Getting Back to VOB

[Equus]

Hiyas:

Been a long time since I posted here. I've just started using MacTheRipper to rip my DVD library to hard drive, where it will stay (the movies will be played back from the Mac to the projector using Matinee/Apple DVD Player). Things were going nicely till I started extracting only the main feature plus one audio stream (the goal being the movie will just play with the best audio). When I limit the extraction in MTR to one audio file, I'm left with demuxed files: one .m2v and one .ac3. Of course DVD player will only play VOB files in the Video_TS folder, so I'm wondering how to remux those two files back into VOBs without going through the time to re-encode. I tried remuxing with FFmpegX and was left with an .mpg file which doesn't work either.

Any suggestions how to make the .m2v + .ac3 back into VOBs without re-encoding/transcoding?

Thanks!

Eq

[yoda313]

Well I don't know about mac compatible programs but things like dvdlab pro and tda can accept elementary streams and author from them. There must be some mac program with similar features. Check the authoring section in the tools list.

[Equus]

Well, I can't seem to find one, unfortunately. I remuxed the streams in FFmpegX and it gave me a .m2v.mpg file which I then authored to DVD in the Tools section. It seemed really promising as it created a new Video_TS folder with .vobs in it. Except that trying to play that Video_TS folder just crashes Apple DVD Player. VLC plays it just fine of course, but I need it to play in DVD Player for Matinee to work.

I guess I could try Authoring it to a new disc image in Sizzle and seeing if that Video_TS will play.

Also, even if I do get this one figured out, I'm wondering what will happen when I have a DTS audio stream - I can't seem to find any utilities that will remux DTS.

Other suggestions, anyone?

[willrob]

I'm puzzled on why you ended up with two audio files. When I select movie only in MTR and select the main audio track (and not the commentary), I get perfect Video-TS folders that play on my Mac and when burned to disk. You shouldn't have to jump through this extra hoop.

[Equus]

Really? How are you ripping the "Main Audio"? In order to see the audio tracks and select them, I have to be on "Title Only Extraction" and hit the "D" button, and press "Streams", which then demuxes and gives me a DVD Folder with the video file and the selected audio stream as separate files. It also creates a Video_TS folder but it's empty. How are you doing it?

[willrob]

I guess I'm less picky about which audio stream I want. I simply want audio. My aim is to burn a backup DVD of the feature, without the menus and other special fatures. In MTR I select Main Feature Extraction. Then in DTOX[DVD2OneX] I select the English audio track (most always the second track of english is the commentary). I suppose you could also rip in Full Disc Extraction and then in DTOX do movie only and select the audio.

I see now that you've not mentioned using DTOX, or any other compression software. So I assume you're leaving the movie at its highest resolution (and size) on your hard drive. Even so, I think selecting Main Feature in MTR would still give you a muxed sound track VIDEO_TS folder that DVDPlayer would have no problem with—just use a larger chunk of disk space.

[myDVDEdit]

Use MovieGate, It do exactly what you want.

Jérôme.

[Equus]

Willrob: Yeah I'm being picky about the audio stream because this is for a really nice 7.1 HT setup, so I want to make sure that I'm getting the Dolby Digital or DTS stream in the rip.

Most of the DVD's seem to default to the best Audio but I have a few older ones that default to 2channel DD.

Jerome: MovieGate looks possible; I'll give it a try although I don't speak French. Hopefully it'll have better results than the Authoring tool in FFmpegX, which seemed to work fine but generated VOBS unplayable by DVD Player.

Jerome: Can MovieGate handle DTS (Digital Theater Surround) audio streams?

The workaround I've come up with if I can't figure anything else out, is to rip the Main Feature and play it through the surround receiver. If the right audio lights up, then it's good, if not, then I'll re-rip with menus enabled so I can go in and select the right audio track for playback.

Thanks for the suggestions...if you have any more please let me know!

Equus

[myDVDEdit]

MovieGate are in english too.

Yes, it can handle DTS

and the new 2.0 version can create a menu

Jérôme

[Equus]

OK cool, I'll try it.

Actually menus are what I don't want, I just want the movie to auto-start with the right audio stream, no menus.

[Equus]

Problem solved:

Sheesh I guess I should have tried DOTX first. I just did what you suggested - ripped the Main Feature in MTR and then re-authored it in DOTX, selecting only the 5.1 audio stream and by choosing "Dual Layer" output there's no compression used since the file is only 4.5 GB. Works great, plays perfectly in Apple DVD Player, definitely worth the $50.

Thanks!

Equus

[From a Buick 8]

You also could have done the same thing with Toast 7