then punch next-chapter 14 times, and it plays the last 2 seconds of the trailer.

/jima

foriegn mr d · Member Joined: 13 Jan 2005

hello

i opened the vobs (before encoding/processing/whatevering) with powerdvd, and the first vob was alright but the others were impossible to see - video switches seemingly randomly between parts of the chapter, sound stinks... etc.

i think the problem is with me because others use these vobs and they claim that they work fine

maybe my problem has been solved already, but i was too new at this, any long words and i'll most likly screw up.

i don't know what other info i should include to give this question some meaning, but it might be something to do with the fact that after i process/encode/whatever the vobs, i get 5 vob files, two bups and two ifos - and imgtool complains that i don't have a VIDEO_TS.vob file,
only VTS_01_xxx.vobs.

help...?

foriegn mr d · Member Joined: 13 Jan 2005

another thing: what do i do if i have a collection of VOB files named:

vts_01_0 - 76 MB
vts_01_1 - 1024 MB
vts_01_2 - 1024 MB
vts_01_3 - 1024 MB
vts_01_4 - 1024 MB
vts_01_5 - 231 MB
vts_02_1 - 16 MB
vts_03_1 - 21 MB
vts_04_1 - 14 MB
vts_05_1 - 9 MB

i didn't realize the existance of any file other than the four 1024 MB ones, and they seem to cover the entire movie. maybe they have already been authored and i just need to burn them? i would like a professional opinion before i waste another dvd...

jimhacker · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2005

The process works perfectly. However, as I mentioned in "IFO Edit & DVD Shrink", the new created IFO can not be processed by DVD Shrink. Any remedy for that?

Faithful Follower recommended 'Get VTS Sector' but it's a no go. What does the commend do?

Also, how come the created IFO would work on hard drive but not after it burns on DVD+R? Am using Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8.

Regards,

Jim Hacker

caube · Member Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Location: vietnam

Baldrick : When i joined 4 VOB file by using VOBEDIT, it
didnt give me 1 file like VTS_01_1.VOB , but it became many files, and every chapters run only 2,3 seconds.

Please help me !!

jimhacker · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2005

Just found out tre power of DVD Shrink. Wish I had "play" with the software more:

1: Use DVD Decrypter to get complete (every each files) ripped to HD.

2. Run DVD Shrink 3.2 to open the sub-directory where the ripped files located. (Make sure the software is on "Full Disk" to enable the program to open file.)

3. After software analyzed the files, click on "Re-Author". this would force Open Disk to Backup function all inactive, and Right Bottom column would display Sub-Directory folders include Menu, Movie, and Extra.

4. Now you may either select the folder for complete transfer selection, or click on the folder for detail selection.

5. Once you made the selection by double clicking the individual clip, it would show up on left hand column. If you need further trimming of the clip, highlight the clip and click on the trim button (two straightlines with left and right arrow) to adjust star and end fram from the pop up screen.

6. After making the selection, you may open up another ripped DVD sub-directory and repeat step 2 to 5 to add additional clips then do the shrink analyzing, and backup.

The VOB files from the backup would not cram together as VOB Edit would do, and a series of BUP, IFO would created from the operation, but the operation would not require VOBEdit and IFOEdit process, and allow you to use PowerDVD's 5 second jump (PageUp/PageDown) smoother. Not to mention the combining all trailers, exxtras, etc.

Jim Hacker

HJH

Bjs · RoadKill Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Location: Australia

Baldrik , you might draw some of these members attention to some of the guides I have created for dvdauthorgui and pcgedit .

Dvdauthor and any graphics pack for basic menu creation and authoring .

Pcgedit will allow for both pal and nstc format to exist together , but not as joined vobs , they should be kept seperate , as far as I am aware , no other product allows this .

Pcgedit allows the insertion of other clips , such as that thx thing for those interested , without the need to do a full blown reauthor of the project .

All audio should be the same format , dvd players dont like jumping though hoops , and they must be matched , ie , 48kz ac3 5.1 , recommend besweet for this .

A few more guides soon to arrive .. some where damn hugh .

The 700+ audio dvd is not for newbies unless they follow it step by step , or they will get lost very quickly .

And another on bov creation for dvdauthorgui ... which reminds me to go see someone now before I forget it ...

jmsrickland · Member Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: United States

First, I had six VOB files that I wanted to 'join' into one DVD movie. Three of the VOB files were from a single movie and the other 3 VOB files were additional clips that I wanted to join to the original movie. The original movie (3 of the VOB files) is a 9-chapter movie. The other 3 clips are just very small video clips (10 seconds each) to be added to the original movie.

Here is the contents of the original folder that I collected the VOB files in and renamed them according to the instruction and is the input to VOBEdit:

VTS_01_001.VOB 600KB <----------- a 10 second video clip to be annexed at start
VTS_01_002.VOB 1,048,574KB <--- 1st VOB of original movie
VTS_01_003.VOB 1,048,574KB <--- 2nd VOB of original movie
VTS_01_004.VOB 731,590KB <----- 3rd VOB of original movie
VTS_01_005.VOB 600KB <------------a 10 second video clip (same as 1st) to be annexed at end
VTS_01_006.VOB 600KB <----------- another 10 second video clip (same as 1st) to be annexed at end

VTS_01_002 - 004 make up the original 9-Chapter movie
VTS_01_001, 005, and 006 are 10 second clips each

OK. So I did exactly step by step following the info from that guide. No, problem and when it was done I had a complete movie in another folder. The output of using VOBEdit and IFOEdit created the IFO, BUP, and the VOB files. The end results were as listed:

VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
VTS_01_3.VOB

OK, looks good. Now back at the instruction steps it stated the following:

escudo · Member Joined: 06 May 2004

Just wanted to say thanks very much for the guide. It worked with some minor changes for specific situation. After weeks of looking for what I thought would be a common problem and a readily available solution...this guide finally solved the problem.

The minor process changes were needed because:
1) I had only a single VOB file to start with, and following the instructions as written didn't work. [I had to do some multiple opens.]
2) I had 2 audio tracks (the 5.1 data and 2-channel data) [All I had to do was specify 'English' 4 times instead of just twice.]

However, I did have to use FixVTS on the IFOedit output files in order to use them with DVDshrink3.2 The file content problem seems to have been introduced during the creation of the final set of VOB files. FixVTS took care of it.

Also, I didn't have to do this on this particular VOB, but in addition to the above variations, it would be nice to have a step that covers the situation where your VOB file plays a widescreen movie in fullscreen mode. It can be stretched so it looks right using the DVD player on a computer, but not on a standalone DVD player...so I think either VOBedit or IFOedit would have to ensure the final output format was widescreen/fullscreen/specific aspect-ratio as needed, if it is possible.

It would be nice to have steps that address the above situations covered in the guide.

I think my hint to use FixVTS would help some folks, too and might be worth addiing to the guide.

jmsrickland · Member Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: United States

I have never had much luck using VOBEdit/IFOEdit/FixVTS to join VOB fles. Always some problem and alot of steps to go through.

I found that using Video Studio for joining different VOB files together works better than any other method. You dont have to go through the VOBEdit + IFOEdit + FixVTS steps and it joins them togther perfectly.

To me it is the easiest and simplest way and the files are joined seamlessly together.

Let's say I want to join 5 different VOB files together. Simply capture each folder where the VOB files are. All the clips from each folder become thumbnails in the Edit mode. Now, hold down the Ctrl key and left click on each of the thumbnails and then right click on any one of them and select Insert To...Video Track. That's it. Now create your DVD results. Never a problem.

I tried that other method and there was always something that didn't come out right so I just stopped using it and went to Video Studio and always got perfect results.

The only drawback that I found was that you have to have the complete VOB files in each of the folders. But why wouldn't you?

escudo · Member Joined: 06 May 2004

In once case, I simply used DOS 'copy' (in command shell) to concatenate multiple disparate VOB files to each other to create a single final VOB file, and THAT worked just fine. No special editing, no third party programs. It might not work if the vob are from different sources, or contain different audio formats, etc...but most of the time it worked.

copy file1.vob /b + file2.vob /b + file3.vob /b output.vob

jmsrickland · Member Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: United States

I can see that doing it is DOS will definitly join the VOB files and do a nice job at it but even after that you will still need the IFO files to make it complete.

escudo · Member Joined: 06 May 2004

Yup. I was just addressing the joining vobs. However, if all you want to do is play it on a computer, then the vob is all you need.

manusatsangi · Member Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Location: United States

Hi,
Its been so long since the last reply in this thread, I am not sure if anyone is still following it.
I tried to use vobedit to join my clips and instead it split them into around 32000 vob files of 80KB each.
I am not sure what went wrong. Is there any problem in my original vob files?

- Manu

mikeh · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Location: UK

Its not often I join a Forum, but this one, well

What an excellent guide. Over Xmas with new DVD drive, all my cam corder tapes are now DVDS.
Now I want to edit them etc, and the answer to that Q is already here too.
Thanks.
PS Somebody posted about the fact that you may get less VOBs than you start with - I did. Then I checked out the article screen shots again and noticed the final VOB bytes total = all the VOBs you started with in the guide. I now make this check on all my files before I burn, just to be sure, to be sure.

mikeh · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Location: UK

One quick Q before I get into editing and menus, I forgot to fix VSR on one of my DVDs but it runs fine. Will I get problems sometime ?

mikeh · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Location: UK

I am hoping for a reply to this post

Having worked my way through all my tapes I have a problem:
None of the DVDs that I have created with 'The Baldrick Guide' work in a domestic player. My DVDs are worse than Mr Bad DVD who lives in Bad DVDholstein, on a bad day, and has a friend living in Baden-Badun.

On the PC they are fine, bit on a home player I only get the first clip. I have repeated the whole process a few times but still no joy. Any ideas folks.

PS Tried Nero Poer Produce and it just died after an hour or so, hopeless.
Also purchased ImToo rubbish and still fighting for my money back.

Apart from that....HELP