Best way, bar none

[mcnallyj]

Ok, best product/settings to use to convert a vob into an avi, if resulting file size is not important but quality is? I am thinking of using virtualdub-mpeg2 to make the conversion to avi, just want to be sure I am doing it the most efficient way when compression is not an issue...my thought is that without any compression, this would also be the fastest way to convert?

[jimmalenko]

Well, the absolute, unquestionably best quality AVI would be an uncompressed AVI, but at 65GB / hour or thereabouts, it's not really practical for most people. I would think that you could get away with a codec such as XVID and set your target quantizer to a value of 1 (it's a quality-based algorithm, and 1 is absolute best quality), and get an practically undistinguishable clone of the VOB, without ridiculously huge file sizes.

[maetel99]

As jimmalenko says, something like 4:2:2 uncompressed video (D1) would be the top level of quality, but it takes up a huge amount of space. The next step down would be something like DVCPRO50 (50 Mbits/sec) studio grade DV, and the next step down from there would be DVCPRO (25 Mbits/sec) consumer grade DV.

Going to an MPEG-4 codec like DivX or XviD is a large step down in quality, in my opinion, but of course the file sizes will be a lot smaller. Note also that MPEG-4 is not directly editable, while DV is.

[ZippyP.]

If you want some compression but no loss in quality then you could try Huffy UV.

[mcnallyj]

Thanks all for the help, it amazes me what everyone here knows!

[edDV]

Well, the absolute, unquestionably best quality AVI would be an uncompressed AVI, but at 65GB / hour or thereabouts, ...

Naw HDcam progressive is 440Mb/sec (158GB/hr with light compression) and one can easily cap HD or film higher.