FlaskMPEG crashes on the 4th VOB of Erin Brokovich

[Placid]

Please help me.
I am trying to backup my copy of Erin Brokovich.
I am a complete newbie so please forgive if i don't know what i'm talking about HAHAHA.
I used SmartRipper to rip the VOB files off the DVD.
Now i've converted the VOBs using FlaskMPEG, 1 by 1.
There are 5 VOBs and i've managed to do them all very succesfully except for the 4th one. it gets to the 190th track and crashes (everytime in the same place). It chucks up an error messege (Kernel error or summing stupid i cant understand)and then exits.
I am only just starting to learn about all this stuff and i love it. Please could someone help get past this hurdle.

[vitualis]

Firstly, is there any reason why you are converting your VOBs "one by one"? With FlaskMPEG, if you load the IFO file or the first vob in the vob set, it should load the entire movie... Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post?

When you ripped your VOBs off the DVD, did you use "File Mode"?

Also, which version of FlaskMPEG are you using?

Regards.

[Placid]

I am using FlaskMPEG 0.6 with the preview 2 thingy update.
I am converting the VOBs 1 by 1 because when i tried the whole movie it gave me that error messege and i thought that my computer couldn't handle it in one go. but i now know that it was because of that same file segment. the whole movie will convert ok except for the one little bit on the 4th VOB (track 190). It always crashes at this point whether its in segments or as a whole conversion. I didn't use file mode in SmartRipper i used Movie mode. I think i may have to format my computer and re-install everything, you know what windows 98 is like, it only need 1-2 months to start to Love everything up HEHE. But i am just puzzled why it would crash at the same place in the movie all the time. I also think it could be some kind of copy protection method. But I can't really say because i don't really know much about all this stuff yet.

THNX for replying its good to know that people are still willing to help.

[LighthouseJ]

Why are you backing up Erin Brockovich? At least make a backup of a good movie like Sneakers or Ronin.

[vitualis]

To LighthouseJ,

To Placid,

SmartRipper on movie mode is the problem. When FlaskMPEG parses the IFO it basically expects to see the VOB structure exactly as it was authored on the original DVD (minus CSS).

Try re-ripping your DVD with "File Mode" and that should solve your problem.

Regards.

[Placid]

OK Virtualis i tries ripping the DVD again in file mode but to no avail. It still crashes in exactly the same place as it did in movie mode. I've even formatted my hard drive and re-installed windows98 and all the software again.

It crashes at the 190th frame of VOB number 4. WHY OH WHY!!!!!!!

I'm thinking of giving up. Please Help someone

[vitualis]

Okay. This has happened to me once before and several people have described it as well. It may be due to a bug in the original MPEG-2 stream in the VOB or some sort of mastering error...

In any case, FlaskMPEG won't be able to go past it. There are several things you can do to try to bypass this problem. Firstly, you may want to try another ripping method altogether (e.g., DVD2AVI).

If you want to persist with FlaskMPEG, then try this. Rather than encoding straight to MPEG for this half of the movie (vob 4 = second half of movie right?), encode to an AVI codec (e.g., HuffyUV or PicVideo MJPEG). You can set FlaskMPEG to that it will cut and create a new AVI every so many minutes (e.g., 15 minutes).

Encode up to the problem point (where it will crash). Then start encoding another AVI files from just beyond the problem point to the end of the movie. After this is all done, you can use the AVI files to recreate the second half of the movie (cutting out the problem bit). As long as there wasn't anything important happening there, it should look fine.

You can then use VirtualDub to load up your AVIs as a sequential sequence and then frameserve to an MPEG encoder.

Regards.

[Placid]

Thnx again m8

I will try and use the DVD2AVI program to encode the movie instead of FlaskMPEG.

I was thinking about the problem last night and i am wondering is there any way to tell FlaskMPEG to skip just frame 190 of the 4th VOB when encoding. I know i could do what you suggested and Encode in little segments and then just leave out the duff section, but won't i loose a lot of the film that way (e.g 15mins segments). I already know how to use VirtualDub (awsome program). So putting the bits back together will be easy, i just don't wanna loose too much. I know it's only "Erin Brokovich" as that lighthouse dude said but what if it happens on another movie. I would like to be prepared for the problem in case it arises again.

Changing the subject slightly, my next movie will be "The Matrix". I was wondering if you know of any problems with this DVD that i should take into account. HEHE, Erin Brokovich has sort of made me a bit parra about problems.

Thnx again for help

[Sully]

Yes, The Matrix is a multi-angle movie. Meaning for certian scenes you can change the camera angle when playing back on your DVD Player.

Just make sure you're using a recent version of Smart Ripper (2.24 or up). When you open in file mode it will (or should) automatically pick the "full" movie, without the camera angle changes. That's the one you'll need to rip.

[Placid]

Im using SmartRiper v2.34 so i should be alright.

Shouldn't I???

Is it always better to use file mode in SmartRipper becasue i read a guide that told me to use Movie mode. There are only two differences i can notice

1. Movie mode Rips it quicker
2. Movie mode gives you the IFO file to encode the whole movie in one go.

You gotta remember that im a newbie to all this stuff, hehe

Thnx Sully

[vitualis]

If you are a user of FlaskMPEG, you should ALWAYS rip in "File Mode" with SmartRipper or use DVD Decrypter. Ripping in "Movie Mode" can lead to all sorts of problems with FlaskMPEG.

If you are a user of DVD2AVI, Movie Mode is fine.

As for The Matrix, I don't know if "File Mode" will work with FlaskMPEG, simply because the multi-angle/seamless branching in this Movie is fairly complex. When you rip in "File Mode", you are recreating the entire VOB structure (minus CSS). That is, the multi-angle and seemless branching is maintained. It is up to FlaskMPEG to correctly parse the IFO.

This works great for some movies (e.g., ID4 special edition) as it allows you to encode either the normal version or special version of the movie. I'm not too sure if this would work for the Matrix (it would be good if you could post on this for future reference for other people).

When I ripped the Matrix, it was a long time ago, and I used VobDECGUI to remove all the multiangles. This worked fine with FlaskMPEG (loading the first VOB file rather than IFO).

Regards.

[Sully]

I couldn't say if it rips faster or not. I wouldn't hink it makes a difference since it's still using the same DVD Drive to read from the same DVD.

The version you have is the latest one I'm aware of.

I only use file mode. I usually try & get all the extras & burn them to a 3rd. CD. Things like trailers, videos, making of's... You can only access these files using file mode. It doesn't matter which mode you use, Smart Ripper ALWAYS takes the "regular" movie version by default.

Are you using a rented DVD? It might have a few scratches which could be creating the problem(ie; data not correctly ripped). It might just be a slightly defective DVD too. It does happen. The creaters are just burning data too.

[Placid]

OK I've tried using DVD2AVI and to be honest I'm not impressed with it. It does the whole DVD ok and the sound too but the quality is crap. This is probably my fault because i dont know how to use it properly. Maybe i will learn how to use it or maybe i will just forget about backing up Erin Brokovich and hope i don't have the same problem with other titles.

Sully, the DVD is brand new it hasn't even got a spec of dust on it. That is the first thing anyone would check when having problems. Also there is a speed difference, the first time i ripped the DVD in movie mode it only took 25mins and the second time i ripped it in file mode it took 45mins.

I didn't know i could rip all the other bits out too, like the "Making of..." bits. Kewl, I will try!!!

Can some one please explain to me how to do a Multi-Angle DVD. Don't go to technical on me, cause i'm a bit new to all this. Just tell some of things that i should be aware of and perhaps a couple of handy tips. I would be very grateful. I am going to try "The Matrix" over the next few days. Wish me luck.

Thnx again for help

[muralin]

try using DVD Decrypter 2.4 to decrypt the DVD if u plan to use Flask. If u use smartripper, u have to encode 1 VOB at a time.