How to create substitute vob?

[willrob]

I'm getting irritated with the auto-play of trailers whenever one inserts newer DVDs. Removing them after DV Backup prevents DVD Player from being able to find the media in a VIDEO_TS folder—and I assume a burned DVD would not play either.

It's not easy on a Mac to edit the IFO file, but I seem to recall someone once said that replacing the video clip (and this would apply to FBI warning screens as well) with anotheer video clip with the same name would do the trick.

What format should such a video clip be? Or can it just be any file—a txt file for example— with the same name as the vob file it's replacing?

william

[dcsos]

Just find a short VOB thats black on another title and use that
DO a Control-I (get info) to determine that its really a small file size
because renaming text won't work

If anyone knows a good standalone MAC MUXING program to create VOB's.
please help us
because HEURIS POWER PROFESSIONAL is too expensive for this operation!

[galactica]

just replace the .vob with a text file that is the same name as the .vob

this will keep your ifo structure and eliminate the playback of that trailer

this is all mentioned in my advanced tutorial if you want to see more about how to remove all the extra crap from a dvd easily!

[willrob]

I tried the suggestion of replacing (for this test) the FBI warning with a black clip from another disk. I should point out that both source VIDEO_TS folders were after passing through DVD2OneX, and not the original DVDBackup versions.

I had mixed results. Here's what I encountered. The vob file I found was only 24k and when viewed in VLC was a black screen. But it was named VTS_01_0.VOB. The file it needed to replace was named VIDEO_TS.VOB. So I changed the name to match. I'm not sure if that's the correct way to do this.

I then dropped this file into the VIDEO_TS folders of three disks that had the FBI warning ( I didn't have any trailer diskes alrady ripped). When I used DVD Player to attempt to play the VIDEO_TS folders, one played perfectly, with the black screen replacing the warning, and the other two would not play at all. DVD Player reported an error (-32) suggesting the disk might be dirty.

I'm wondering if the IFO files that tell the player what file to move to next, after displaying the blank screen, may not be recognizing the clip . It geets played, as a black screen, but there is no advance to the next screen, which should be the menu.

Do I need to find a black screen that has the same original name as the file I wish to replace. Is changing the name in the Finder not good enough?

william

[galactica]

just use a TEXT FILE that you create using TEXT EDIT. Save to your desktop as empty file (no text in it) as UNTITLED.

rename it using the finder as VIDEO_TS.VOB
then toss the one you want to replace and drop this in its place

empty text files playback as a black screen and it will play for the duration of the origional VIDEO_TS.VOB file. you can forward chapter pas it and there are no errors on dvd player or standalone players

let me know what happens

[willrob]

I tried using a renamed empty text file and got the same results. The DVD that worked with a replaced file before did so again. The two that didn't still don't. DVD Player crashed upon both attempts.

Would this technique be better applied to the DVDBackup VIDEO_TS folder prior to running through DVD2One?

william

[galactica]

no it wont work at all before it goes though dvd2one

just for cuioisity sake, does it play fine with VLC as your dvd viewer as opposed to dvd player?

i have yet to have a problem with the replace with text file method so this is new for me.

[willrob]

Yes, VLC can play the altered VIDEO-TS folder. So if I were to burn the disk, despite DVD Player not working, would I get a disk that a set top DVD Player can read?

william

[galactica]

thats the idea... if you have a -rw burn it to that.
Perhaps dvd player freaks when the VIDEO_TS.vob is missing (i usually leave that and erase the actual files with the trailers rather than the Warning .vob)

But i have done it before and it played with no problems on my settop player.

So if you have -rw burn to taht and test
otherwise im 99% sure it will also work with dvdr

[willrob]

I burned a DVD with the substituted text file and it plays just fine in my Panasonic DVD player. The Apple DVD Player, which wouldn't play the VIDEO_TS folder, won't play the disk. VLC plays both the VIDEO_TS folde and the burned DVD.

For me the acid test is watching it on the TV rather than my computer screen, so all is well. Now I can go watch the Super Bowl commercials (I couldn't care less about the game itself).

william

[dcsos]

thanks galactica..
I'm trying the text method, but had no problem with the use of a "short black but foriegn vob"

[willrob]

I have discovered a disk that doesn't support this method. A viewing, via VLC, of the first vob file—which conatins the FBI warning and some lame promo for the distrubutor—shows that the content is linked to the main menu. In otherwords the main menu is at the end of this vob file. Replacing it with a blank (black) text file produced a disk that my video player could not access. There was no menu and no way to move through the chapters via the remote.

So a word of caution: watch the files you wish to replace completely, since on some disks they may be manditory.

william

[galactica]

willrob
thanks for that tid bit
i have only relaced a few of the video-ts.vob's with texts and they all worked so i just assumed it would work 100% of the time

ill edit my guide to reflect this

but bummer it didnt work out

[Ladd]

Additional data point:

I just tried the "replace offending .VOB file with empty TexEdit file renamed the same" trick and, as noted previously, VLC played the VIDEO_TS folder just fine but DVD Player refused completely with a "this disk must be damaged or dirty" error.

Burning now to see if stand-alone player will play OK.

[galactica]

yes, i knew that would happen. It should work in the standalone player.
dvd player seems to be the only one that gives read errors on these types of video_ts folders.

maybe that InterActual_Player would work?

[Ladd]

Burned the VIDEO_TS folder containing the replacement empty TexEdit file and the disc won't play in the set-top player. It won't even load properly.

The VOB that was replaced is the very first "scene" that appears when the original disk is played (althought it is named VTS_02_1.VOB), so perhaps this is a situation where the very first VOB that is used has some coding that is different than others. Clearly the set-top player and the DVD Player application aren't seeing something they expect to ...

[galactica]

odd........ which one again was it?
the "warning" .vob?
or the intro/makers .vob?

[Ladd]

intro/makers .vob

Not a big deal; I just thought I would add a data point to the grand experiment.