Confused half way through the process

[zeppelinmad]

Hi All,

I'm stuck.

I've managed to rip VOB files from a DVD onto my hard drive. Now I guess I have to convert these files into Mpeg1 if I want to make VCD's. Then I'll have to cut the MPEG into smaller pieces to fit on VCD's. I have Nero to do the burn I think I've got some freeware software for the split but I'm stuck

How the hell do I convert to MPEg?

How the hell do I cut the mpeg.?

The guide I downloaded was obviously aimed at professors in COBOL or something cos I couldn't make head nor tail of it (it reminded me of how easy my first month at UNI was and then how quickly I lost the plot.)

Any straight forward "MPEG for Dummies" type answers would be much appreciated. And if any of you are Zep fans then I'll send you a little present as a thank you.

Regards
Andy

[gll99]

If you want to practice without going through all that. Find a free app called DVDx v 2.0 It does it all. You don't even have to copy the VOB to your HD since it has a built in ripper. Just use default settings to start with the default encoder and no frame serve. It will even let you split the ouput to disk size so you can spread the movie over multiple CD and it won't go oversize.It has lots of options. Read the attached brief doc and you will be quickly on your way. You will be happy with your first attempts but put them on cdrw unless you don't mind using cheap cdr.

After that you can keep reading the posts and you will quickly learn about lots of other tools.

I hope you used a ripping software like smartripper to get your VOB files on your HD otherwise you will still have the macrovision on them.

Other tools people use to process VOB are DVD2AVI, Flask, BBMPEG, tmpgenc,xmpeg.

You won't need any of these at first with DVDx.

Its worth a try when you are just starting out.

[presto]

After writing the advice below I realized that I recently had success with a program called DVD2SVCD. It is actually a bundle of programs that run automaticaly one after the other. You just load the DVD go to bed and in the morning you have two or three files ready to burn on Nero. It really worked but I think it took 7 hours. Quality was awesome. I had to read the read me file and go to the site and read the FAQ but then it was just a matter of pushing two buttons! Good Luck

----------------------------


Don't give up on the guides. Go to Sefy's guide (the first one on the DVD rip page) and continue. You've done steps 1 through 3. Now do the part that is headed DVD2AVI (download DVD2AVI and TMPEng from the tools section you will need them both).

I know it is frustrating because I am only a bit ahead of you. I found it made things much easier to print out the guide. Post questions when you reach a specific problem.

It reads very long but it is not so complicated once you have done it once or twice. Yes it could/should be easier. The generous people who create these programs make it better every day. I've seen several big improvements recently.

Here is a summary of the steps you need to do:
1) Use DVD2AVI to make some special files for you. These files are needed for TMPEng to read the vobs.

2) Use TMPEng to make the mpg files. You will load the files you made in the previous step into TMPEng and they will allow it to read the vob's. You will use the clip selection in the advanced portion of TMPEng to to make the clips you want. If you need to make more cuts later you can use the mpg tools in TMPEng (find the mpg tools under file).

3) Burn with Nero

I have followed Sefy's guide and (with occasional help from this forum) am now able to make CD's from DVD's etc.

P.S when you make your MPG's with TMPEng you will have some decisions to make. I usually load the basic NTCS SVCD template. If you want to get a whole movie onto one CD you will need to learn about and experiment with templates that people have created for TMPEng.

Good Luck