nero has hijacked my videos!!

[squashedant]

i have nero reloaded and as of yet havent been able to edit and burn a dvd yet and why would it take 30 hours to create 1 hrs worth of footage?? also im thinking of a new program to use but nero has changed all my videos to its own vob files that no other program can open!!!! please help, ive heard u guys are the best!!

[daamon]

Hi squashedant,

Welcome to the forums.

Let's do the easy bit first - changing the application that your VOB files open with:

1) Right click on any VOB file and select "Open with..."
2) Select the desired application you want your VOB files to open with.
3) Before hitting "OK", there should be a tick box that says something like "Always use this program to open these files". Tick that box.
4) Now click "OK".

Probably best to do the same for the IFO files too, if they don't default.

Now for the other bit...

Before we can sort out what Nero's doing, we need some info:

A) What are your source files? Are they from a miniDV cam, downloaded files (what type: Divx AVI, Xvid AVI, MPG, MOV etc. ?), analog captures (again, what type of file: AVI, MPG etc. ?)

It'd also be useful to know the resolution (width x height).

You can use the beta v2.52 of GSpot to get loads of info on the files.

B) Explain, in a little more detail, what you're trying to achieve and the steps you are taking.

P.S. Where in the UK are you? That was my stomping ground until 9 months ago...

[squashedant]

hi! im from bath!!

yeah already did that thing with opening vob with another program nothing happened!! basically i had a hi 8 camcorder went travelling came back recorded vids to a dvd recorder then transferred files on to seperate 180gb hard drive, when i edit using nero reloaded thats when it goes tits up!!

someone mentioned using womble which i have tried it changes from vob to mpeg 2 but with no sound! all i want to do is to create a dvd from my travelling days and it seems like a chore!!

[daamon]

Ah, Bath - A beautiful city. I lived near Gatwick for 20-odd years before moving to Brighton for 3 years and then out here to Melbourne.

yeah already did that thing with opening vob with another program nothing happened!!

Have you tried changing the associations through Explorer? I'm using Windows 2000 here at work, so basing it on that:

1) Launch Explorer.
2) Click: Tools -> Folder Options
3) Select "File Types" tab.
4) Find and highlight "VOB" and then click "Change". Change to desired app.
5) OK everything and cross your fingers.

If that don't work, then I'm stumped...

basically i had a hi 8 camcorder went travelling came back recorded vids to a dvd recorder then transferred files on to seperate 180gb hard drive, when i edit using nero reloaded thats when it goes tits up!!

Hmmm.... I've never done what you're describing, so not really sure of any pitfalls. I have a miniDV cam that I transfer from via firewire to PC.

But, if you've got VOB files it's sounds as though they should be DVD compliant. Nero may well be trying to re-encode them when it doesn't need to - I think it has a habit of doing that. A lot of people say that using Nero for this kinda work isn't the best thing to do... I've not used it so can't comment.

To check for PAL DVD compliance (PAL coz you're in the UK), look at the specs under "What Is... DVD" (top left of the page, in blue) and then use GSpot on your VOBs to get the info. You're looking for a valid resolution, a framerate of 25fps (frames per second) and a valid audio format (it'll possibly be in MP2).

someone mentioned using womble which i have tried it changes from vob to mpeg 2 but with no sound! all i want to do is to create a dvd from my travelling days and it seems like a chore!!

If you want to do basic editing with VOBs try VideoReDo - I'm not sure if it accepts VOB files. You may need to demux (demultiplex = split) them into the audio and video parts. I've not done this, so not sure of how to do it, or what tools to use.

If you don't want to do any editing, you can use an authoring tool like TMPGEnc DVD Author (there are othres) that accept VOBs. You can choose which bits to keep and then string them all together to then author and burn the final DVD.


Does you Hi8 camcorder have a firewire port? If so, and asuming you have firewire on your PC, try transferring using WinDV. You'll get a DV AVI that you can then edit much easier. Of course, you'll then need to encode to MPEG2 for authoring to DVD.

Hope that helps...