Conv 3 min VOB to PC playable: Which fmt/free pgm to use?

[j_hallgren]

I'm brand new to this (have WinDVD5 to access my DVD-ROM), but have spent 8+ hrs reading posts here and other places...which helped me with first task (extracting clip from DVD of a meeting) via DVDshrink...so now I have a 100KB VOB file...fine so far!

Now I want to convert it to a format/size compatible as much as possible with email and playing on most any PC without special codecs...As I understand it, both DivX and Xvid can't play with std Microsoft WMP? Or not true?
So thus what format should I be looking to create? I will not be burning it, just having on HD. And how small can I get output file? Audio quality is more important than video, as it's just someone making a quick speech.

I have D/L and tested DVDZip as the trial allows 3 min clips...however, the output file is way too large so looked for alternative pgms...from forums and tutorials, I have found and D/L (but not installed) AutoGK, VirtualDubMod and DVDx. Which of these would y'all suggest as prefered pgm to install, learn and use for this task? I am not using XP so any product just for that can't be answer.

I haven't found a topic that matched my situation close enough, but also have deadline for completed task, so am posting now. Thanks for any help!

[Baldrick]

virtualdub-mpeg2 or virtualdubmod and convert to dv-avi,huffuv avi,uncompressed avi,etc.
use windows media encoder and convert it to wmv.

or

tmpgenc xpress and open the vob and convert directly to wmv.

[j_hallgren]

Baldrick's reply partially answered one of my questions, but the others remain open...so looking for other replies.

Also. I had specified free pgms in topic, however his answer mentioned TMPGEnc Xpress, which seems to show as trialware, so am I missing something?

[guns1inger]

Which question didn't Baldrick answer ?

I have re-read your post and Baldrick's response 3 times (man, am I bored at the moment) and I can't spot the gap.

[j_hallgren]

Gunslinger: Ok...so here's the gaps:
1)My original post asked about which format might be best suited for most PC's without special codecs. The answer of WMV doesn't seem applicable to non-Windows PC's.
2) I asked to verify if std WMP could handle DivX or Xdiv or not. No answer so I must assume not?
3) How small can I get output file? Again, no answer that I see.
4) No minimal positive/negative comments about AutoGK and DVDx compared to VD-M so are they to be considered or not?

[guns1inger]

1) There is no universal format. For windows it is WMV. For Macs it is MOV. For Linux it is dependent on whatever player and codecs ship with a given distro. If I had to settle on one single format, mpeg1 would be the closest to a universally playable format.

2) You are correct. You had seemed to answer your own question, so it didn't seem to need a follow up answer. However if you require confirmation, both formats require a codec that does not ship with vanilla windows.

3) Bitrate. Low bitrate, small file. Holds for any compressed format. High resolution + low bitrate = crap output. Low resolution + lowbitrate = better output, but harder to see on high res screens due to small physical size. Bitrate is king.

4) Look these tools up in the tools sections if you want to see what various users think about them. That is what the comments section is for.

If you choose mpeg1 as the format, get the free version of tmpgenc to do the encoding. You do not have to be held down to the VCD bitrate if you are not encoding to VCD spec.

[j_hallgren]

Thanks much for the follow-up!

The MPEG1 being semi-universal helps in my choice.

The image is not as important as the audio so a somewhat grainy video would be acceptable if it helped make file size within my email limits.

I had already read all the comments for these three pgms, but was asking for opinions of someone who might have used all three to guide me in picking one of them. Some comments in tools appear to be from users who may not have experience with other products I listed.