is it possible to play a a vob file?

[minipol]

Hi,

i'm new to making dvd's and i'm waiting for my dvd write to arrive
So i starting working with a simple movie, extracting the audio, converting it and so, then multiplexed then and made a vob with dvdauthor.
Is there a way i can test this and see what it would look like when playing it on my soon to arrive dvd?
Even without a dvd, it would be interesting to see what the end result would be without burning it first to a dvd+/-rw

For instance, maybe making an iso of the VIDEO_TS & AUDIO_TS directory and then loading that into a virtual DVD drive and have software play it?
Any ideas?

[gitreel]

You can use powerdvd to watch a .vob file.

[falberni]

You can play the content of a VIDEO_TS folder by any DVD playing software, such as PowerDVD. You can also change the file extesion of a VOB file from .vob to .mpg and play it that way with any multimedia player, or DVD playing software.

[minipol]

And does PowerDvd also let you view menu's that one has added during the authoring?

[falberni]

Yes, it does show everything that you would normally see on a set top DVD player.

[muskgrave]

they said they're new so a little more info might be helpful instead of just "power dvd can do that." :P

After you've authored the dvd and have your Video/Audio folders you can open up power dvd and tell it to play a dvd from your hard drive. It will then ask where your DVD files are...Point it to the Video_TS folder and it should start at the menu or wherever you specified during the authoring process. This is how I verify that my authoring worked to my satisfaction. Once I'm satisfied with it that way I then burn it to a dvd-rw because a tv masks the edges of your menus/video. Once I am satisfied with the dvd on my tv/audio receiver THEN i make the commitment and burn it to a regular dvd-r.

hope this helps...

[minipol]

Cool thanks guys. I'm testing this now