Joining 2 .vob files - without interim conversions

[escudo]

QUICK ANSWER: YES. VOBmerge worked perfectly for my situation. No sound/video sync problems, and VERY simple to use - escudo
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Is there a SIMPLE, freeware tool for joining 2 arbitrary ".vob" files?

I looked back in the forum a couple of months and didn't find a similar topic. Nor have I found any solution via Google, or reading through several editing guides.


DETAILS:

I've got 2 arbitrary .vob files, fileA.vob and fileB.vob

I'd like to do a simple join of fileA.vob + fileB.vob = fileC.vob, preferably with freeware as this is likely a one-time thing. This seems like such an obvious need I expected to quickly find a solution. (fileA and fileB were both extracted from the same source file, fileX.vob)

It can be pictured this way:

(---------------------------------------fileX.vob------------------------------------)

equals...

(------------A content-----------X---unwanted stuff---X------B content--------)


ChopperXP produces:

A content now =
(------------fileA.vob--------------)

and

B content now =
(-------fileB.vob-------)


Now, I want to join them to create a single file, fileC.vob:

(-----------fileA.vob+fileB.vob = fileC.vob-----------)

fileA.vob and fileB.vob were created by using ChopperXP to successfully extract from fileX.vob the first 15 minutes of video (A content) into fileA.vob, and the last 10 minutes of video (B content) into fileB.vob (there was some corruption of the media in the middle of the original single 30 minute .vob file, and this process got rid of it).

I've not found a tool that can do this simple .vob join operation as yet, that doesn't require some complicated conversion to some other format, and then editing/joining, and then reconverting back to .vob format. I did however, look into one anyway, but users reported significant audio problems due to the conversion processes.

I looked at VOBedit, but that is a complicated program for so simple a task, and I'm not even sure it would work.

This seems like a VERY common need...the joining of 2 arbitrary .vob files, just as there is a common need to split a .vob file into separate files.

I would also think there is a common need to easily "cut" an arbitrary segment out of an existing .vob file, but again, I couldn't find one, and ended up having to use ChopperXP to "cut" the unwanted segment out by creating a "pre-unwanted stuff" file and a "post-unwanted stuff" file.

However, that does leave the more general task of joining two arbitrary .vob files into a single .vob file.


edited to add "Quick Answer" at top of post-escudo

[guns1inger]

You would think such an obvious tool would have an obvious name. Something like . . . VobMerge ?

[escudo]

I looked at VOBmerge earlier (even though it isn't listed on the tools page), but in the reference I found it looked like it not only required conversions, but it was largely unused/untested.

Largely unused/untested seems to be reflected in the pointer you provided as well, and it also seems to have a problem with audio/video sync, which is in the audio/video problems category I mentioned in my OP.

Have you used it? Were the results satisfactory?

I'll take a more detailed look.

Thanks.


Edited to include this item about "really stupid bugs". It does not fill me with confidence to be the guinea pig on something like that. This is on the download page. 2.50 is the latest version.
"VOBMerge 2.50 is a big bugfix update from version
2.01, which contained some really stupid bugs."

Plus, it's had 73,000 views but only 1 comment and no rating?

It also isn't very reassuring that the program's main download website name includes the word
"evilmastr"

edited to include observation:
Virtually all the posts containing references to "vobmerge" were NOT in this "Editing, Cutting, and Joining" forum. I think the latest one I found in this forum was last Feb by 'strongbad'.

[guns1inger]

It is listed - I searched the tools page to confirm the spelling before I posted. I haven't used it because I don't use VOBs in this manner. VOBs are a dsiplay container format. They are not ideally suited for anything else. Despite what some say, they are not simply mpeg files renamed. If I was going to do what you are doing, I would rip the file as a single VOB from the outset, demux to mpeg/audio, then use an mpeg editor to make the cuts. Then reauthor.

[escudo]

We must have looked at different tools pages. At any rate, after going back more months in my fora search, I'm finding more people who have used it so the safety factor is looking better.

Again, thanks for providing enough info to encourage me to take a longer look at it.

[yoda313]

I would rip the file as a single VOB from the outset, demux to mpeg/audio, then use an mpeg editor to make the cuts. Then reauthor

Actually there is no need to demux. You can use mpg2cut2 to cut the vob directly and it will save it as a mpg for you. Or simply open the vob in a author program like tmpgenc dvd author and go from there - no need to demux.