Converting VOB 16:9 Sony Camcorder files to Hard Drive. HELP!! PLS!!!

[llcbh4]

I have joined this site hoping someone can end my nightmare?

I have many Sony camcorder recordings on discs which are all VOB formats, and were recorded originally in 16:9 aspect ratio. I have been trying to convert these to an MPG format, so they can be viewed in Windows Media Player etc. First of all, all i did was to change the .vob to .mpg which does work fine, however when i view the video it has changed the aspect to 4:3 hence squashing up the picture. So after hours & days trawling the internet I tried the software TMPGEnc to de-multiplex the MPG file spliting it into seperate files. 1 = AC3 audio file and 2 = video file. Then using another software, ReStream i was able to change the ratio back to 16:9 by loading up the video file only. Then once complete and saved, went back to TMPGEnc where I could then put the 16:9 video file and the AC3 audio file back together by Mulitplexing them to get a 16:9 file with sound. Hooray i thought at last! However each one of my discs have 5 VOB files and the one process above was run and worked on the first VOB file. I then attempted to repeat this process for the remaining 4 files but when I try to split the second VOB file in two to get the seperate video and audio parts, the video part does not appear and only the audio appears.
I have tried so many things but still can not get a MPG 16:9 ratio with audio for the remaining 4 files. Is there a much easier and quicker way to do this or any other free software that could do exactly what i need it to do!?
HELP PLEASE!!!
Many many thanks in advance for any help anyone can pass onto me to resolve this nightmare.
Best wishes
llcbh4

[gadgetguy]

This sounds like a job for VOB2MPG

[llcbh4]

This sounds like a job for VOB2MPG

Does this software keep the aspect ratio in 16:9 or do you still need to do something else like the ReStream process? How does this software work? Could you please advise further if possible.
Many thanks for your reply

[gadgetguy]

I don't know. It's free, so why don't you try it and see?

[edong]

This sounds like a job for VOB2MPG

Does this software keep the aspect ratio in 16:9 or do you still need to do something else like the ReStream process? How does this software work? Could you please advise further if possible.
Many thanks for your reply

I used vob2mpg to convert my brother's Sony DVD camcorder's shots. It changed the aspect ratio. Someone in here suggested DVDPatcher to change it to 16:9. It worked for me. It only took seconds!

[llcbh4]

This sounds like a job for VOB2MPG

Does this software keep the aspect ratio in 16:9 or do you still need to do something else like the ReStream process? How does this software work? Could you please advise further if possible.
Many thanks for your reply

I used vob2mpg to convert my brother's Sony DVD camcorder's shots. It changed the aspect ratio. Someone in here suggested DVDPatcher to change it to 16:9. It worked for me. It only took seconds!

Hi edong,

I did try (as suggested) the VOB2MPG however where it asked me to select the folder where the 5 VOB files were, it did pull them altogether into one file except for the 5th VOB file which it ignore for no apparent reason, plus the ratio was squashed down to 4:3. I will give DVD Patcher a try to see if I can get this back to the proper looking 16:9 video.
Do you know why the VOB2MPG did not pull all 5 VOB files together and only included the first 4?
Many thanks in advance for youe help in this matter.

[gadgetguy]

How do you know it ignored the 5th vob? Feedback from the program or footage from the 5th vob is missing from the final mpg? Is the folder a complete VIDEO_TS folder with vobs, ifos, and bups?

Note: I've only used vob2mpg a couple times and it's not installed on the PC I'm using right now, (but I'm installing it now), so I'm kind of blind trying to help. I'm just asking questions in the hopes of finding your answers.

[llcbh4]

How do you know it ignored the 5th vob? Feedback from the program or footage from the 5th vob is missing from the final mpg? Is the folder a complete VIDEO_TS folder with vobs, ifos, and bups?

Note: I've only used vob2mpg a couple times and it's not installed on the PC I'm using right now, (but I'm installing it now), so I'm kind of blind trying to help. I'm just asking questions in the hopes of finding your answers.

I am really grateful for all your help and advise. When the transfer of the 5 files into 1 had finished (well i thought it was transfering the 5 VOB files) I went right to the end of the new file to see what it ended with. Then I went to the final 5th VOB file and checked the end of that and it was different. After further investigations i found that it was the end of the 4th VOB file where the new all-in-file had finished. The 5th VOB file is a much smaller sized file to the others. It appears that the 1-4 files are fully 30 mins then the 5th file is the remaining time over the last 30 min mark.
Yes the VIDEO_TS folder has got the VOBS, IFO's etc
Any ideas. I tried the whole process twice and it left off the 5th file on each.

[gadgetguy]

OK, it's definitely ignoring the 5th vob. (Not that I didn't believe you, but it wouldn't be the first time a program said one thing and did another). I just ran a test on a commercial DVD that I had on my hard drive and it followed the ifos to extract all of the different video clips and it even maintained the correct 16:9 aspect ratio. There must be something about the way the camcorder writes the data to the disc that's different from the commercial counterpart, or perhaps there's a flaw in the ifo that is making it ignore it. Can I see a screenshot of the Video_TS folder displayed in Explorer? I want to get an idea of the structure the camcorder created.

[llcbh4]

OK, it's definitely ignoring the 5th vob. (Not that I didn't believe you, but it wouldn't be the first time a program said one thing and did another). I just ran a test on a commercial DVD that I had on my hard drive and it followed the ifos to extract all of the different video clips and it even maintained the correct 16:9 aspect ratio. There must be something about the way the camcorder writes the data to the disc that's different from the commercial counterpart, or perhaps there's a flaw in the ifo that is making it ignore it. Can I see a screenshot of the Video_TS folder displayed in Explorer? I want to get an idea of the structure the camcorder created.

I will get a screen print for you buddy thank you very much. However as I am currently not at home I will do this as soon as i get back. Will be about 20:00 GMT.
Many thanks

[t0nee1]

Try with avidemux, import vob and index the rest..Set source and destination AR and lock it....Save as Mpeg, just make sure the extension is .mpg..Good luck!....

[gadgetguy]

I was in the process of trying a different test when I discovered that the mpg file that was extracted from the commercial DVD was assembled out of order. The beginning is correct, but it seems to end in the middle of the movie. I jumped around to various parts of the movie and I found the actual end of the movie somewhere in the middle. It appears to all be there, just not in the right order. Now this was a Disney DVD so they might have played some tricks that vob2mpg couldn't pick up on, but it's something to check your file for. If it's all there, but not in the correct order then it's probably a bug in this latest version of vob2mpg, but I don't see it mentioned in any of the comments so I'll see what I can find out at the developers website.

[llcbh4]

Try with avidemux, import vob and index the rest..Set source and destination AR and lock it....Save as Mpeg, just make sure the extension is .mpg..Good luck!....

Hi there, thanks for your assistance with my on going headache! haha. Sorry to sound a bit simple but i am not a techie as you guys on here! Can you just confirm the following:- once i have downloaded this software i should import the 5 vob files individually or altogether? Also what did you mean when you said "and index the rest...."
Once again sorry for asking dim questions.
I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
With kindest regards and best wishes

[t0nee1]

Just import the first VOB, and it will/should ask if you want to index the rest ,answer 'yes'..

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic360276.html

[mL999]

.


Dealing with Your VOB Files

1. PLAY THEM

The windows media player is not very useful.
Try downloading and using the free 'Media Player Classic' or the 'VideoLAN' player. They will play VOB files and give you more control over the display form and they have many other advantages as well. You can get clean versions from ( http://www.filehippo.com/ ).

Failing That


2. CONVERT THEM (with or without editing)

Copying/Converting VOB files

This works with a DVD recording from from our video machine (you can do similar things with an SD memory card from a camcorder or a camera). ( I suppose you are using Windows)
i) Make a temporary folder. I call it 'Working'
ii) use windows explorer to open the folder which holds the VOB . This is called 'VIDEO_TS on the discs from our recorder. (put the disc in a drive on the computer and open that drive in windows explorer)
iii) copy that file to your 'Working' folder. you will see a series of files with extensions '.BUP' , '.IFO' ,and 'VOB'
iv) use a video converter programme to to convert the .VOB file(s) to the format you want.

I use the 'AVS Video Tools' to do this but the new "Any Video Converter" free version ( http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/) looks safe, up to date and attractive. There are many other converters on the web at prices from zero up.


COMMENTS


I do not recommend saving to the windows movie format( I find that rendering edited work to MPEG2 requires the audio to be rendered separately before the movie is finally created )
.AVI format is trustworthy and you can always convert from it for special purposes
You can open a .VOB directly into the Vegas Video editor.( The so-called Platinum edition is fairly cheap and more than adequate for almost everyone amateur or professional.) and produce the work in whatever file form.you choose.
If you want to work on video from an SD card camcorder or camera buy a simple USB card reader to copy into the computer it (explore down to the file called 'STREAM' This is much easier and more versatile than using the camera manufacturer's connector and software.
I use a panasonic HD SD camcorder but I do not use panasonlc's software.

09 03 09

[gadgetguy]

Another thing to try with vob2mpg is to remove the ifo and bup files from the directory. It should then just assemble the vobs in the order of the filenames. This method might have it's drawbacks, as you lose any information stored in the ifo, but from a camcorder it might not be a problem.

[t0nee1]

@ml999,

I don't think the OP,wants to save as windows movie format(wmv)..They simply want to save all VOBs to single .mpg file while maintaining AR..And just re-naming did not do it for them......@ OP, correct me if I'm wrong...

[gadgetguy]

These are not bad suggestions, but there are some things to consider...

.


Dealing with Your VOB Files

1. PLAY THEM

The windows media player is not very useful.
Try downloading and using the free 'Media Player Classic' or the 'VideoLAN' player. They will play VOB files and give you more control over the display form and they have many other advantages as well. You can get clean versions from ( http://www.filehippo.com/ ).

Both MPC and VLC will play them as is, as suggested. But assuming these are home movies that you want to share with family members, it's not convenient.

Failing That


2. CONVERT THEM (with or without editing)

Copying/Converting VOB files

This works with a DVD recording from from our video machine (you can do similar things with an SD memory card from a camcorder or a camera). ( I suppose you are using Windows)
i) Make a temporary folder. I call it 'Working'
ii) use windows explorer to open the folder which holds the VOB . This is called 'VIDEO_TS on the discs from our recorder. (put the disc in a drive on the computer and open that drive in windows explorer)
iii) copy that file to your 'Working' folder. you will see a series of files with extensions '.BUP' , '.IFO' ,and 'VOB'
iv) use a video converter programme to to convert the .VOB file(s) to the format you want.

I use the 'AVS Video Tools' to do this but the new "Any Video Converter" free version ( http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/) looks safe, up to date and attractive. There are many other converters on the web at prices from zero up.

Converting the vobs to another format will cause a reduction in quality. How much and whether it's noticable or not will depend on the source and settings used.

COMMENTS


I do not recommend saving to the windows movie format( I find that rendering edited work to MPEG2 requires the audio to be rendered separately before the movie is finally created )
.AVI format is trustworthy and you can always convert from it for special purposes
You can open a .VOB directly into the Vegas Video editor.( The so-called Platinum edition is fairly cheap and more than adequate for almost everyone amateur or professional.) and produce the work in whatever file form.you choose.
If you want to work on video from an SD card camcorder or camera buy a simple USB card reader to copy into the computer it (explore down to the file called 'STREAM' This is much easier and more versatile than using the camera manufacturer's connector and software.
I use a panasonic HD SD camcorder but I do not use panasonlc's software.

09 03 09

AVI is not a format, it's a container that can contain any of a number of different formats, some trustworthy, some not so much.

vob2mpg does not convert the video as the source is already mpg2 in a vob container. There is no loss of quality and the resulting single file is far more convenient to share.

[qpskfec]

To play - I agree with the previous posters that you should just use VLC to play and if the AR is wrong, force a different AR.

If you want to distribute the video to others, an option is to re-author the DVD, and if the AR is wrong, use ifoedit to fix the .ifo.

[MysticE]

@ llcbh4

Seeing as you have VOBs do you actually have a playable DVD with a VIDEO_TS folder?

If so open it in DVD Shrink, tell it not to split Files, and save it. You should end up with one large VOB. Use vob2mpg followed by DVD Patcher to change the MPEG2 header to 16:9.