join and burn using winavi and nero vision express?

[leogeo]

how can i join 2 .vob files using Nero express?

ie after i used winavi to convert my .avi files to .vob, it comes out as 2 .vob files.

i want to use Nero vision express to burn those 2 files as a single file instead ie one file appears in the menu

how can i do that?

[mats.hogberg]

No no no. You've picked the 2 worst applications possible.
VOBs aren't video files as such, but the output from authoring a Video DVD. They are usually split in 1 GB chunks.
If you want to reauthor a title split over 2 VOBs, get the mpg out of the VOBs with VOB2MPG, then author with a real authoring app like TDA.

/Mats

[leogeo]

No no no. You've picked the 2 worst applications possible.
VOBs aren't video files as such, but the output from authoring a Video DVD. They are usually split in 1 GB chunks.
If you want to reauthor a title split over 2 VOBs, get the mpg out of the VOBs with VOB2MPG, then author with a real authoring app like TDA.

/Mats

but i find that winavi converts my .avi files to dvd format the quickest!

and it can batch convert too..

wat other programs are gd and fast?

[guns1inger]

It also creates non-compliant DVD structures, is a low quality encoder, and crashes more times that it succeeds. This forum is littered with the debris of winavi victims.

First, you need to understand what you are trying to do, and the moment, I suspect you know pretty much nothing about how DVDs are authored.

After authoring you are left with three basic file types, stored in a folder called Video_TS. Those files are the .ifo files (information), .bup files (backups of the .ifo files) and .VOB files (Video OBjects).

The .ifo files contain the information about the disc - how many menus, how many titles, where the chapter points are, what languages and subtitle streams there etc. The .bup is a backup of the .ifo file, in case the original gets trashed.

The .VOB files contain all the video, audio and subtitle data. They can be no larger than 1000MBs in size. If a title is larger than 1000MBs (and anything over around 15 minutes long usually is) then it contiues into the next VOB. Your player knows how to handle this, and does not require that the VOBs contain different parts be joined up. In fact, if you do join them up you will have a non-compliant DVD that won't play in many players.

If you have tried to create a single movie from two parts using WinAVI (or indeed pretty much any one-click-wonder) you will get two titles - one for each half. Each title will exist in at least one and probably two or three VOB files. Joining these together does not give you one title, just a big VOB files with two titles in it.

So you have a couple of choices.

1. Keep using WinAVI and Nero, live in ignorance, and put up with what it gives you. Many choose this option, probably because WinAVI is so widely available in an extended demo version.

2. Follow the advice previously given - extract the contents from WinAVI and try to author them correctly in a program that will join the pieces together. Be aware however that because WinAVI is such a POS encoder, many authoring tools will (rightly) reject the files it creates because they are not truly DVD compliant.

3. Join the avi files before you encode. AVIDemux does a pretty good job with this, in my experience at least. Virtualdub can also be used. You do have to be careful and check that your audio stays in sync after the join, but if you are using WinAVI then you must be used to poor audio sync anyway. Once joined you can continue to use WinAVI (but when you have problems, go ask WinAVI support - we will just tell you to stop using it), or you can look at better tools, such as ConvertXtoDVD or DVD Flick. Yes, they may take a little (or a lot) longer. But the quality is better, and they actually work.

[mats.hogberg]

widely available in an extended demo version.

Beautiful wording. Pure poetry!

/Mats

[MysticE]

how can i join 2 .vob files using Nero express?

ie after i used winavi to convert my .avi files to .vob, it comes out as 2 .vob files.

i want to use Nero vision express to burn those 2 files as a single file instead ie one file appears in the menu

how can i do that?

Highlight both VOBs and on the lower left side press the 'Merge Titles' icon. It's the middle one in NVE3.

[rich1842]

In winavi 8 (and the previous version) there is a menu where you can choose what you want to do with your avi files:

Create separate dvd's
Merge into one title
One dvd, separate titles

If you are trying to join 2 avi parts of one movie you can use 'merge into 1 title', if they are 2 separate movies choose 'one dvd, separate titles'.In both cases you will get vob files (and the others as previously described by gunslinger I think).

In Nero you should be able to choose something like 'create a new video dvd' - I don't use nero now and can't remember exactly. However in Winavi you can choose to use the internal burner which works fine. In both cases (nero and winavi) you will be asked to choose where your dvd files (vob etc) are - just follow the path to where you have put them and start the burn.

Just in case I always use a DVD+RW disk first to check I have ticked all the right boxes at the convert stage and when the DVD+RW has burned ok I do a final burn on a DVD+R.

By the way you CAN play vob files using VLC media player.

[leogeo]

Regarding guns1inger's post

when i use winavi to convert a 350mb file to dvd, it sometimes comes out at 2 .vob files while other times it comes out as 1 .vob file. i don't have problems with the 1 .vob file, but i was wondering how to join the 2 .vob files that come out so it shows as 1 file on the menu (i figured that out using Nero Vision Express already.


Anyway, why does it sometimes come out as 1 .vob file while other times it comes out as 2?

[guns1inger]

VOB files for DVD can be no larger than 1000MB. If the encoded video is larger than this, it will be spread over 2 or more VOBs. It also doesn't have to be a single video either. If you have multiple videos in a single titleset, with a combined encoded size greater than 1000MB will also spread over 2 or more VOBs, and each VOB may have more than one video, or parts of video in them. VOBs are storage for DVD content, and have very little to do with the actual videos.

Authoring tools with half a brain will recognise titlesets and join the pieces together themselves. If NeroVision can't do that (and I suspect that the half-a-brain level is just a bridge too far for it) then you could try VOBMerge to join them together before butcheri . . erm . . loading them into NeroVision.

If you are saying that WinAVI splits the title into two VOBs and then treats them as separate titles then WinAVI is even dumber than I thought.

[rich1842]

In my experience with WinAVI, the output might well run to a second VOB file from an input file of this size because WinAVI seems to decompress the compression inherent in an avi compressed file.

You get the choice of output at the screen you get to after selecting files to be converted.You also get to choose there ('Advanced' button) whether speed or quality is most important to you. Other configuration choices as well. If users would just look there it would save some of the queries I see here.

You have to tell WinAVI where the output is to go (I use a folder called dvd1). WinAVI will always create a new folder called in WinAVI 8 'DVD_01_1'. In that folder it will create sub-folders 'AUDIO_TS' and 'VIDEO_TS'.

When I run it (several times daily) I usually choose 'One DVD, Several Files' because I am putting several avi's - up to 13 depending on overall size - on one dvd.

I have 2 screens open (tile windows vertically), 'dvd1' (so that I can see whether I have tried to cram too much in and the output is running to a second dvd - in which case WinAVI will create a second output folder called DVD_02_1) and I also open the output video_ts folder (to make sure I have ticked the right box and WinAVI is doing what I have told it to do). With these folders open I can see at a glance if I have made a mistake.

I don't know why the output would vary from one attempt to another unless the settings have been changed. But anyhow, when you play a dvd you don't see any break between vob viles. You don't need to join the vob files to get continuous viewing.

Anyone still using older versions of WinAVI should upgrade because 8 is definitely superior and includes automatic menu creation (quite pretty).

leogeo should look at all the screens in WinAVI and make sure he is choosing the options he wants. When two vob files are created what are they called and what are the sizes? - we could tell from the names whether they are one title split into 2 vob files or two titles.