Edit .VOB

[willmington]

Hi guys long time reader, first time poster.

Have been extensively reading these forums as regards editing VOB files but am a bit confused in 2 areas.

1. I am copying some VHS-C home recordings onto DVD using a consumer device (Toshiba DVR-20KB). The DVD's (DVD-R in Video Mode) created contain a Video_TS folder within which there are .VOB files, 2x .IFO files and 2x .BUP files.

2. I also have a DVD which contains 2 folders AUDIO_TS & VIDEO_TS. The AUDIO_TS folder has nothing in it, whist the VIDEO_TS has several .VOB files, 2x .IFO files and 2x .BUP files.

I found this thread

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/307510-How-to-edit-a-VOB-file

which states that these 2 types of DVDs (which I have) are perhaps dvd-video

Baldrick said:
Then it's dvd-video and you can't just cut the vob as it wont work correctly after that.

I was going to go down the route of VideoRedo or Womble's MEPG Video Wizard but now I am totally confused especially as Baldrick who initially suggested VideoRedo (my preferred choice) subsequently said that it (VideoRedo) would not work correctly after editing.

Any info much appreciated.

Cheers

[hech54]

If you are editing bad/unwanted content from the DVD in order to make a new DVD...then forget about VOB files. Baldrick is 100% correct....ignore the VOB files.....you need to concentrate on the entire DVD.
If you load up the DVD into VideoReDo or Womble or even VOB2MPEG...you will see that they completely ignore the individual VOB files....because they are useless by themselves.

[manono]

Yeah, you can't just take a VOB out of a DVD, cut stuff out , stick the remains back into the DVD, and then expect it to still work. If that's what you want to do. If you want to cut stuff away, one way is to use VobBlanker for the job. Plus it's free. Here's a guide:

http://download.videohelp.com/jsoto/guides/VobBlanker/prevcut/index.php

[hech54]

I would consider VOBBlanker pretty much useless for DVD recorder DVDs.

[willmington]

Many thanks for your replies

If you are editing bad/unwanted content from the DVD in order to make a new DVD...then forget about VOB files. Baldrick is 100% correct....ignore the VOB files.....you need to concentrate on the entire DVD.
If you load up the DVD into VideoReDo or Womble or even VOB2MPEG...you will see that they completely ignore the individual VOB files....because they are useless by themselves.

I basically need to do some simple editing (no transitions at the moment) and save the edited version as .VOD with no re-encoding which VideoRedo and Womble apparently do. I understand that .VOD file are merely MEPG2.

Apologies for sounding totally dense but are you saying that VideoRedo and Womble will work for my needs? Obviously, I am missing the finer point made by Baldrick and yourself.

Cheers

[usually_quiet]

Many thanks for your replies

If you are editing bad/unwanted content from the DVD in order to make a new DVD...then forget about VOB files. Baldrick is 100% correct....ignore the VOB files.....you need to concentrate on the entire DVD.
If you load up the DVD into VideoReDo or Womble or even VOB2MPEG...you will see that they completely ignore the individual VOB files....because they are useless by themselves.

I basically need to do some simple editing (no transitions at the moment) and save the edited version as .VOD with no re-encoding which VideoRedo and Womble apparently do. I understand that .VOD file are merely MEPG2.

Apologies for sounding totally dense but are you saying that VideoRedo and Womble will work for my needs? Obviously, I am missing the finer point made by Baldrick and yourself.

Cheers

Once edited, a VOB can't be used again with the same IFOs BUPs on the original disc, since they may reference things that have changed. Menus might be re-used, but it is a lot of work and not really for beginners.

The usual steps:
1. Prepare the DVD video and audio for editing.
2. Edit the prepared files.
3. Author the DVD. (Authoring is needed to create the new menus, IFOs, BUPs necessary for a playable DVD.)
4. Burn to disc with ImgBurn.

1. Prepare files for editing
Some editing programs can work with .mpgs where the audio and video are together in one file, but others need the audio and video in separate files. Use VOB2MPG to extract the video and audio from the VOB files on the DVD into an .mpg file. Use Rejig in IFO mode to de-multiplex the VOB sets to separate audio and video files.

2. Edit
The current choices from Womble Multimedia are Mpeg Video Wizard DVD (which both edits and authors), or MPEG-VCR (a simple editor without DVD authoring ability that only costs $19.) VideoRedo Plus is also a good basic editor, and VideoRedo TVSuite both edits and authors DVDs.TMPGEnc Authoring Works is another popular choice that can edit and author too. All of these have free trials, all work with .mpg files, and all do smart encoding (which means they will not re-encode the video unnecessarily).

There are some free MPEG-2 editors too. Cuttermaran, which I use, is the only one I know of that can do frame accurate cutting and smart encoding similar to the paid programs above. However instead of an .mpg file, Cuttermaran requires de-multiplexed audio and video.

3. Author
If you have Mpeg Video Wizard DVD, VideoRedo TVSuite, or TMPGEnc Authoring Works, you are all set. Simple free authoring programs for basic menus are AVStoDVD and DVDAuthorGUI.

4. Burn to disc.
ImgBurn is free and works well. Buy quality DVD recordable media and you are good to go.

[hech54]

To explain what you are about to do:
You are editing stuff OUT of a DVD(which happens to contain things called VOB files and other assorted things - all DVDs have them). Once you are done editing out the unwanted stuff...you then need to create(author) a brand new DVD(which happens to contain things called VOB files and other assorted things - all DVDs have them).
I don't know if VideoReDo or Womble can create a new DVD for you after your editing is done(I don't use those programs)...but I do know that they do edits without re-encoding the video.

[willmington]

That is most kind guys.

usually_quiet, thank you for taking the trouble to explain the 4 steps and which considerably helped me in understanding the process.

Cheers

[manono]

I would consider VOBBlanker pretty much useless for DVD recorder DVDs.

I haven't worked much with DVDs made from recorders, but the few I have seen look like all the others with VOB, IFO, and BUP files, as willmington said originally. If all he's doing is simple cuts (on GOP boundaries, of course), it seems to me that VobBlanker would do a good job. So, why do you say it's pretty much useless?

Sure, it can'd do smart rendering and frame accurate cuts, but in most cases that shouldn't be necessary.

[hech54]

The OP's DVD (as well as all DVD recorder DVDs) contains ONE audio with NO extras.....nothing else.

[manono]

The OP's DVD (as well as all DVD recorder DVDs) contains ONE audio with NO extras.....nothing else.

Yeah, so? How is that at all relevant? I wasn't talking about blanking extras or FBI warnings or removing audio tracks. Nor is the guide to which I linked about that. I was suggesting using the free VobBlanker for removing video he doesn't want from the main video. Maybe you had better learn what it does and is capable of doing before condemning it .

[hech54]

Maybe you had better learn what it does and is capable of doing before condemning it .

Oh but I will continue to NOT recommend it. VobBlanker in the hands of a newbie is like giving an Uzi to a high school girl to do her nails with. It is still a ridiculous program to recommend for DVD recorder discs since many of today's recorders place the stupid menu they create...as part of the recorded material. Cutting this stuff often causes sync issues....so much so that FixVTS was created just for the problem(of brand new recorders outputting non-compliant discs right out of the box). Take it from an idiot who paid $800 for a DVD recorder when they first came out(Philips DVDR985)....VobBlanker is at the bottom of the list of recommended software in this situation.