Editing a DVD

[dcutri]

Hi, I hope someone can help me (noob). I'm using Sony Vegas Pro 9. I have an instructional DVD for a martial arts program. It is complete with chapters and menus for the various levels of instruction. There is one section which has old moves which we want to replace with new moves. I've already shot some new video with the new moves. What I want to do is cut out the old section and insert the new moves there. It won't be a smooth transition because the original DVD was made a few years ago, but that's alright.

I was able to import the appropriate .VOB file from the DVD into Sony Vegas and cut and paste the new video in the right spot. But now what do I do? How do I put the DVD back together again with the new footage in it? and keep all the chapters and menus working properly the way they should? I hope I explained it clearly enough so that someone can help me. Thanks in advance for any help.

[aedipuss]

it's not a task for a beginner. any change in the size of the video make the old chapter points and navigation unusable. the best way is to re-author a new dvd from the beginning with the new video. hopefully someone saved the original project with all the source material.

[dcutri]

Thanks for the quick reply. Without the original files, can I just use the footage from the DVD I have to author a new DVD with a new menu and new chapter points? If so, what's the first step for doing that? If you can point me in the right direction to get started, I think I can probably figure it out--put the whole thing on the timeline, cut out the old menu stuff, and just add a new menu? I've never made one before, so I don't even know where to start, but...does that sound like a reasonable approach?

[manono]

I think I'd try VobBlanker for the job first. If it works you won't have to reauthor or set up new chapter points. And unless I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do, it should work just fine.

Open the DVD in VobBlanker. Extract the chapter which contains the portion to be edited (highlight the video so it appears in the lower screen, highlight it in the lower screen and hit the 'Cells' button, in the new screen highlight the correct cell and hit 'Extract'). If the video in question is a complete cell (chapter) then so much the better. Do with that cell as you want and when ready to stick it back into the DVD, go back to that same cells screen , highlight the cell in question and this time hit 'Replace' and scroll to your new cell. Hit 'Apply', 'Close', give it an output folder and 'Process'. Check it thoroughly when all done. You can replace more than one cell at a time, if editing takes place in more than one cell. And you'll need to have authored those new edited cells into little 'mini-DVDs'. I use Muxman for that. I do this with some frequency and haven't ever had a problem.

[dcutri]

Thanks, manono

I will try that.

[dcutri]

Thanks a lot, that's a great program. I got it to work, but the quality of the new cells is no good. I get the concept of extracting and replacing cells, and it worked, but there was no sound! and there were big, choppy, pixels popping up here and there throughout. I don't know how else to explain it. What I did was edit the cell in Sony Vegas and then rendered it as .avi. Then when I realized that VobBlanker would only take .vob files, I converted the .avi file to .vob, and used that to replace the old cells. Sony Vegas doesnt let me render as .vob, so I can't think of any other way to do it. Any ideas?

[manono]

I hope it was lossless AVI, and not something like XviD. As for the lack of sound, is it the same kind (AC3, bitrate, everything else the same) as in the rest of the DVD? Is it in the same track (if there's only one track, is it in that track, or maybe because it's a different kind of audio it was moved to a different track)?

When you play the edited VOB as a DVD and not as a file, is it OK, has sound, none of the pixels popping up here and there? How did you author it? What program did you use? Muxman, as I suggested?

Then when I realized that VobBlanker would only take .vob files

I mentioned in my earlier post you had to author it for DVD. VobBlanker doesn't have an encoder built into it. It's more of a VOB editor than a VOB creator.

[dcutri]

I really appreciate your help, manono. No, I used Sony Vegas. I don't know how to use Muxman. I can't duplicate the settings from the original dvd exactly, the settings I'm offered doesnt allow for it. but I got as close as I could to the original settings and still no go. The new vob plays fine until i insert it into the proper cell and play it back--it still gets all pixely and choppy. But I've decided this stuff is too advanced for me. I'm gonna hand it off to someone with more experience doing this kind of stuff. Thanks, anyway!