How to convert .TS file to a format recognisable by an ordinary DVD Player?

[comag]

I have a film in .TS file format which I want to watch on a bog-standard DVD player. I guess I have to convert it to the appropriate format first but I dont know how to do this.

I used Xilisoft to convert it to Super VideoCD but this wont play. I tried using VideoReDo but the resulting disc would only play on a Divx/DVD Player, not a bog standard one.

What do I do please?

[Jim44]

I've only *just* started messing around with .ts files, but so far I've had success converting them to MPEG-2 with HDTV2MPEG2, then de-muxing the MPEG2 for inputting to my authoring tool. Burned to a DVD and played on the stand alone DVD player fine.

Again, I've only done it a couple of times, so not a huge sample but it has worked so far.

Hope that helps,
Jim

[comag]

Hi Jim,

Could you just explain the bit ".... then de-muxing the MPEG2 for inputting to my authoring tool." I keep seeing this word 'demuxing' and I dont know what it means, let alone how to do it. Could you take me through this bit. Also I presume 'authoring tool' refers to the burner.

Many thanks, Comag

[DB83]

De-muxing is the separation of the video and audio portions of the clip. Some dvd authoring packages insist on separate video and audio streams. But others (Nero, Ulead) can handle the original clip and do the de-muxing for you as part of the authoring process.

You can extract an Mpeg-2 clip out of a .ts file with Mpeg Video Wizard DVD.

[Baldrick]

ConvertXtoDVD or maybe the free HDTV2DVD.

[DB83]

Another extraction option for a mpeg-2 ts is mpeg streamclip

[comag]

Okay, i've just used HDTV2DVD to extract the 2.53gb .TS File. As a result I now have a 6.52gb .MPG file AND a folder containing two sub-folders AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS.

AUDIO_TS is empty. VIDEO_TS is 6.52gb and contains seven .VOB files, two .BUP files and two .ISO files.

What do I do now? Wheres the audio got to? What do I burn to DVD to be able to watch the original contents on an ordinary DVD Player (not divx).

[jman98]

Okay, i've just used HDTV2DVD to extract the 2.53gb .TS File. As a result I now have a 6.52gb .MPG file AND a folder containing two sub-folders AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS.

AUDIO_TS is empty. VIDEO_TS is 6.52gb and contains seven .VOB files, two .BUP files and two .ISO files.

What do I do now? Wheres the audio got to? What do I burn to DVD to be able to watch the original contents on an ordinary DVD Player (not divx).

This is all normal. AUDIO_TS is used only for DVD Audio format, which has nothing at all to do with making what I will call a movie DVD. For DVD video, it's completely normal to have an empty AUDIO_TS file and everything in the VIDEO_TS file. The audio and video are together in the VOB files that you see in the VIDEO_TS directory.

Use ImgBurn to burn this in DVD format to a dual layer disc. You'll need a DVD+R DL disc to burn this much data. If you want to try to burn to DVD+R DL, only buy Verbatim DVD+R DL discs. If you use any other brand, you'll likely have problems. It's also possible to shrink your files down to fit on a single layer DVD+/-R disc. I would recommend that you use DVDShrink to do this as it's easy for newbies to use and there are good documents available telling you how to use it.

[Jim44]

Also I presume 'authoring tool' refers to the burner.

Many thanks, Comag

Sorry for the delay - I think everybody else has handled your questions, except for this one.

I meant "authoring tool" - the burner/burning tool is different (at least in my work flow).

I've not used HDTV2DVD, which apparently has an authoring tool built-in. Authoring is what creates the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders and the files they contain. I've done this as a separate step in my (brief) explanation since I'm also experimenting with editing the MPEG file, which is done before the authoring step. And FWIW, I use ImgBurn to burn DVDs.

Jim

[comag]

Many thanks for all the help and advice. As a result I have now successfully extracted a .TS file and burnt it on to DVD-R and it works on my bog standard DVD player.

I used HDTV2DVD to convert it to MPEG2.( I guess from what people say I could alternatively have used CONVERTXtoDVD or MPEG STREAMCLIP or HDTV2MPEG2 or Mpeg Video Wizard DVD ).

Then I reduced the size of the file so it would fit on one disc using DVDShrink and burnt it to disc in the process (Im still not clear if the buning software was within DVDShrink or whether one of my own burning softwares kicked in).

Many thanks everyone.

[comag]

Im still struggling a bit and would like some more help if thats okay.

I had a .TS file (5.86gb) which I wanted to convert to play on a stand-alone DVD player (not divx). As it needed editing, and HDTV2DVD does not have this facility, I used VideoReDo having gone to Tools>Options in VideoReDo to set the Default File Save Format to DVD Stream (vob). The result was a file 4.63gb .vob file which was slightly too big to burn onto a single-layer DVD-R disc. So I went to DVDShrink to try and reduce it, but DVDShrink wouldnt recognise it.

So i've tried an alternative method. I ran the original 5.86gb .TS file through HDTV2DVD and now have several .vob/bup/ifo files in the VIDEO-TS, folder size now over 11gb!

It took and awful long time to run the .ts file through HDTV2DVD (I think this is what you call de-muxing). In fact, the whole process of converting a .ts file to DVD so it will play on a stand-alone DVD player seems to be very convoluted.

How or what do I use to edit the vob files? Could I have done my editing when it was in the .ts file format and if so what program should I have used? Or maybe I was on the right track in the first-place when I edited and converted to .vob using VideoReDo ( much easy to handle a 4.63gb file than an 11gb one!). In which case how should I shrink it to get it on a single DVD (and indeed, would a file run through VideoReDo in this way play on a standalone DVD Player?)

[DB83]

I am not familiar with HDTV2DVD but if you had 5.86 gig to start with then the extraction of the mpeg from the stream (the .ts) should IMO have resulted in a file no bigger than that. Certainly if you do the same process with the other tools mentioned that is what you would get.

What appears to have happened is that the stream has been re-encoded at a different bit-rate resulting in a much larger file.

DVDshrink cannot compress 11 gig on to a 4.7 disk - and DVDshrink needs a full set of files IFO,VOB etc to work with and not just a VOB.

My work through on this would be :-

1. Extract clip using one of the tools I mentioned (unless of couse the source was HD)
2. Use a DVD authoring package to make a dvd but save the files to HDD and and burn directly (Nero can do this)
3. Test DVD in a software player such as PowerDVD or VLPlayer which can read the files from your hard disk
4. If files are then too large for a standard 4.7 disk use DVDShrink
5. Burn the files from 2. or 4. using your burning software.

[jman98]

Im still struggling a bit and would like some more help if thats okay.

I had a .TS file (5.86gb) which I wanted to convert to play on a stand-alone DVD player (not divx). As it needed editing, and HDTV2DVD does not have this facility, I used VideoReDo having gone to Tools>Options in VideoReDo to set the Default File Save Format to DVD Stream (vob). The result was a file 4.63gb .vob file which was slightly too big to burn onto a single-layer DVD-R disc. So I went to DVDShrink to try and reduce it, but DVDShrink wouldnt recognise it.

I NEVER use VideoReDo to save in VOB format. I would guess that basically VideoReDo tried to do a conversion to VOB and botched it, which is understandable. You're going to need to either save in MPEG-2 format or TS format, but I'd recommend the first one. DVDShrink may not touch either, in which case you'll have to learn how to frame serve and re-encode. You can use this method - Edit and save the file as MPEG-2. Open it with VirtualDubMod and do Save Project to get a *.d2v file. When VirtualDubMod is finished saving, open the *.d2v file it created with Vfapi and run the conversion program and save that. This final file can be opened by the free HC Encoder program and re-encoded down to whatever size you want, but then you'll have to use something to author the DVD. Or you could just burn the file as it to DVD+R DL discs if you have something that can burn them. It will save you a lot of time and effort to just burn it to DL media. VideoReDo is a fine editor and I use it, but I don't use it at all for format conversion (ie. TS to VOB), just editing. Some DVD players, usually ones that support Divx, can do "file play" mode where they just play files off data discs and you don't need to author DVDs. My Philips DVP-642 can do this.

You are learning first hand why HD conversion sucks. I never do it - not worth the effort. There are only 2 TV shows I save in HD format and I just burn them as is to data discs, although sometimes I do re-encode with HC Encoder to make them a little smaller if necessary.

[comag]

I am not familiar with HDTV2DVD but if you had 5.86 gig to start with then the extraction of the mpeg from the stream (the .ts) should IMO have resulted in a file no bigger than that. Certainly if you do the same process with the other tools mentioned that is what you would get.

What appears to have happened is that the stream has been re-encoded at a different bit-rate resulting in a much larger file.

DVDshrink cannot compress 11 gig on to a 4.7 disk - and DVDshrink needs a full set of files IFO,VOB etc to work with and not just a VOB.

My work through on this would be :-

1. Extract clip using one of the tools I mentioned (unless of couse the source was HD)
2. Use a DVD authoring package to make a dvd but save the files to HDD and and burn directly (Nero can do this)
3. Test DVD in a software player such as PowerDVD or VLPlayer which can read the files from your hard disk
4. If files are then too large for a standard 4.7 disk use DVDShrink
5. Burn the files from 2. or 4. using your burning software.

I used MPEG Video Wizard DVD, a program you recommended earlier, to edit my .TS file and convert it to MPEG. ( I got one .mpv file of 4.2gb and an .mpa file about 261kb. This looked promising but when I tried to burn them with Nero I got a message ".......file is larger than 2 gb and cannot be stored on the iso file system. Please use the UDF file system...."

[comag]

........... Open it with VirtualDubMod and do Save Project to get a *.d2v file. When VirtualDubMod is finished saving, open the *.d2v file it created with Vfapi and run the conversion program and save that. This final file can be opened by the free HC Encoder program and re-encoded down to whatever size you want, but then you'll have to use something to ...

Im using VirtualDubMod 1.5.10. but it's not giving me a "save project" option so I dont know how to create a *.dsv file

[comag]

Still hoping someone can help me with regards to the points in the two previous posts in this thread. I don't want to fold-up the project having gone this far.

[DB83]

You are nearly there

Nero is probably the worse choice when it comes down to trying to author a dvd.

Get yourself the 30 day trial of Ulead DVD Movie Factory - others here can probably suggest different programs which will do the same job - and you can use that to make the dvd with no problems.

I do not understand why the program has given you a de-muxed mpeg - the video and audio have been separated. When I used it, they were combined. Ulead can work with both types.

[DB83]

I've just run some dvd-recorder files (VRO) through mpeg streamclip.

Selected the 'convert to mpeg' option towards top of file menu and I get a muxed mpeg identical to the original recording.

This assumes that you have a standard frame size. If you have a non-standard frame size then you can use 'convert to headed mpeg'.

The de-muxed options are lower down the menu.

I cannot check this on .ts files as I do not have any but I suspect that VRO files behave quite similar as both are mpeg2 containers.

Read the manual for more info on standard frame sizes and treatment of headed mpeg.

[powerpc123]

Load your original .ts in VideoRedo
Use VideoRedo to make your edits - save as type .ts
Run this new edited .ts you created through HDTV2DVD
Burn the folder HDTV2DVD gives you to DVD with Imgburn
Folder too big? Shrink it now or make shorter movies.