DVD to website-viewable video file, using a Mac

[deelaina]

Hi all-

I have a dvd thats only 4 minutes long and I would like to convert the vob files to any format that the average person browsing the web will be able to view. I don't want xvid or divx or any format that someone would have to install a codec to view the video.

I'm on OSX Tiger and have tried D-Vision 3 and forty-two without any luck. D-vision converted the files to .avi, but I cannot open them in Quicktime. If I can't open them, I'm sure the average person won't be able to either.

Thanks,
dee

[Baldrick]

movin you to our mac section. tried ffmpegx?

[mhar4]

I'd go for mpeg1 for maximum compatibility, or a Quicktime MPEG4 for better quality with smaller file size, or nowadays, Flash. ffmpegX will do all of them quite efficiently.

[deelaina]

I'm trying ffmpegX right now. Got everything installed and the DVD loaded. Which target format should I choose?

[deelaina]

I've tried ffmpegX using a number of the target formats given, but none are opening in QuickTime.

The DVD is made up of 6 files: 2 .bup files, 2 .ifo files, and 2 .vob files. Which of these should I be "opening" to convert in ffmpegX? I tried just choosing the VIDEO_TS folder that those files are in, but it wouldn't work.

[Case]

The contents of a VIDEO_TS folder is detailed here. For mencoder presets, you may use the VIDEO_TS folder as input; for ffmpeg presets, you'll need to use a single file (e.g. a VOB) as input.

[rumplestiltskin]

You can also use MPEG Streamclip. Drop VOB #1 into the app. Export to mpeg4 and try a few other formats. See which ones are small enough for you. Then upload them all and have some people try them out.

[mhar4]

Which target format should I choose?

.mov or .mp4 for Quicktime or vcd or kvcd for mpeg1 or flv for flash. With vcd or kvcd, uncheck "author as vcd" in the options menu to generate just a straight mpeg1 file. You might need to play around with other settings, too.