Converting .BUP, .IFO, .VOB files for iDVD

[newbie the newbie]

Hi there!

I've got a DVD recorder that records TV programs straight into DVD-RWs. From there I'd like to use my iMac to pull out particular recorded tv-programs onto the computer, then to compile those programs to other DVDs that look professional (through iDVD). I can then personally use these new DVDs!

Here's what happens when I insert a used DVD-RW and have a look at what it contains: I encounter .BUP, .IFO, and .VOB files that can't seem to be opened by the Mac. I tried opening them using iMovie (to modify them? Add chapters etc.) and also iDVD but that's impossible too.

What should I do? I don't have any experience with DVDs, and I can't seem to find a post in this site explaining what those "BUP, IFO and VOB" files mean. So am I missing some elementary knowledge here? Do I need some extra software to open those files and then to modify them (or change them to another format) which can then be handled by iDVD?

[bugster]

Moving you to the Mac forum where you have a better chance of getting the answers you need.

/Moderator Bugster

[galactica]

iApps wont handle these sorts of imports

what exactly is it you want to do!?
the. vob's should be easily opened with VLC
you shoudl also be able to drag them over to the HD and play around with them there....

but these wont import into iMovie / iDVD

you would have to demux the .vob's into thier components and even still the video has to be in .mov format [or can iMovie handle .mpeg?!] wow its been soo long since i played with iMovie i cant remember!

anyway id say its doable, just not as easy as import .vob's into iApps

[newbie the newbie]

Hey Galactica!
Thanks for the reply. I'm actually brand new to this and I don't really have a horseshoe of a clue as to what all those terms mean! What exactly ARE vob, ifo and bup files? Everyone around here seems to be using all these terms, even in the newbie section!

To give you a little more detail about what I'm intending to do:
- I've recorded TV-programs onto a DVD-RW disc, but that includes ads plus deletes and is very messy
- I've purhcased an iMac that I'd like to use to modify those messy records on the DVD-RWs
- Part of my plan is to extract everything out from those DVD-RWs onto the Mac
- Then I intend to modify them using some programs
- And THEN I'd like to compile the edited TV programs onto new DVD-Rs

Problem is, I don't even know what words like VLC and demux mean- also from the sounds of it you're not game for using iDVD. What programs should I use then? In the first place, is my plan doable?

[galactica]

dont have time to answer all your ?'s
but..

.vob - video file form DVD. Contains MPEG2 video file and all the aditional things such as extra audio tracks, subtitles etc. For your purpose its the video file.

.ifo/.bup - structure files for the dvd. They arrange the "architecture" of the dvd such that your player knows 1. its a dvd, 2. what to play and 3. when to play it.

basically useless for your purpose.

Now... you can copy over the dvd-rw to yoru HD by simply option-dragging it over to your dektop. This will put the files there so you can access them.

demux - means "seperate a file into its subsequent files." a .vob would yield a .m2v [mpeg2 video file with no audio] and a .ac3 [audio file for the video file]

mux - means putting the files together to form a complete video file. m2v and .ac3 would yield you a mpeg file that would have audio and you can play back on the computer.

VLC is an application. http://videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html and its a simple yet effective wa to view .vob files directly!

i suggest using the forum search option and do some reading... you have a lot to catch up on

clicking here will also help
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=168726

[newbie the newbie]

Cheers thanks for your help Galactica!

Just spent two hours reading up articles on the Forum, reading through everything in the Roxio site...

I think I've got a rough idea of what to do now- correct me if I'm wrong:

1. Buy Toast 6 Titanium
2. Use Toast to open the .vob files on my DVD-RWs
3. Use Toast to modify those .vob files
4. Use Toast to burn a new DVD, complete with menus, buttons, and sound-surround.

Basically, use Toast for everything since according to their site, they can! What say you, pro?

[WiseWeasel]

If you want to use iDVD, you'll need Cinematize or DVDxDV to rip the DVD to DV format, which you can then import into iMovie and iDVD for editing and mastering.

[newbie the newbie]

Thanks, Wisey!
Which one do you recommend? Cinematize or Toaster? I think you've got heaps more experience in this field

[galactica]

toast wont work for the purpose of DVD to DV
Also keep in mind, the DVD authoring ability of Toast is really primitive. If you want to do any sort of editing other than a menu with buttons, you will have to do your work in either iMovie/iDVD or one of the Pro apps such as DVD Studio Pro

[newbie the newbie]

Guys DVD Studio Pro is $1,000 here in Australia!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WiseWeasel]

So use iMovie and iDVD then...

[newbie the newbie]

Wisey that's where this problem started off, because I can't modify .vobs using iMovie or iDVD.
I'll need some other program like Toast to do that- guess I'll either have to settle with Toast (for cost's sake), or just shave down to the bear minimum by getting Cinematize

[newbie the newbie]

Just had a look at the screen shots for Toast- and it's true- it's VERY basic!
So Toast or Cinematize? Both cost around the same here... can Toast extract .vobs to .mov?

[WiseWeasel]

No, it can't. What about DVDxDV?

[Manny C]

I tried Cinematize, and got a Quicktime error at the end. Anyway, i also tried the demo of DVDxDV, and it works very well (I was really impressed). I think I'm actually going to shell out some money for the full version of DVDxDV

[newbie the newbie]

Sounds good Manny
Their site says that DVDxDV can't "decript any material that contains CSS Encryption". What does that mean?
CSS Encryption is the protection that's put into some of the recent DVDs, right? So does that mean that I can't pull apart and extract .vobs from some of the modern DVDs?

[newbie the newbie]

The site also says that when you extract a movie, "your movie will be compressed with appropriate settings" and may be "reduced in height and width". Does that mean that I lose quality?

[WiseWeasel]

You always lose quality when you decode and reencode MPEG2. You could use OSEx in Disk Image mode to get an unencrypted DVD image to use with DVDxDV.

[newbie the newbie]

Whoa. So how do I solve that "lose quality" problem with MPEG2s? If I can't, then how bad is the reduction in quality?

And when you say "OSEx in Disk Image mode" are you refering to an option in DVDxDV? As in click on "preferences" and then change the mode type-a thing?

[WiseWeasel]

OSEx is another DVD ripper, available here:
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~afaversa/OSEx-current.sit
Set the format to DVD Image, and when it's done ripping, change the name of the file from .IMG to .dmg, and doublt-click to mount it. You can then use DVDxDV, and it will think you have the DVD in the drive (make sure you've ejected the real DVD before using DVDxDV).

The only way to avoid losing quality is to not decode to DV format, leaving the video in its original MPEG2. You can't edit that though. Editing requires you to lose quality.

[newbie the newbie]

Was just having a look at your 736 posts... Hence the name WiseWeasel huh?

Being a newbie I'd just like to summarize what I've learnt here, correct me if I'm off:

1) It's possible to transfer my recorded Tv-Programs into DVDrs. All I need is to transfer the .vobs that I want into a program (like DVDxDV) to CONVERT (is this the right term?) the .vob format into a .dv format. This can then be either modified by iMovie or iDVD.

Basically that process of converting from one format to another is "demuxing".

2) Reduction in quality is unfortunately inevitable . The only way NOT to reduce quality is to maintain the MPEG2 format but neither iMovie OR iDVD can handle that! What about Toast?

3) If I have to extract movies from an encrypted DVD, I can do so using OSEx. But I'll have to use OSEx in conjuction with DVDxDV, so again I'll have to lose some quality.

4) My DVDs are going to look PRIMITIVEE!!! That's because iDVD and Toast are so basic and the only way to beef up the aesthetics is to use a $1,000 program like DVD Studio Pro

Wait a minute... Does DVDxDV convert .vobs into .mov files or .dv files?

[pixeljammedia]

correct me if I'm off:

Allright, just a few nit-picky things.

CONVERT (is this the right term?) the .vob format into a .dv format. This can then be either modified by iMovie or iDVD.

iMovie will do fine with modifying the DV file. You can edit the video placing parts where you want them and removing ones you do not want. iMovie is an NLE or Non-Linear Editor which allows you to manipulate your footage. iDVD is a DVD authoring program and will ONLY create any DVD menus and set up the structure of a DVD for output. You cannot edit the movie in iDVD, but rather you dump whatever you have edited in iMovie AS-IS into iDVD and you get a DVD afterwards.

Basically that process of converting from one format to another is "demuxing".

No, demuxing, which is short for demultiplexing, in this case means separating parts of the mpeg into its component parts. Think of an MPEG as a braid. The strands are woven together to make one file. The video is one strand, the audio another and other parts such as a secondary audio track or subtitle track might be other strands. demultiplexing separates the strands of an mpeg, multiplexing or muxing braids them together.

What about Toast?

Toast is burning software with an encoder thrown in. That is all it does. Like iDVD, you can throw your finished movie onto it, and it will spit out a DVD, but any editing or manipulation will have to be done in an NLE.

If I have to extract movies from an encrypted DVD, I can do so using OSEx. But I'll have to use OSEx in conjuction with DVDxDV,

Only if you want to edit it in an NLE like iMovie. Most commercial DVDs (the ones that are encrypted) are good to go as they are. and can be burnt immediately after decryption. OSeX or YadeX is neccessary for creating a single program stream (VOB) file that you can then convert and edit. This will work with encrypted and non-encrypted DVDs.

My DVDs are going to look PRIMITIVEE!!! That's because iDVD and Toast are so basic and the only way to beef up the aesthetics is to use a $1,000 program like DVD Studio Pro

Depends on your definition of Primitive. Again these apps only give you menus and proper DVD structure. iDVD menus are customizble allowing you to import background images and music. You can make some VERY nice looking DVD menus with it. If you hand Michaelangelo a big box of Crayolas he'll still make something amazing. iDVD may not be the most sophisticated tool, but I think you'd be suprised by its power.

Wait a minute... Does DVDxDV convert .vobs into .mov files or .dv files?

DV is a codec and MOV can contain any number of codecs. MOV is what is known as a container format. (AVI is another one) which means that when you look inside the container it can be a large variety of things. In this case DVDxDV creates a DV file which can be read by Quicktime. A MOV file CAN be a DV file but doesn't have to be. A DV file can be put into a MOV container, but doesn't have to be, AVI works just the same. (and won't confuse the PC folks)

HTH,
PJM

[cbkilner]

Dear Newbie:

If you have a MiniDV camera, it might have an analog-to-DV passthru that you can use between your DVD player and your iMac to transfer the TV shows to iMovie for editing, then iDVD for burning the edited material.

This is sort of the hardware equivalent of DVDxDV that I use when I need to edit an unecrypted DVD. There is a slight quality loss due to all the conversions (MPEG2-to-analog-to-DV-back to-MPEG2), but my stuff still looks VHS quality.

Also, I know that there are programs that can cut/splice edit MPEG2 files, which would help preserve the quality of the MPEG2 material:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15987
http://www.mpeg2works.2ya.com/

[newbie the newbie]

Guys I'm entirely honest when I say that you're really as awesome as awesome gets!

I mean, PixelJam- your illustrations were perfect
cbkilner- your ideas are ingenius and I've yet to test them out (it's 1am here in Syd- gotta hit the sack)
Weasel- thanks for the patience
Galactica- love your tips

I'm buggered for today but I'll research as much as I can tomorrow- btw Happy Easter Everyone! :P

[cbkilner]

This is another good site to check - it discusses using many of the tools suggested above with iMovie.

http://www.danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml

[newbie the newbie]

Hey fellas
thanks for all the help! This should be all the info that I need... I'll try digesting all this- and if I need further help I'll be sure to post another message, OK?

[newbie the newbie]

Hey fellas I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!
OK.. spent the last two weeks busy with work but finally got time to try my luck with the SWs.
Everything's fine except that DIVA's giving me some headaches. It converts my 240MB mpeg2 file perfectly into a DV one- except it's now 3 BLOOMIN' GIGs !!
How do I overcome that problem?

[pixeljammedia]

Hey fellas I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!
OK.. spent the last two weeks busy with work but finally got time to try my luck with the SWs.
Everything's fine except that DIVA's giving me some headaches. It converts my 240MB mpeg2 file perfectly into a DV one- except it's now 3 BLOOMIN' GIGs !!
How do I overcome that problem?

Umm... you don't. DV is an UNCOMPRESSED format. There are 30 frames for every second of video, multiply that by all the seconds in your movie and you'll see why it takes up so much space. After you are done, recompress to MPEG2 and it should be small enough to burn. The rule of thumb is around 13 GB per hour of DV footage.

[newbie the newbie]

Thanks PixelJam,

DV's uncompressed? So DIVA's no good for retaining the size of the file WHILE converting its format? Then... what app could I use to convert my mpeg2 to a iDVD-compatible format (and still retain it at 240MBs)?

And just an aside... do you know if Toast allows you to duplicate CDs like Nero does?

[pixeljammedia]

Thanks PixelJam,

DV's uncompressed? So DIVA's no good for retaining the size of the file WHILE converting its format? Then... what app could I use to convert my mpeg2 to a iDVD-compatible format (and still retain it at 240MBs)?

Think of the large size as a temporary thing. You only need it in order to edit in iMovie or FCP. Once you are done with that you will change the format (presumably back to Mpeg) in order to burn it to DVD or (S)VCD. iDVD will do the encoding for you out of iMovie, or you can use Compressor, MMT-EZ, FFMPEGX, Mpeg2 Works, BitVice, MediaPipe etc. to do the MPEG Encode.

And just an aside... do you know if Toast allows you to duplicate CDs like Nero does?

Yes, use the Copy tab.

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