Pls help Molly! DVD editing software - I read, I tried!! :(

[vois2]

Wow -- I didn't think editing home videos created by burning from a VHS tape would be this hard!

Here is what I have: VHS tapes, which I then use (successfully) in combination with a Sony VRD-MC1 DVD recorder. It turns my old home VHS tapes into playable DVDs (playable on set-top DVD players, as well as Windows-aligned DVD software players).

Note: Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 Basic detects the accompanying audio as AC3, but that doesn't mean much to me. This version of Roxio cannot work with AC3, leading me to my trials below...

OK, great. This is where it gets tricky. When I use Windows Explorer to look at these created DVDs, it makes VOB files of the 'meat' of the recordings. I could tell I would need to edit these VOB files, so I did my homework.

A week later, and lots of shareware later (such as ChopperXP), I can chop these VOBs into smaller VOB files containing the shortened clips I actually would like to use.

Then come the 'put together' shareware which allows me to connect clips with text and transitions and make a continuous video of my smaller clips. That works OK -- that is, I can make a video from these clips, using software such as MPEG Wizard.

After that, it's been a nightmare. Getting my edited continuous clip into any useable form has been a disaster. I can convert it into an MPEG, but the MPEG will be unplayable, or the audio will be off track, or the video freezes up, etc. There is surely a better way.

Can you guys please recommend me to a software package that I can purchase which will successfully take my DVD video TS thingy, and allow me to chop, clip, cut, insert, edit, author, etc? I would really appreciate it!

[redwudz]

I generally use the freeware VOB2MPG to extract the MPEGs from the DVD and edit in MPEG format. If you have MPEG Video Wizard, it should fine for editing. I don't do much extensive editing, mostly just cutting out commercials. When I finish the edit, I use TMPGEnc DVD Author to convert it all back to DVD format and burn.

This guide may give you some ideas if you haven't seen it yet: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=224833

There are lots of other ways to do all this, also.

And welcome to our forums.

[FulciLives]

Use a DVD ripper such as DVD Decrypter or DVDFab Decrypter to RIP the DVD to your computer. I'm talking about the DVD you made from the VHS with your Sony VRD-MC1 DVD recorder.

Now run the VOB files through DGIndex and have it demux the video and the audio.

At that point you should have a video file (filename.m2v) and an audio file (filename.ac3). You can delete all the other files but those two.

I would convert the AC-3 audio file to PCM WAV format. There are various tools that can do that but a good choice is GOLDWAVE. Just open the AC-3 and save as WAV and you will have a 16-bit 48k WAV file. You may also want to normalize it while doing the AC-3 to PCM WAV conversion. Please note that if the AC-3 file has a significant delay value you may want to run delaycut aka AC3 Delay Corrector on the AC-3 file before converting it to PCM WAV format.

Now any decent editing program will accept the M2V and the PCM WAV files for editing. You have top-of-the-line programs like Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas but there are also cheaper solutions such as Adobe Premiere Elements or Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Depending on the program you are using you may still be able to use the original AC-3 audio file but using PCM WAV seems to make things easier I think.

Trying to edit the VOB files directly is just not a good way to do it unless you are doing VERY simple editing and even then I woudn't do it unless [1.] I am editing a single file and doing cut edits ... not joining many together and [2.] I would use MPEG-VCR or VideoReDo.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Jeremiah58]

vois2
You've mentioned that you use MPEG Wizard.
If you mean Womble MPEG Video Wizard, than that is all you need for opening those VOB's inside DVD's created with your Sony DVD recorder.
Open all VOB's at once, select all and drag them to the timeline in MPEG Video Wizard. There you could "chop, clip, cut, insert, edit..." or join video clips.
When you are happy with a final mpeg2, you should have a DVD compliant mpeg2 file which you could import to one of many available DVD authoring programs in order to create a final DVD.

[FulciLives]

MPEG-VCR and MPEG VIDEO WIZARD are made by the same company ... Womble Multimedia ... but note that they are completely different programs.

Yes it is true that both can edit MPEG-2 video (including AC-3 audio) but MPEG VIDEO WIZARD is supposedly the more advanced of the two.

As for myself I've only used MPEG-VCR which I like for simple editing needs.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
MPEG-VCR is also known as MPEG2VCR

Also note that Womble Multimedia makes a 3rd "version" of this software called MPEG VIDEO WIZARD DVD which supposedly has all the same features as MPEG VIDEO WIZARD but adds DVD Authoring to it's capabilities.

[CrayonEater]

I just started using the Womble MPEG Video Wizard with DVD Authoring. That was the only one I could find at the site but it handles VOBs just fine, no need to demux, convert to MPEG, etc. It seems to be a great DVD editing tool. It outputs DVD-compliant VOBs that are ready-to-burn. The price is pretty steep but at least they give you a full 30-day trial.

I believe you can edit VOBs in Nero Vision too if you need to.

[vois2]

I wanted to thank everyone for their input. I can see from your answers the outline to a lot of my questions and goals. I did want to write that I had previously tried MPEG Video Wizard (by Womble) because, like CrayonEater, I felt it would do the trick without demuxing. Well, it only sort of half worked. I'll be specific. I had already chopped clips small out using XPChopper. But only 80% of those clips would pop and drop neatly into MPEG Video Wizard. The other 20% would cause errors wherein a 3-second clip would drop into MPEG Video Wizard and become a 10-minute clip with a freezing/looping error. However I can see now that I should have just avoided using XPChopper, and used MPEG Video Wizard for the entire clipping operation.

Beyond that, I never could get MPEG Vidoe Wizard to create a useable MPEG2. Now that I understand I can chop and drop all using just MPEG Wizard I will try that. I think really that MPEG Video Wizard will be the answer after I take the advice of Shift-Select All VOB that Jeremiah58 kindly provided.

I appreciate everyone's comments and I'll post back regarding success (or not) with MPEG Video Wizard as a One Solution sort of deal.

[FulciLives]

Another important point ...

If you are combining clips from different sources and you are working with MPEG/VOB files then all have to have the same properties.

For instance if one clips is 16x9 then they all have to be 16x9 ... you can't mix video resolutions nor aspect ratios. Also the audio format has to be the same type and I think even the same bitrate. For instance one can't be 5.1 AC-3 and another be 2.0 AC-3. Also I am pretty sure (though not 100% on this point) that you can't mix bitrates. You can't mix 192kbps 2.0 AC-3 with 256kbps 2.0 AC-3

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[nightcat]

FulciLives,

Hi. I have used MPEG Video Wizard before. And the limitation that you mentioned is confused me often.
So, Do you know which software can solve this limitation?
Thank you.

-nightcat

[guns1inger]

None. They are basic restrictions on the DVD specification. If you have mixed format media then you need to demux and edit manually, as you will have anumber of issues to overcome. Mixing 4:3 and 16:9 material presents it's own questions and issues (pillarbox or letterbox ?, for example)

[nightcat]

Thank you guns1inger.