DVD to MPEG2 mux'd stream, is there a better way?

[David Bram]

I am attempting to come up with the best process for transferring video to our MPEG2 server from DVD sources that are not encrypted.

I cannot convert directly from the DVD thanks to legal reasons? These .VOBs are not encrypted.

My sources are almost always: NTSC 29.97, 720x480, ac3 stereo audio.
My resulting file should be: MPEG2 video and audio mux'd (the mp2 audio must not excede 256kbps)

What I have to do:
1 - extract the Title track from the disc into one .VOB using MTR 2.0
2 - demux the .VOB into .m2v and .ac3 streams
(or I can demux as I extract the Title track using MTR 2.6)
3 - convert/resample the .ac3 audio into .mp2 format (retaining the same sample and bit rate from the .ac3 file; which is my preference, but not required.)
4 - using ffmpegX; mux tool; I use the following output option (since no others result in the file I need):
Mux as: DVD
UNcheck: Author as:
UNcheck: Split...

For a 4 GB .VOB the transfer time is about 30-35 minutes, including mux/demux... (using dual 2.0 G5) The idea is to NOT re-encode the video stream.

So what I want to know is... is there a better way to do this...? how hard would it be to script this operation?

[major]

I don't see a better way to do this.. you need to demux/resample/remux.

[live4ever]

Open the .vob in MPEG Streamclip (must have the Quicktime MPEG 2 component installed) and choose File>Convert to MPEG with MP2 audio.

This would be the easiest way I believe.

[major]

Yes, that would be very good.

[David Bram]

I now have a working copy of MPEG Streamclip (Squared 5). I'm particualrly happy to have a way to trim the footage. We have clients submitting programs from a home component style DVD recorder (and the fade up and fade out are always munged with too much black.)

What I need to know now should probably go in a new post:

How can I deal with "bad sectors"? (When the offending discs are played back normally, they appear fine... due to the correction that takes place during playback... repeating a frame or however.) When I try to extract with MTR or directly convert using MPEG Streamclip (or just dragging the VOBs to the harddisk)... They all halt at the bad sector.

Is there a way to extract these and have software "look ahead" or around the problem, perhaps repeating data in order to span the gap...? We can dub these using analog connections, but that is defeating the purpose. (which is: transferring VOBs to MPEG2 streams, for video server playback... instead of direct to air playout.)