HELP----I am trying to convert vob files to mpeg or dvi

[artsoul]

Hi Folks, i am new here, thanks for taking the time to read this.


I am a musician and am making a new showreel, for this I am using bits of DVDs and putting music to them (it is legal because it is not a commercial release). eventually they will be edited in premiere (I have a friend who is letting me use his system for a couple of nights in downtime, I am pretty slow with it but can get it to do what i want)
I have downloaded DVDshrink which is enabling me to take the sections of DVD that I want (pretty slowly but its free), my problem is finding a freeware utility that will convert them to an importing format in premiere.
i have trawled the net for 2 nights and am getting very frustrated I have found flask and even though i have worked out how to use it , it is outputting massive file sizes (19M original - 700M conversion) if I use the compressed formats it is qouting me ludicrous times to convert (21 hours for a 10 sec clip?)
I want to be able to just convert the files i have to mpeg or AVI very simply and have them take not very long and be about the same size.
I find the jargon for this stuff very confusing so could a helpful soul suggest a way (simply) to do this.

Thankd in advance

Andy

[kschang]

You need to cut out the clip first, THEN convert the clip.

[artsoul]

I have done that

[artsoul]

the VOB files i have so far are already the right size (10-15s scenes etc.)

[kschang]

Try VOB2MPEG?

[artsoul]

vob2mpeg keeps crashing on me and won't load up

[artsoul]

nope just tried uninstalling again and reinstalling-it fails to initialise

[dh]

Try VOBEdit

[artsoul]

thanks for that but it seems really baffling anre there any more programs?

I really amy geniunly grateful for the help- just that a lot of these prgrams seem really convoluted

[artsoul]

oops excuse the typos

[karl1977]

I think SPAM.

[kschang]

vob2mpeg keeps crashing on me and won't load up

You DID install the .NET framework, the latest version from Microsoft?

[artsoul]

vob2mpeg keeps crashing on me and won't load up

You DID install the .NET framework, the latest version from Microsoft?

yup as directed from the loading page

[stantheman1976]

VOB files are basically just MPEG files renamed. Do you know how to use the DOS shell in Windows? You can go to the folder where the VOB files is and use the command "ren" to rename the file.

If you don't know how to use DOS here's what you need to do:
Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt
This will bring you into a black window with white text. That's what DOS looks like.
Type the command CD\
This will bring you to C:\
Find out where your files you need to rename are at. For example if they were in C:\stantheman1976\videos\my videos
Type CD stantheman1976
This takes you to C:\stantheman1976
Then Type CD videos.
You are now in C:\stantheman1976\videos
Now type CD my videos.
You are now in C:\stantheman1976\videos\my videos
Type DIR /p
This will give you a list of what files are in that directory one page at a time. Hit enter to advance each page. If there are not enough files to fill more than one page it won't matter.
Find the VOB file you need to change.
It will say VIDEO1.VOB or whatever it is named.
Type ren VIDEO1.VOB VIDEO1.MPG
This will rename the video the latter.
Now it's an MPEG file and will play and import just fine.

This may seem complicated, but if you know DOS it's really not. Many people who started using computers after Windows 95 came out have no idea what DOS is. CD, DIR, and REN are basic commands.

[artsoul]

thank you very kindly for that i will try that
seems pretty complicated but the instructions are very clear,

thanks again, i will let you know how i get on

[artsoul]

hmmm command prompt isn't in my accessories section

[artsoul]

there must be an easy way to do this, it's driving me mad
isn't there a program somewhere that converts dvd files to mpeg files quickly and outputs the same file size?
there must be one

[kschang]

Try SUPER, just for the heck for it.

[stantheman1976]

What version of Windows are you running? It should be under All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and will have little icon that has the C:\ symbol.

[artsoul]

its XP

[artsoul]

yeehaa super does it (it seems), fast, easy to use, free, smaller file sizes.

I will troop over to my friends and see if they import

thanks for all your help guys
(wish me luck)