What is the simplest DVD editing/converting software?

[thescientist]

I need to perform a very simple task:
convert a home-made DVD from PAL to NTSC and burn it to watch on a TV.
It is a video of my family event captured on tape and later re-captured on a DVD.
No encryption, titles, menus and all those bells and whistles they discuss whenever it comes to video editing.
Some people tell me I must convert VOB to something else in order to edit the movie. Others say it is all MPEG2 anyway, and the difference is only in the "shell" of the video file, and nobody can tell me why I still can not edit VOB directly.

I 'd like to find a FREE and simple software to do what I need. Windows Movie Maker does not work with VOB files. I don't care about menus and titles! In MS Windows terms I would say I am looking for a Notepad instead of Word, or Paint instead of Photoshop.

I consider myself quite literate in audio formats as well as graphical ones, I wrote myself quite a few software tools to work with either, but I know only the basics of video and don't have an intent to study it all and sort out the mess in the video world.

Please let me know if convertion of PAL DVD to NTSC in the 21st century is still a major task, or I can do it myself in as "little" as say three hours (I have already spent much more looking for solution on the web and trying different applications).

Thank you!

[guns1inger]

You talk about being able to edit, but then don't really talk about what sort of editing.

For a simple PAL to NTSC conversion, ConvertXtoDVD would be a good choice. It is easy to use, reads most formats, does an OK job. It is also fast. It is not free, however.

However PAL to NTSC (or NTSC to PAL) conversion really requires some time and study to do well. It is no longer a complex chore, once you get your head around the basic concepts, but it is not something any one package does well on it's own. This can be done for free, using very good tools, however it requires several steps and several tools to do it.